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?
August 1939
- 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