Hitler's Foreign Policy Flashcards
What happened in October 1933?
Hitler removed Germany from the League of Nations at the Disarmament conference
Why did Hitler remove Germany from the League of Nations?
He said he would be happy if everybody disarmed or if Germany could grow their army to the size of the French one (an act prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles). The other nations refused to do either
Why did Germany leaving the League of Nations help Hitler achieve his aims?
He no longer had to appear to be trying to maintain peace and could publicly rearm
When was the Saar Plebisite?
January 1935
What was the Saar Plebisite?
The people of the Saar (a Franco - German mining area) voted, 477,000 to 48,000 to return to German rule after the ToV had placed it under French rule
Which aims of Hitler’s aims did the Saar plebesite help achieve?
Creation of a German empire by unifying German people
Lebensraum by taking back land
When did Hitler officially announce Germany’s rearmament?
March 1935
How was Germany rearming itself?
- Created an air force - the Ludewaffe
* Started conscription again aiming to grow army to ½ a million in size
Which aims did rearmament help Hitler achieve?
- Overturning the Treaty of Versailles
* Rearming for military expansion into Europe
What treaty was signed June 1935?
The Anglo Naval Treaty between Britain and Germany
What did the Anglo Naval treaty allow Germany to do?
Grow its navy to 35% of the size of the British Navy
How did the Anglo Naval Treaty allow Hitler to achieve his aims for Germany?
- Remilitarisation that overturned the terms of the ToV
* It broke down the Stresa Front alliance between Italy, France and GB with the other two nations annoyed at GB
When did the re-occupation of the Rhineland take place?
7 March 1936
How did Hitler reoccupy the Rhineland?
He marched troops into the zone (which was demilitarised). It was expected that the French and British would retaliate but the British felt that Germany was just reclaiming land that had previously belonged to them and the French would not react alone
How did the reoccupation of the Rhineland help Hitler achieve his aims for Germany?
- Lebensraum and the reunification of German land/people
* Showed Germany that they could use military force and not face consequences
What pact was signed in 1936?
The Rome Berlin Axis
What was stated in the Rome Berlin Axis?
- That Hitler and Mussolini would work closely together
- Stated that they would support each other militarily
- Lead to them both supporting Franco’s fascists in the Spanish Civil War and Anschluss
What treaty was signed in 1937?
The Anti- Comintern Pact
What did the Anti- Comintern Pact state?
It was an agreement between Germany and Japan stating they would both act in a hostile way towards the USSR
How did the Rome-Berlin Axis and Anti Comintern pacts allow Hitler to do?
Allowed Hitler to ensure support for invasion of Austria and hostility towards the USSR
When did Anschluss occur?
12 March 1938
Why did Germany form a union with Austria in 1938 instead of 1934 like he intended too?
A Nazi takeover was prevented in 1934 with Mussolini threatening to intervene
How did Germany complete Anschluss in 1938?
- Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg wanted to retain Austrian independence so held a plebiscite
- Hitler called for an end to the plebiscite and the Austrian people agreed
- Seyss-Inquart replaced Schuschnigg and Hitler invade the next day
When was the Czechoslovakia crisis?
1938-1939
What was the Czechoslovakia crisis?
- Hitler wanted to reclaim the Sudetenland which had several ethnics Germans but was in Czechoslovakia
- Chamberlain said he could have it peacefully
- Hitler had the Sudetenland by the 1st of October 1938 but expanded into the rest of Czechoslovakia by March 1939 and the nation ceased to exist
What were the attitude of previous German administrations towards their right to land and power?
- There had been previous German empires, The First Reich (800AD - 1806AD) and The Second Reich (1871 - 1914)
- They had kept empires through military strength and wars
How did previous German attitudes towards their right to land and power can be seen to influence Hitler’s foreign policy?
- Encouraged Hitler to remake germany into the great power it was before the war by following their methodology
- Encouraged Nazis toga land by war
What was the Weimar Government’s reaction to the Treaty of Versailles?
- Turned a blind eye to the military conditions
- Ministeries tried to rework diplomacy
- Made agreements with the USSR which allowed German armament for Soviet companies, soldier training and testing of German tanks
Besides foreign policy, how did the Treaty of Versailles affect the landscape of Europe?
- 6.4 million ethnic Germans were in new nations which created a weakness in demographics in new nations
- The allies followed a policy of appeasement
How did the Treaty of Versailles affect Hitler’s foreign policy?
- The opposition to the ToV made the Nazis popular allowing them into power
- Wanted to expand into nations that had German born people to reunited them to create an empire and lebensraum
- Allies appeasement meant that Hitler could expand and people wouldn’t retaliate due to fear of another war
What ideas of racial theory were around in the early 19th Century?
- Social Darwinism - each race could be indentified by characteristics that could also be seen in their DNA and that assimilation was impossible
- Superiority of nordic and German races
- Eugenics - strengthening the genetics of the population to be the best they can through selective breeding of humans with desirable traits
How did racial theory influence policy in the Second Reich?
- 1917 - Kaiser Wilhelm started the Institute for Anthropology, which focused on physical and social anthropology
- Eugene Fischer directed organisation and was against ‘racial mixing’ and that the blood of black people were inferior to white people
How did racial theory influence the Nazis foreign policy?
- Encouraging the Nazis to favour pacts with ‘racially superior’ nations
- Encouraged the Nazis to expand to unite German speaking, ‘superior’ people
- Hitler wanted to expand into nations he saw as racially inferior as he thought it would be easier and so he could remove undesirable citizens
How did the actions of other nations contribute to the outbreak to World War Two?
- There was a split in ideologies
- The League of Nations was weak
- Nations acted in their own interests/to prevent another world war
What were the three main ideologies that separated Europe?
