Hitler's Foriegn Policy & Causes of WW2

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  • Created by: zuljupri
  • Created on: 10-04-17 13:48

Hitler's Aims

1. Destroy the Treaty of Versailles, re-arm Germany and recover its lost lands.

  • Changing the territorial settlement of the Treaty by regaining lands inhabited by Germans including the Saar & Danzig.

2. To bring all German-speaking people everywhere under German control.

  • Bring the 7 million German speaking people in Austria and the 4 million in Czechoslovakia and Poland into his empire.

3. To expand eastwards in order to gain Lebensraum- 'living space' for German people.

  • Build up the German army so that his aims could be supported by force if necessary.

4. To destroy the communist USSR.

  • Expand in the east against communist USSR.
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The Saar- 1935

The Treaty of Versailles took the Saar from Germany and placed it into control of the League.    After 15 years, a plebiscite was to be held to decide whether the Saar should return to Germany.

The Campaign

  • The Nazis mounted a huge campaign to persuade on the reunification with Germany.
  • Any opposition were threatened and beaten up.
  • An army of Nazi stormtroopers gathered on the border to intimidate them.

The Plebiscite:

  • On January 1935, 90% of Saarlanders voted for the reunification, 8% with the League and 2% with France.

The Effects:

  • The decision was very popular in Germany and the Nazi Party celebrated a great victory.
  • They presented the reunification as the undoing of the 'first of the injustices of Versailles'.
  • The success encouraged Hitler to challenge more of the Versailles provisions.
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German Rearmament

Disarmament Rejection:

  • Germany was allowed to join the League of Nations in 1926.
  • The Disarmament Conference began in 1932, but France would never disarm fearing an attack
  • In 1933, Hitler withdrew from the Disarmament conference and the League of Nations.
  • He insisted he wanted peace and would be prepared to disarm if other countries did.
  • Germany continued to rearm and introduced conscription in 1935.

Lack of Action:

  • Britain & France didn't act was because of several disagreements between them.
  • Britain believed the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh and needed to be revised.
  • France wanted the Treaty to be strengthened even more, fearing a Gerrman attack.
  • Britain started to sympathise with Germany not France.
  • Hitler took advantage of this to further his foriegn policy aims.
  • Every time he acted against the Treaty he followed them with 'promises of peace'.
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German Rearmament

  • In 1934, Hitler signed a '10 year non-aggression' Pact with Poland.
  • This 'guarenteed' the boundaries of Poland.
  • This satisfied the Poles that Hitler wouldn't try to take back the Polish corridor.
  • It also pleased Britain, who saw it as further proof that Hitler's aims were peaceful.

Naval rearmament:

  • In 1935, Hitler signed the 'Anglo-German Naval' Pact with Britain.
  • It was proof for the British that Hitler's aims were peaceful.
  • The treaty limited the German Navy to 35% of the strength of the British fleet.
  • However, this didn't include submarines.
  • The agreement weakened the Stresa Front as Britain didn't consult either Italy or France.
  • It led to Germany proceeding with rearmament without opposition.
  • By 1938, the German Army had reached 800,000 the Navy had 47 U-Boats,and the Airforce had over 2000 aircraft.
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Remilitarisation of Rhineland- 1936

Event:

  • On 7 March, Hitler ordered 32,000 troops and armed police to march into Rhineland.
  • He feared that Britain and France would try to stop as his army wasn't strong enough for war
  • He called it the 'worst few hours of my life', however, they didn't do anything.
  • He chose his moment carefully, Britain and France were more concerned about Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia.

Response:

  • The French government were divided and weren't prepared to act without Britain.
  • Britain believed Germany was doing nothing wrong compared to the actions of Mussolini.
  • The League condemned the action, but when a vote was cast only USSR voted for sanctions

Effects:

  • Hitler followed up the remilitarisation with a promise to sign a '25 year non-aggression' pact.
  • They said they had no further territorial ambitions in Europe.
  • It was incredibly popular with the Nazis and Hitler used it as propaganda.
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Results of Remilitarisation

Treaty of Versailles:

  • Hitler successfully reversed the Treaty, giving him confidence to go further.
  • The other territorial losses were Danzig and the Polish Corridor.

Popularism- Hitler's position in Germany was strengthened: he was right.

New Alliances:

  • It led to the signing of the 'Rome-Berlin Axis' with Mussolini.
  • They cooperated with fascist General Franco in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
  • This gave Hitler an opportunity to test his forces, weapons and tactics.
  • The new alliance meant the end of Britain/France's attempts to keep Mussolini as an ally.
  • Britain started to move towards rearmament.
  • French security wasn't affected as they had begun building the Maignot Line, a series of fortifications on the border.
  • It marked the end of the League of Nations as a means of keeping peace.
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Anshluss- 1938

Hitler was Austrian by birth, and wanted all Germans united in a greater Germany. He also wanted to overturn the Treaty of Versailles

Background:

  • Hitler tried Anshluss in 1934, but was stopped by Mussolini who feared being on the border.
  • In 1938, Hitler felt confident to try Anshluss again, this time with the support of Mussolini.

