Drift Towards War Flashcards
Hitler’s Foreign Policy
1st September 1939 Germany invade Poland and World War II starts
His main aims
Tear up the Treaty of Versailles
Make Germany great
Create a German Empire- Lebensraum (living space in Poland and Russia)
Foreign Policy
Steps he took to achieve his aims
Rebuilt the army (rearmament).He left the leagues of Nations. Introduced conscription in 1935. Built up the navy and airforce(Luftwaffe)
Occupation of the Rhineland. This broke the Treaty of Versailles
Rome-Berlin Axis formed with Mussolini
France and Britain
France and Britain did nothing to stop Hitler even after his aggressive Foreign Policy. Why ?
Fear over the size of the German army
Britain felt Germany had been punished too harshly with the Treaty of Versailles
Communism appeared to be a bigger problem at the time
Neville Chamberlain, British PM adopted the policy of appeasement( agree to Hitler’s demands to stop a war)
Why did the Munich Conference happen?
Anschluss 1938- The joining of Germany and Austria. Defied the Treaty of Versailles.Hitler forced the Austrian Nazi party to power
Sudetenland- This was the German speaking part of Czechoslovakia. Hitler used propaganda to try encourage unity with Germany
Munich Conference 1939
Chamberlain tried to use diplomacy to resolve the situation.
A meeting of France, Britain, Germany and Italy wa arranged by Mussolini to deal with the Sudetenland. Czech. not invited
29th Sept. 1939 the land was handed over to Germany.
War had been prevent. Hitler promised this was his last demand.
War Breaks out
March 1939-Hitler threatens to invade Czech. Chamberlin was appalled and abandoned appeasement. Brits promise to support Poland if invaded.
Summer 1939- Hitler demand Polish land.
Nazi Soviet Non Aggression Pact 1939- Hitler and Stalin form an alliance. It gives Soviet neutrality in the event of war with Poland and land in Eastern Europe. In secret they had agreed to divide Poland
Germany invade Poland on the 1st September 1939.
Britain and France demand the invasion be stopped. When Hitler reused they declared war on the 3rd September 1939
The Great War
World War I lasted from August 1914 to November 1918
It was not the longest war ever fought but, until World War II, no war had ever caused so much suffering or so much damage. It was often simply described as ‘the Great War’
Treaty of Versailles
The Western Allies (Britain, France, USA etc) defeated the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, etc.) and forced them to accept the Treaty of Versailles
Under the Treaty of Versailles the Germans i)lost territory to France and Poland ii) forced to pay reparations iii)limited their armed forces iv) demilitarized Rhineland
The Austro-Hungarian empire was divided into several small states
Most Germans resent the Treaty, determined to overthrow it
Impact on Russia
The Russian empire was destroyed by the war and the Revolution of 1917. It lost territory to other countries
League of Nations:Aims
The League of Nations was set up in 1920 (i) to preserve world peace (ii)to prepare colonial peoples for independence (iii) to improve living conditions throughout the world
League of Nations:Organisation
The Assembly with representatives from all member countries met once a year to discuss problems of world concern
The Council of the League made sure that the decisions of the organization were carried out
The Secretariat was the League’s civil service
Special agencies dealt with refugees, drug trafficking, slavery etc.
League of Nations:Achievements
The League settled several international disputes peacefully e,g between Sweden and Finland and between Poland and Lithuania
It sponsored important international agreements e.g Locarno treaties
Its specialist organisations helped to improve world health, reduce salvery and supervise mandated territories (colonies prepared for independence)
The league also sponsored major disarmament conferences between great powers
League of Nations: Defects
The USA never joined
Germany and USSR were members for a short time only
The great powers on the Council seemed to run the League and smaller states felt that they had little influence
The League had no army to enforce its decision
League of Nations: Failure
Because of these defects, the League was unable to deal with several crises involving major powers these included
(i) Japanese invasion of China (ii) Italian invasion of Ethiopia (iii) Hitler’s violation of the Versaille treaty (iv) Spanish civil war
