Germany hyperinflation discontent over versailles

- Germany: Hyperinflation, discontent over Versailles, Dolchstosslegende/stab In the back myth, fascism
- France: Domestic political polarization
- Britain and US: Strong anti-war, pacifist sentiment
- Italy: Rise of Mussolini and Fascism in 1922
- Japan: Emperor, military, late modernizer and status incongruity
- The Road to WWII: Significant Events
- The Washington Conference (1921): set US, Britain, Japan battleship tonnage at 5:5:3 ratio
- Kellogg-Briand Act (1928) to outlaw war: signed by leading states, but largely ineffective
- The League of Nation’s repeated failures
- “Slow, cautious, and totally ineffective” – Nye
- The Manchurian Failure (1931-33)
- The Ethiopian Debacle (1935)
- The Path to War: “Peace for our time” – Chamberlain 1938
- Germany
- Hitler becomes Chancellor (1933)
- Remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936)
- Anschluss of Austria (1938)
- Munich Conference (1938)
- Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression act (08/24/1939)
- Polish Invasion (09/01/1939)
- Battle of Britain
- Key role of radar, spotters, and “home field advantage”
- German Air Forces August 1940: 1,700 planes , 800 bombers and 900 fighters
- British Air Forces August 1940: 800 fighters (306 Spitfires), 450 bombers
- July-August: Battle of attrition over the Channel; Luftwaffe lost twice as many planes as the British
- Aug.-Sept: Germans began to target radar installations, airfields. Britain lost 211 Spitfires and Hurricanes in
ten days to about 280 German losses.
- Sept. Germans targeted aircraft factories with some success, but the loss ratio climbed back to nearly two to
one. Winter forced Germany to put off any invasion of Britain.
- Sept. 1940-May 1941 Germans targeted London and other cities, killing 40,000 but failing to destroy morale
or productive capacity
- Britain retaliated with air raids on Berlin

- In all since July 1940, the Luftwaffe lost roughly 2,400 aircraft but failed to gain air superiority or to terrorize
the British people into submission.
- What’s the best strategy to avoid war? Revisionist vs. Status Quo States