Villa and Zapata : The Twilight of Zapatismo

Pablo Gonzalez was horrible, he looted, murdered (a lot), burned things down... Zapata went on the offensive, however, not all of his chieftains wanted to go back to war. Many of Gonzales's troops died from disease. Mexico was in a state of chaos. There was famine, disease, and there was a great financial crisis that occurred. During the revolution the leaders printed a great deal of money causing hyper-inflation. Carranza dealt with the hard times, but continued to push is political agenda. Villa and Zapata were limited by the village and hacienda, Carranza was not! Carranza wanted to modernize and mobilize. He was anti clericalism, he wanted the catholic church under his control. He wanted Mexico to stay neutral in WWII. His main problem was the military, he had to make sure the army was reliable (proven difficult throughout the Rev). His greatest new threat was Felix Diaz, Porfirio Diaz's nephew, the US kind of liked him. The felicistas were as hard to defeat as Villa and Zapata. The felicistas movement was helpful to Villa and Zapata, it drew Carranza's focus away from them. However, Zapata's aims were extremely similar to Diaz's so they were in competition for support. Zapata became paranoid. Carranza wanted to get rid of Zapata at all costs, even killing him. He did just that, had Zapata killed. Zapata was gunned down by a group of shooters, however, he became an icon in Morelos.

Keegan chapter 3 (Blitzkrieg):

Polish were not a good test of the German's capabilities. Case yellow was to ATTACK! it was for a western offensive..the plan was shelved and a new one was created it was called the Manstein plan. Reversal of the Schlieffen plan. The BIG German strength was their equipment, planes, tanks (Panzers)... The planes made a horrific scary noise (intimidate the enemy). The French army was still mainly a marching army, many divisions, not a lot of structure. They created the Maginot line, western front in concrete (not enough money to finish). The French had to prepare for a defensive battle. The German army had three divisions and a lot of structure. The dutch tried to be neutral. Germany attacked, quick defeat of the Dutch in a raid. British had almost ZERO armor. French would not give up! Hitler called for a halt on the advance. The Allies feared defeat and occupation. New prime minister (Churchill). MATERIAL weakness. Evacuation of Paris. Called the war of 1939-1940, no part of France had been spared, many people had been killed. German moral was WAY up! Churchill believed the Battle of Britain was soon to come.

HIT HARD, HIT FAST, SURPRISE!!!

Short term and long term causes

Short term-

The take over of Austria and Czechoslovakia.

Anschluss was the annexation of Austria, some people were angry within Austria but for the most part there was excitement. Hitler was able to come in (welcomed), there were zero shots fired. It signified the end of the Treaty of Versailles (Germany took over another country, creating a larger Germany).

The Czech crisis- A month after Anschluss. Chamberlain pretty much gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler in an attempt to appease him. Germany got the Sudate land, area on the border of Germany and Czechoslovakia where they speak German. March 1939 Hitler invades Czechoslovakia. Their government was in chaos, Hitler used it to his advantage. No shots were fired! In response the U.S. put a 25% tax on German goods. Hitler was slowly spreading his power.

Long term-

Nationalism (created partially by the Treaty of Versailles), Germans began to band together in the common belief that they had been treated unfairly in the Treaty. Consequently the Treaty of Versailles was also a long term cause.

The League of Nations- failed to punish countries that were threatening other countries. This showed Hitler that he would not be punished if he began to go against the Treaty, and eventually take over other countries and expand his influence.

Reparation- Germany was forced to pay back the money that was agreed upon in the Treaty. It helped create Germany's depression. This also led to a surge in Nationalism. Inflation, depression, reparations.

Immediate

Invasion of Poland- September 1st, 1939. Hitler assumed France and Britain would not go to war over Poland (he was wrong), so he attacked. Two days after he attacked Britain and France declared war! Nothing really happens between Britain and France vs. Germany for 9 months.