Road To War Flashcards
0
Q
What is the dictionary definition of appeasement?
A
‘An act of pacifying…making substantial concessions to preserve peace’
1
Q
What was appeasement?
A
Appeasement was the foreign policy followed by Britain in the 1930’s under the rule of Stanley Baldwin(1935-1937) and Neville Chamberlain(1937-1940)
2
Q
What were the politicians views on appeasement?
A
Many politicians disagreed about whether appeasement was the correct policy to use
3
Q
Why did appeasement grow?
A
Appeasement grew out of the failure of the League of Nations
4
Q
What was the job of the League of Nations?
A
To prevent another war
5
Q
How did the League intend to ensure peace?
A
The league was intended to ensure peace by collective security and disarmament
6
Q
Why did the League of Nations not succeed?
A
Collective security failed because members of the League were not prepared to get involved with problems that might result in war
Disarmament depended on trust but that collapsed by 1934
7
Q
Why were Britain concerned about Germany?
A
They were concerned by Germany’s growing power
8
Q
When did Britain begin to appease Germany?
A
When the League of Nations could no longer guarantee peace
9
Q
When did Britain stop appeasing Germany?
A
When Britain declared war on Germany
10
Q
When and how did the Great War end?
A
The Great War ended in 1918 when Germany surrendered
11
Q
How long did the war last?
A
4 years
12
Q
Who were the triple alliance?
A
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
13
Q
Who were the allies?
A
Uk, France and Russia
14
Q
3 countries changed their minds about the war. Who were they and what did they do?
A
Russia pulled out
Italy changed sides
America entered in 1917
15
Q
Why did the war stop?
A
A peace agreement was called when Germany surrendered
16
Q
When and why did the allies meet in the palace of Versailles?
A
In January 1919 to discuss the German punishment after the war
17
Q
Who were the big three?
A
USA, UK and France
They dominated talks about the TOV
18
Q
Why was Germany not invited?
A
They were not allowed to decide their own punishment
They were only invited to sign the treaty on the 28th of June 1919
19
Q
What was the aim of the treat?
A
To ensure peace in Europe whilst punishing Germany for her actions during the war
20
Q
What were the three leaders called?
A
Clemenceau, Wilson and Lloyd George
21
Q
When was the treaty signed?
A
June the 28th 1919
22
Q
Why did France want revenge?
A
Germany had attacked them twice in 50 years
Their population had lost a lot due to Germany
300,000 houses were destroyed
250,000,000 cubic metres of trench needed filled
23
Q
How had Britain suffered from the war?
A
Britain had suffered 4 years of rationing and deaths
They needed Germany to be strong to help build up the economy
24
Why did the USA want peace?
So they did not have to become involved in any more wars
25
What was the war guilt clause?
The war guilt clause said that Germany alone accepted the blame for having caused the war
26
What were the territorial terms?
Germany was stripped of all its colonies
Alsace and Lorraine were returned
Danzig was given to Poland and the Polish corridor was created
The Rhineland was demilitarised
The Saar coalfields were given to France
Germany was forbidden to join with Austria
27
What were the military terms?
Germany's army reduced to 100,000 men
No heavy artillery, tanks or poison gas allowed
Germany was to have no airforces or submarines and was only allowed a small navy of six warships
28
What were the economic terms?
Germany was forced to pay reparations of £6.6 billion to the allies for damage caused during the war
29
How did Britain view the treaty?
They viewed the treaty as too harsh and this is one reason why they followed the policy of appeasement in the 1930's
30
What was the German reaction to the treaty?
The viewed the treaty as a DIKTAT
| They complained that every aspect of the treaty was too harsh
31
What was the French reaction to the treaty?
The French fully supported the treaty, they felt threatened by an aggressive Germany on their border
32
How did the treaty lead to a disagreement between Britain and France?
Britain felt the treaty was too harsh and appeased Germany however France disliked that and this caused conflict that Hitler would eventually exploit
33
What did the LON ensure?
