Explain reasons for the failure of the League of Nations.

TEXT 3. Read the text and fulfill the tasks after it.

War and Peace

When World War I erupted in Europe in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson urged a policy of strict American neutrality. Germany's declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships bound for Allied ports undermined that position. When Congress declared war on Germany in 1917, the American army was a force of only 200,000 soldiers. Millions of men had to be drafted, trained, and shipped across the submarine-infested Atlantic. A full year passed before the U.S. Army was ready to make a significant contribution to the war effort.

By the fall of 1918, Germany's position had become hopeless. Its armies were retreating. In October Germany asked for peace, and an armistice was declared on November 11. In 1919 Wilson himself went to Versailles to help draft the peace treaty. Although he was cheered by crowds in the Allied capitals, at home his international outlook was less popular. His idea of a League of Nations was included in the Treaty of Versailles, but the U.S. Senate did not ratify the treaty, and the United States did not participate in the League. The majority of Americans turned inward, and the United States withdrew from European affairs. At the same time, Americans were becoming hostile to foreigners in their midst. In 1919 a series of terrorist bombings produced the "Red Scare". Congress enacted immigration limits in 1921 and tightened them further in 1924 and 1929.

The 1920s were an extraordinary and confusing time, when hedonism coexisted with puritanical conservatism. It was called the Roaring Twenties, the age of jazz and spectacular silent movies. The Ku Klux Klan, a racist organization born in the South after the Civil War, attracted new followers and terrorized blacks, Catholics, Jews, and immigrants.

For big business, the 1920s were golden years. The United States was now a consumer society, with booming markets for radios, home appliances, synthetic textiles, and plastics. But the superficial prosperity masked deep problems. With profits soaring and interest rates low, plenty of money was available for investment. Much of it, however, went into reckless speculation in the stock market. Frantic bidding pushed prices far above stock shares' real value. Investors bought stocks "on margin," borrowing up to 90 percent of the purchase price. The bubble burst in 1929. The stock market crashed, triggering a worldwide depression.

Prohibition in the United States was the period from 1920 to 1933, during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were banned nationally as mandated in the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.

Though the Act prohibited the sale of alcohol, it did little to enforce the law. By 1925, in New York City alone, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs.

While Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, it tended to destroy society by other means, as it stimulated the proliferation of rampant underground, organized and widespread criminal activity.

Many social problems have been attributed to the Prohibition era. Mafia groups limited their activities to gambling and theft until 1920, when organized bootlegging manifested in response to the effect of Prohibition. A profitable, often violent, black market for alcohol flourished. Powerful gangs corrupted law enforcement agencies, leading to racketeering. Stronger liquor surged in popularity because its potency made it more profitable to smuggle.

As many as 10,000 people died from drinking denatured alcohol before Prohibition ended.

Making alcohol at home was very common during Prohibition. Since selling privately distilled alcohol was illegal and bypassed taxation by the government, the law relentlessly pursued private manufacturers who produced the so-called “moonshine” strong drinks.  

The cost of enforcing Prohibition was high, and the lack of tax revenues on alcohol affected government coffers.

On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law an amendment allowing the manufacture and sale of certain kinds of alcoholic beverages. On December 5, 1933, the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. At the end of Prohibition, some supporters openly admitted its failure.

Task 1. Explain the following notions from the text.

• American neutrality

• the Treaty of Versailles

• the League of Nations

• the "Red Scare"

• the Roaring Twenties

• the Ku Klux Klan

• a consumer society

• "on margin"

• the “bubble”

• Prohibition

Task 2. Answer the questions.

1. What undermined the position of strict American neutrality when World War I erupted in Europe?

1. Why did not the United States participate in the League of Nations?

2. What events produced the "Red Scare"?

3. Why is this period called “the Roaring Twenties”?

4. What economic and social problems erupted in the 1020s?

5. What was the essence of the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution?

6. What social problems appeared after it was enforced?

7. What was its negative impact on the US economy?

8. Give your own examples to illustrate the proverb “forbidden fruit is sweetest”.

TEXT 4. You may need additional information to fulfill the tasks after the text.

