1919-39: 3. Road to War Flashcards
What were Hitler’s Foreign Policy Aims?
- Abolish Treaty of Versailles (international sympathy for this)
- Make Germany great again - rearmament
- Pan-Germanism (unite all German-speakers under German rule)
- Lebensraum to allow Germany to expand and feed itself
- Defeat Communism
- Prove racist theories of Aryan supremacy
When did Germany leave the League of Nations & began rearmament (against Versailles)
October 1933
When did Germany fail in gaining Anschluss (Italy stopped this)?
July-August 1934
When was the Saar plebiscite?
January 1935
When did Germany announce rearmament openly?
March 1935
When was the Anglo-German Naval Treaty signed?
June 1935
When did Germany reoccupy and remilitarise the Rhineland?
March 1936
When was the German Condor Legion sent to fight Communists in the Spanish Civil War?
March 1936
When was the Rome-Berlin Axis formed?
November 1935
When was the Anti-Comintern (anti-USSR) Pact signed with Japan?
November 1935
When did Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact?
November 1937
When was Anschluss with Austria achieved?
March 1938
When was the Munich Conference (and other talks with Chamberlain)?
September 1938
When was the Sudetenland occupied (as agreed at Munich)?
October 1938
When did Germany invade the rest of Czechoslovakia?
March 1939
When was the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (and secret agreement to divide Poland between them) signed?
August 1939
Did Hitler have a definite plan for war?
- Hossbach Memorandum of 1938 indicated that Germany had to be ready for war by 1940
- Some historians claim that Hitler was taking advantage of the situation and bluffing rather than really wanting to go to war
Rhineland 1936
- Hitler gambled that Britain and France would do nothing (weak and worried about Italy in Abyssinia) — the gamble paid off as German troops were allowed to stay there; Italy was by now supportive of Germany and did not criticise Hitler
- German forces were poorly equipped and could have been defeated
- Hitler now controlled German generals who began to believe in his leadership
Austrian Anschluss 1934 (failure) and 1938 (success)
- Hitler wanted to unite all German-speaking people and had been born in Austria; Austria had resources of iron and gold
- Hitler used Austrian Nazis to disrupt the country on both occasions
- In 1934 Mussolini stopped Germany because he did not want Germany to expand; by 1938, Italy and Germany were allies so Mussolini did not stop the Anschluss
- League was useless; GB and France wanted to avoid war so they did nothing
Sudetenland 1938
- Hitler wanted to unite Germany and the German-speaking minority in this region of Czechoslovakia; used Czech Nazis to stir up trouble
- The area was key to Czechoslovakia’ s defences and was rich in industry
- September: Chamberlain (GB’s PM) and Hitler met; Chamberlain agreed that Sudeten people should decide who to join by plebiscite as this was a “reasonable” idea; Hitler changed his mind and demanded the region; GB prepared for war
Munich Conference 1938 - to settle Sudetenland crisis
- Italy, GB, Germany & France present (neither Czechs nor Russians invited)
- To avoid war, Hitler was allowed to take the Sudetenland in return for a promise that Germany would not invade the rest of Czechoslovakia
- Chamberlain: “Peace for our time”
- Hitler believed that he could bluff his way to more gains
Invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia 1939
- Nazi Germany broke its promise and conquered Czechoslovakia
- GB and France realised that Appeasement could not work and Hitler was devious
- Warn Hitler that war will be declared if he attacked Poland (he did not believe them)
Invasion of Poland 1939
- German successes; Russians take parts of eastern Poland too
- 3rd September: GB & France declared war on Germany - to Hitler’s surprise!
What does Appeasement mean?
- Foreign Policy followed by France and Britain towards Hitler
- It meant giving concessions (or giving in to Hitler’s demands) in order to prevent a major war
- Smaller countries’ wishes and rights were ignored
