1919-39: 3. Road to War

Question 1

What were Hitler’s Foreign Policy Aims?

Answer 1

• 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

Question 2

When did Germany leave the League of Nations & began rearmament (against Versailles)

Answer 2

October 1933

Question 3

When did Germany fail in gaining Anschluss (Italy stopped this)?

Answer 3

July-August 1934

Question 4

When was the Saar plebiscite?

Answer 4

January 1935

Question 5

When did Germany announce rearmament openly?

Answer 5

March 1935

Question 6

When was the Anglo-German Naval Treaty signed?

Answer 6

June 1935

Question 7

When did Germany reoccupy and remilitarise the Rhineland?

Answer 7

March 1936

Question 8

When was the German Condor Legion sent to fight Communists in the Spanish Civil War?

Answer 8

March 1936

Question 9

When was the Rome-Berlin Axis formed?

Answer 9

November 1935

Question 10

When was the Anti-Comintern (anti-USSR) Pact signed with Japan?

Answer 10

November 1935

Question 11

When did Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact?

Answer 11

November 1937

Question 12

When was Anschluss with Austria achieved?

Answer 12

March 1938

Question 13

When was the Munich Conference (and other talks with Chamberlain)?

Answer 13

September 1938

Question 14

When was the Sudetenland occupied (as agreed at Munich)?

Answer 14

October 1938

Question 15

When did Germany invade the rest of Czechoslovakia?

Answer 15

March 1939

Question 16

When was the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (and secret agreement to divide Poland between them) signed?

Answer 16

August 1939

Question 17

Did Hitler have a definite plan for war?

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

Rhineland 1936

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

Austrian Anschluss 1934 (failure) and 1938 (success)

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

Sudetenland 1938

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

Munich Conference 1938 - to settle Sudetenland crisis

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

Invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia 1939

Answer 22

• 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)

Question 23

Invasion of Poland 1939

Answer 23

• German successes; Russians take parts of eastern Poland too
• 3rd September: GB & France declared war on Germany - to Hitler’s surprise!

Question 24

What does Appeasement mean?

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

What and when were the main Appeasement decisions?

Answer 25

• For GB, possibly as early as 1935 Anglo-German Naval Treaty
• Mainly 1938 and 1939 - France also followed Appeasement by then
• Anschluss (1938) was allowed
• Sudetenland crisis (and Munich Conference) 1938
• Hitler’s occupation of rest of Czechoslovakia (1939)

Question 26

What and when were the main Appeasement decisions?

Answer 26

• For GB, possibly as early as 1935 Anglo-German Naval Treaty
• Mainly 1938 and 1939 - France also followed Appeasement by then
• Anschluss (1938) was allowed
• Sudetenland crisis (and Munich Conference) 1938
• Hitler’s occupation of rest of Czechoslovakia (1939)

Question 27

Arguments ‘for’ Appeasement

Answer 27

• Sympathy for Germany
• The desire for peace
• It bought GB and France time to re-arm
• Fears about the spread of Communism
• USA isolationism

Question 28

Arguments ‘against’ Appeasement

Answer 28

• The appeasers misjudged Hitler
• Appeasement allowed Nazi Germany to become too strong
• Appeasement was morally wrong
• Appeasement scared Stalin and the USSR