Causes of WW2 Flashcards
What were the 3 aims of Hitler’s Foreign Policy?
- Abolish the Treaty of Versailles
- Expand German territory
- Defeat Communism
What was Lebensraum?
Living space- room for the growing German population, especially in eastern Europe
What was Anschluss?
Union- specifically between Germany and Austria
What were the six steps to war, 1935- 9?
- Rearmament (1933 onwards)
- Rhineland (7 March 1936)
- Austria (11 March 1938)
- Sudetenland (1 October 1938)
- Czechoslovakia (15 March 1939)
- Poland (1 September 1939)
What is conscription?
Calling up men to join the army
What date did Hitler introduce conscription in Germany?
1935
When did Hitler reoccupy the Rhineland?
7 March 1936
How many soldiers did Hitler’s army have when he reoccupied the Rhineland, and what were their orders?
22,000
They had orders to retreat if the French tried to stop them
What did Chamberlain give Hitler at Munich?
The Sudetenland - the Czechs were not consulted
What was the date of the Munich agreement?
29 September 1938
When did Hitler invade Poland?
1 September 1939
When did Britain declare war on Germany?
3 September 1939
What was appeasement?
Giving a bully what he wants
i.e. buying peace by giving Hitler everything he wanted
Give an example of someone who agreed with Chamberlain’s policy
The Daily Express, Most British people and the Frech premier Daladier
Give an example of someone who disagreed with Chamberlain’s policy
Winston Churchill
What date did Hitler invade Austria?
11 March 1938
During the Sudeten crisis, Chamberlain met Hitler on three occasions - where and when?
- Berchtesgaden (15 September 1938)
- Bad Godesberg (22 September 1938)
- Munich (29 September 1938)
Why did Chamberlain decide not to help Czechoslovakia?
- it was a ‘far away country’- ‘You only have to look at the map to see that nothing we could do could possibly save Czechoslovakia’
- it was a quarrel ‘between peopls of whom we kow nothing’
- ‘war is a feargul thing, and we must be very clear before we embark on it that it is really the great issues which are at stake’
- ‘I am myself a man of peace to the depths of my soul’
Why did Chamberlain appease Hitler?
- Approval
- Britain was weak
- Communism
- Democracy
- Empire
- France
- German propaganda
- Home
- 1st World War
- Justice
- Cost
- League of Nations
- Morality
- Neville Chamberlain
- Out of sight, out of mind
- Peace movement
- Quit
- Remote
- Spanish Civil War
What did Chamberlain call the Munich agreement?
‘Peace for our time’
What did Churchill call the Munich agreement?
‘A total defeat’
When did Hitler march into the Sudetenland?
1 October 1938
When did Hitler invade the rest of Czechoslovakia?
15 March 1939
What was Kristallnacht, and why did it turn British people away from appeasement?
Nazi attack on the Jews (8 Novembet 1938) showed that Hitler was a monster
