2009.11.26

SIA: 佐々木インターナショナルアカデミーのプロフェッショナル英語教育

SIA: 佐々木インターナショナルアカデミーのプロフェッショナル英語教育

米国史:US History-Lead Up to World War II

英語直接学ぶ米国史、講師はRich Porter氏。授業は全て英語で行なわれます。11月28日、12月5日はいよいよ米国の視点で見たた第二次世界大戦への突入です。

米国からの視点を盲目的に受け入れるのではなく日本の視点と合わせて歴史を見ると日本史、米国史、世界史がより深く理解できます。11月28日、12月5日だけの参加も可能です。

受講料は10回6万円。受講生は現在1名、受講生募集中。興味のある方は連絡下さい。

以下、11月28日のReading assignmentです。

Lead Up to World War II

This Saturday's lecture will focus on:

1 Ideologies, doctrines, and philosophies
2 Interrelations and economics
3 Specific events in the West
4 Specific events in Asia

Ideologies, doctrines, and philosophies

The October Revolution led many Germans (and people in other countries) to fear that a Communist revolution would occur in their own country. Shortly after World War I, the Communists attempted to hold power in the country, leading to the establishment of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic. Political street warfare between the Communist armed militia and German groups, both groups enlarged by mass unemployment, would heighten the sense of instability in the country and the weakness of the Weimar Government. Street Violence that would help shift moderate conservative opinion towards the need for Germany to find an anti-Communist strong man to restore order in the way of life.

In Europe, Italy’s Benito Mussolini sought to create a New Roman Empire based around the Mediterranean and invaded Albania in early 1939, at the start of the war, and later invaded Greece. Italy had also invaded Ethiopia as early as 1935. This provoked little response from the League of Nations and the former World War I Allied powers. Italy’s expansionist desires can be tied to bitterness over minimal gains after helping the Allies achieve victory in World War I

After World War I, the German state had lost land to Lithuania, France, Poland, and Denmark. Notable losses included the Polish Corridor, Danzig, the Memel Territory (to Lithuania), the Province of Posen, the French province of Alsace-Lorraine , and the most economically valuable eastern portion of Upper Silesia. The economically valuable regions of the Saarland and the Rhineland were placed under the authority (but not jurisdiction) of France.

The result of this loss of land was population relocation, bitterness among Germans. Under the Nazi regime, Germany began its own program of expansion, seeking to restore the "rightful" boundaries of pre-World War I Germany, resulting in the reoccupation of the Rhineland and action in the Polish Corridor, leading to a perhaps inevitable war with Poland.

Fascism is a philosophy of government that is marked by stringent social and economic control, a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator, and often has a policy of belligerent nationalism that gained power in many countries across Europe in the years leading up to World War II. In general, it believes that the government should control industry and people for the good of the country. Fascists believed that war was generally a positive force for improvement and were therefore eager at the prospect of a new European war. Fascism ultimately proved to be one of beliefs that was universal with many invading Axis countries.


Militarism refers to a highly militaristic and aggressive attitude prevailed among the leaders of Germany, Japan and Italy. Compounding this fact was the traditional militant attitude of the three had a similar track record that is often underestimated. For example, Germany introduced permanent conscription in 1935, with a clear aim of rebuilding its army (and defying the Treaty of Versailles).

Nationalism is the belief that groups of people are bound together by territorial, cultural and ethnic links. Nationalism was used by their leaders to generate public support in Germany, already a nation where fervent nationalism was prevalent. In Italy, the idea of restoring the Roman Empire was attractive to many Italians. In Japan, nationalism, in the sense of duty and honor, especially to the emperor, had been widespread for centuries.

Interrelations and economics

Problems with the Treaty of Versailles related in particular to the fact it was neither lenient enough to appease Germany, nor harsh enough to prevent it from becoming the dominant continental power again. The treaty placed the blame, or "war guilt" on Germany and Austria-Hungary, and punished them from their "responsibility" rather than working out an agreement that would assure peace in the long-term future. The treaty resulted in harsh monetary reparations, territorial dismemberment, mass ethnic resettlements and indirectly hampered the German economy by causing rapid hyperinflation

Competition for resources affected Japan more than the other axis powers. Other than a few coal and iron deposits, Japan lacks true natural resources. Japan, the only Asian country with a burgeoning industrial economy at that time, feared that a lack of raw materials might hinder its ability to fight a total war against a reinvigorated Soviet Union. In the hopes of expanding its resources, Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and set about to consolidate its resources and develop its economy. In addition, Japan would have to challenge the European colonial powers over the control of oil rich areas such as the Dutch East Indies. Such a move against the colonial powers was however expected to lead to open conflict also with the United States.

The most significant drawback of the League of Nations was it lacked an armed force of its own and so depended on the members to enforce its resolutions, keep to economic sanctions which the League ordered, or provide an army, when needed, for the League to use. However, they were often very reluctant to do so.

