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Audra

Capitalism, Communism & the Domino Theory

People have different political ideologies. An ideology being, 'an orientation that characterises a group or nation'

Two types of political ideology are Capitalism and Communism. In the 1940s/1950s, Russia was a communist country and America was and still is a capitalist country

Capitalism - a system that revolves around private ownership and the right to make money and keep it.

Communism - a system that revolves around state ownership and the belief that everyone should be equal in status, wealth etc.

In a capitalist country such as America, there is a democracy where the president is selected through free elections. Citizens of the country have freedom of speech and beliefs. In the 1940s/50s America feared the spread of communism and were led by President Harry Truman who was anti-communist.                                                                                                                                                                                         In a communist country e.g. the Soviet Union there was a dictatorship and only one communist political party. The government led by Stalin had complete control over what was said in the media and the people of the Soviet Union.

The Cold War

After the end of the Second World War, the relationship between the Soviet Union and America was fragile. The term 'Cold War' is used to describe this relationship which lasted from 1945-1980. Neither countries fought directly however several 'client states' fought on their behalf with their input. For example, South Vietnam was anti-communist and was supported by the Americans during its conflict with North Vietnam which was pro-communist and was supported by the Soviet Union and China.

Many international affairs from 1945-1980 were affected by the Cold War such as,

  • Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Vietnam
  • Hungary
  • Berlin Wall
  • Korea

The Domino Theory

It was first presented by the American President Dwight Eisenhower and the Vice-President Richard Nixon. It stated that the countries in South-East Asia were like domino's. If South Vietnam became a communist country it wouldn't take long for countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Zealand and Australia to follow suit.

The cartoon above reflects the Domino Theory. The domino's are being pushed by a communist Vietnamese soldier whilst an American soldier attempts to keep them upright.

Some links for further reading:

BBC Bitesize: ideological differences - Stalin vs Truman

Spartacus - The Domino Theory

HistoryLearningSite - What was the Cold War?

Nazi-Soviet Pact

Some have said that the Nazi-Soviet Pact was the single most important reason for the start of the Second World War. Would you agree with this judgement? Explain your answer. 

Plannnig
  • short intro
  • reasons for - allowed Hitler to expand, triggered war, SCAB
  • reasons against - appeasement & neville chamberlain, Hitler's aggressive expansion
  • summary - my opinion

The Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union. The main part of the pact stated that there would be no fighting between the two countries but their was an additional secret section which said that Poland would be divided up between Hitler and Stalin. Some people have said that the Nazi-Soviet Pact was the sole reason for the start of WWII. There are many reasons which agree and disagree with this theory.

The pact was partly a result of the failed talks between Stalin and Chamberlain. They were all extremely suspicious of each other and didn't trust anyone. If Stalin decided to join with Hitler in this pact Stalin would gain half of Poland, no war and power in eastern Europe. Another cause of the pact was Choice. Stalin had a choice of alliancing with Britain or with Nazi Germany; he ofcourse being a communist chose whichever one gave him the most profit, the allaince with Nazi Germany. The fact that Chamberlain had been appeasing Nazi Germany also assisted Stalin in decided who he and the Soviet Union would become allies with. Stalin believed that Britain would abandon the Soviet Union and leave them to fight Nazi Germany on their own. In addition to all these reasons, when Britain sent a negotiator to the Soviet Union they sent an official who had almost no power and they sent him on the slowest for of transport to Russia, Stalin got fed up with waiting and cancelled negotiations.

This pact was extremely good for Hitler because it allowed him to expand his empire even further as he now had half of Poland; however he had no intention of staying allied with the Soviets. Hitler planned to invade the Soviet Union, a plan which he carried out with no success. This sparked the beginning of the Second World War. With half of Poland he was now closer to the Soviet Union so could mount a better Offensive against the Communists, and he now had more Lebensraum (Living Space) available to him and the 3rd Reich.

