Hitlers Foreign Policy (1933-39) Flashcards
1
Q
What was the German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles?
A
- They were enraged when they saw the extremely harsh term of the treaty
- They were not allowed to negotiate over its terms and were forced to accept it
- They felt the terms of the treaty were extremely unfair and humiliating
- They felt that they should not have to accept sole responsibility for the war
- Many Germans started calling for revenge to reverse the effects of the Treaty
- Many Germans attacked the new Weimar democratic government for signing it
- Many labelled the politicians who signed the treaty “November Criminals” who had “Stabbed in the back” the army, which still controlled most of Europe in 1918
- The treaty undermined the new democratic -
government, led to the rise of the Nazi party and the Second WW
2
Q
What were the aims of Hitlers Foreign Policy?
A
- To reverse the terms of the TOV
- To make Germany a great world power again
- To unite all German speaking people
- To rearm Germany and restore all its lost territories
- To conquer an Empire in the East to give Germany Lebensraum (Living space)
3
Q
What happened during the German Rearmament?
A
- Hitler argues the TOV was unfair and every country including Germany had the right to defend itself
- In 1933 Germany withdrew from the World Disarmament Conference on the grounds no other country was disarming
- In 1934 Hitler ordered the German armed forces to rearm and prepare for war
- In 1935 Germany reintroduced conscription (When the government forces men to join the army by law) breaking the TOV. Germany built tanks, aeroplanes and submarines breaking the TOV
- In 1936 Germany remilitarises the Rhineland in violation of the TOV
- Britain, France and the LON did nothing to stop German rearmament even though it was breaking the TOV
4
Q
What was the Saar Plebiscite (1935)?
A
- The TOV gave the Saar-land to the LON for 15 years during which time France was to control all of its coalfields
- In 1935 a plebiscite (vote) was held in the Saar to see if its people wanted to return to Germany in which 90% of the people voted to return to Germany
- Hitler celebrated the plebiscite as a great victory because it was the first of Germanys lost territories under the TOV to be returned to German rule
5
Q
Explain the Remilitarisation of the Rhineland (1936)
A
- The Rhineland was the part of Germany bordering France that had to be demilitarised (undefended) according to the TOV
- The Rhineland was demilitarised to prevent Germany from threatening or launching a surprise attack against France
- Hitler saw how the LON failed to stop the invasions of Manchuria and Abyssinia
- Hitler saw how the LON failed to stop Germany from rearming even though it was breaking the TOV
- Hitler ordered German troops to enter the Rhineland to remilitarise it even though it was breaking the TOV
- If France had intervened Hitler would have ordered his troops to withdraw from the Rhineland because Germany was not ready for war yet
- France did not stop Hitler because Britain refused to give support to France if it went to war over the Rhineland
- Britain viewed the TOV as too harsh and that Hitler was doing nothing wrong other than “matching into his own back yard”
- The failure of Britain and France to stop Hitler encouraged him to continue his aggressive foreign policy to destroy the terms of the TOV
6
Q
Explain the Anschluss (Union) with Austria (1938)
A
- The TOV had forbidden Germany from uniting with Austria
- Hitler wanted to unite all German speaking people into one Greater Germany
- The people of Austria were a German-speaking people and Hitler himself was born in Austria
- The Austrian Nazi party began in 1938 to organise riots across Austria for union with Germany
- Hitler ordered German troops to enter Austria after a request was made by a Nazi Austrian Minister in charge of the Austrian police to help restore order to the country
- The Nazi’s then organised a plebiscite (vote) in which 99.75% of Austrians voted for union with Germany
- Italy supported Hitlers action due to the Rome-Berlin Axis signed earlier that year
- Britain, France and the LON again did nothing even though Germany was clearly breaking the TOV
7
Q
Explain the Sudetenland Crisis (1938)
A
- In 1938 a crisis erupted when Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia hand over part of its territory called the Sudetenland to Germany
- The Sudetenland bordered Germany and had 3 million German-speaking people living there who wanted to be part of Germany
