Becoming a World Power
Interwar Period
In an attempt to prevent another war, the European powers and the United States sponsored a peace conference at Versailles in France to resolve outstanding issues. Woodrow Wilson proposed a League of Nations that would prevent future wars, but opposition at home stopped the United States from joining. The Treaty of Versailles imposed a harsh peace on Germany, including huge debts to the victorious nations and blame for the war. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were broken up into smaller states. Germany also lost some parts of its territory to other countries.
Many Germans were angered by the terms of the peace, though after an economic crisis ended in 1924, Germany experienced several years of stability made possible by regular loans from the United States. However, in 1929 the Great Depression began in the United States and affected the entire world. In this economic climate, the loans ended, and the German economy failed. A right-wing leader named Adolf Hitler was able to negotiate his way to power, bringing Germany under the control of the Nazi Party in 1933.
KEEP IN MIND . . .
In the United States, the Great Depression was a catastrophe. By 1933, unemployment was at 25 percent. Although the New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt improved things somewhat, the economy remained poor until 1941.
Hitler was a committed anti-Semite who believed that Jews were seeking to control the world and weaken other races. He wanted to take land in Eastern Europe for German use, but he knew that doing so would provoke a war, so he began a program of rearmament. Because of the Great Depression and the difficulties facing France, Great Britain, and the United States, they failed to act as Germany built a new army and annexed surrounding territories. Americans, in particular, felt they had been forced into World War I and didnāt want to go war again.
Simultaneously, Japan embarked on a period of expansionism. Japan had been a rising power in Asia since the mid-nineteenth century, and by the 1920s Japanās military felt blocked from global power. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria on the Chinese border, and in 1937 it invaded China. These invasions angered the U.S. government under Franklin Roosevelt.
Example
Which of the following countries did not join the League of Nations?
A. Russia
B. France
C. Austria-Hungary
D. The United States
The correct answer is D. The United States did not join the League of Nations.
Subscribe to the online course to gain access to the full lesson content.
If your not ready for a subscription yet, be sure to check out our free practice tests and sample lesson at this link