The Origins of World War II (eBook)

Keith Eubank is Professor of History Emeritus, Queens College, City University of New York. A graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, he holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. Among the books he has written and edited are Paul Cambon: Master Diplomatist; Munich; The Summit Conferences, 1919-1960; The Road to World War II: A Documentary History; Summit at Teheran: The Untold Story; The Bomb; and The Cuban Missile Crisis. He is the co-author of Survey of Historic Costume and series editor of Harlan Davidson's The European History Series.

Preface to the Third Edition ix

1. "PEACE," 1918-1933 1

November 11, 1918 1

The Treaty of Versailles 3

The League of Nations 13

French "Security" 16

German "Good Faith" 19

Economic Crisis 22

2. The Uneasy Peace, 1933-1935 25

Adolf Hitler 25

Rearmament and Disarmament 31

The Four-Power Pact 34

The Dollfuss Affair 35

Germany's Military Renaissance 36

The Franco-Soviet Pact 40

The Anglo-German Naval Agreement 43

3. Years of Crisis, 1935-1938 47

Mussolini and Ethiopia 47

Hitler in the Rhineland 56

The Popular Front and the Spanish Civil War 67

Appeasement and Appeasers 72

4. The Road to War, 1938 80

The Reichschancellery Meeting 80

The Anschluss 84

Crisis in Czechoslovakia 96

The Munich Conference 113

The End of Czechoslovakia 120

5. War, 1939 128

Danzig 128

Appeasement Fails 140

Conclusion 168

Bibliographical Essay 175

Index 191

Maps

German Territorial Losses in Central Europe, 1919 5

Nazi Aggression in Central Europe, 1933-1939 108