However, Appeasement and Neville Chamberlain could have also caused the Second World War. The way that Hitler had been appeased in the post-war period had made him think that he was indestructable and that no major force worldwide was going to stop him. Appeasement had also made Hitler stronger because he had managed to sieze more land before the war, so he could expand the Nazi Regime and forces accross the majority of Europe. 

Another major reason of the greatest conflict in human history occuring was the personality of the man who had thrown the world into turmoil, Adolf Hitler. Hitler was very aggresive, and this showed in his invasion of the European Continent. He offered no warning and just took what he pleased. It had become apparent to the Allied Nations that he needed to be stopped, therefore the War began. 

In summary I believe that the Nazi-Soviet Pact did not spark World War II, and infact it was a number of factors that contributed to the overall conflict. But overall I think that the main cause of the war was the Facist Dictator Adolf Hitler. It was he who decided to invade countries, murder millions to create a perfect race and who decided to make the 3rd Reich. Ultimately he had to be stopped, thus World War II began.    

Some links for further reading

                

Neville Chamberlain & WWII

Neville Chamberlain has been accused of being directly accused for the Second World War. Would you agree that he is guilty of this?

Plan:
  • Short Intro
  • Reasons why he is responsible
  • Other Factors
  • Summary - My Opinion

Neville Chamberlain has been blamed by many as the sole cause for the Second World War. He has been held responsible by many for the huge loss of life and many felt he should have had a trial for this.

Chamberlain opted for the military strategy of appeasement when he was meeting with Hitler. Some people say tha it was this weak strategy which led to the start of the Second World War.
The meetings and negotiations between Chamberlain and Hitler happened in 1938. At this time the First World War was still in living memory for many people. The majority of families in England had been affected by WWI in some way and Chamberlain didn't want a repeat of 1919 so he appeased Hitler's demands. Hitler was appeased by Britain and France on a number of occasions. For example, Hitler was allowed to break the terms in the Treaty of Versailles such as the Anschluss with Austria and remilitarised the Rhineland both which had been specifically forbidden. Hitler also gained the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia without any consequences. Because Chamberlain kept appeasing Hitler he became more confident and knew that he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. Furthermore, because Britain and France were so fixated on appeasing Hitler's demands they missed many opportunities to stop Hitler earlier. If they had taken stronger action against Hitler earlier the Second World War may not have happened.

However, by appeasing Hitler, Chamberlain had created time for Britain to re-arm in the event of war. In the late 1930s Britain had one of the strongest Navy's but one of the weakest Army's. If war was going to happen they needed strong armed forces. Furthermore, many politicians at the time underestimated Hitler. They believed he was a reasonable politician when in fact he was a fascist tyrant who had very extreme views about the world and the people in it. He believed that Germans were the 'master race' and needed 'lebensraum' (living space). Hitler had planned to take over Europe from the start and was just waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The Nazi-Soviet Pact suprised many people because it was between German fascists and Russian communists, two groups with completely opposite views. The pact stated a non-aggressive agreement between Germany and Russia and a secret section where Poland was divided up between the two countries. This pact only delayed fighting and did contribute to the beginning of the Second World War.

In conclusion, I believe that Neville Chamberlain is partly responsible for the Second World War, however many other factors contributed significantly which he had no control over. One of the main factors being Hitler's aggression and determination to make Germany the 'master race'. He was going to try and take control of Europe anyway, appeasement just made it slightly easier. The Nazi-Soviet pact was another important factor because it meant that Hitler could now invade Poland without repercussions from the Soviet Union. It was this invasion of Poland which triggered the Second World War because Britain stopped appeasing Hitler and declared war.

All of these factors contributed to the Second World War so in my opinion it is wrong to directly accuse Neville Chamberlain for being solely responsible.

Some links for further reading

Newspaper Article

Hostile Hitler Gets His Way!

