1939...LET THE BATTLES BEGIN!

1939 was an incredibly active year as far as World War II was concerned.  Hitler and his Nazi Party had not only managed to almost double the size of Germany by annexing Austria and taking over the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, he had managed to do this WITHOUT any interference from Great Britain, France, or the League of Nations.  In fact, Great Britain and France had played key roles in essentially GIVING him the Sudetenland.  Now, all that remained between Hitler and his desire to control Europe was Stalin and the Soviet Union.

Despite the fact that Great Britain, France, and many other countries had taken a position of appeasement toward Hitler and the Nazis, this did not mean that they were completely blind.  In fact, they knew something was up...they just didn't want to go to war over it.  So, in an effort to put more pressure on Hitler to just stop where he was at and to rein in the Nazi expansionism that was going on, Great Britain and France tried to form an alliance with Stalin and the Soviet Union.  In fact, Great Britain and France had been trying, unsuccessfully, to court Stalin's favor for a couple of years, but they were always turned away.

Hitler managed to do what Great Britain and France could not do....

In August of 1939, Hitler announced that he and Stalin had reached an agreement which is now referred to as the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in which the two countries came up with a plan to conquer, and then divide, the lands that were owned by Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Finland.  Nobody knew all of the details of the pact until after the fact, but nobody believed this could be a good thing, either. 

Now, make no mistake...Hitler and Stalin hated each other and didn't trust each other, but Stalin had been watching what had been going on in Central Europe and he knew that Hitler's goal was to attack Russia.  As such, Stalin's two options pretty much boiled down to:

      1.  Form an alliance with Great Britain and end up fighting Hitler for control of Poland....

                                                                          OR

     2.   Form an alliance with Hitler, get half of Poland, and gain time to build up his own army...


The decision was pretty easy for Stalin.  By negotiating with Hitler, not only would Stalin gain back much of the territory Russia had lost following World War I, he would also not have to worry about Hitler invading the Soviet Union. 

Hitler:  "The scum of the earth, I believe?"  Stalin:  "The bloody assassin of the workers, I presume?" 

Of course, Stalin had no way of knowing that Hitler had no intentions of keeping his word as far as not invading the Soviet Union...but Stalin likely didn't plan on being 100% honest either, so this "friendship" was likely doomed from the start.

Many historians point to this pact between the Nazis and the Soviets as the final straw as far as ushering in World War II.  The main reasons are that the Pact:

1. Freed up Hitler to invade Poland because he knew that Britain couldn't do anything to defend Poland, and he invaded the country just nine days later.
2. Ended Britain's hopes of an alliance with Russia to stop Hitler; people in Britain realised that nothing would stop Hitler now but war.
3. Improved morale of British people for war because the Pact showed Hitler as an opportunist and a trickster, who could never be trusted.

BLITZKREIG!

On September 1, 1939, the second world war was essentially started as Germany invaded Poland. 

Hitler used a quick strike method which he called blitzkreig or "lightning war" to make rapid offensive advances into Poland.  This was a new military tactic using fast-moving aircraft, tanks, and infantry forces in surprise attacks against the opposition with overwhelming force. 

Hitler sent nearly 1.5 million troops to the Polish border and attacked from the north, south, and west.  The first attack was an airstrike at 4:40 a.m. by the Luftwaffe against the Polish city of Wielun, in which 75% of the city was destroyed and nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. 

Wielun after the German airstrike in 1939.

At 4:45 a.m., a German battleship launched an attack in the Baltic Sea against the Free City of Danzig (sort of its own city-state kind of thing), and by 8:00 a.m. the German infantry had engaged in undeclared war against Poland near the border town of Mokra.

Britain and France Declare War on Germany

Following the invasion of Poland by Germany, Great Britain and France felt they had no choice but to abandon their policy of appeasement.  On September 3, 1939, both countries declared war on Hitler's Third Reich, breaking the Munich Agreement.  However, the Brits and French made no impact on the German invasion of Poland and, as a result, many Poles felt abandoned by the rest of Europe as they scrambled to defend themselves.

The Soviets Enter the War

Phase Two of the Polish invasion began on September 17, 1939, when roughly 800,000 Soviet Red Army forces invaded from the east, holding up their end of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The Red Army cut off any chance of a Polish retreat and reorganize along the Romanian border. 

Polish Royal Castle at Warsaw on fire following Nazi bombing...

The Polish people attempted to defend themselves, but it was of little use, being crushed between the two military giants. By October 6, 1939, Poland's last forces had to surrender, prompting Hitler to declare in a speech in Danzig, "Poland never will rise again in the form of the Versailles Treaty. That is guaranteed not only by Germany...but by Russia." 

On October 8, Germany annexed its portion of Poland into the Third Reich.

APPEASEMENT and HITLER'S DOMINATION OF EUROPE

How, in fewer than 25 years, did Europe go from looking like this:

with all countries separate and supporting their own boundaries, to this:

a huge mess of countries in the Axis alliance or under control of the Axis?  How did the Soviet Union lose all that territory?  What happened in Northern Africa? 

To find the answers, we have to go back to the outcome of World War I, and specifically look at the cost of the War, both financially and in terms of human loss of life.  Billions of dollars of damage were caused, especially in France, Belgium, Great Britain, and Germany, and over 9 million people died, with estimates of the injured ranging from 10 to 20 million more people!  Most countries simply no longer had the desire to fight.  Great Britain was at the front of the list of countries who were, at this point, willing to do almost anything to stay out of another war.  This attitude became the British policy that is known as appeasement:  doing whatever is necessary to soothe or pacify another country that may be trying to start another war.

Hitler knew this....

Now, remember that as part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had huge restrictions placed on their military, and Germany and Austria were forbidden to join together to become one massive super-powered country.  Hitler wanted to see just how far he could push the boundaries of the Treaty, so he began to rebuild his military...and then let Great Britain know about it!  In 1935, he all but told England that he had rebuilt an air force (the German Luftwaffe).  As Hitler had predicted, Great Britain, France, and the League of Nations did practically nothing (some people claim they already knew the air force existed but didn't want to anger Hitler so they never brought it up).  So...since he had been given this much rope, Hitler decided to take more, and he built up his army to nearly half a million men (remember, Germany had been restricted to an army of just 100,000 men by the Treaty of Versailles).  Still, no major response from the two countries Hitler was most concerned about, Great Britan and France. 

