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
could hitler achieve his aims without war?
- lebensraum required war
- hoped to avoid war with britain but not france - didn’t think they would go to war with him over eastern europe
how was the rhineland reoccupied?
- march 7 1936
- sends 22k men in
- hitler said he would turn around at the first sight of french militarisation
- britain and france preoccupied with italy and abyssinia - hitler grows confident
what was the background to anschluss?
- 1934 - austrian chancellor dollfuss murdered by austrian nazis, austrian nazi coup suppressed, schuschnigg sets up right wing government, mussolini moves troops to brenner pass so hitler doesn’t invade and exploit crisis in austria
- july 1936 - austro-german agreement to respect austrian independence, austria to consider itself a german state, national opposition (pro nazis) given roles in government
- 1938 - economic issues led to support for joining with germany
what were the key events of anschluss?
12 february 1938 - hitler gave schuschnigg a speech regarding tensions, intimidated him into signing a document which appointed seyss-inquart as interior minister, agreed to coordinated military and economic policy with germany
9 march 1938 - schuschnigg calls plebiscite on austrian independence to undermine hitlers position
11 march 1938 - hitler demanded for plebiscite to be cancelled, goering demands for schuschnigg to resign and seyss-inquart replaces him, goering requests entry of german troops, schuschnigg tells austrians not to resist
12 march 1938 - german troops enter at dawn w little resistance, hitler absorbs austria into germany, law on reunion of austria with germany issued, thousands arrested, jews attacked, austrian reichstag dissolved
10 april 1939 - hitler holds plebiscite, 99.9% of germans and austrians vote yes, britain recognises enlarged germany
how was anschluss structuralist?
- france has its own political crisis, distracted
- britain had policy of appeasement
- austria no longer relied on italian support
how was anschluss intentionalist?
- overturning of versailles
- 25p programme - wanted to unite all german speaking peoples
- 1871 - german state excluded austria, hitler considered it as incomplete
what was the background to the invasion of the sudetenland?
- turned to cs encouraged by anschluss
- allied with france and ussr - far away, couldn’t help them due to lack of borders
- poland and romania wouldn’t let ussr through to cs
- 3m germans in sudetenland
what were the key events of the invasion of czechoslovakia?
may 1938 - war scare, cs mobilises against feared german invasion initially denied by hitler. orders plans to smash cs by 1 october at end of month
12 september 1938 - hitler attacks cs in speech, french gov urges chamberlain to negotiate settlement and hitler agrees
15 september 1938 - chamberlain flies to see hitler and agrees that all areas 50%+ german should be given to hitler, britain and france urge czechs to agree
22 september 1938 - chamberlain gets benes to accept hitlers demands, hitler says he wants sudetenland by 1 october, munich conference proposed, hitler encouraged to go due to lack of enthusiasm for war
29-30 october 1938 - munich conference brokered by mussolini, agree to german occupation of sudetenland by 10 october. german troops occupy sudetenland and benes resigns and goes into exile
slovakia established as satellite state by march 1939
how was the invasion of the sudetenland structuralist?
- nazis in sudetenland agitated for union with the german reich like in austria
- hitler exploited this
- soviet union weakened by purges, czech seemed remote to britain and france - both committed to appeasement
how was the invasion of the sudetenland intentionalist?
- versailles - 3m germans lost to cs due to new borders,
- good source for raw materials
- lebensraum - expansion to the east part of key ideology
what was the background to the invasion of poland?
- versailles gave land to poland w 800k germans
- polish corridor
- poland had agreement w france from 1925 locarno
- hitler had non aggression pact with poland from 1934 but didn’t care about breaking it
- march 31 1939 - chamberlain announced british guarantee of poland
what were the key events of the invasion of poland
april 3 1939 -hitler orders plan to attack poland
may 22 1939 - pact of steel
may 23 - decides on war against poland
august 22 - hitler tells his generals international situation is favourable
august 23 - ribbentrop goes to moscow to negotiate agreement. nazi-soviet pact non aggression for 10 years. secret clause - agree to help each other in case of war against poland. hitler announces invasion for 26 august, postponed to 1 september after britain ratifies agreement to poland + mussolini says italy not ready to fight
august 31 - ss troops dress as polish soldiers and attack german border radio post, leaving behind dead prisoners in polish uniform, polish provocation used to justify war
1 september - invasion
3 september - britain and france declare war
17 september - ussr invades poland from east
how was the invasion of poland structuralist?
- 1934 non aggression pact to buy time
- policy of appeasement + stalin signing pact with germany in 1939 left poland vulnerable
how was the invasion of poland intentionalist?
- always intended to destroy poland, saw slavs as subhuman to serve interests of germanic aryan race
- 1937 hossbach conference - stated aim of eastward expansion
- formation of polish corridor + loss of land after versailles
what ideological divides were there that led to war?
- communist russia vs capitalist west
- military dictatorships germany japan and italy - anti communist and initially appealed to britain france usa but became more dangerous
what was the league of nations?
set up to resolve disputes between member countries
what were the weaknesses of the league of nations?
- membership - not all countries involved, made it weak as a worldwide organisation, us refused to join
- bureaucracy - slow to make decisions, rarely agreed to economic or military sanctions
- enforcement - didn’t have its own army, countries reluctant to supply their own troops,
- countries negotiated increasingly independently of the league
what was britain’s attitude during this?
- avoided alliance until 1939 but pursued appeasement to keep peace
- colonies didn’t want to go war after ww1, such as australia and south africa
- political and public opinion hardened after kristallnacht and cs
- appeasement contributed to war as it encouraged italy germany japan to seize more territory
what was france’s attitude to this?
- resentment and anger until 1939 due to failure to meet terms of versailles
- turned to appeasement after failed invasion of ruhr
- fear of german invasion, militarised maginot line
- lost lots of soldiers in ww1
- government changed 11 times between 1932 and 1935
- left wing gov in 1936 faced criticism
- appeasement contributed to hitlers confidence
what was italy’s attitude to this?
- also dissatisfied with versailles + anti communist
- mutual interest in austria led to conflict
- rome berlin axis agreement after spanish civil war
- hitler refused military aid during abyssinia
- pact of steel encouraged war
what was the ussr’s attitude to this?
- isolated due to communist ideology
- wanted to avoid war
- joined league of nations as reaction to nazi-polish non aggression pact
- suggested treaties with western powers - france agreed to some but britain didn’t want a communist ally
what was the usa’s attitude to this?
- isolationism and disarmament during 1920s/30s
- neutral over abyssinia and spanish civil war
- openly said it wouldn’t go to war in 1937 and produced neutrality act in 1937 which encouraged hitler
what was japan’s attitude to this?
- dissatisfied with post ww1 treaties
- went to war with china in 1931
- left league in 1933
what else influenced the move to war?
world economy after great depression led to growing support for extreme parties
what was the september memorandum?
september 1914
said germany would expand if they won the war - luxembourg, belgium, buffer states in eastern europe
what was the hossbach conference?
- hitler said it was the best time for lebensraum in 1943-45 but would do it earlier if other countries had internal problems
- 1937