World War II

The basic causes of World War II, or the Second World War, were nationalistic tensions, unresolved issues, and resentments resulting from the First World War and the interwar period in Europe, plus the effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The culmination of events that led to the outbreak of war are generally understood to be the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the 1937 invasion of the Republic of China by the Empire of Japan. These military aggressions were the decisions made by authoritarian ruling Nazi elite in Germany and by the leadership of the Kwantung Army in the case of Japan. World War II started after these aggressive actions were met with an official declaration of war and armed resistance.

World War II was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, which involved most of the world’s nations, including all of the great powers eventually forming two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilized. In a state of "total war," the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of neuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities.

During 1939 to early 1941, in a series of successful military campaigns and political treaties, Germany conquered or politically subdued most of continental Europe apart from the Soviet Union. In June 1941, the European Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a start to the largest land theatre of war in history, which, from this moment on, was tying down the major part of the Axis military power. In December 1941, Japan, which had already been at war with China since 1937, and which aimed to establish dominance over East Asia and Southeast Asia, attacked by the USA and European possessions in the Pacific Ocean, quickly conquering a significant part of the region.

The Axis advance was stopped in 1942 after the defeat of Japan in a series of naval battles and after devastating defeats of European Axis troops in North Africa and at Stalingrad. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied invasion of Fascist Italy, and American victories in the Pacific, the Axis had lost strategic initiative and passed to strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, whereas the Soviet Union regained all territorial losses and invaded the territory of Germany and its allies.

The war in Europe ended with the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops and subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. By that time, the Japanese Navy was defeated by the USA.

The war ended with the total victory of the Allies over Germany and Japan in 1945. World War II left the political alignment and social structure of the world significantly altered.

Task 1. Expand the ideas explaining the reasons for World War II:

• nationalistic tensions,

• resentments resulting from the First World War and the interwar period   in Europe,

• the effects of the Great Depression .

Task 2. Answer the questions.

1. What events led to the outbreak of the war?

2. What were the warring parties of World War II?

3. Why was World War II estimated as “total war”?

4. What events changed the character of the war in:

• 1941

• 1942

• 1943

• 1944

• 1945?

Language practice

Ex.1. Give the corresponding verbs to the words below. Mind their pronunciation.

provision; concession; excessive; insult; imposition; defiance; deterrent

Ex.2. Match the words with their synonyms and learn them.

Ex.3. Match the terms with their definitions and learn them.

Ex.4. Find the equivalents of the words and phrases in brackets in the above text. Complete the sentences by translating them into English.

Key:

1. The USA (объявить войну) Germany in 1917.

2. (Перемирие) was declared in 1918.

3. The Versailles (мирный договор) was signed in 1919.

4. U.S. Senate did not (ратифицировать) the Versailles treaty.

5. Congress (ужесточить) immigration limits in 1921.

6. (Жажда наслаждений) coexisted with conservatism.

7. Gangsters managed (обходить) the law.

8. Gangsters made (незаконный) fortunes in liquor.

9. The stock market crash (дать толчок) a worldwide depression.

Ex.5. Complete the text by inserting the prepositions from the box. Point out the key issues of Roosevelt’s “New Deal”.

___ 1932 thousands of American banks and ___ 100,000 businesses had failed. Industrial production was cut ___ half, wages had decreased ___ 60 percent, and one ___ of every four workers was unemployed. That year Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president on the platform of "a New Deal ___ the American people". Roosevelt's self-confidence galvanized the nation. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," he said ___ his inauguration. He followed ___ these words ___ decisive action. ___ three months Roosevelt rushed ___ Congress a great number of laws to help the economy recover. New agencies created millions of jobs ___ undertaking the construction of roads, bridges, airports, parks, and public buildings. Later the Social Security Act set ___ contributory old-age and survivors' pensions.

