Causes of WWII

In order to investigate the Causes of World War II, it is important to evaluate the long term and short term causes. It is also important to note that the long term causes reflect the short term causes. One of the first causes of WWII was Industrialism. The development of technology and the growth of population and the economy created a competitive environment. The rearmament of Germany was a short term cause. Germany exceeding the military limit by 300,000 people was an effect on his determination to expand Germany's borders. Another contributing factor to World War II was the Economic situation. With the fall of the Wall Street Market, and the World reliance on America, the crash affected more than just America. In Germany, the people were burning Marks because it was cheaper than burning wood. This was the Weimar Economic ineptitude. The Alliance system created an exclusive system. If one country was to go to war, then their allies would also go to war. This lead to the Treaty of Versailles. The winners of WWI created the Treaty of Versailles to punish Germany and create restrictions. This led to Germany's feeling of inequality and the push to expand borders once again.

Summaries of Sources

4.1: Source 4.1 is an expert from Hitler's book Mein Kampf. In this excerpt, he states that it is the German's inherent Birth Right to the land. He proceeds to insist that the only way Germany will survive is if they push for more of the land that is "rightfully theirs." He says that Germany will perish if the fight for the land does not occur. Hitler mentions that the East is the direction Germany should take in expanding their borders. Somewhat like eyeing a succulent piece of meat, he speaks of Russia as Germany's future.

4.2: Source 4.2 is an excerpt from the Quarantine Speech presented by President F. D. Roosevelt. In this speech, Roosevelt mentions that the world wants speech, inevitably. However, he states, bombings and sinking of ships are happening in the time of "peace." He begins to point out the irony of a peaceful state when the fingers are crossed or there are deals being made before war is at hand. If one country is allying with another, it already shows the lack of peace. Roosevelt makes a clear statement that the United States will stay out of war because "America hates war. America hopes for peace."

4.4: Source 4.4 is an excerpt from Chamberlain's diary. In this passage, Chamberlain discusses the inevitable loss of Czechoslovakia to Germany. He states that Czechoslovakia is an easy target for Germany. There are routes for the Germans and Russia is only 100 miles away. With the capture of Czechoslovakia, Germany could head to Russia. Chamberlain says that they could only support Czechoslovakia if there was a good chance that Britain would win, but there was not the slightest chance. At the end, he states that he can not help the French with their connection to Czechoslovakia. France was in an Ally system with Czechoslovakia.

The Punitive Expedition

It was widely noted that Zapata was a poor politician. When Obregon entered Mexico City, Zapata shut off supply lines to Mexico City to starve the people. However, because he was fighting for the people, not against them, Zapata re-opened the lines. As the war progressed, the United States felt urged to recognize a government in Mexico. They decided that Carranza would be the leader. This angered Villa in every way. He began to kill American's in Mexico and started attacking American Cities. American forces in Mexico also played a great deal in Villa's anger. Because WWI was occurring at the same time, the US decided to pull out of Mexico to be involved in WWI. An important part to note is the Zimmerman telegram. It was a note from Germany to Carranza that was intercepted by Britain. It urged Carranza to attack the US. This would create too much for the US to handle, forcing them to pay attention to Mexico and not to WWI.

Evidence of Research

1989 The Year the World Changed:

· Russian communism’s arrival in Beijing

· The students position

o Loved Russia’s government

o Less restrictive

· Government decides to use military to force students out

· 500 students die, 5000 injured

· army of tanks used to push students out

Tienanmen Papers:

· The official document from Mao: Put military in Tiananmen

· The days leading up:

o Arrival of Russian democracy yet communism

o Mao’s opinions

o Letters to military

o Redirection of Flight

o Student’s love of Russian government

2 OPVL's for IA

1989: The Year the World Changed was written by Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz in 1996. It was written to document the fall of communism through 10 different countries. It illustrates the moment's in which communism was said to have died in the particular countries. The source is very valuable because it not only states the particular event, such as Tiananmen Square, but it also outlines the days before and the position of other countries with influence on the moments prior to the event. This source is limited, however, because it focuses on the events leading to the tragedies and important moments, and not on the tragedies themselves.

The Tiananmen Papers was compiled by Zhang Liang and published in 2001. The purpose of this book is to prove everything that the Chinese government at plotted during the occupation of Tiananmen square and the event leading up to Tiananmen Square. The book is valuable because it provides the exact government document's with an explanation of what the document means and how it impacted Tiananmen Square. The book also provides an Epilogue, which outlines how the Chinese Government planned dot deal with China's future. The source is limited however, because it is unclear how the documents were obtained. It is also tough to rely on the documents because they could have been written for something different.

Civil War

For Villa and Zapata, once their alliance had fallen apart, the revolution had turned into a civil war. This meant that they were fighting Carranza and Obregon, the federal alliance. Unlike in the US Civil War, the side's were hard to tell. It was not uncommon for an intellectual and wealthy person to side with Villa and a poor person with no land to side with Carranza. After many battles ensued, Villa came out a loser at almost every battle. The idea of trench warfare was practiced by Obregon and threw Villa and his men off. Villa's main tactic was to send lines of cavalry towards Obregon's men, but this proved useless after day one. Villa, however, continued to send his men directly towards the lines of bullets. Villa's support had dwindled down to only 2,0o0 men, with all of his generals and leaders fleeing to the US in fear of Villa.

Zapata, at this time, was occupying Mexico City once Villa left. He managed to stay out of major battles, and occasionally attacked the flanks of Carranza's troops. He did this to make sure that Villa won, however, did not want to help Villa to much, due to the death threat rumors.

In the end, Villa fled to the hills, becoming a revolutionary in revolt once again.

The Convergance of the Twain

The Mexican Revolution was fought all over the country by head Revolutionaries. The two head revolutionaries were Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa. Pancho Villa took care of the north of Mexico, dealing with the big cities and the industrial area. Zapata was in charge of the south, dealing with the hacienda owners and the peasants. Zapata's main goal during the Mexican Revolution was to gain the land back for the people and give it to the ancestral rights. Villa had no main goals but wanted the new leader to respect and listen to him. To make the revolution smoother, Villa and Zapata met on December 4th 1914 to discuss how they would go about winning the revolution and being successful. The problem, however, was the Villa and Zapata were two different people. Villa cared about money and Zapata cared about the traditional' including land. Zapata and Villa soon ended their alliance when Villa's army went out of control, stealing and raping the Mexico City, not to mention the conspiracies of Villa's men murdering Zapatistas. Zapata left the alliance frustrated and shocked. This tear in alliance is important because the country would now be split, potentially leading to civil war.