Now, keep in mind that while Hitler was DOING these things, he was SAYING all the right things.  Hitler had made numerous public speeches saying that he had a desire for peace and that war was foolish and would serve no purpose in the rebuilding of Germany.  He also announced that he had no intention of annexing Austria or of putting his military into the demilitarized zone along the Rhineland.  He even went so far as to say he would respect all the territorial clauses of the Versailles Treaty.  In fact, despite the fact that he openly rebuilt his air force and army, Hitler also announced that he was prepared to mutually disarm the heaviest of his weapons and limit the strength of his navy.  In one quote, Hitler stated, "Whoever lights the torch of war in Europe can wish for nothing but chaos." 

This sure didn't sound like a man who wanted war...

But, by 1938, Hitler had become even more bold, and he went ahead and, in a move called the Anschluss, brought Austria into the Third Reich after the Austrian Nazi Party staged a coup d'etat and essentially overthrew the Austrian government.  Hitler said that he was doing this so that all of the German speaking people could be united into one country, so Britain and France, again, really didn't say a lot.  But then the people of Czechoslovakia who spoke German decided THEY wanted to be part of the Third Reich as well.  However, not all of Czechoslovakia wanted to join with Germany, so Hitler had a bit of a problem...sort of...because he didn't want to risk a war with the Soviet Union just yet, and the Czechs and Soviets were allies. 

But Britain and France did Hitler a favor because they didn't want a war to break out (appeasement again...).  Britain and France met with Hitler and his buddy, Mussolini, in what was called the Munich Conference.  At this conference, which Czechoslovakia was NOT invited to, Germany would occupy the German-speaking portion of Czechoslovakia (known as the Sudetenland), and the rest of the Czech country would be split between Poland and Hungary.  Czechoslovakia was then told they could go along with this plan...or they could face Germany by themselves, because the Soviet Union had no intention of going to war if Great Britain and France were not also involved.  Czechoslovakia agreed, which reorganized Central Europe to look like this:

At this point, Hitler told the rest of the European leaders that he had no intention of taking further lands.

He lied...

THE NORTH PLATTE CANTEEN

This memorial park is all that remains of the North Platte Canteen that operated from 

Christmas of 1941 until April 1, 1946.  During that run, more than six million servicemen and women travelled through North Platte's depot, receiving gifts of food, coffee, magazines, cards, cigarettes, and, most importantly, friendship and love.

This marker was built using bricks from the Canteen. 

"Once Upon A Town" is written about the North Platte Canteen and is available pretty much anywhere you want to buy books.

THE FINAL SOLUTION...

The term Final Solution is commonly used as part of any extensive discussion about the Holocaust during World War II.  The term refers to the Nazi plan to remove the Jewish population, not just from Germany, but from all of Europe, as the German goal was to take over as much of Europe as possible.  As far as the Nazis could determine, the "Jewish problem" could only be solved one way...total annihilation. 

As we have already started looking at, the Germans began ramping up their pressure on the Jewish population to leave Germany in a number of ways.  The Nuremburg Laws of 1935 started things off by putting serious restrictions (and consequences) on the Jews as far as how they could live their lives.  Then, in 1938, Kristallnacht stepped things up further as the Nazis began physically attacking the Jews following the killing of a Nazi party member by a Jewish youth.  Businesses were destroyed, synagogues were burned, people were killed, and thousands of Jews were rounded up and taken to concentration camps where they were pressured to promise to leave the country and, in many cases, turn over all of their possessions to the Nazi party on their way out the door.

But, believe it or not, things would get worse.

GHETTOS

In 1939, the Nazis began the wholesale relocation of the Jews to specific regions of various cities throughout Germany and German-occupied Poland called ghettos.  Roughly 1,000 of these districts were created by the Nazis so that they could isolate the Jews from the rest of the German population and keep them under constant suveilance and control.    Entire Jewish families were relocated to these ghettoes and were frequently forced to live with complete strangers in cramped, dirty, sometimes bombed-out, often fenced-in regions with the constant threat of death hanging in the air.  In the largest ghetto, the Warsaw ghetto, approximately 400,000 Jews were crowded into a section that was just 1.3 miles square; the Lodz Ghetto was the second largest, with between 150,000 and 200,000 residents.  The people in the photo above are from the Kielce Ghetto which had around 6,500 Jews.  Jews in these ghettos were required to wear either armbands or the Star of David symbols to signify that they were Jewish so they could be more easily identified by Nazi guards.  Schooling of the children in the ghettos was often banned.   There were shortages of food, medicine, and basic human necessities, so smuggling operations were not uncommon in the ghettos.  Sometimes, though not often, there were Jewish uprisings in the ghettos, with the Jewish citizenry gathering up whatever weapons they could and attempting to revolt against their Nazi captors.  These revolts rarely ended up well for the Jews, but sometimes people were able to escape the ghettos and gain at least temporary freedom. 

Lodz Ghetto

Warsaw Ghetto
To many Nazi leaders, the ghettos were becoming more of a problem than they were worth, so in 1941, the Nazis began tearing down the ghettos.  The Jews residing in the ghettos were either shot and then buried in mass graves on-site, or they were transported out, usually extermination camps. 

EXTERMINATION CAMPS



The first Nazi exetermination camp was called Chelmno.  This small camp used sealed vans as gas chambers, but with only 152,000 estimated kills at Chelmno, this method was slow and comparitively ineffective.  Later in Poland, the extermination camps either consisted of a trio known as the Operation Reinhard camps, which were Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, or the most famous (infamous) of all the camps, Auschwitz-Birkenau.  The Operation Reinhard camps accounted for the killing of more than 1.5 million Jews between 1942 and 1943, but Aushwitz-Birkenau, the largest of all the extermination camps, managed to be worse.  By 1943, Aushwitz had four Zyklon-B gas chambers in full use and as many as 6,000 Jews were killed there every day. More than a million Jews, and tens of thousands of Gypsies, Poles, and others, were killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau alone.  It was also at Auschwitz-Birkenau that many of the Nazi experiments involving sterilization, genetics, and other biomedical fields, were carried out on the "fittest, healthiest" Jewish men, women, and children who were held captive there.

