Conflict and Tension- Rising Tensions in Europe

Question 1

When did Hitler become Chancellor of Germany?

Answer 1

1933

Question 2

What were Hitler’s 3 main aims in his foreign policiy?

Answer 2

• Abolish the Treaty of Versailles
• Expand German territory (Lebensraum)
• Defeat Communism (German Empire in Eastern Europe)

Question 3

What was used to try and satisfy the militarising Germany under Hitler by the rest of Europe?

Answer 3

Appeasement

Question 4

When did Hitler take Germany out of the League of Nations and how much of the public vote was in favour of this?

Answer 4

1933
91.5% of public vote in favour.

Question 5

What statistics demonstrate Hitler’s rearmament of Germany?

Answer 5

By 1935-
* Hitler had 2000 aircraft on display
* Had reintroduced conscription
* The army had increased from 100,000 to 1 million men
* Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement which allowed Hitler to increase Germany’s navy up to 35% of the British Navy.

Question 6

What was happening at the same time as Hitler’s rearmament of Germany?

Answer 6

Abyssinia crisis- 1934-1935
Spanish Civil War- 1936-1939

Question 7

When did Hitler openly start rearming?

Answer 7

1935

Question 8

What was the Dolfuss Affair and when was it?

Answer 8

• Dolfuss was the Chancellor of Austria from 1932-1934
• In 1933 Dolfuss established a dictatorship in Austria due to outbreaks of violence
• In doing this, he outlawed the Austrian Nazi Party
• In July 1934, Dolfuss was assasinated by ten Austrian Nazis
• Hitler considered an invasion in support of the Austrian Nazis
• Mussolini threatened war on Germany if they invaded Austria
• This caused Hitler to realise that Germany needed to urgently rearm and gain Mussolini’s support for any expansionist plans

Question 9

What was the Saar Plebicite, and when was it?

Answer 9

• The Saar region of Germany had been ruled by the League of Nations since 1919
• (Plebicite held and previously promised by the League of Nations) ~90% of the population voted to return to German rule
• Huge confidence boost for Hitler and the Nazi Party

Question 10

When was the remilitarisation of the Rhineland?

Answer 10

1936

Question 11

What did Hitler use as his reason to remillitarise the Rhineland?

Answer 11

That Germany was under threat due to France signing a treaty with the USSR to protect eachother from attack against Germany- the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance

Question 12

How did France and Britain react to Germany’s remilitarisation of the Rhineland?

Answer 12

• Many people in Britain felt that Germany had the right to remilitarise the Rhineland
• Hitler had ordered his troops to retreat if the French acted against them, but they did nothing. France was about to hold an election and no leaders wanted to take responsibility for taking France into war, and they didn’t realise how weak the German army actaully was at this point.

Question 13

Why did France do nothing about Germany’s remilitarisation of the Rhineland?

Answer 13

• They were very near an election and none of the leaders wanted to be the one to take France to war
• France did not realise how weak Germany’s army was at the time
• France didn’t want to act without British support

Question 14

How was the Spanish Civil War impactful to the rest of Europe and when was it?

Answer 14

1936-1939
German aircraft made devastating bombing raids on Spanish civillians in 1937 (Guernica)

Question 15

Who was also fighting in the Spanish Civil War, sided with Germany?

Answer 15

Mussolini (Italy)

Question 16

When did Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern pact?
When did Italy sign this pact too?
What was this alliance called?

Answer 16

Germany and Japan- 1936
Italy- 1937
This alliance was called the Axis Alliance.

Question 17

Why was Anschluss with Austria possible for Hitler in 1938 and not in 1934?

Answer 17

Mussolini was now on his side (Axis Alliance from the Anti-Comintern Pact)

Question 18

How did Hitler unify with Austria (Anschluss)

Answer 18

• Hitler encouraged the Nazis in Austria to stir up trouble for the government, they staged demonstrations calling for union with Germany and caused riots.
• The Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg was pressured by Hitler for Anschluss, and asked for help from France and Britain- who did nothing.
• Schuschnigg called a plebicite to see what the Austrian people wanted.
• Hitler realised he could loose the plebicite and simply marched his troops into Austria in March 1938 supposedly to guarantee a trouble-free plebicite.
• Under the watchful eye of Nazi troops, 99.75% voted for Anschluss

Question 19

What were arguments in support of appeasement / pros of appeasement?

Answer 19

• Hitler was standing up to communism
• Not repeating horrors of WW1
• Britain not ready for war
• Own economic problems
• Many felt the Treaty of Versailles was unfair
• US may not support Britain/ want to fight
• Commonwealth and empire may not want to support

Question 20

What was wrong with appeasement? What did it allow to happen?

Answer 20

• It encouraged Hitler to be aggressive- with each gamble, he was encouraged to take a bigger risk
• It put too much trust in Hitler’s promises- Hitler often went back on his promises
• It allowed Germany to grow too strong- it was becoming more powerful than Britain or France
• It scared the USSR- Hitler was very clear about his plans to expand eastward, and to the USSR it seemed that France and Britain wouldn’t stand in Germany’s way.

Question 21

When was the Sudetenland crisis?

Answer 21

September 1938

Question 22

What was the Sudetenland crisis and who was involved?

Answer 22

• Edward Beneš sought guarantees from France and Britain that they would defend Czechoslovakia.
• Hitler wanted the Sudetenland which had many ethnic Germans in.
• Henlein who was the leader of the Nazis in the Sudetenland area stirred up trouble and they demanded to become part of Germany
• In May 1938, Hitler made clear that he would be willing to fight Czechoslovakia if necessary- there is considerable evidence that the German Army was still not ready for war at this point.
• On the 15th September 1939 Hitler moderated his plans saying that he wanted only parts of the Sudetenland.
• 3 days later, Hitler increased his demands and “regretted” that the previous terms were not enough. He wanted all of the Sudetenland.
• The Munich Agreement was held on 29th September 1938. They decided to give Hitler what he wanted. Czechoslovakia had no say in it.

Question 23

Why was the Sudetenland a key area for Beneš and Czechoslovakia?

Answer 23

The Sudetenland had many forts, railways and industries that would leave Czechoslovakia defenceless.

Question 24

What demonstrated that even though the Munich Agreement was supposed to bring peace, Europe knew that war was almost certain?

Answer 24

• Even while Chamberlain was signing the Munich Agreement, he was approving a massive increase in arms spending.
• Air raid shelters were being dug in September 1938

Question 25

What did opinion polls show in September 1938 (Sudetenland Crisis) about British people’s views on Hitler? And then another in October 1938?

Answer 25

British people did not think appeasement would stop Hitler and that it delayed war. In October 1938, 93% of the British people did not believe that Hitler had no more territorial ambitions in Europe.

Question 26

What happened in March 1939

Answer 26

Hitler took over the rest of Czechoslovakia with no resistance

Question 27

What happened in August 1939

Answer 27

The Nazi-Soviet Pact
They publically agreed not to attack eachother and privately agreed to divide Poland between them.

Question 28

Why did Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

Answer 28

• All through 1939, Chamberlain had been unwilling to commit Britain to any formal agreements with the USSR
• France hadn’t done anything about the remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936
• The USSR wasn‘t consulted about the Munich Agreement
• Stalin felt he couldn‘t trust France even after their agreement 1935 (the Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact)
• He had designs for Eastern Europe that had been part of Tsarist Russia
• He didn’t believe Hitler would keep his promise and the agreement gave him more time to prepare to fight.

Question 29

When did Germany invade Poland?

Answer 29

1st September 1939