KT3 - The Collapse of Peace by 1939

Question 1

What was The Sudetenland Crisis?

Answer 1

• Leader of Sudeten Nazis demands unification
• Hitler wants to reunite all German speakers
• Sudetenland would be useful to have to invade Czechoslovakia
• Hitler began to threaten Czechs with war if they did not agree
• Czechoslovakia had a modern army so war tensions role which caused British people to start buying gas masks and building air raid shelters

Question 2

What was the Munich Agreement?

Answer 2

• September 1938
• Britain and France allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland
• USSR or Czechs were not consulted

Question 3

Why could the policy of appeasement be justified?

Answer 3

• In the early 1930’s, Hitler was also against communism so Britain appeased Germany to have an ally against communism
• The British were not ready for war and there was a lack of support from the Americans
• Hitler had fair and reasonable demands, the Treaty of Versailles was unfair and many British people felt it should be reversed
• Amongst the powers, there was also a refusal to repeat and relive the horrors of WW1

Question 4

How did remilitarizing the Rhineland contribute to WW2 in 1939?

Answer 4

• In March 1926, Hitler ordered troops to openly march into the Rhineland
• He also ordered his Generals to retreat if the French showed any signs of aggression
• 32,000 troops and policemen marched into the Rhineland unopposed
• Hiter breaking a crucial term of the Treaty of Versailles was very aggressive

Question 5

What was Grossduetschland?

Answer 5

• Regaining all territory lost due to the Treaty of Versailles
• Reuniting all native German-speaking people

Question 6

Why did Britain and France declare war on Germany in 1939?

Answer 6

• Britain and France demanded that Germany withdraw from Poland or they would declare war
• Hitler assumed Britain and France were bluffing so did not withdraw
• Then, Britain and France declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September 1939

Question 7

What was the Nazi-Soviet pact?

Answer 7

• A very important factor in the outbreak of WW2
• Hitler and Stalin agreed not to fight each other in the event of a war
• The secret clause in the Nazi-Soviet pact was that they would divide Poland between them.
• The USSR Would receive east Poland and Germany would receive the west including Danzig and the Polish corridor

Question 8

What were the long-term consequences of the peace treaties of 1919-23?

Answer 8

• Dissatisfied powers
  
  • Japan did not get the racial equality clause
  • Italy wanted more of the German/Ottoman Empire
  • Germany was angry about every clause
• Hitlers Potential
  
  • The Germans were angered by being treated badly but still had the potential to recover which is a bad combination
• Hitler’s Foreign Policy
  
  • The destruction of the Treaty of Versailles gave Hitler an easy foreign policy agenda
• Impact on British Opinion
  
  • British people questioned the fairness of the Treaty of Versailles and felt sympathy for Hitler

Question 9

What was Anschluss?

Answer 9

• In February 1938 Hitler began bullying Austria into joining Nazi Germany
• Schusnigg (Austrian leader) wanted a plebiscite but Hitler was afraid it won’t go the way he wanted
• Hitler sent troops to Austria to ensure a ‘trouble-free vote’ but the soldiers ended up intimidating people causing 99.75% of people to vote for Anschluss
• This broke a term of the Treaty of Versailles

Question 10

How did the Spanish Civil War contribute to WW2 in 1939?

Answer 10

• Hitler sent aircraft to test the Luftwafer and to transport Franco’s troops from North Africa to Spain
• The German bombing of Guernica killed many innocent civilians which made other European civilians fearful of a war with Germany
• Hitler was again defying the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and was doing so viciously

Question 11

Why could the policy of appeasement not be justified?

Answer 11

• Hiter was encouraged by it which caused him to take risky gambles
• Appeasement was based on the idea that Hitler was trustworthy when his book Mein Kamph shows his exact foreign policy aims
• Early appeasement of Hitler allowed him to grow until he could not be stopped

Question 12

What was Lebensraum?

Answer 12

• German desire for territory because they felt they were a superior race
• Translates to ‘Living Space’
• Hitler believed in carving out an Empire in Eastern europe