Event:

  • Chancellor Schuschnigg heard of a plot from Austrian Nazis, and asked Hitler for help.
  • Hitler refused and pressurised him to appoint Seys-Inquart, leader of Austrian Nazis, as Minister of the Interior, head of police.
  • A series of Nazi riots took place in Austria, and Seys-Inquart did nothing to stop them.
  • Schushnigg called a plebiscite to ask the Austrian people for independance.
  • It was clear that Schushnigg had defied Hitler by calling the plebiscite without his permission.
  • Hitler moved the German troops to the border to intimidate them, and forced Schuschnigg to call off the plebiscite and resign from office, after it became clear Britain & France were not going to help.
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Anshluss- 1938

Aftermath:

  • Seys-Inquart replaced Schuschnigg and invited the Germans into Austria to restore order.
  • The German Army entered on March 12.
  • Hitler eliminated his opponents- around 80,000 were put in concentration camps.
  • Seys-Inquart gave power to Hitler and Anshluss was proclaimed.
  • After this, there was a plebiscite in April, and 99.75% voted for Anshluss.

Response:

  • Britain and France protested but did nothing.
  • The League of Nations wasn't consulted.
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Appeasement

Appeasement- the name given to British foriegn policy in 1919-1939, but paticularly associated with Neville Chamberlain.

  • Appeasement for Britain was to give Hitler some of what he wanted.
  • Chamberlain thought he could reasonably negotiate with Hitler.
  • Wanted Hitler to be at least partially satisfied.
  • It was very clinical- Britain practically 'chose' which countries to give to Germany.

Why did Britain and France follow Appeasement?

  • France supported appeasement because of the increased security it had with the 'Maignot Line'
  • However, they were more likley to be 'following' Britain's lead, as both countries couldn't do something without the other's approval.
  • Chamberlain as well as the British people felt the Treaty was too harsh on Germany.
  • He wanted to show him that reasonable claims can be accepted by negotiations.
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Sudetenland Crisis- 1938

Background:

  • Czechoslovakia had a large army and strong military defences in Sudetenland.
  • Hitler wanted Sudetenland because they were all German-speaking people for Lebraunsam.
  • Hitler urged the leader of the Czech Nazi Party, Konrad Henlein to demand that the Czech governenment make concessions to the Sudeten Germans.

Event:

  • In April 1938, German troops began massing on the Czech border.
  • Czech President Edvard Benes mobilised his troops.
  • On 12 September 1938, Hitler encouraged the Sudeten Nazis to riot but were stopped by the Czech government. Hitler threatened war.

Response:

  • Chamberlain stepped in to put appeasement in action, and met Hitler on 15 September 1938
  • He persuaded the Czechs to transfer Germany the German parts of the Sudetenland.
  • However, Hitler wanted the all of the Sudetenland and threatened war. Chamberlain refused.
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Munich Agreement- September 1938

Munich Conference:

  • War was looking inevitable.
  • However, Mussolini persuaded Hitler to attend a 4-power conference at Munich, 29 Spetember.
  • At the conference, Hitler=Germany/Mussolini=Italy/Chamberlain=Britain/Daladier=France.
  • Czechoslovakia weren't invited.
  • All countries agreed that Sudetenland would become part of Germany.
  • Britain and France forced Czechoslovakia to accept this agreement.
  • German armies occupied the Sudetenland on 1 October.
  • Hitler then signed an agreement in which they promised to consult each other and never to go to war against each other.
  • Chamberlain used this Agreement to buy time for British rearmament.
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Occupation of Czechoslovakia- March 1939

Background:

  • Czechoslovakia had lost its strong defensive system.
  • It had lost industrial areas.
  • It lost territory to Poland and Hungary.

Event:

  • In 1939, the Slovaks demanded more rights.
  • The new president, Emil Hacha, appealed to Hitler for help.
  • In the end, Hacha had no choice but to invite Germans in Czechoslovakia.
  • On 15 March 1939, the Nazis marched into Prague and took control.

Response:

  • The occupation wasn't opposed by Britain or France because the Germans were invited in.
  • It marked the end of appeasement.
  • Hitler couldn't justify his actions and shown himself to be the aggressor.
  • He had broken his promise to Chamberlain, and so Britain introduced conscription.
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Role of USSR in Causing WW2

Background:

  • Hitler hated Communism.
  • It was on of his top aims to get rid of communism.
  • The USSR was communist therefore, the two countries were enemies.

British-USSR Talks:

  • Britain hated Communism more than Nazism.
  • The USSR was also suspicious of the British and French aims.
  • Felt that they were trying to direct Hitler towards the east not the west.
  • Britain and France showed no urgency in trying to make an agreement with USSR.
  • Stalin grew tired of this delayment and had already made his decision.
  • Britain & France also took Stalin as less capable, thinking they could take advantage of this.
  • Stalin saw this and chose to agree with the Nazis.
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Nazi-Soviet Pact

Terms of the Pact:

  • USSR and Germany agreed not to attack each other.
  • They also agreed to attack Poland and divide it between them.
  • USSR gained the land it lost in WW1.
  • Germany gained the west of Poland- including the Danzig and the Polish Corridor.

Effects:

  • The pact showed Hitler's invasion on Poland was inevitable.
  • Hitler had prevented the danger of a war on two fronts.
  • Hitler presumed Britain would not oppose the attack on Poland.
  • He felt the Danzig was clearly German and the Polish Corridor East Prussia and Germany.
  • Britain & France lost another possible ally in the USSR.

Reasons for the pact:

  • Germany- preventing a war on two fronts, which was the fault of WW1.
  • USSR- Stalin lost patience with British/ Stalin would gain time to re-arm against a German attack.
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