3.1.2 - Ambitions of Germany in Europe Flashcards
Hitler’s Ambitions
- Dismantling the Treaty of Versaille (28 June 1919)
- The “Jewish Problem”
- Lebensraum - living space
- Auturky - economic independence
- Grossdeutschland
- Foreign policy - rejecting internationalism
Grossdeutschland
“Greater Germany”
To unite all German speaking people under one rule:
Austria was annexed March 1938
* Anschluss was determined by legal means (popular referendum), but due to threat of invasion the government surrendered.
* Generally, Austrians welcomed Hitler with his promises as they were a very poor country post WW1
Sudetenland (northern Czechoslovakia)
* Due to pressure of invasian, Britain followed a policy of appeasement and Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France signed the Munich agreement (30 September 1938), for a pledge of peace from Hitler.
* Czechoslovakia not included in these agreements
Lebensraum
False flag event accusing Polish soldiers shooting at the border sparked German invasion:
* Occupation of prior Germanic territory
* Then occupation of Jewish territory, and relocating the population (anti-Semitism).
* Lebensraum was expanded further in the occupation of Paris (also vengeance for the Treaty of Versaille)
* “Hitler believed that the true destiny of the Germans lay in the east where they could find living space at the expense of Russia” EH Carr.
Autarky
A state of economic self-sufficiency that eradicate the need for foreign policy (imports). This was in line with Hitler’s broader goal of creating a self-sufficient, militarised state that could support long-term war efforts.
- Agricultural reform to increase food production.
- Invested synthetic industries to replace imported goods, such as synthetic rubber and oil.
- Ersatz coffee from acorns.
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1936: Four Year Plans drawn up
1939: failed, with a third of raw materials, namely oil, being imported.
The Jewish Problem
The perceived threat posed by Jewish people to German society and culture, which was used to justify discrimination and persecution.
* Demonisation through propaganda, speeches, parades.
* Discrimination: Reich Citizenship Law, boycotts, racial theory.
* Separation: banned from professions, schools, relocation to ghettos
Foreign Policy
- Resentment to Britain, France, US etc. due to ToV -> left LoN 1933
- Grossdeutchsland - unification of Germanic peoples (Sudetenland, Austria, Poland)
- Alliances with similarly totalitarian states, Italy, Russia, Japan.
- Opposed communism - quick to break the Nazi-Soviet Non-Agression Pact 1941 –> aimed to expand to the east (lebensraum)