September 30th 1938

After weeks of pressure from Hitler regarding the current situation in Czechoslovakia an agreement has been reached at the Munich Conference in Germany. Yesterday, Neville Chamberlain, Hitler, the French prime minister Daladier and Mussolini signed an agreement which in theory will save Czechoslovakia from German invasion.

Germany's territory seems to be growing bigger and bigger as each week passes. First the Anschluss - which was specifically prohibited in the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and now this. On September 15th Hitler and Chamberlain met at Berchtesgaden where Hitler insisted that the Sudetenland be transferred to Germany. Then, just eight days ago an ultimatum was issued by Hitler demanding that claims on Czech territory made by Poland and Hungary be met and that the Sudetenland must be transferred by October 1st or Germany would invade Czechoslovakia.

This agreement has undermined the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and has made Britain to look weak and inferior. Once again, Hitler has got his own way and Germany is gradually becoming more and more powerful. The Sudetenland under the control of Czechoslovakia would make war impossible due to its geographical location and strong defences. However, under German control anything could happen.        

The Great War affected everyone and it is understandable that the prime minister's main aim should be to avoid war and maintain peace but what cost do we have to pay to achieve this. In an ideal world appeasement would work, but in an ideal world the Great War wouldn't have happened or the Wall St Crash of 1929. By appeasing Hitler we are sending out all the wrong signals, Hitler can do what he likes without facing any consequences. Hitler says jump and Chamberlain says how high?

Just because it is not directly effecting our country physically does not mean that we shouldn't be concerned. We will be concerned if war breaks out again and after this latest development I fear that it will be sooner rather than later.

 

 

Munich Agreement Headlines

British Newspaper                                                                                                                                                                  Appeasement Avoids War!                                                                                                                                                                   Hostile Hitler Gets His Way

American Newspaper                                                                                                                                                                         European War Eluded - for now...

German Newspaper                                                                                                                                                                         Munich Masterplan Conquers All

Czech Newspaper                                                                                                                                                                              Goodbye Sudetenland, Hello Hitler!

Polish Newspaper                                                                                                                                                                                  Teschen Triumph!

 

Rise of Hitler and the British Policy of Appeasement

Below are some links that are useful for this topic.

Neville Chamberlain

This link is to the Wikipedia site about Neville Chamberlain. This at times can be unreliable because the information can be edited by anyone, however it does offer a very detailed account of Chamberlain's life. The information used from here will need to be verified using another of the websites.                                                                                                                                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Chamberlain

This link is to the BBC website on historic figures. It is a reliable source because it is from the BBC. It is a good source because it gives a brief overview of Neville Chamberlain.                                                               http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/chamberlain_arthur_neville.shtml

This link is to the Spartacus history website which is extremely reliable and easy to use. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRchamberlain.htm

Appeasement

This link is to the GCSE Bitesize website. It is reliable and the information is relevant to the exam which is good for revision. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir1/chamberlainandappeasementrev1.shtml

This link is to a website which gives a different view on appeasement and offers quotes from the time about Neville Chamberlain. http://www.johndclare.net/RoadtoWWII4.htm

Munich Agreement

This link is again to the Spartacus website but this is to the Munich Agreement section of the site.http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWmunich.htm

This link explains what actually happened during the Munich Agreement. http://www.johndclare.net/RoadtoWWII5_Munich_Agreement.htm

This link is to a Google map showing where Munich is.
View Larger Map

Rise of Hitler

This link is to the GCSE Bitesize website. It is good because it offers good information and diagrams. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/hitlerpowerrev1.shtml

This link gives a detailed account of how and why Hitler rose to power. It also gives good memory techniques to remember the facts.http://www.johndclare.net/Weimar7.htm

Causes of WWII

This link gives a wide view on the different causes of WWII.                                                             http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/causes.htm

This link names the five most important causes of WWII and explains the reasoning behind each.http://www.johndclare.net/RoadtoWWII7a.htm

All of these links should be useful during revision!

This is a link to the relevant portion of the online version of my OCR textbook which is extremely reliable!