Imprisoned children at Auschwitz-Birkenau

Madjanek was another extermination center, although it also served as a holding facility/concentration camp.  While the numbers pale in comparison to any of the camps listed above, tens of thousands of Jews, mostly those who were too sick or weak to be of any use in labor cams, were killed in gas chambers at Madjanek.

A Guided Tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau
        
Dachau Concentration Camp Video


EINSATZGRUPPEN

Another method of killing the Jews was the Einsatzgruppen, or mobile killing squads.  Made up mostly of German SS and police units, these killing squads would follow the German military as they advanced the eastern frontline into Russia, and kill anyone behind the German lines who were Jewish, Russian P.O.W.'s, Communist party members, people in mental hospitals, or anyone viewed as a threat to Germany.  When Heinrich Himler, the leader of the SS, noted that all of the shooting had started to cause psychological problems among his men, the Einsatzgruppen began using mobile gas chambers created out of moving vans, such as those used at Chelmno.  It is estimated that by the spring of 1943, the Einsatzgruppen had killed more than 1 million Soviet Jews, as well as tens-perhaps-hundreds of thousands of others.

THE HOLOCAUST BEGINS

Outside of America*, it is likely that no other event is so closely tied to World War II than the Holocaust (sometimes called the Shoah), in which more than 6 million Jews were killed in what can only be labeled as genocide.  Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group"; the Jews fit at least three of these (ethnic, religious, and national). 

(*I say outside of America because, according to some research, the bombing of Pearl Harbor is typically the first thing mentioned when American students are asked about World War II. The Holocaust is almost always second, however...)

At the outset of World War II, more than 9 million Jews lived in Europe; by the end of the War, there were fewer than three million, with some estimates as low as 1.5 million, with hundreds of thousands of Jews fleeing the region prior to the rounding up of the Jews and after the creation of the Nuremburg Laws.



The Nuremburg Laws were put into place by Hitler's regime in 1935.  These laws were actually a strict set of guidelines about behavior and expectations put on the Jews.

The poster reads:

The Laws for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour

(September 15, 1935) Moved by the understanding that the purity of German blood is essential to the further existence of the German people, and inspired by the uncompromising determination to safeguard the future of the German nation, the Reichstag has unanimously resolved upon the following law, which is promulgated herewith:

Section 1

1. Marriages between Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad.
2. Proceedings for annulment may be initiated only by the Public Prosecutor.

Section 2

Extramarital sexual intercourse between Jews and subjects of the state of Germany or related blood is forbidden.

Section 3

Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens under the age of 45, of German or kindred blood, as domestic workers.

Section 4

1. Jews are forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the national colours.
2. On the other hand they are permitted to display the Jewish colours. The exercise of this right is protected by the State.

Section 5

1. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 1 will be punished with hard labour.
2. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 2 will be punished with imprisonment or with hard labour.
3. A person who acts contrary to the provisions of Sections 3 or 4 will be punished with imprisonment up to a year and with a fine, or with one of these penalties.

Section 6

The Reich Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Deputy Führer and the Reich Minister of Justice will issue the legal and administrative regulations required for the enforcement and supplementing of this law.

Section 7

The law will become effective on the day after its promulgation; Section 3, however, not until 1 January 1936.

Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass)

On November 7, 1938, an 18 year old Jewish man named Herschel Grunspan assassinated a Nazi party member, and German diplomat, named Ernst vom Rath, in Paris.  This gave the Nazis even more fuel for their arguments against the Jews as being "uncivilized" and allowed the Nazis to now use full-scale physical retaliation.  The Nazis claimed that what happened next was "spontaneous", but there is little doubt it was planned:  over the next three days, in what is now called Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, more than 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses, and nearly 1,700 Jewish synagogues were damaged or destroyed; 91 Jews were "officially" killed (it is believed that this number should be many times higher); more than 30,000 Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps such as Dachau and Buchenwald.  Those who were captured were released a few weeks later if they could prove they were going to leave Germany OR if they agreed to transfer their property over to the Nazi Party.  Following this, on November 11, Jews were banned from owning firearms or other weapons.  Jews were also levied an additional tax, called the "atonement tax", which was used to repair everything damaged during Krystallnacht... 

AMERICA AND THE NEW DEAL...RUSSIA, AND...WHAT'S THEIR DEAL?

While the Great Depression hit Europe pretty hard, no one had it worse than the United States (well...except Germany...).  After the stock market crash of 1929, things fell apart at a pretty rapid pace.  By 1932, some estimates say that industrial production in the United States dropped off by HALF of what it was before the crash.  Great Britain was struggling with more than two million unemployed people...but America had more than four million unemployed by 1930...and as many as sixteen million unemployed people by 1933!   

Then, in 1933, the Dust Bowl hit, ripping away the topsoil that farmers relied upon to grow crops and earn a living.  It is estimated that more than 30 million tons of topsoil blew away, which would be enough to fill up half of the Grand Canyon.  More than half a million people were homeless due directly to the Dust Bowl.  More than 2.5 million people left the Dust Bowl regions of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas.  More than 200,000 of these people ended up moving to California, searching for mythical jobs that were rumored along the rail lines that ran out of the Dust Bowl and into the hopeful Californian oasis.

President Herbert Hoover, in the eyes of most, did virtually nothing to help the people or the situation, and he was soundly defeated in the 1932 elections by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the governeor of New York.  Roosevelt, seeing that the "wait and see" approach wasn't working, pushed through a massive package of social programs and economic intervention programs known as the New Deal.  As part of the New Deal, Roosevelt established the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) which created jobs for single, unemployed men between the ages of 17 and 23.  Later, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in  1935, which put unemployed people to work building bridges, roads, post offices, airports, parks, canals, dams, etc.  Roughly three million people were employed by the WPA at one time, sparking hope.  The Social Security Act of 1935 gave even more hope to desperate people who whispered of revolution.  Things were far from great, and millions were still without full-time (or even part-time) work, but many people were able to at least see a glimmer of hope, not realizing that World War II was on the horizon.

