conflict and tension - chapter 9

Question 1

what country was next for hitlers lebensraum (after austria and czechoslovakia)

Answer 1

poland

Question 2

what did the TofV do to make hitler despise poland

Answer 2

• areas of germany had been given away to create poland
• many germans found themselves living under foreign rule

Question 3

why did hitler want to invade poland

Answer 3

when hitler came to power he promised to destroy the TofV, reunite all german speaking people and claim lebensraum in the east
-> invading poland would help him achieve these aims

Question 4

why had hitler grown confident

Answer 4

he had seen britain and france fail to take action against him as he broke the terms of the TofV

Question 5

why did hitler feel like he would be able to take poland easily

Answer 5

britain and france hadn’t stopped him before, and even though they had made agreements with poland, he didn’t think they would stop him invading the country
poland had no natural frontiers, so it would be easy to attack

Question 6

what was hitlers problem with invading poland

Answer 6

he didn’t know what the USSR would do

Question 7

at the end of ww1, which country’s territories was poland made up of

Answer 7

germany and russia

Question 8

how did germany and russia feel about poland

Answer 8

they despised it

Question 9

what was stalin determined to do about poland

Answer 9

determined to reclaim the land taken from russia to make it

Question 10

what did hitler do before invading poland

Answer 10

he sent his foreign minister to make a deal -> if the USSR allowed hitler to invade poland, they would be given polish territory

Question 11

when was the nazi-soviet pact signed

Answer 11

23rd august 1939

Question 12

what type of pact was the nazi-soviet pact

Answer 12

a non-aggression pact

Question 13

why would it make sense for stalin to not like hitler

Answer 13

• hitler had made speeches about how russians were genetically inferior to germans
• he had murdered and imprisoned communists in germany
• he had promised to destroy communism

Question 14

by 1939 why did stalin not trust britain and france

Answer 14

• stalin joined the league in 1934 but witnessed how weak it was in the manchuria, abyssinia and rhineland crises -> he lost faith in leagues ability to protect russia from threats
• in 1934 the USSR and france signed an agreement saying france would protect russia from german invasion -> but when hitler remilitarised the rhineland france did nothing so stalin thought if they couldn’t stop threats right next to them, how would they stop threats in the east
• britain and france followed appeasement towards germany and one of the reasons was that hitler could be used as a barrier to stop communism -> they clearly didn’t trust stalin so why should he support them
• stalin was not invited or consulted at the munich agreement
• lord halifax, the foreign minister, and chamberlain both hated communism so when stalin invited them for talks in russia they declined -> they only accepted when the situation in czechoslovakia worsened and the brits realised they needed the USSR on their side -> a man named reginald drax led the british diplomats to russia, but they travelled by boat rather than plane so the meeting didn’t seem urgent
• the polish people knew the russians hated them so did not allow russian troops to be stationed in poland to defend them from nazi invasion -> this added to the mistrust between russia and the allies
• hitler sent his most trusted senior nazi to meet with stalin -> it seemed like hitler respected stalin compared to britain and france who ignored him at the munich conference

Question 15

why did russia sign the nazi soviet pact

Answer 15

• hitler and stalin secretly agreed to split poland between them. stalin could destroy poland and reclaim land that had been taken from russia. he would gain territory in poland and didn’t have to lift a finger to take it - germany would do all the fighting
• stalin did not really trust hitler. he suspected that hitler would turn against him at some point (which he did in 1941 when he invaded russia). signing this pact meant he was able to buy time, which allowed russia to build up its army ready for war
• the USSR could see that britain and france would not stand up to hitler -> they had not consulted stalin over key issues such as the munich agreement, and chamberlain had insulted him by sending a diplomat with no real power to negotiate an alliance -> stalin felt isolated
• stalin felt it was better to be allies with hitler than to be invaded by him
• owning territory in poland would create a buffer zone, which would be useful if (and when ) hitler decided to invade russia

Question 17

why did germany want the nazi soviet pact

Answer 17

• during ww1 germany had fought a war on two fronts -> britain and france in the west, and russia in the east
• germany had to divide its troops to fight both fronts, which weakened them and ultimately led to defeat
• hitler was determined to not make the same mistake
• he knew that with every step he took towards achieving his foreign policy, war became more likely and russia was a vast country with an equally vast army -> he needed to take the russians out the equation

