Nazi Foreign Policy (2) Flashcards
Why did Germany want Czechoslovakia?
- Germany surrounded it after Anschluss
- 3.5 million Germans should be a part of the Reich
- Had good engineers, raw materials and was known for Skoda engineering
- Gaining the Sudetenland would allow for invasion of Czechoslovakia
What did Konrad Henlein do in relation to the German Sudetenland?
- He was leader of the Sudeten Germans
- Started the Karlsbad Programme which imposed reparations on Czechoslovaks to allow full autonomy for the Sudeten Germans
How did Britain and France react to the Karlsbad Programme?
- Britain sent out the navy
- France called their reserve forces
- Hitler decides to meet with Neville Chamberlain’s and says Sudeten should be a part of Germany and a plebiscite should be held in November
When was the Munich Conference and what happened?
September 1938
- By October the Sudetenland would be German occupied
Why was gaining the Sudetenland so significant for Germany?
- 10,000 Square metres of mountainous area acted as defence for Czechoslovakia
- 700,000 Czech people were there too
How does Hitler pressure to gain Czechoslovakia?
- Summons Czech President and asks for Czechoslovakia to be put into the hands of the Führer
- 15th March 1939, Bohemia and Moravia made part of the Reich
- 16th March Slovakia is kept as a puppet state
- Late March he puts pressure on Lithuania for the Memel Land
- Britain and France to help Poland if they are attacked
When was the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed and what were the terms?
- A Non-Aggression Pact between the two
- Hitler did not want a war on two fronts
- Secret Claus to state they will invade Poland and divide it between them
- Undermined the Anti-Comintern Pact
- Shocked the Western Powers
When was Poland invaded and what was the international response?
- 1st September 1939
- 3rd September Britain and France wage war on Germany
What was Hitlers racial policy?
- He wanted Aryan Supremacy
- Pan-Germanism, removing all impure Germans
- Wanted to make racially acceptable alliances (e.g Britain)
- He accepted that he had to make alliances with inferior countries, ‘necessary evil’
What were Hitlers aims for the Third Reich? Comment on past German Empires
- He wanted to get rid of the Tofu and expand east and gain back land
- First Reich and Second Reich did this through diplomacy with other nations
- This can be seen as continuity with Hitlers early foreign policy
- Continuity emphasised as propaganda showed Bismarck, Fredrick the Great, Hindenburg and Hitler together
Give example of defiance of the TofV during the Weimar years to emphasise continuity?
- 1926, Russian tank training school near Kazan trained German soldiers
- 1928, Tanks being for Germany being built
- The army was a ‘state within a state’
How did other countries view the TofV?
- Britain didn’t want France too powerful
- Reparations were hardly paid on time and lots of counties turned a blind eye
- 1935 Anglo-German Naval agreement undermined the TofV (allowed Germany to have a naval fleet)
Was Hitlers expansionist policy continual?
- Continuity in the hunt for land with the Kaiser
- Kaiser was never selective in terms of race
Was Hitlers ‘Lebensraum’ continual?
- Kaiser hunted for colonies
- Hitler did not
Did Hitlers appointment of foreign minister point towards him having a masterplan?
- Until 1936 he kept the same foreign ministry officials
- This could point to no imposing of a plan
- This could however point to a long-term plan, he wanted full control of Germany through continuity to make himself seem more moderate
How did Nazi gains in 1935/39 compare to Mein Kampf, speeches and meetings?
- They were consistent and could show planning with overturning Versailles
- Could be argued to be broad aims and not a definite plan
- Preparedness of Nazis to foreign policy points towards a lack of planning, they were often unprepared
Did Hitler always aim to go to war?
- Open militarisation of Germany in 1935
- 2nd Four Year plan was a clear display of gearing up for war
- Stressed rearmament as a means of defence, 1933 speech suggested diplomatically overturning the TofV
- Privately he told Generals they need to build up army before expansion
Could Hitler achieve his aims without war?
- Thought allies would not go to war over Eastern Europe
- Blitzkrieg warfare was not a long-term warfare tactic pointed towards no war
- 1938 France, Romania and Yugoslavia signed mutual aid with Czechoslovakia
- 26th Sept 1938 last speech in Berlin saying he was going for Czechoslovakia, no fear of France, 6 months later invaded
Why did Germany want Poland?
- After TofV they gained land and Danzig to gain access to the sea
- Gained 800,000 Germans
- They were aware that Germany and USSR wanted some of that land
When did Poland make a mutual assistance pact with France?
- At Locarno in 1925
- However the allies were geographically displaced to help Poland
- Poland did however have a decent army, took Teschen from Czech in 1938 and were training light tanks in 1939
What were German relations with Poland like up until 1936?