Roosevelt's New Deal programs did not end the Depression. Although the economy improved, full recovery had to await the defense buildup preceding America's entry ___ World War II.

Ex.6. Complete the text by inserting the words from the box. Find in the text words synonymous to the word “depression”.

The Great Depression began with a catastrophic ____ of stock-market prices on the New York ____ in October 1929. Many other countries had been affected by the ____.

Almost all nations sought to protect their ____ production by ____ tariffs, raising existing ones, and setting quotas on foreign imports. Prior to the Great Depression, governments traditionally took little or no action in times of business ____. Market forces alone proved unable to achieve the desired ____ in the early years of the Great Depression. After the Great Depression, government action in the form of ____, industrial regulation, social ____, ____ services, or deficit spending, came to assume a principal role in ____ economic stability in most industrial ____ with market economies.

Ex.7. Complete the text by translating the words and phrases in brackets. Make necessary grammatical changes.

Key:

Again neutrality was the initial American response to the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939. But the bombing of Pearl Harbor (военно-морская) base in Hawaii by the Japanese in December 1941 brought the United States into the war, first against Japan and then against its (союзники), Germany and Italy.

American, British, and Soviet war planners agreed to concentrate on (разгромить) Germany first. British and American forces (высаживаться) in North Africa in November 1942, proceeded to Sicily and the Italian mainland in 1943, and (освобождать) Rome on June 4, 1944. Two days later - D-Day –the Allied forces (высаживаться) in Normandy. Paris was (освобождать) on August 24, and by September American units had crossed the German (граница). The Germans finally (капитулировать) on May 5, 1945.

The war against Japan came to a swift end in August of 1945, when President Harry Truman ordered the use of atomic bombs against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nearly 200,000 (гражданское население) were killed. Although the matter can still provoke heated discussion, the argument in favor of (сбрасывать бомбы) was that (потери) on both sides would have been greater if the Allies had been forced to (вторгаться) Japan.

Discussion

I. The following is a list of events that occurred just before the outbreak of the First World War. Unscramble the events and list them in chronological order in the space provided.

• Germany declares war on France

• Germany gives Austria-Hungary blank cheque

• Germany invades Belgium

• Austria-Hungary gives an ultimatum to Serbia

• Russia mobilizes to support Serbia

• Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

• Gavrilo Princip shoots the Archduke and Archduchess

• France mobilizes to support Russia

• Serbia agrees to two of the terms of the ultimatum

• The Archduke and Archduchess visit Sarajevo

• Britain declares war on Germany

• Germany declares war on Russia

• Austria-Hungary blames Serbia for the death of the Archduke and Archduchess

• Germany orders France and Russia to stop mobilizing

The Events leading up to the First World War…

2. Dwell on some issues concerning World War I.

1. Speak of the most important reasons that caused the 1^st World war.

2. Prove that the creation of the League of Nations was not entirely worthless.

3. How were the effects of WWI related to the causes of World War II?

III. Make a short presentation (up to 7 minutes) describing the Great Depression of 1929 on the basis of the issues of the table below. Use text 30 from SUPPLEMENTARY READER. Add more issues if necessary.

The Great Depression

Was caused by: 1) lack of the necessary economic correction; 2) _____________________________________; 3) _____________________________________;

Its impact on: 1) US citizens; 2) national economy; 3) global economic and political events (WW II)

It turned into worldwide economic slump owing to: special relationships between the United States and European economies; ___________________________________________________________ ; ___________________________________________________________

Measures to overcome the depression taken by: 1) the US government; 2) other countries

Common features with the current economic crisis: high unemployment rate; ____________________________________________; ____________________________________________; ____________________________________________; ____________________________________________.

IV. Express your point of view on the following issues:

1. Why does the use of atomic bombs still provoke heated discussion?

2. Can noble ideas justify the use of atomic weapons?

V. Speak of the role of the ussr in defeating fascism. What burden did Belarus bear during World War II? How did it participate in post-war settlements?