Question 18

what was the significance of the nazi-soviet pact

Answer 18

• some historians said it made war inevitable as hitler knew he could invade poland without facing a war on two fronts
• after hitler broke the munich agreement and invaded czechoslovakia, britain and france realised appeasement wasn’t working and vowed to protect poland if hitler invaded, which he now surely would
• the pact meant that when war broke out britain and france would face germany without the support of russia -> hitler would have the upper hand as the soviet army would side with him
• the pact persuaded britain that war was imminent so they formalised their previous agreement with poland - if hitler invaded, they would declare war

Question 19

when was the nazi-soviet pact

Answer 19

1939

Question 20

why was hitler confident he could invade poland with ease and why was this not the case

Answer 20

• after signing the nazi-soviet pact, he had the USSR on his side
• he was convinced britain and france would continue their policy of appeasement
• this was not the case as britain and france had signed an agreement with poland guaranteeing it security from a nazi attack

Question 21

when did hitler launch his attack on poland

Answer 21

1st september 1939 at 4:45am

Question 22

how did hitler invade poland

Answer 22

• a german battleship opened fire on Danzig (danzig was made an independent state by the TofV but was run by poland but 90% of the population was german)
• at the same time 62 divisions of the german army and 1300 luftwaffe planes invaded poland -> the polish airforce was caught on the ground and obliterated

Question 23

what were hitlers generals worried about and what did they do

Answer 23

• they were worried that they were not ready for war
• they leaked hitlers plans to britain in hope that it would force hitler to abandon his plans
• hitler ignored their concerns and made them swear oaths of loyalty to him

Question 24

when did britain send an ultimatum to germany

Answer 24

3rd september 1939

Question 25

what did the ultimatum britain sent to germany say

Answer 25

said that the germans had to send assurances that they would withdraw their troops from poland by 11am or britain would declare war on germany

Question 26

what did britain do when germany didn’t reply to the ultimatum

Answer 26

they declared war

Question 27

who else declared war on germany, after britain

Answer 27

france

Question 28

what was poland like 4 weeks after the nazi invasion and what did hitler think

Answer 28

poland was overrun by nazi and soviet troops hitler was convinced britain and france would back down - he was wrong and ww2 had started

Question 29

what were the causes of ww2

Answer 29

- hitler - the failure of the league of nations - the depression - the nazi soviet pact - appeasement

Question 30

why was the depression a cause of ww2

Answer 30

- desperate people turned to dictators like hitler and mussolini -> the league could not put effective economic sanctions on these dictators - desperate countries were too preoccupied with their own problems to support the league, so there was less international cooperation

Question 31

why was the nazi-soviet pact a cause of ww2

Answer 31

- meant hitler did not have to face a war on two fronts - meant hitler was backed up by the USSR - allowed hitler to invade poland, which britain and france had promised to protect

Question 32

why was the TofV a cause of ww2

Answer 32

- was too harsh on germany -> hitler promised to ‘right the wrong of the treaty’ - britain felt hitler should be allowed to overturn the treaty so didn’t intervene the prevent events such as the anschluss at first - territory was taken from russia to take poland -> stalin wanted this land back so signed the nazi-soviet pact - created new states such as czechoslovakia and poland, where many germans were living -> hitler promised to reunite these people in a greater germany

Question 33

why was appeasement a cause of ww2

Answer 33

- politicians like chamberlain were to blame - the munich agreement alienated stalin who then turned to hitler and signed the nazi soviet pact - chamberlain made a mistake trusting hitler - opportunities to stop hitler were missed, such as when he remilitarised the rhineland

Question 34

why was hitler to blame for ww2

Answer 34

- in Mein Kampf hitler said the only way to make germany strong again was to fight to overturn the TofV and take lebensraum - hitler hated communism so much he wanted to stop it by controlling russia -> to do this he would have to invade, starting a war - hitlers foreign policy aims were to overturn the TofV, create a greater germany to unite german-speaking people and to acquire lebensraum -> meant he would have to invade countries, which would start a war

Question 35

why was the failure of the league a cause of ww2

Answer 35

- the abyssinian crisis -> no army - no action -> showed britain and france would undermine the league -> showed acts of aggression would not be dealt with effectively - failure in manchuria -> showed that the league was weak