- Communism - USSR
- Capitalism - all other nations
- Fascism - Germany, Italy
What united Japan, Germany and Italy?
- Hatred for democracy
- Anti communist
- Hated the ToV
- Believed in strong military power
Why did the ideological divisions in Europe shape Hitler’s foreign policy?
- Allowed him to believe he could expand east due to instability in eastern nations
- Pacts with Italy/Japan could allow him to know he has military support in invasions
- Other nations too busy combatting/fearing communism to fight fascism
- Allowed Hitler to link Jewery and bolshevism and create a fear of it
What were there serious weaknesses of the League of Nations (LON)?
- Membership - not everyone was a part of it
- Bureaucratic
- Poor enforcement of rules
How did Hitler take advantage of the LON’s weaknesses
He removed Germany from the LON thus removing it from their disarmament pacts
Name three disagreements that the LON failed to resolve?
- Spanish Civil War in 1936
- China and Japan dispute over territory 1937 (japan ignored as they weren’t part of the group)
- The USSR invaded Finland but just kicked out them out rather than delivering formal sanctions
Why did the USSR only join the LON in 1934?
Western nations didn’t want to accept communist and the USSR criticised the league. But with threat of Germany and Japan the joined
Why did relations between the USSR and LON become strained?
- The Spanish Civil War
* Stalin’s purges
How did the LON’s weaknesses affect Hitler’s foregone policy?
He knew he could get away without sanctions for his actions
Britain
• Why did it follow a policy of appeasement towards Germany?
• Evidence of appeasement
Appeasement - stop another world war, keep peace intended by the ToV and doubtful colonies would help fight another world war
• Anglo Naval Treaty 1935, didn’t stop troops invading Rhineland in March 1936 and Chamberlain allowed Hitler to take over the Sudetenland in 1938
How did Britain’s appeasement influence Hitler’s foreign policy?
- Allowed him to build army and overturn ToV
* Lead him to act knowing there would be no consequence for actions (misjudged in regards to Poland)
France
• What were French attitudes toward Germany?
• How did these influence French foreign policy?
- Resentment and anger, as well as fear
- Maginot Line defences on border with Germany, made alliances with Czechoslovakia and USSR, mainly an appeasement policy after they were worst hit by WW1
What other issues did France face in the Inter-wars years?
- Army was weak after loss of 1/4 of young men 18-27
- Developed string communist and racist parties
- Economic problems
How did France’s appeasement influence Hitler’s foreign policy?
Hitler knew the french feared Germany and acted knowing they wouldn’t retaliate
Italy
• What did Mussolini and Hitler both dislike?
• What event drove them to the Rome Berlin Axis in 1936?
• What evidence is there that Italy and Germany’s foreign policy wasn’t always compatible?
- The ToV, democracy and communists
- They both backed Franco’s fascists in the Spanish Civil War
- Hitler refused to back Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia
The USSR
• Why were they isolated from the rest of Europe
• Why were they more likely to enter into an alliance with Germany in 1939?
- It was communist, not allowed into the LON until 1934 and other nations refused to recognise it till 1934
- USSR feared they’d have to fight on two fronts (Japan to the East, Germany to West) and didn’t trust the LON
The USA
• What was the US’s foreign policy in the 1920/30s
• How did they intervene in Europe in the 1920s
- Isolationism and disarmament and not a member of the LON
* Tried to set up various meetings to organise peace and signed Neutrality act in 1934
How did the USA’s foreign policy encourage Hitler to go to war?
Thought it wasn’t a big enough power to be a threat and wouldn’t get involved in war
Japan
• How did it go against the LON?
• How did it suit Germany to go into alliance with them?
- Provoked China in 1931 with the Mukden incident
- Japan was the enemy of the USSR so it suited Germany to have an ally on the other side of the USSR (Anti Comintern Pact 1936
What did Poland get after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles?
- Land that used to be German
- 800,000 germans
- The Polish Corridor that had the port of Danzig (had been a big German trading port with large German population) which allowed them to build a navy and get trade
What problems were occurred in Poland after the signing of the ToV?
- Couldn’t trust neighbouring nations
- Had various minority groups composing the population thus low national unity
- Communication/railway didn’t work effectively nationwide
- Situated badly for western nations to help it
What evidence is there of Polish independence in the interwar years?
- Went to war with the USSR in 1920 over Ukraine land
* Took Teschen from Czechoslovakia
Why did Hitler negotiate the non aggression pact in 1934 with Poland?
- Wanted to ensure safety from the USSR
- Poland acted as a physical block between USSR and Germany
- Allowed him to draw attention away form the Nazi invasion of Danzig and ensure security for Germany
Describe relations between Poland and Germany between 1935 - 1937
- Germany portrayed itself wanting to get Polish corridor and Danzig democratically and offered Poland parts of Ukraine and a potential war with the USSR
- However Poland knew Hitler’s intentions
How did the remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936 change political atmosphere?
- Mutual Assistance Pact of 1921 said that French should have helped Poland but didn’t
- Lack of French help revealed that Poland was willing to go to war with Germany and other nations weren’t
Which two treaties signed in 1939 did Hitler sign that strengthened his position?
- Pact of Steel, 22nd May meant Hitler could rely on Italy militarily
- Nazi Soviet Pact, 23 August meant that the power balance was shifted against Poland with allies now in both sides of it who agreed to invade Poland from other side for their own gain
Why was Hitler convinced that Britain and France wouldn’t get involved?
- Their lack of action in regards to Czechoslovakia meant Hitler was confident they wouldn’t get involved
- There was no transfer of troupes/funds to Poland to aid them in a war against Germany