- 1934 10 year non-aggression pact
- Nazis still wanted Danzig, won a majority in town gov 1933
- East Prussia being split was inconvenient for the Germans
- 1935 offered to be ally’s with Poland for war with USSR
- Poland resisted all these attempts to avoid becoming a puppet state
What were German relations with Poland like after 1936?
- Poland expected France to intervene with the Rhineland
- Poland were open to fighting Germany
- Britain, France and the LofN unwilling to fight
- Hitler became more confident to attack Poland
What are examples of opportunistic takeover from Hitler?
- Events in Austria (1938)
- Events in Czechoslovakia (1939)
What was Hitlers final call for Poland to be an ally?
- Invited them to join the Anti-Comintern Pact
- He would give them Teschen in return
- This would set off a soviet invasion so Poland refused
What was the significance of the Pact of Steel?
- 22nd May 1939
- Italy and Germany close economic ties and military aid
- Ensured that Italy would support Germany in a time of invasion
- Cleared up misconception of Italy urging for Germany to negotiate during 38 over Czechoslovakia
What was the significance of the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
23rd August 1939
- Temporary agreement
- Secret clause to invade Poland and split it between them
Did Hitler think the allies would respond if he invaded Poland?
- Allies didn’t react with Czechoslovakia
- He did not think the allies were rearming as rapidly
- Clear geographical issues of supporting Poland
What was the International Political situation when Hitler invaded Poland?
- Lots of new nations with new borders, e.g Estonia and Lithuania
- Disputes during the 20’s created a sense of instability and ideological divides
- This can be argued to have been offset by a genuine desire for peace and to avoid war
What were the ideological divides at the time of the invasion
- Divide between communist Russia and the West, wanted to avoid the Comintern
- ‘Whites’ were helped by the West to fight the ‘Reds’ in the civil war
- USSR were a good ally to have for Britain but the ideological divide never allowed this
When was the Manchuria incident?
16th September 1931
- Mukden incident took place and Japan used this to invade Manchuria
- Created the satellite state Manchukoa 1932
- LofN did nothing but moral sanctions and Japan left the LofN in March 1933
When did Italy invade Abyssinia?
3rd October 1935
- League placed meaningless sanctions
- Hoare-Laval Pact showed Britain and France themselves going outside of the league
How did the LofN fare with the Spanish Civil War?
- Spain supported the LofN but the civil war meant the LofN said stay out of it
- May 1937 there was clear German and Italian intervention
When did the LofN expel the USSR from it?
30th Nov 1939
- USSR invaded Finland
- Originally USSR joined as defence from condemnation of communism by Japan and Germany
- Stalin became increasingly dictorial
- Asked to leave the LofN on 14th December 1939
When did the USSR sense weakness in the LofN?
- Britain and France were independently negotiating with them during the Spanish Civil War
- Nazi-Soviet pact complicated these relations even more
What was Britains stance?
- Avoided an alliance but wanted to carry out the policy of appeasement
- No one wanted war, colonies, e.g South Africa and Australia didn’t want war
- Opinion hardened after Kristallknacht and invasion of Czech
- Appeasement policy contributed to Hitler pressing for war
What was Frances stance?
- Resentment towards Germany due to their inability to pay reparations of the TofV
- After the failure of taking the Ruhr they turned to appeasement
- They feared German invasion and kept the Maginot Line defences on the border to Germany
- France felt isolated, communist Russia and Britain stepping back
What was Frances stance? (2)
- Made new alliances with Czechoslovakia
- 1935 Pact with USSR and urged Britain to join
- Lost a 1/4 young men during. WW1
- Extremist parties were propping up
- Gov changed 11 times between 1932 and 35
- Left wing of 1936 was heavily criticised
What was Italys stance?
- Did not like the Tofu (fascist)
- Stopped Anschluss, Hitler stopped too to encourage alliance
- Spanish Civil War led to Rome-Berlin axis
- Both denied aid Hitler with Abyssinia, Mussolini with Czechoslovakia
- Until 1940 Hitler was trying to make alliance with Britain, only when Germany was in a wining position Italy joined the war
What made a USSR alliance with Germany more likely?
1938 July to August
- Fighting Japan on Eastern Border
What was the USA’s stance?
- 1920’s and 30’s followed a policy of isolationism and disarmament
- By 1938 army was smaller than Belgiums
- USA was neutral over Abyssinia and Spanish Civil War
- Exported arms to German and Italy towards Franco
- Permanent Neutrality Act 1937, encouraged Hitler to go to war
What was Japans stance?
- Mistreated after WW1 like Italy was
- After Manchuria, only Italy and Germany recognised their new state
- Useful for Germany to have an ally on the other side of the USSR
- Able to attack the USA from the far east