Russia

By this time (1921), the Russian Revolution is over, and Russia, like practically every other major nation in the world, is struggling economically, and the Russian president, Vladamir Lenin, institutes what he refers to as the New Economic Policy (catchy title, huh?).  This system blends the communism Lenin preached with bits and pieces of capitalism, allowing small business ownership and individuals were allowed to sell produce and hand-crafted items on their own.  The government still controlled all major industries, the banks, the mines, etc. 

In 1922, Russia is no longer known as Russia, but as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), and Lenin's NEP keeps the country from going under.  But in 1924, Lenin dies and Josef Stalin takes over as president after a massive struggle in the Politburo, which is kind of like the Communist version of Parliament or Congress.  Stalin manages to sieze control away from others such as Leon Trotsky (the leader of the Communist army) and others.  Stalin and Trotsky hated each other, with Trotsky now holding the position of commissioner of war, and Stalin being the communist party general secretary.  Stalin was able to win support among key members of the Communist party, and he eventually takes control of the Communist party.  Once Stalin gains control of the party, he then starts taking steps to eliminate anyone who might pose a threat to his reign.  He gets rid of the original Bolsheviks, including Trotsky, who leaves for Mexico in 1927 (where he is later murdered in 1940...most likely under Stalin's orders).

Once Stalin has got rid of most of his rivals, he then shuts down the NEP that Lenin had put in place, and Stalin starts instituting what he calls Five Year Plans.  These Five Year Plans are sets of economic goals for the U.S.S.R. which he believes will transform the U.S.S.R. from being an agricultural country to an industrial power.  He ramps up steel production, oil production, and manufacturing in huge chunks and large numbers of workers switch from agricultural jobs to industrial jobs, which, of course, causes large numbers of people to move into the cities which, as we saw during the American Industrial Revolution, were not capable of handling such large numbers of people.  Private farms were eliminated in favor of government-owned farms (a process called collectivization), which angered peasant farmers who hoarded their crops and killed their livestock so the government couldn't take them.  This led to massive problems with famine and disease and between 1932 and 1933, it is estimated (by Stalin, himself) that as many as 10 million Soviets died of starvation or hunger-related diseases. 

Stalin, in what is called The Great Purge, continued to get rid of the old Bosheviks that were associated with the Russian Revolution.  From 1936 to 1938, as many as 8 million people, including these Bolsheviks, were arrested and sent to Siberian prison camps, or executed. 

MORE "-ISMS"...including the rise of NAZISM....

When the Great Depression hit Europe, an entire continent that had been very carefully pieced back together after World War I, was rocked and shattered once again.  Fragile economies that were just starting to build up momentum, and just beginning to participate in the idea of America's "Roaring Twenties", came crashing back down.  As a result, new leaders with new ideas about government and reform began to take center stage and rise to prominence throughout much of Europe.

FRANCE

France came out of World War I as probably the most powerful country in Europe, with the exception of Great Britain.  France had a stronger, more balanced economy than most European nations, so it did not suffer from the immediate problems caused by the Great Depression like many countries.  The Great Depression would take strong hold in France in 1932 (it hit in America in 1929...).  Despite the fact that it held on longer than most countries would, France was not immune to governmental upheaval.  Between 1932 and 1933, France would go through SIX DIFFERENT CABINETS!  (How stable would that government be?)  Eventually, a group called the Popular Front Government, made up of communists, socialists, and radicals, would take over the French government and put into place a large set of socialistic programs and ideas, commonly nicknamed the French New Deal.   In 1936, the Popular Front would win the French prime minister's office with a man named Leon Blum, who was a Jew, who would serve two very tumultuous stints in office from June 1936 to June 1937, and again from April to October in 1938.   He managed to survive a stint in Buchenwald concentration camp, avoided Nazi-ordered execution, and eventully returned to the Prime Minister's post for a little over a month from December 1946 to January 1947 as the French were setting up their post-war government.

GREAT BRITAIN

Despite the fact that they "won" World War I, Great Britain suffered a pretty severe economic downturn when the war was over.  Over two million Britons, incluing over 500,000 women, were unemployed after the war because the steel, coal, and textile industries settled back to pre-war levels of production and tens of thousands of people were laid off.  There was a brief pick-up in the economy from 1925 to 1929, but when the Great Depression hit in late 1929, Great Britain was just as vulerable as most other countries.  The ruling Labor Party would be ousted in 1931 and replaced by the Conservative Party, which managed to pull Britain out of the worst parts of the depression through the use of balanced budgets, protective tariffs (taxes on imported goods), and ignoring the deficit spending ideas (basically, going into debt, if necessary, to continue to buy goods, thus driving up demand and creating jobs) of a noted British economist by the name of John Maynard Keynes, whose Keynsian theories are still used by many economists today.

ITALY

Italy's problems started almost as soon as World War I ended...never mind the Great Depression!  Inflation skyrocketed, people in all sectors of work went on strike, and revolution was threatened by, you guessed it, communists and socialists.  People were afraid of a situation like that which had developed in Russia (remember, Italy and Russia were fairly close friends at this time).  All this unrest left a wide-open door for a man named Benito Mussiolini. 

Similar to Hitler, Mussolini fought in World War I and was dismayed by the events of the
War, even though Italy was on the "winning" side.  Mussolini was originally a socialist, but he didn't think that worked 100% the way he wanted, so he came up with the Fascio di Combattimento (League of Combat), which is where the word facism comes from.  He published his Fascist Manifesto in 1921, which outlined his beliefs and, ideally, those of all fascists.  Fascists glorify the state above all else, including individual people.  Fascists seek to drive out any foreign influence that is believed to be harmful to the homeland.  Fascists hold a strong belief in Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest on a cultural level), by arguing that society, Italian society in this case, must weed out those who are not socially or biologically beneficial to the general culture.  Fascist governments are always led by dictators who control the people and eliminate opposition.  Political violence and war are actually PROMOTED by fascist governments to eliminate opponents or to bolster the fascist party's strength. 