- Czechoslovakia had a powerful well trained and equipped army, as well a, defence agreements with France and Russia
- The Sudetenland was the key to Czechoslovakia defence against attack because it was where its military fortresses and military industries were based
- Hitler threatened war unless Czechoslovakia handed over Sudetenland to Germany
- The Munich Conference was organised to find a peaceful solution to the problem
8
Q
Explain the Munich Agreement (1938)
A
- Britain, France, Italy and Germany agreed to meet in Munich to hold a conference to find a peaceful solution to the Sudetenland crisis (Czechoslovakia was not invited)
- The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, followed the policy of appeasement with Hitler by agreeing that the Sudetenland should become part of Germany
- The British policy of appeasement meant giving in to Hitlers demands to avoid war
- In return Hitler signed the Munich agreement with Chamberlain promising that both countries would negotiate any future problems and not go to war with each other
- Chamberlain returned to Britain a national hero for avoiding war although he was criticised by some politicians like Winston Churchill
9
Q
Arguments in support of Chamberlains Appeasement Policy;
A
- The British people did not want another World War after experiencing the horrors of the first World War
- Many British people viewed the terms of the TOV as too harsh and unfair to Germany
- Many people viewed Hitlers demands that all German-speaking people should unite in one country as a fair and reasonable demand
- Many British people supported Hitler because he was anti-communist and had restored order to Germany
- Finally the British armed forces were not ready for war with Germany in 1938
10
Q
Arguments against Chamberlains Appeasement Policy;
A
- Appeasement was wrong because Hitler was a dictator who could not be trusted to keep his word
- Appeasement made Britain look weak and encouraged Hitler to keep demanding more and more
- Czechoslovakia had not been invited to the Munich Conference and allowed a say in its own future
- Hitler had made clear he wanted to conquer an Empire in the East to give Germany living space and would only be stopped by war
11
Q
Explain the Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1938)
A
- With the loss of the Sudetenland due to the Munich, Agreement Czechoslovakia had lost its key military fortresses and military industries to Germany
- The loss of the Sudetenland Germans encouraged other ethnic minority groups in Czechoslovakia like the Slovaks to demand independence
- Riots across Czechoslovakia forced the Czech President to invite German troops to take over the rest of Czechoslovakia to restore order
- The whole of Czech Republic now became a part of Germany even though its people were not German and viewed by the Nazi’s as subhuman
- The invasion of Czechoslovakia had nothing to do with reversing the TOV but represented the start of Hitler conquering land in the East for lebensraum
- Hitler had now broken his promises at Munich, showed that appeasement had failed, led Britain and France to promise war if Germany now attacked Poland
12
Q
What was The Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939)
A
- On August 23, 1939, Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union (Russia) signed a non-Aggression Pact in which they promised not to go to war with each other
- The world was shocked because Hitler was strongly anti-communist and viewed Russians as subhumans and wanted to conquer Russia for lebensraum
- Both Germany and Russia secretly agreed to divide Poland between them with Germany getting Western Poland and Russia getting Eastern Poland
- Hitler signed the agreement to ensure Russia would not join Britain and France in the event of war so that Germany would not have to fight a war on two fronts
- Stalin signed the agreement because he did not trust Britain and France, as well as, to give Russia time to prepare for an inevitable war with Germany
13
Q
Explain the Invasion of Poland (1939);
A
- Germany had lost land to Poland under the TOV
- Many German-speaking people lived in areas that were not part of Poland
- Germany viewed Poles as subhuman and wanted their land for living space
- The Nazi-Soviet Pact ensured Russia would not stop Germany’s invasion of Poland
- Hitler thought Britain and France would not keep their promise to defend Poland
- On 1st September 1939, Hitler ordered German troops to invade Poland
- Britain and France declared war leading to the start of the Second World War
