Hitler's Foreign Policy 1933-1939 Flashcards
What territorial losses did Germany suffer as a result of the Treaty of Versailles?
- Lost all overseas colonies as they were divided between the allies that won the war.
- Germany was split in two by the Polish Corridor
- The Rhineland was put under international control so no German troops or weapons were allowed in the area.
The Treaty of Versailles had removed the industrial area around The Saar from Germany, how did they get it back in 1935?
A plebiscite was due to be held and as this approached, the Nazis set up a huge campaign to persuade Saarlanders to vote for reunification with Germany. Any opposition were threatened and beaten up, also an army of Nazi storm troopers gathered on the border between the Saar and Germany, in January 90% of the vote said yes and the land was retuned to Germany.
How did Germany re-arm in 1933?
In 1933 Hitler withdrew Germany from the World Disarmament Conference, and from the League of Nations. In 1934 he signed a non aggression pact with Poland which meant neither sides would attack each other for the next 10 years. Hitler built up the army by introducing conscription and arguing Germany needed to be able to defend itself. Britain signed a naval agreement with Germany as they felt the TOV had been too harsh, allowing them to build a fleet.
The TOV had made the Rhineland a de-militarised zone. Describe the Remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936?
On 7th March 1936 Hitler ordered 32,000 troops and armed police into the Rhineland, Britain and France did nothing to stop him, which encouraged Hitler to break more of the Treaty. Britain thought that by letting Hitler get away with breaking the TOV, they would secure future peace between Britain and Germany. The League of Nations condemned Hitlers action but did nothing more. Hitler offered to make a peace treaty that would last 25 years.
What were the 3 main aims for Hitler’s Foreign Policy in the 1930’s?
- To overturn and abolish the Treaty of Versailles
- To create Lebensraum (living space for the Germans)
- To unite all German speaking people who had been split after the war.
The Union of Austria and Germany was a key aim of Hitler because he wanted to unite all German speaking people. How did Hitler achieve this in March 1938?
Hitler had a failed attempt in 1934 because Schussnig (Austrian government party) and Mussolini (dictator of Italy) forced him to back down.
During the Spanish civil war in 1936 Italy and Germany became closer and signed the Rome-Berlin Axis - this meant Hitler felt strong enough to unite with Austria again.
In January 1938 Schussnig asked Hitler for help as he feared anAustrian Nazi revolution, Hitler insisted that he gave positions in his government to Austrian Nazis. Schussnig then arranged a plebiscite to ask Austrian people if they wanted to unite with Germany.
Hitler moved troops into the Austrian border and threatened to invade. Austrian Nazis rioted streets and imprisoned over 80,000 opponents of Hitler, Schussnig felt forced to resign.
On 12 March 1938 Hitler entered Austria and union was established on March 14. The plebiscite was held and 99.75% voted yes to the reunification.
Reasons For and Against Britain’s policy of appeasement to Germany in late 1930s?
For - Chamberlain would do anything to prevent another war as they didn’t have any allies to fight with.
- Britain wanted Germany to be stringer so that they could defeat communism in Russia.this gave Britain time to re-arm after the previous war, and make themselves stronger.
Against - It showed Chamberlain as weak and worried other countries that Britain would never stand up to Hitler.
- Germany just became stronger as they gained more land, materials and re-armed. Which encouraged Hitler to act aggressively.
- It didn’t prevent a war.
Why did Hitler want to make Czechoslovakia a part of Germany?
Czechoslovakia consisted of armaments factories, large coal deposits and in the Sudentland there were strong military defences.
This would also help Hitler achieve his aim of Lebensraum. He also detested the country as a democracy,
Czech’s population consisted of Czechs, Slovaks and 3 million German speakers, where most of which lived in the Sudetenland, this gave Hitler an excuse to confront Czechoslovakia.
Why did war seem inevitable after the Czechoslovakia crisis?
In April 1938 German troops began massing in the Czech border, and 12 September the Sudenten Nazi’s rioted but were crushed by the Czech government. Hitler then threatened war.
What was Britain’s involvement in the Sudentland crisis?
Chamberlain persuaded the Czechoslovakians to give to Germany the parts of the Sudentland where the majority of speakers were German. He met on September 22nd to tell Hitler this, but Hitler told Chamberlain he wanted the whole of the Sudentland and threatened to go to war. Chamberlain refused to give Hitler the whole of the land.
What happened at the Munich agreement on 29 September 1938?
Mussolini persuade Hitler to attend a four power (Germany, Italy, France and Britain) conference at Munich on 29th of September. Czechoslovakia were not invited. They all agreed that the whole of the Sudetenland would become part of Germany immediately. The Cesch’s were forced to agree to this by Britain and France. German armies occupied the land on the 1st of October. After this, Chamberlain and Hitler signed a deal to say the two countries would never to war against each other and would always consult each other in the event of any problems.
How did the Munich agreement weaken Czechoslovakia?
- They lost their strong defence system.
- Lost key industrial area’s
- Lost territory to Poland in October and Hungary in November.
- The actions of the Sudetenland Germans stirred other nationalities in Czech to demand a return to their nation states.
How did Germany occupy Czechoslovakia in March 1939?
In 1939 the Czech’s demanded more rights. The new Czech President Emil Hacha asked Hitler for help. Hacha had no choice but to invite to Germans into Czechoslovakia.
On 25 March the Nazi’s marched into Prague and took control. Czech was no longer an independent state.
This event marked the end of appeasement from Britain and France because to them it proved Hitler as an aggressor as he could not justify this action.
Hitler had broke his promise to Britain in 1938 and as a result Britain introduced conscription for the first time.