The Italians in the early 1920's were very fearful of outside influences, such as communism, which made Mussolini and his fascists look very attractive on the surface, because Mussolini preached all-things-Italian.  In 1922, Italy elected Mussolini as Prime Minister.  By 1925, he had begun referring to himself as Il Duce (The Leader) and had siezed dictatorial control of the country, but many people didn't mind.  He appeared to be trying to do good things for the country.  He recognized the Vatican as an independent Catholic state, gave large amounts of money to the Vatican and the Catholic Church, and he recognized Catholicism as the only religion of Italy; in return, the Vatican encouraged people to support fascism.  He set up numerous government construction plans to combat unemployment, ordered more than 5,000 government farms to be established, and drained lakes and marshes to take back land that he hoped could be used for economic development.  By 1935, it is estimated (and claimed by Mussolini, himself) that the government controlled nearly 3/4 of all businesses in Italy, and practically banned foreign trade (with any country except Germany) by instituting sky-high tariffs and taxes on imports.

GERMANY

Germany had been struggling in just about every way imaginable following the end of the War.  Crushed by nearly every single point of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany seemed to be in a hole that had no bottom...and no ladder to the top.  The democratic government that had been rapidly put into place had to fight constant battles against communists who were trying to take over.  Inflation was at insane levels, unemployment was skyrocketing, many people who had jobs went on strike against the government, and there seemed to be little hope for improvement.  The Dawes Plan had started to turn things around, giving Germany's economy a boost for a period from about 1925 until 1929, but the Great Depression ended that, and Germany once again fell into disarray.

In 1923, a small movement known as the National Socialist German Worker's Party, better known as the Nazi Party, began to make a lot of noise thanks largely to it's leader, Adolf Hitler.  Contrary to what most people believe, Hitler did not start the Nazi party, nor was he the party's first leader; that distinction belongs to Anton Drexler, who led the party from 1920-1921.  Hitler, however, took control of the party in 1921 and would retain that leadership role until he committed suicide in 1945.  In 1923, Hitler attemted to start a revolution in what is called the Beer Hall Putsch, or Beer Hall Riots.  While the revolution failed, Hitler became a household name almost immediately, which gave the Nazi Party instant recognition.  Hitler was arrested and imprisoned for his role in the failed revolution; it was in in prison for "political crimes", as Hitler called them, that he started writing Mein Kampf ("My Struggle" or "My Battle"), his combination autobiography/political manifesto.  (He reportedly wanted to call it "Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice", but was convinced to change it by his publisher.)

By 1933, the German economy was in such a disastrous state that the German president, Paul von Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as Chancelor of Germany, which is the German equivalent of Prime Minister.  The move was done, in part, because the German government didn't know what else to try, and also partly because the Nazi party had grown very loud and very strong and the government felt that if Hitler failed, like everyone else had, to pull the government out of its current mess, the Nazis would disappear.  However, rather than fail, Hitler's policies actually started to show positive effects and his strengthy and popularity grew.  Hitler used heavy governmental spending to rebuild Germany's outlawed military, which resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs, bringing an end to the crippling unemployment Germany had struggled with.  He ordered the building of the Autobahn road system, as well as other massive public works projects, to rebuild the demolished country and to create even more jobs, further stimulating the economy. 

Hitler quickly solidified his power by declaring Germany a totalitarian regime, called The Third Reich.  (Hitler referred to Germany as the Third Reich, which fits the definition provided below).  Hitler was referred to as Fuhrer (leader) and he instilled a system referred to as  Führerprinzip, which means "leader principal" in which Hitler's word was considered to be above all other laws.

Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its power or authority and attempts to sieze control of ALL aspects of public and private life.  Heavy usage of propoganda help to keep totalitarian regimes in control, as does the restriction of virtually all individual rights.  Totalitarian states control all media, including the radio, television, and newspapers.  Opposition political parties are usually outlawed.

Nazism can be thought of as a combination of totalitarianism and fascism.  Hitler had complete and total control of his government and his country (totalitarianism) and also applied the ideas of purging his country of outside influences and of those who were not considered to be socially or biologically beneficial to society (fascism), as exampled by his extermination of not only the Jews, but also Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, blacks, homosexuals, the physically and mentally handicapped, criminals...and political opponents.

Tomorrow, we will look at how America and Russia are faring in the Great Depression era, and see what happens as Hitler begins the push towards thrusting the world into World War...again...

THE ROARING TWENTIES & THE DIRTY THIRTIES....JUST A CALM BEFORE THE STORM....

When World War I ended, there was a brand new hope for the world, especially in Europe.  Numerous people had new homelands, as several new countries were carved out of the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman Empires.  The "evil" German Empire had been squashed and would trouble no one any further (yeah...right...).  The countries of Europe...and the United States...had gone back to the practice of isolationism, staying out of each other's hair for the most part, and eliminating the alliance problem that fueled the War.  And, of course, the League Of Nations was put in place and would protect the world from the ravages of war for the rest of time. 

Not quite....

The League of Nations

What is the artist trying to say here about the United States and the League of Nations?

Despite the fact that the United States practically DEMANDED the creation of the League of Nations, we stayed completely out of it once it was put into place.  Why?  What happened?  Congress (and more specifically, the Senate) refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.  Of course, since the League of Nations had been created by the Treaty of Versailles, we couldn't join the League since we didn't recognize the Treaty!  Of course, there were reasons that the Senate Republicans, who held the majority of that chamber of Congress, didn't want in the League.  The biggest reason was the League didn't have it's own armed forces to deal with international problems, so it would have to call on its members for military support...which could mean American troops would have to go back into a war-like situation, possibly even against our own allies.  Plus, we desired to return to a more isolationist existance and, once again, wanted to stay out of Europe's problems as much as possible.  Some political scientists also say our three-branch government set-up wouldn't have allowed us to enter the League effectively, anyway, because (essentially) it would be our Executive Branch taking action in League affairs, which it couldn't do without the Legislative Branch first allowing it to do so.  Got that?  Big mess, I know...  In the end, regardless of the reason, we stayed out...