After numerous notable successes and some early failures in the 1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis Powers in the 1930s. The absence of the U.S., the reliance upon unanimous decisions, the lack of an armed force, and the continued self-interest of its leading members meant that this failure was arguably inevitable.

Some academics examine World War II as the final portion of a wider European Civil War that began with the Franco-Prussian War inJuly 19, 1870. The proposed period would include many (but not all) of the major European regime changes to occur during the period, including those during the Spanish Civil War and Russian Civil War.

Specific events In the West

A significant historical event was The Franco-Prussian War, initiated by Napoleon III of France, who was alarmed at the rapid growth in population and unity among the German people and was eventually forced to declare war. This period marked a relative decline in the strength of France, which continued into the 20th century.

Weimar Republic was named after the city of Weimar, where a national assembly convened to produce a new constitution after the German Empire was abolished following the nation's defeat in World War I. It was a liberal democracy in the style of France and the United States.

The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed Nazi coup d'état which occurred in the evening of Thursday, November 8 to the early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923. Adolf Hitler, using the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic.


The Great Depression was a major cause of World War II. Fallout from the collapse of the United States economy following the 1929 Stock Market Crash reverberated throughout the world. European countries, especially Germany, were hit hard by the Great Depression, which led to high rates of unemployment, poverty,civil unrest, and an overall feeling of despair.

The Great Depression resulted in a 25% unemployment rate in the United States and a 33% unemployment rate in Germany. The lure of a steady job and adequate food led many people to support dictatorships like those established by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini,Joseph Stalin, and other totalitarians.

The Great Depression hit Germany second only to the United States. Severe unemployment prompted the Nazi Party, which had been losing favor, to experience a surge in membership. This more than anything contributed to the rise of Hitler in Germany, and therefore World War II in Europe.

Hitler was appointed chancellor on January 30, 1933. The arson of the parliament building on February 27 (which some have claimed the Nazis had instigated) was used as an excuse for the cancellation of civil and political liberties, enacted by the aged President Paul von Hindenburg and the rightist coalition cabinet led by Hitler.
After new elections, a Nazi-led majority abolished parliamentarism, the Weimar constitution, and practically the parliament itself through the Enabling Act on March 23, whereby the Nazis' planned Gleichschaltung ("bringing into line") of Germany was made formally legal, giving the Nazis totalitarian control over German society. In the "Night of the Long Knives", Hitler's men murdered his main political rivals. After Hindenburg died on August 2, 1934, the authority of the presidency fell into the hands of Adolf Hitler. Without much resistance from the army leadership, the Soldiers' Oath was modified into an oath of obedience to Adolf Hitler personally.
Munich Agreement played a major role in the lead up to war. Sudetenland was a predominantly German-speaking region along the Western borders of Czechoslovakia with Germany. Hitler pressed for the Sudetenland's incorporation into the Reich, supporting German separatist groups within the Sudeten region. Alleged Czech brutality and persecution under Prague helped to stir up nationalist tendencies, as did the Nazi press.

The above helped result in Czechoslovakian government declaring martial law in parts of the Sudetenland to maintain order. Citing the need to protect the Germans in Czechoslovakia, Germany requested the immediate annexation of the Sudetenland.

Italian invasions stirred tension in Europe also. On April 7, 1939, Mussolini's troops invaded Albania. Albania was occupied after short campaign despite stubborn resistance offered by the Albanian forces. Four years before, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini attempted to expand the Italian Empire in Africa by invading the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia). To that time, Ethiopia had successfully resisted European colonization. With the pretext of the Walwal incident in late 1934, the Kingdom of Italy invaded on October 3, 1935. The Italians invaded without a formal declaration of war. The League of Nations declared Italy the aggressor but failed to impose effective sanctions.

Specific events In Asia

Second Sino-Japanese War represents the most significant event in Asia. It began in 1937 when Japan attacked deep into China from its foothold in Manchukuo. The invasion was launched by the bombing of many cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou. The latest, which began on 22 and 23 September 1937, called forth widespread protests culminating in a resolution by the Far Eastern Advisory Committee of the League of Nations.

The Imperial Japanese Army captured the Chinese capital city of Nanjing, and committed brutal atrocities in the Nanjing massacre.

Also significant was the Soviet-Japanese Border War. In 1939, the Japanese attacked west from Manchuria into Mongolian People's Republic. They were decisively beaten by Soviet units under General Georgy Zhukov. Following this battle, the Soviet Union and Japan were at peace until 1945. Japan looked south to expand its empire, leading to conflict with the United States over the Philippines and control of shipping lanes to the Dutch East Indian. The Soviet Union focused on the west, leaving 1 million to 1.5 million troops to guard the frontier with Japan.

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_World_War_II


名古屋から世界へ英語実践教育のSIA

名古屋から世界へ英語実践教育のSIA

佐々木 賢治
SIA Inc. Sasaki International Academy


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