Causes of Expansion

Question 1

What was the impact of WWI (and Versailles Treaty) on Hitler’s foreign policy?

Answer 1

• Hitler believed that the Versailles Treaty was a diktat imposed on Germany
• Hitler would go on to use the unfairness of the Treaty as an excuse for his expansionist policies (Rearmament and remilitarization of Rhineland, Anschluss)

Question 2

What were the 3 main factors of Hitler’s foreign policy?

Answer 2

1. Unification of Germany with Austrian Germans and other German minorities
2. Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) and Lebensraum (expansion for living space)
3. Jews, Russians, French were natural enemies; Italy was a natural ally

Question 3

How did the Great Depression result in the rise of the Nazi Party? (2 reasons)

Answer 3

1. During the Stresemann era, Germany depended on US loans, and thus the economy was ruined with the crash of Wall Street in 1929
2. Led to extreme left and extreme right parties gaining support
   - The significance of the economic crisis is large since the support for Nazi Party had stalled during the golden era of Stresemann (1924-1929)

Question 4

How did the Great Depression aid Hitler’s expansionist policies?

Answer 4

The Great Depression put the advantage on Hitler’s side as:

1. Britain was occupied by the economic crisis and struggling to maintain its empire (thereby not more aware of Hitler’s aggressive nature)
2. French did not have the support from USA or Britain due to the economic crisis
3. USA continued to follow isolationist policy
4. National insularity > Collective security

Question 5

What was the impact of the stagnating economy in the mid-1930s on Hitler’s foreign policy?

Answer 5

By 1936, consumer economy was struggling. Hitler’s solution was the acquisition of more land and living space. Thus, the Four-Year-Plan of Hitler prepared for war.

Question 6

What was the impact of Nazism on Hitler’s foreign policy?

Answer 6

1. Hitler wanted to address and solve Germany’s problem of space by 1943-1945
2. Hitler wanted to overthrow Czechoslovakia and Austria

Question 7

How did Hitler’s Non-Aggression Pact (1934) with Poland undermine collective security?

Answer 7

1. Secured Germany’s eastern frontier and weakened French security
2. Pact ended any chance of rapprochement between the Czechs and Poland

Question 8

How did diplomatic alignments benefit Hitler in 1936/1937?

Answer 8

A result of intervening in the Spanish Civil War was that Hitler grew closer to Italy, which led to the signing of the Rome-Berlin Pact and the Anti-comintern pact.
- This was beneficial as this allowed him to take a more aggressive policies as he was not isolated anymore

Question 9

What was the significance of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939?

Answer 9

Allowed Hitler to expand into Poland without having to fight a two-front war (between the Wests and the USSR)