Hitlers Foreign Policy Flashcards
when was the rome-berlin-axis made official?
in 1936
when did hitler introduce conscription?
march 1935
the wehrmacht grew from _____ to ______
100,000 to 300,000
when did hitler leave the league of nations?
1933
what did hitler di in 1936-9?
supported the nationalist rebels in the spanish civil war, used conflict to test new techniques in aerial bombing
why did the italians feel betrayed?
they hadn‘t received the adriatic port of fiume, nor did they gain enough if germanys colonies
what did italy want?
- rebuid a roman empire
- break free from the meditarrenean ‚prison‘ where france and britain had several key military bases
- left the league in december 1937
what did japan want?
- had a massive population increase but food and other raw materials had to be imported.
- wanted to acquire an empire to ensure the supply of resources japan needed and to challenge the british french and dutch empires in the far east
1936
the start of german rearmament and the remilitarisation of the rheinland
1938
the anschluss with austria
the transfer of the sudetenland from czechoslovakia
1939
the invasion of prague
the seizure of memel
the claims made over danzig and the polish corridor
hitler had three foreign policy aims:
- to create a german reich in which all german-speaking people lived
- to destroy the TOV and restore german pride and power
- seek lebensraum in the east
- destroy communsim
1935 saar plebiscite
- the saar was an industrialised region of germany, birdering france.
- it was put under the LON‘s control for 15 years in 1920
- in jan. 1935, 90% of voters chose reunion with germany. it was returned to germany in march.
effects of the saar plebiscite
1) the fact that the meague had not complained; denonstrated weakness
2) the huge majority in favour of the treaty showed how determined the germans were to destroy the TOV
3) boost for hitler and his regime and his goals and future schenes
1936 rhineland
- germany accepted the rhineland demilitarization in the locarno treaties of 1925
- in march 1936 two divisions of the wehrmacht marched into the rhineland; if the french had opposed them, hitler would give orders to retreat. france was busy with an elextion campaign, however, and neither france nor britain risked going to war
spanish civil war
hitler and mussolini took the opportunity to test out military equipment that had only seen action on the training ground
the dive bombing the luftwaffe inflicted on spanish towns like guernica provided practice and would later be deceloped into Blitzkrieg
anschluss with austria 1938
hitler encouraged austrian nazis to stage demonstrations and revolts. he demanded that an austrian nazi called seyss-inquart be named minister of the interior.
schuschnigg called a plebiscite on whether austria should remain independent; hitler threatened to i vade if he didn‘t resign. schuschnigg and cabinet resigned and seyss-inquart invited germany in to restore order.
on the 15th march 1938, hitler entered vienna to proclaim a greater german reich.
why did appeasement seem like a good idea?
- british people wanted peace
- chamberlain wanted a strong germany to be a barrier against communism
- britains armed forces were not ready for war
- many people admired hitler, he eas named „man of the year“ by time magazine in 1938
- many of hitlers complaints seemed reasonable - the sudetebland contained many ethnic germans
results of appeasement
- czechoslovakia was weakened
- britain gained a year to build up his armed forces, but so did hitler
- russia decided b and f would never step up to hitler
-
what did the invasion of czechoslovakia show?
- proved hitler had been lying at munich
- showd hitler was not just interested in „greater germany“ as czechs were not german
- on the 31st of march 1939, chamberlain promised to stand up to hitler if he invaded poland
6 factors that ended appeasement
- kristallnacht
- invasion of czechoslovakia in may 1939
- may 1939: pact of steel between germany and italy
munich agreemnt
30 september 1938
what were the two policies of the rome berlin tokio axis powers
nationalism- a belief that encourages people to strongly identify with their country
militarism- the belief a country should maintain a strong army and military arms
when did hitler introduce conscription
march 1935
by 1939 103 divisions were ready for war
september 1940:
tripartite pact: mutual assistance, allies, germany and italy would be the new order in europe while japan would be the „overlord in asia“
why did italy feel betrayed by the allies?
- no colonies
- no adriatic port of fiume
key actions between 33 and 39
36- remilitarization of the rhineland
38- anschluss with austria
38- sudetenland
39- invasion of prague and seizure of memel
39- claims made over danzig and polish corridor
what did the french do in reaction to hitlers rearmament
rebuild the maginot line, a row of forts on the border, to stop a german i vasion
why should the league have stopped manchuria?
it would have acted as a deterrent to great powers like italy or germany
what did rhe spanish civil war cause?
- hitler was able to test his luftwaffe
- was able to develop his BLITZKRIEG tactic
- mussolini and hitler became closer
- boosted hitlers confidence
eight results of appeasement
1) let hitler grow stronger
2) gave britain time to re arm
3) humiliated britain
4) abandoned millions of innocent people to the nazis
5) caused the war by giving hitler confidence to think he could do anythibg
6) gave britain the morale high ground
7) would never have stopped hitler anyways
8) attempted to prevent the deaths of millions of innocent men in the war
first meeting: b and g
berchtesgaden (15 september 1938)
- chamberlain decided hitler was a man who can be relied upon
second meeting
bad godesberg (22 september)
- ## hitler made more demands
munich
29th september
gave sudetenland to germany
30 september
peace for our time, chamberlain returns to england woth jis famous piece of papers
nazi soviet pact
23 august 1923, non aggression pact
„secret protocols“ agreeing spheres of influence in finland, estonia, latvia and lithuania, romania and poland.
why did anglo soviet talks fail? SCAB
- suspicion: chamberlain did not trust stalin, who was a communist dictator
- choice: britain could not send troops to fight in poland, so if stalin supported britain, he would end up fighting a war in poland on britains behalf
appeasement: stalin was convinced that britain would break its promise to poland.
britain delayed: lord halifax refused stalins offer of a meeting. stalin got fed up with british delay
why did the nazi soviet pact happen? THUG
- time to prepare for war
hope to gain: he thought he could gain something by exhausting the allies and germany
unhappy with britain: anglo soviet alliance failed SCAB
germany: hitler wanted the alliance because only russia could keep britains promise to defend poland
why did the NS pact cause the SWW
- freed up hitler to invade poland- britain couldn‘t defend poland
- ended britains hopes of an alliance with russa to stop hitler
- improved morale of british people for war - showed hitler as a snake ass b
SCRAMCUP
- saar plebiscite
- conscription/ rearmament
- rhineland: 7th march 1936
- austria: 11 march 1938
- munich: at munich on 29 september 1938
- czechoslovakia: 15 march 1939
- nazi soviet pact: august 23rd, 1939
poland: 1 september, invasion
3rd september, war starts
