nazi germany - influences on foreign policy

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  • Created by: Abi Crew
  • Created on: 09-06-22 19:55
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  • influences on nazi foreign policy
    • domestic policy
      • design/ideology
        • nazi domestic policy was based on specific ideological programme that stemmed from a mutated form of nationalism
        • principle of social darwinism
        • the creation of a volksgemeinschaft and the purification of the race were seen by some historians as the preliminary steps to expansionist foreign policy and a new order
      • propaganda
        • foreign policy as a tool for propaganda
        • foreign policy existed in a realm of slogans and parades rather than concrete aims
        • view that foreign policy was just propaganda is inherently flawed
          • ignores precise historical context of policy developments and relies on the premise that German people were incapable of  free thought
            • eg. Hitler's aim to conquer Ukraine was a catalyst for rearmament
    • historical tradition
      • continuity
        • argued that Hitler's foreign policy was essentially a playing out of the past
          • bismarck onwards
        • national self-assertion through ideas of expansionism was a continuous thread running through German foreign policy
          • consistency to foreign policy aimed at conflict and expansionism
        • continuation of policies by Stressman in the 1920s
          • changes to the terms of Versailles
          • Stressman's policies were peaceful and diplomatic (Locarno Treaties = no war)
            • did not rule out the possibility of using force to regain territories lost to Poland at Versailles
        • revisionism was inevitable after WWI, no matter the leader
          • though Hitler's revisionism was more aggressive than Stressman's, it was not a new departure
    • economic priorities
      • big business and expansion
        • driven by economic consideration after 1933
        • Hitler merely a pawn for capitalists who would profit from rearmament and investment in expansionist wars abroad
        • argued that aggressive policy was a way of preserving domestic order through social imperialism
        • link between aggressive policy and business challenged as economical links abroad would ensure more profit , especially in the Soviet Union
          • Hitler's economic organisation and pre-war diplomacy were part of the same drive towards  expansionism

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