They ensured that disputes would be settled via discussions and compromise
34
What did collective security ensure?
Collective security ensured that an aggressive state would think twice about attacking an LON member as member states supported on another
35
What was the League's three step policy?
Diplomatic sanctions, economic sanctions and military sanctions
36
What was the problem with the LON?
The USA, Russia and Germany were not members
| They had no standing army
37
What happened in 1931?
Japan invaded the Chinese state of Manchuria
38
What happened in 1932?
Japan were asked to leave the LON
39
What was the problem with this action?
No sanctions were given
| This created a bad impression of the LON
40
What is a foreign policy?
A foreign policy is a term used to define how one country plans to interact and deal with foreign countries
41
What was Mein Kampf?
An autobiography written by Hitler while he was in prison
42
What party did Hitler become leader of?
The National Socialists German Workers Party in 1920
43
What happened in 1923?
Hitler thought he had enough support to overthrow the German government. However when he launched an uprising in Munich it was unsuccessful (The Munich Putsch)
Hitler was put to prison
44
What were Hitler's foreign policy aims?
1) Revenge for the humiliation of Versailles
2) Make Germany strong by bringing all German speakers to live in an enlarged Germany- This meant Germany taking over other countries such as Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland
3) Have more land and resources so that Germany can have space to live and grow strong-This policy was called Lebensraum and Hitler’s main target was Russia
4) Pure Germans are the master race. We have the right to make other races our untermenschen (servants). They are not our equals
45
What did Hitler plan to be?
Aggressive
Expansionist
Racist
46
What was the Anschluss?
The joining of Austria and Germany
| This was one of Hitler's foreign policy aims
47
What was the Hossbach memorandum?
This was a piece of paper found after the war that said to have all the war plans on it
48
What does disarmament mean?
reducing the number of military forces with in a country
49
What is rearmament?
Building up the number of weapons within a country
50
What was the Locarno treaty?
In 1925 Germany accepted her western frontiers and agreed with the conditions of the TOV
This would only apply if France left Germany to decide her own eastern borders
51
What was the Disarmament conference?
The disarmament conference of 1932 discussed the idea of all countries disarming. However many countries broke that promise
52
When did Hitler come to power?
In 1933 Hitler became chancellor
53
What happened in 1933?
Hitler demanded armament levels for Germany that were equal with other countries
54
What was the outcome of this?
If they agree Germany becomes stronger
| If they refuse Hitler can use their broken promises to disarm against them- he has the moral high ground and victory
55
What happened in October 1933?
1933 Hitler withdraws Germany from the Disarmament conference and the League of Nations
56
What happened in January 1934?
Hitler and Poland sign a 10 year non-aggression pact
57
What happened in July 1934?
Austrian Chancellor Doll fuss is killed
58
What was Italy's reaction to the chancellor's murder?
Mussolini stood up to Hitler and Hitler backed down
| Mussolini put thousands of Italian troops on the border
59
What happened in March 1935?
Hitler announced rearmament
| The existence of the Luftwaffe and conscription
60
What was the British reaction to rearmament?
Britain were shocked at the breach however felt that Germany should rearm at a controlled rate
They felt France was being stubborn and were a greater obstacle to European peace
61
What was the French reaction to rearmament?
France were horrified and worried
62
What was the Stresa front?
The Stresa Front was formed with Italy, UK and France to monitor Hitler
63
What was the Anglo-German Naval Deal?
Signed on the 18th of June 1935
Germany could have parity in the air , 35% of Britain’s naval forces
Germany could have an equal number of submarines to Britain
64
What was the British public's view to rearmament?
Most people in Britain did not see any danger in German rearmament and because of Versailles Guilt they felt it was justifiable
65
When did Germany re-militarise the Rhineland?
On the 7th of March 1936
66
Why did Hitler re-militarise the Rhineland?
In 1935 France began negotiations with Russia about becoming friends
This went against the Locarno treaty so gave Hitler an excuse to break the agreement
67
Why did Hitler choose a Saturday?
