foreign policy Flashcards
what is structuralism?
hitler responding to events, opportunism, driven more by external factors
what is intentionalism?
long planned, hitlers true intentions, driven by him, uses evidence such as mein kampf
what factors caused ww2?
- treaty of versailles - resentment, unstable international situation, other nations become tolerant to expansionism
- economic - depression
- social - expectations of german public
- nazi foreign policy - expansionism/racial purity
- international/other countries foreign policy
what was aryan racial theory
- pan-germanism - wanted to unite all german speaking peoples by capturing other countries and clearing them of non speakers for pure germans
- led nazis to form alliances with ‘racially acceptable’ countries like britain
- favoured expansion eastwards
- didn’t stop hitler from making alliances with inferior countries - seen as necessary evil
how was hitler inspired by the first and second reich?
- third reich wanted more land in the east than germany had in 1914
- first reich - holy roman empire of charlemagne
- second reich - german empire founded by bismark in 1871, created alliances with other nations, may have influenced hitler
- propaganda focused on glory of these empires
what were the benefits of taking inspiration from the first and second reich?
gave nazis credibility - used glorious past as a reason to restore germany after ww1
what were the effects of ww1 in germany?
people felt betrayed by november criminals
- unpopular government
- gov and army both said germany could have won
- soldiers joined paramilitary groups
- 1919-23 - 376 political murders, mostly from right wing groups
- kapp putsch 1920 + munich putsch 1923
what did hitler do during ww1
- hitler was a soldier, wrote about experiences in mein kampf
- raged about politicians, used this as decision to become politician
what did hitler do after ww1?
- april 1920 - nsdap, hitler was one of the leaders and had 25 point programme
- 1923 munich putsch - wrote mein kampf after being sent to prison
what were the terms of the treaty of versailles?
- loss of land - polish corridor, lost 6.4m germans
- disarmament, no submarines warships tanks or airforce, 100k army troops
- no army in rhineland
- 132 billion gold marks reparations 1921
- war guilt clause
- diktat
what effect did the treaty of versailles have on foreign policy?
- opposing it made political parties popular
- trade was difficult
- self determining states post treaty had large german populations
- 1935 - anglo german naval agreement broke limitations on germany army
- encouraged nazis to expand germany further and build stronger military
how were colonies thought of in weimar and the third reich?
- weimar - revisionist, wanted to return to germany as in 1914 with colonies
- hitler - wanted to expand to pre 1914 bordered, didn’t want colonies
how did the second and third reich and weimar want germany to become a world power?
- kaiser - wanted power through war, didn’t care about ethnicity of allies/people in conquered lands
- weimar - didn’t openly discuss expansion past 1914 borders
- hitler - large german empire through alliances or war, only alliances with countries with ‘acceptable’ ethnic mixes
how did the second and third reich and weimar want to achieve lebensraum?
- kaiser - had ideas to expand, but with a lot of colonies
- weimar - inapplicable
- hitler - to meet economic needs due to shortage of raw materials and farmland, should come from countries in the east with high slavic population + german speakers, land should be cleared of non ‘pure’ germans
what did hitler think of jews and bolshevism?
believed conspiracies about worldwide jewish governments, stirred up anti german feeling in other countries, anti communist, believed germany would have to go to war with eastern europe to take land and defeat communism
what evidence is there that hitler had a masterplan?
kept many foreign minister officials from before he came to power in until 1936
- could be evidence he didn’t impose a plan
- aims in mein kampf vs speeches
what evidence is there that hitler always intended for war?
- openly defied versailles from 1935 onwards
- 4 year plan from 1936-39 shows he didn’t want to be reliant on other countries for war materials
- said he intended expansion not defence
- stressed overturning versailles diplomatically in 1933