However, it should be noted that the United States excluding itself was not the only issue that weakened the League of Nations.  As mentioned above, there was no military force for taking action if necessary.  France still didn't trust England, and vice versa, so there was always some tension there, especially in regards to Germany, who was eventually allowed to join in 1926...and then pulled out in 1933...the League of Nations.  Japan left the League in 1933, as well.  (Hmmmmm....Germany and Japan...Germany and Japan...seems those two countries ring a bell about this time in history, but I can't recall why just now...)

Anyway, the weakness of the League was tested almost immediately, by one of it's key members...France.  France was upset that Germany was not able to reparations payments, so they sent troops into Germany's Ruhr Valley region, which was the main mining region Germany had retained after the Treaty of Versailles, and started "paying themselves" by helping themselves to the mines and factories in the region.  Of course, the League did nothing about this occupation which, if you look at it, should probably have been against League of Nations rules....

Germany Struggles

As any conscious person could have predicted, Germany was beginning to struggle in a BIG way.  German workers were going on strike because they wanted more pay, so the government gave them more pay...by just printing up more money.  This, of course, made their money WORTHLESS.  According to our text, in 1914, at the start of World War I, it took 4.2 German marks to equal one U.S. dollar.  By November 1, 1923, it took 130 BILLION marks to equal a dollar!  By the end of November of that same year, it now took 4.2 TRILLION marks to equal a dollar!!!  It should not be surprising that people were rather upset with their government and lots of political frustration and unrest began to grow during this period. 

American tried to come to the rescue...sort of.  An international commission, which was headed by an American banker, came up with what is called the Dawes Plan (named after that American banker) to come up with a better way for Germany to repay her debts AND rebuild its own economy at the same time.  Americans began to invest, rather heavily for a time, in Germany and the rest of Europe, which improved things fairly significantly from about 1924 until 1929.

On top of this, the Treaty of Locarno was drawn up in 1925, which firmly established the new post-World War I boundaries of Germany, Belgium, and France.  This was huge because it was done peacefully and out of goodwill towards each other...including Germany!  It was at this time that Germany was even invited to join the League of Nations, as previously mentioned. 

Times were actually good for Europe...and the United States, as well...during this period, often referred to as the Roaring Twenties.

This, of course, wouldn't last, as the Great Depression would hit not only the United States, but the entire financial world, in 1929, ushering in the Dirty Thirties.

The End of the War...the Birth of a New Europe...and the League of Nations...

When the United States got into the War in 1917, things were not going particularly well for the Allies. 

• France and Britain had tried to move the lines along the Western Front, but as we discussed during our trench warfare section, this was not easy...and it wasn't successful, as the Germans beat the Allies down pretty badly.  
• The British blockade of the English Channel, while effective in choking off German shipping, also provoked the Germans to restart their unrestricted submarie (U-boat) campaigns.  As a result, the British were estimated to be losing between 500,000 and 600,000 tons of supplies every month due to submarine torpedoing.  This started to have a negative effect on Great Britain and their economy, as you might imagine, so the convoy system was put back in place.  Even though it was not particularly popular, the convoy system was effective enough to keep Great Britain from starving. 
• The French, who had already suffered approximately a million casualties, were starting to struggle with mutinies and desertions from their troops, with an estimated 20,000 troops either leaving or refusing to fight. 
• The Russian Revolution weakened that powerful empire, and, as we discussed, Russia pulled out of the War by the end of 1917, just a handful of months after the U.S. got into the War.  Not only that, but Russia and Germany (along with the rest of the Central Powers) then signed an armistice, which allowed Germany to send even more troops to the Western Front.

Like I said...things were not going well...but 1918 was going to look a LOT better. 

America getting into the War was, by some accounts, about the only real positive thing to come out of 1917 as far as the Allies were concerned, but this was a big positive because not only did we bring fresh troops and more supplies, there was an almost immediate psychological boost to the morale of the Allied troops.  It also brought on great concern from Germany and the Central Powers because they knew they couldn't win a long, drawn out war.  So...Germany tried one last major offensive along the Western Front, in a sort of do-or-die effort. 

Germany's Last Big Push

In early 1918, Germany knew they were running out of time.  America was shipping thousands of soldiers into the European warzone every day (up to 10,000 a day by the summer of 1918), and despite the fact that they had more troops available from the Russian front, the Germans didn't always have enough provisions and supplies to maintain their army.  So, they came up with a plan (codename Operation Michael), in which they thought they could separate the French and the British troops, and manage to take Paris. 

At first, the plan seemed to be working, as Germany was able to get their long-range artillery (Krupp railway guns) to within 75 miles of Paris and they launched almost 200 shells into the French capital.  The German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II, was so pleased that he declared March 24 a national holiday; they were certain victory was soon to be theirs.

They were wrong...

First, four units of Australian soldiers managed to stop the German lines from advancing any further, largely because Germany had no tanks or mobile artillery they could use, and also because their supply lines were now stretched so thin they had trouble keeping their army outfitted properly.  So, while the Aussies didn't push the Germans back, the Germans were once again stalled out.

Germany then launched a second offensive, called Operation Georgette, on the British along the English Channel.  Germany, again, made some initial gains, but they were again stopped by the Allies.  When this failed, the Germans again tried to relaunch an attack on Paris...again failing.

Now it was the Allies turn...

Hundred Days Offensive and the End of the War

From August to November of 1918, the Allies launched numerous attacks against the Central Powers along the Western Front.  More than a million American troops, under the leadership of General John J. Pershing, had flooded into France, and started pushing towards Germany, along with French, British, and Canadian troops.  The Allies starting racking up small victory after small victory, until these started becoming bigger and bigger victories with more and more losses for the Central Powers.  In November, Germany faced their own problems with mutinies.  A few days later, the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, left his own country (or was basically forced out), and a new, democratic government was rapidly put into place.  On November 11, 1918, the German government signed the armistice that ended the War, at least as far as the "world war" aspect was concerned.  (Germany had many more internal problems they would continue to deal with for some time, as communists tried to overthrow the new democratic government.)

