Origins and outbreak of WW2 Flashcards
What were hitters aims?
1) Get rid of the Treaty of Versailles
2) Rearm Germany to make it great again
3) Take lebensraum (living space in the east)
4) Create a greater Germany by reuniting German speaking people
5) Destroy communism
What did hitler need to do to achieve his aims?
1) Invade land in Eastern Europe to get living space for Germans
2) Reclaim land lost in the Treaty of Versailles
3) Break the terms of the treaty by rearming
What were hitters actions?
Remember
Rudolph
And
Santas
Christmas
Puddings
Rearmament
Remilitarisation
Anschluss with Austria
Sudetenland
Czechoslovakia
Poland
What was the stresa front?
Britain, France and Italy formed this as a protest against hitters actions, this was one of a series of attempts to keep Mussolini on the allied side and present him siding with hitler
What was the Anglo German naval treaty?
An agreement that allowed Germany to build a navy up to 35% the size of Britain’s, this broke the terms of the treaty of Versailles and encouraged hitler to go further
What was the Saar plebiscite?
In January 1935 the people of the Saar (an area taken by the League of Nations) voted to rejoin Germany
Was a clear sign of hitlers popularity
What was the remilatarisation of the Rhine land?
March 1936 Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland
He met no resistance which gave him confidence
Britain and France signed a further agreement to defend each other
What was the Anschluss with Austria?
The Rome-Berlin axis gave Hitler confidence to try and unite Germany and Austria
1934- Leader of Austria made an agreement with nazis to give them key positions in the Austrian government
11 March 1938- Hitler forced shuschnigg to resign
12 March 1938- Nazi troops invaded Austria
10 April - 99% of Austrians voted for Anschluss
What were the reactions to the Anschluss?
Germany had been made stronger - Austria was rich in raw materials like iron
Most people in Britain felt that Germany and Austria should be allowed to unite
France had its own political problems that were seen as more of a priority than the fate of Austria
The Czech government feared that they would be the next country targeted by the nazis
Why did the Sudeten crisis occur?
1) Hitler wanted to invade Czechoslovakia to get Lebensraum but they were a staring nation with a big army so hitler needed to takeover the Sudetenland first
2) Czechoslovakia had been set up by the treaty of Versailles so hitler wanted it to be broken up again
What happened at the sudeten crisis?
Hitler claimed German speaking people were being persecuted so he would fight for the Sudetenland
Britain and France needed to stop hitler as if he I cared they would be obliged to declare war
Chamberlian(British PM) gave hitler the Sudetenland as long he was peaceful
Consequences of the sudeten crisis
Hitler insisted land
should be
given to Hungary and Poland also
Chamberlain was annoyed as this wasn’t what he agreed to
Hitler marched troops into Sudetenland and it fell under German control
Stalin felt betrayed as he had not been consulted so Britain and France lost the USSR as an ally
Hitler and chamberlain met to sign the Anglo-German declaration. They agreed not to go to war with each other
What was appeasement?
Avoiding war by giving Hitler some of what he wanted
Arguments against appeasement
1) If France had resisted the remilitarisation of the Rhineland , Hitler would not have been strong enough to fight back
2) Giving in to Hitler gave him confidence e.g giving him the Sudetenland gave him confidence to invade Czechoslovakia
3) Only made Germany stronger
Why appeasement was a good idea?
1) People wanted to avoid war
2) Hitlers actions seemed to be giving people what they wanted
3) The Great Depression meant Britain and France could not afford to fight
