Hitler's "road to war" Flashcards
Rearmament of Germany
The rearmament began after Hitler left the 1932-4 Geneva disarmament conference. Since the other powers wouldn’t disarm to his level, he stated he would rearm Germany to their level. By 1935, rearmament was well underway. This process involved conscription and munition factories
Rearmament of Germany part 2
Rearmament scared the french who, feeling insecure, reinforced the Maginot line (built between 1929-1934.) The line was of steel and concrete fortifications stretching from Belgium to Switzerland. It was named “a gate without a fence” as Germany would be able to avoid it and invade France with Belgium. With Britain’s support, France remained passive
Rearmament of Germany part 3
Britain showed sympathy towards Germany, shown when they signed an Anglo-German Naval treaty (June 1935.) This treaty allowed Germany’s navy to take up 35% of the size of the Royal Navy. Hitler supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish civil war 1936-1939 using this newfound army and used Spain as a practice ground for his new army
Remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936)
After breaking the Treaty of Versailles once during the rearmament of Germany, Hitler wanted to risk it all again. He did this by marching 30000 troops into the Rhineland on March 7th, 1936. France who had 250000 troops mobilised remained passive as Britain wouldn’t support them. Britain believed Germany was “marching into her own backyard.”
Rome Berlin Axis (October 1936)
Mussolini originally didn’t want to team with Hitler but changed his mind when Anthony Eden of Britain threatened oil sanctions against Mussolini during the Abyssinian crisis in 1935. The axis was signed in 1936 and the strength of Mussolini and Hitler’s alliance was strengthened on the occasions of the Anti-Comintern pact with japan and the Pact of Steel.
Britain’s policy of Appeasement (May/June 1937-March 1939)
Neville Chamberlain became British prime minister on May 28th, 1937. He followed the policy of appeasing Germany where they believed Hitler just wanted to unite German speaking people. Hitler would break the Treaty of Versailles continuously but Chamberlain didn’t think Hitler would cause war. Winston Churchill disagreed as he cited in Mein Kampf that Hitler must regain lands “in the est, by the power of the sword”
The Anschluss with Austria (March 13th, 1938.
Hitler’s troops entered Austria on March 13th, 1938 and declared Anschluss. Even though the Treaty of Versailles strictly forbid an alliance between Germany and Austria. A vote on the Anschluss recorded a 99.75% vote in favour, which was rigged by biased questioning. Hitler made it seem that he had been invited to Austria but he has actually worked up the union
Hitler gained the Sudentenland (september 29th, 1938)
Hitler wanted the Sudentland back after it was lost by Austria in the Treaty of St. Germain (September 10th, 1919), making Czechoslovakia gain 3 million German speaking people. The Czech premier Benes refused and asked other European countries for assistance to defend his country. Chamberlain instead met Hitler on three occasions at Berchtesgaden, Godesburg and Munich.
Munich agreement (September 29th, 1938
This was an agreement signed by Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain (Britain) and Daladier (France). Benes was not there. The agreement stated three things: Hitler could take the Sudetenland the following day without a vote, Hungary and Poland can take border districts from Czechoslovakia and Britain and Germany would never go to war.
Chamberlain’s reaction
When Chamberlain returned to England, he announced he had gained “peace with honour, peace in our time”. The majority cheered, except Churchill
The fall of Czechoslovakia (March 1939)
hitler forced Lithuania to give him Memel where most people spoke German. Since Hitler had only taken Germany speaking territory , Chamberlain would still make peace with him. However, Hitler threatened to bomb prague on March 1939 so the Czechs surrendered. This is when Chamberlain realized appeasement had failed and he began rearming Britain and garuntee peace in Poland.
Nazi-soviet pact (August 29th, 1939)
Hitler’s plans to invade Poland were complete by the summer of 1939. He knew that attacking Poland may cause him to be attacked by Britain from the West, but he was more cautious of avoiding an attack from Russia from the East. To avoid a war on two fronts, he arranged the Nazi-soviet pact, which stated that if either country went to war, the other one would remain neutral. If Britain supported Poland, Hitler would gain the chance to invade Poland with a war on one front. Stalin, leader of the Soviet unoin, gained time to rearm in case Hitler attacked him later, and the chance to gain the eastern half of poland, providing the USSR with a bufferzone.