Making Peace

27 countries, including the United States, met in Paris in January of 1919 to draw up the final settlement of the War.  Among the things discussed were President Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points", which was a settlement that Wilson thought would bring about lasting peace.  Wilson had actually made his "Fourteen Points" proposal to Congress a full year earlier, but it was at least discussed, however briefly, once again in Paris. 

Wilson's Fourteen Points, among other things, called for...

1. There should be no secret alliances between countries
2. Freedom of the seas in peace and war
3. The reduction of trade barriers among nations
4. The general reduction of armaments
5. The adjustment of colonial claims in the interest of the inhabitants as well as of the colonial powers
6. The evacuation of Russian territory and a welcome for its government to the society of nations
7. The restoration of Belgian territories in Germany
8. The evacuation of all French territory, including Alsace-Lorraine
9. The readjustment of Italian boundaries along clearly recognizable lines of nationality
10. Independence for various national groups in Austria-Hungary
11. The restoration of the Balkan nations and free access to the sea for Serbia
12. Protection for minorities in Turkey and the free passage of the ships of all nations through the Dardanelles
13. Independence for Poland, including access to the sea
14. A league of nations to protect "mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations alike."

While many people at the Paris Peace Conference listened to what Wilson had to say, many, especially the French, wanted far more drastic measures to be taken.  Eventually, the fate of Germany would lay in the hands of the so-called Big Three of the United States, Great Britain, and France (the Big Four, if Italy is included, which it sometimes is, but to a far lesser degree). 

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, exactly five years to the day after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.  In the Treaty, Germany suffered greatly for its role in the War.   

The Treaty can be broken down into various sections, all of which are essentially designed to punish Germany.

Territorial

The following land was taken away from Germany :

• Alsace-Lorraine (given to France)
• Eupen and Malmedy (given to Belgium)
• Northern Schleswig (given to Denmark)
• Hultschin (given to Czechoslovakia)
• West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia (given to Poland)
• The Saar, Danzig and Memel were put under the control of the League of Nations and the people of these regions would be allowed to vote to stay in Germany or not in a future referendum.
• The League of Nations also took control of Germany's overseas colonies.
• Germany had to return to Russia land taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Some of this land was made into new states : Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. An enlarged Poland also received some of this land.

Military

• Germany’s army was reduced to 100,000 men; the army was not allowed tanks
• She was not allowed an airforce
• She was allowed only 6 capital naval ships and no submarines
• The west of the Rhineland and 50 kms east of the River Rhine was made into a demilitarised zone (DMZ).
• No German soldier or weapon was allowed into this zone.
• The Allies were to keep an army of occupation on the west bank of the Rhine for 15 years.
  

Financial

The loss of vital industrial territory would be a severe blow to any attempts by Germany to rebuild her economy. Coal from the Saar and Upper Silesia in particular was a vital economic loss. Combined with the financial penalties linked to reparations, it seemed clear to Germany that the Allies wanted nothing else but to bankrupt her.

Germany was also forbidden to unite with Austria to form one superstate, in an attempt to keep her economic potential to a minimum.

General

Germany had to admit full responsibility for starting the war. This was Clause 231 - the infamous "War Guilt Clause".

Germany, as she was responsible for starting the war as stated in clause 231, was, therefore responsible for all the war damage caused by the First World War. Therefore, she had to pay reparations, the bulk of which would go to France and Belgium to pay for the damage done to the infrastructure of both countries by the war. (The Germans were basically told to write a blank check which the Allies would cash when it suited them. The figure was eventually put at £6,600 million - a huge sum of money well beyond Germany’s ability to pay.
       

A League of Nations was set up to keep world peace.  (Germany was not allowed to be a part of the Leage of Nations.)

League Of Nations

This cartoon implies that without America the bridge would collapse. The bridge represents the League of Nations, and Uncle Sam, the personification of America, is reluctant to place the keystone in the bridge to complete it. This is odd because in the Treaty of Versailles, it was Woodrow Wilson the president of America that suggested that the League of Nations...in fact, Wilson had mentioned a similar league as far back as 1918 in his "Fourteen Points" that we discussed earlier. The missing keystone demonstrates how difficult the League will function without have the United States as a member. But it was a Republican majority in Congress that blocked the USA's entry into the League, not the President. It is now known that Wilson was very, very ill during vital periods at Versailles and afterwards and probably lacked the will to win Congress around.

Some more political cartoons to analyze....

Treaty of Versailles/League Of Nations Cartoon Analysis

Who's In...Who's Out...and What Are They Telling Us???

During 1917, there was a window of six to eight months when all of the major players in World War I were active, which caused the two warring factions to swell considerably in size.  The Triple Entente and Triple Alliance are gone, replaced by the Allied Powers and the Central Powers.  (Do not get confused...the Triple Alliance is NOT the Allied Powers.)  I have also included the total number of deaths and casualties for the two factions, although we are not yet at the end of the war (more on that tomorrow).
 
Allied Countries Involved in WWI

Great Britain	Canada	United States
Australia	New Zealand	Russia
France	Greece	India
Italy	Serbia	South Africa

Central Powers Countries Involved in WWI

German Empire	Bulgaria
Austro-Hungary Empire	Ottoman Empire

Both sides are now committed to what we refer to as total war (p. 767), which the text defines as a war involving a complete mobilization of all resources and people, with all citizens in the warring countries affected, regardless of how close to the battlefield they were. 

In Europe, the governments expanded their powers over their own economies, creating what we call planned economies (p. 767), which are simply economies that are directed by government agencies.  This was done so the maximum amount of money and resources could be funneled, either directly or indirectly, into the war effort.  Governments in some countries set the prices for goods at market, controlled rent, controlled gasoline prices and rations, rationed food, and took over transportation systems such as trains and buses. 

Propoganda became a huge source of government-controlled information for the people.  The governments created entire advertising campaigns about the war, telling how great they were doing or how evil their enemies were.  This was especially important when there were large lulls in battle or when a country's morale was dropping due to casualties on the battlefield or struggles at home.

This French propoganda poster is unique in that it shows the use of a hand grenade. Grenades were first used in World War I, so this poster is VERY up-to-date.  Obviously from 1915 and designed by Parliament.



