Lets revise the First and Second World War together!

[Yap]

Just got this idea, why don't we revise some history together...

Now, the trixy part with History is that we all cover different parts, so it would be hard to say "We'll just do anything"...

But I really think most of us studying history covers the world wars, isn't that so? Therefore, to make as many people be able to participate as possible, we should keep this topic relevant to the First and Second World War.

Basically, what we will do.... I will write a question under here that the next participant will try to answer. After he/she has answered, he/she writes another question that the next participant will answer, and so it goes on. Remember to keep it relevant to the First or Second World War, and don't make them too complex... They should be able to be answered quite quickly.

So, my first question is...

At which year did Germany join the League of Nations?

Edit: Additional rule

* If a post has not yet been answered within 48 hours, people may ignore the previous question and state a new one. If a question has been left unanswered, editing the post to show the answer would be appreciated

Edited February 16, 2013 by Yap

[alefal]

1926.

When did Japan attack China, starting the second Sino-Japanese War (which, by some, are regarded as the beginning of the Second World War)?

[Tyrex17]

They took over Manchuria, renaming it Manchukuo in 1931, though full scale war did not break out until 1937

Name the strategy that allied forces used against the Japanese in the Pacific Campaign. Why did they use this particular strategy?

[flinquinnster]

Leapfrogging/island hopping/atoll hopping - small islands captured and larger islands bypassed to gain strategic advantage. This was used by the Allies (under MacArthur) as small islands typically had lower defences (were less fortified), making them easier to take, and capturing these small islands allowed the islands to converge closer and closer to the main islands of Japan.

What year was the Atlantic Charter issued? What significant points were contained within it?

[Yap]

(Sorry, I did not deal with the Atlantic Charter ;/, I'll just make a new question to get this thread going)

Name two reasons for the cause of the First World War. (Just state them, don't write a short essay).

Edited February 19, 2013 by Yap

[Tyrex17]

The Atlantic Charter was issued in 1941 (?) and it basically outlined what the Western Powers' goals were after the war (we didn't go over the Atlantic Charter either, but I was curious so I skimmed the article about it on Wikipedia. I just wanted to at least address the question, ya'll can feel fre to correct me)

Two major causes for WWI, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian national Gavrilo Princip sparked the war which was made possible through militarism, imperialism, secret alliances, and nationalism. There were several other incidents such as the Moroccan crises (one in 1905 and one in 1911). The United States got involved after Germany resumed unrestricted warfare on ships carrying supplies to Britian, France, and Russia.

What were several reasons as to why the German Army initially had overwhelming success against the Russians in WWII?

Edited February 19, 2013 by Tyrex17

[Landin]

The Russian army was unprepared for a German attack as they had signed months before the Molotov-Ribentropp pact, in which they agreed amongst other things to cooperate in the invasion of Poland and divide the territory between themselves. Germany surprised the USSR with Operation Barbarossa. The Red Army was therefore unprepared and had to adopt a strategy of defense (opposite to a counter-offense) as they were vastly outnumbered in their borders.

To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles justified (just give a quick answer)?

[Arrowhead]

The ToV was justified in its initial purpose and the broad ideas that it espoused in that they congregating nations wished to prevent the outbreak of a war at the magnitude and level of the world war from ever occurring again. The inclusion of the corollary to the League of Nations to the ToV is one of the only specific justifications I can think of. (I'm not going into why it was not justified since that would result in an essay)

What was MacKinder's 'heartland' theory (pre-WW1)?

[Yap]

[i googled it a couple of days ago but nobody seem to have answered so I will write what I got on my mind, you can of course correct me if I'm wrong]

MacKinder's heartland Theory was a theory describing the importance of area controlling of the world. It stated that controlling eastern Europe, and northern Asia (I.e. Russia) would control the whole world as they would have so much influence geographically. Hence, a western invasion of Russia could be justified for the sake of controlling the world. (Something like this)

At which year did the Ruhr Crisis appear? What was it and what effects did it have?

Edited March 2, 2013 by Yap

[ilovepotato]

The Ruhr Crisis was in 1923! Germany was having a hard time paying reparations (from Treaty of Versailles) because of economic problems. As stated by the Treaty of Versailles, France could now occupy the Ruhr and take all industrialized goods. Since the Ruhr was a particularly industrialized region of Germany, the German workers did not cooperate and instead protested by destroying goods and going on strike. The German government decided to help the workers by printing more paper money. However, that only led to hyperinflation and Germany eventually underwent economic recession.

What was the Hitler-Stalin/Ribbentrop Pact and explain its significance in events leading up to WWII