This is a German poster that is encouraging troops along the Easter Front to keep up the fight against the Russians to stop the spread of Bolshevism (communism).  The text reads:  "Bolshevism Means The World Will Drown In Blood".  It was created by the German agency called the Association To Fight Against Bolshevism.

 This American poster, quite obviously, is encouraging Americans to buy War Bonds to help fund the war, because "Bonds Buy Bullets!"

This American poster is designed to prey on a man's patriotism, asking "On Which Side of the Window are YOU?"  Simply put, are you going to fight or stand around and watch as others fight for you? 

This American poster was used by the Y.W.C.A. to encourage support for women who were taking over manufacturing jobs at home while the men were away fighting.  Similar posters to this would be used in World War II as well.

Here is a Russian propoganda poster.  The banner reads, "War Until Victory".  This is from 1917. 

This American poster is kind of like the "Be All You Can Be" recruiting posters you still see sometimes today.  This one is encouraging Americans to join the Air Service and serve in France...of course, not mentioning that they may be fighting in France, not just "serving".



This British propoganda poster is pretty self-explanatory.  This is a fund-raising poster for relief of the people of Belgium following the German invasion in 1914.  This poster is from 1915.

Finally, here is one straight from Belgium.  Look at the picture closely and you will see a family staring out over the ruins of a Belgian city after Germany invaded.  The words are telling the people that can apply for some type of loan to help them start to rebuild.  It is created by the Cooperative Alliance for War Reparations.  This particular poster is from 1918, so it should be obvious that Belgium is still suffering at this time.

Women

As one of the posters above shows, the roll of women during this time will greatly increase, especially in Europe where casualties are piling up.  According to one source, 38% of the workforce in the Krupp Armaments factories of Germany were women.  According to our text, in Great Britain, the number of women working in public transportation rose 14 TIMES during the stretch from 1914 to 1918; the number of women working in commerce (banking, etc.) doubled, and the number working in industry (manufacturing) tripled.  (This of course creates a problem when the war is over, as the government will remove women from these jobs to give them to returning soldiers.  Our text states that by 1919 there would be 650,000 unemployed women in Great Britan alone.)

In some countries, the War brought about positive changes for women.  In Germany, Austrian, and here in the United States, women would gain the right (suffrage) to vote following the war.  Women over the age of 30 could now vote in Great Britain, and they could also run for Parliament.  For many women throughout the warring countries, this was the first time they had ever had the opportunity to work outside the home.  Young women learned new skills and gained independence.  Some were able to retain their jobs in the factories, albeit at lesser pay than the returning men, which suited many just fine, as the new freedoms they experienced were exciting and provided more opportunity than many women had ever known before.

	

Dear, Mexico.....

In 1916, Woodrow Wilson was re-elected as President of the United States despite the fact that he kept resisting calls from some American citizens, and many of our European allies, to get involved in the situation in Europe.  World War I had ground to something of a stalemate, but no one was willing to give in and something was needed to break the standoff.  Wilson, however, was committed to keeping America out of the war, even after the sinking of the Lusitania and the subsequent deaths of more than 100 Americans on that ship.  However, in 1917, America's stance was going to change, and the war in Europe would be changed as well.

On March 24, 1916, the Germans, who had already torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, "accidentally" torpedoed and sank the French ferry ship, The Sussex.  This ship's sinking cost 25 American lives.  America immediately demanded that Germany suspend all submarine activity (which Germany had already claimed to have done after the Lusitania incident), or else we would sever all ties with the German government.  Germany obliged and on April 24, 1916, Germany officially abandoned their U-Boat program.

On January 31, 1917, Germany announced to America that they planned to break its pledge (called the Sussex pledge) to limit or restrict submarine warfare, and that all ships, including neutral merchant ships (which American ships were) would be sunk on sight anywhere, including in Allied waters.  The Germans felt that they had no choice but to resort to submarine warfare once again because the British Royal Navy had successfully managed to blockade the English Channel, not allowing merchant ships into or out of Germany.  Germany was basically choked off from the outside, so in retaliation, they re-launched their submarine program.

In what was a bit of irony, President Wilson thought that Germany was bluffing, stating that he refused to believe Germany would resort to the sinking of unarmed ships.  Little did Wilson realize that Germany had already taken steps toward that plan, even before announcing their intentions! 


Realizing that the restart of their submarine warfare program would anger the United States and likely force us into the war, Germany took one last stab at not only getting their u-boat program up and running again, but to also keep the United States out of the war.  To that end, the German Foreign Secretary, Arthur Zimmerman, wrote what is called the Zimmerman Telegram or Zimmerman Note...

(Original encoded Zimmerman Note)

Zimmerman Note

Berlin, January 19, 1917,

On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavour to keep neutral the United States of America.

If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement...

You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the United States and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to mediate between Germany and Japan.

Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make peace in a few months.

Zimmermann
(Secretary of State)

Now, the note was to serve two purposes:  to convince the Mexican government to attack the United States if it appeared we would enter the War, and also for Mexico to negotiate with the Japanese Empire to side with Germany in the War.  It should be noted that the relationship between the United States and Mexico was NOT a good one at this time, as we were still chasing Pancho Villa across the Mexican countryside after he had raided several border towns in Texas. Germany obviously thought they could use this tension to their advantage.  There were just a couple of things the Germans didn't count on...

1.  Mexico realized that they were much weaker militarily than the United States and had no real hope of pulling off an occupation of the lands that Mexico had ceded to the United States.  Additionally, Mexico realized that there was no way that Germany could help Mexico out financially, or otherwise, in a war against the United States because the United States was the main weapons manufacturer in North America and wouldn't supply an army that was attacking them.  Meanwhile, Germany was being choked off by Great Britain, so there was no way the Germans could arm Mexico, either.  As such, Mexico just ignored the telegram...

2.  The British intercepted, decoded, and then gave to the Americans the Zimmerman note...


The effect on the United States should not come as a shock.  After Germany followed through with its plan to reinstate "unrestricted submarine warfare", including the sinking of seven American merchant ships, three in one day!, and after it was proven that the Zimmerman Note was not a fake (two different times in March, 191, Zimmerman, himself, actually admitted to writing the telegram), the United Stated officially declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917.