Hitler chose a Saturday because he knew politicians would not be in a good position to react
68
How many troops were placed in the Rhineland?
22,000 fully armed German troops marched into the Rhineland
69
What peace agreements did Hitler put in place to avoid war?
A non-aggression pact with everyone for 25 years
A new equal demilitarised zone with the French
To rejoin the League of Nations
70
Why was nothing done to punish Germany?
The re-militarisation was complete and would be difficult to reverse
The French no longer trusted Britain after finding out about the Anglo-German naval deal
The two countries thought Germany’s army was bigger that it was
Versailles guilt was growing in Britain
Britain felt Hitler’s excuse about the Franco-Soviet pact was fair
71
How did Hitler gain from this?
Hitler had now broken the treaty twice and was growing in confidence
Hitler was gaining much respect in Germany
72
How did other countries lose from this?
France was made to feel weak by Hitler
| The power of Britain had gone down, they had given into Hitler’s demands again
73
How did Britain feel towards Hitler?
Many British politicians and public were unsure what to think of Hitler
Some saw him as a powerful leader
Others saw him as controlling and forceful
74
What was the Spanish Civil War?
Began July 1936 this was a fight between communism and fascism in the country
75
What pact did France suggest?
France suggested a non-intervention agreement to avoid this becoming a Europe wide conflict
Italy, Germany and Russia all signed this but all repeatedly broke it
76
What did the Spanish Civil war achieve for Germany?
This brought Hitler and Mussolini closer together
| This also gained useful training ground for Hitler’s Luftwaffe
77
What was the Austro-German agreement?
Signed in July 1936 this agreement mean that Austria and Germany worked together over foreign policy
78
What was the Rome-Berlin axis?
Signed in November 1936 Italy and Germany agreed to work together over common policy
79
What did the Rome-Berlin axis mean for Europe?
This meant there was now no one in the league of nations who had the power to overthrow Hitler
They had now created a line of power down the middle of Europe
Mussolini originally stopped Germany from overthrowing Austria was now teaming up with Germany
80
What happened in February 1938?
Schuschnigg met with Hitler on 12th of February 1938 and demanded that he lift his ban on Austrian Nazi’s, free all Nazi’s from prison and allow Nazi’s a key position in government
81
What did Schuschnigg do in retaliation?
Schuschnigg planned a plebiscite to ask the Austrian people if they wanted to become part of Germany
82
How did Hitler react?
Hitler was very angry and ordered it to be called off
| He threatened to invade Austria
83
What happened on the 12th of March 1938?
Schuschnigg resigned and Hitler marched his troops into Austria
84
Why did Hitler want Anschluss?
```
Hitler wanted to unite all Germans
Surround Czechoslovakia
He was Austrian
He had control of the Danube river which gave supplies
Ship building,resources,
Railway access to the Balkans
```
85
What happened on the 10th of April 1938?
Hitler decided to hold his own plebiscite on April the 10th 1938 and 99.7% of Austrians were shown to be in favour of Anschluss
86
Why did Britain not react?
Britain saw themselves as militarily weaker
Mussolini thought it was okay so Britain thought so too
Hitler was stronger with the support of Italy and Austria
British public were still very opposed to war
They felt it was too far away to be concerned
Hitler had been invited in
The April plebiscite showed that was what Austria wanted
Austria and Germany had a shared history
Treaty of Versailles guilt
87
Why did Hitler want the Sudetenland?
It contained three million German speakers
88
Why did the Czechoslovakian crisis occur?
The Sudeten German Party made a list of demands- Henlein demands that if the Czech's didn't agree to they would go to war
89
What did Britain do to help?
Britain convinced the Germans that they would intervene and convinced the Czech’s that they wouldn’t so as to force a compromise
90
What did Benes eventually do?
Chancellor Benes agreed to the Henlein concessions to defuse the situation
This prevented war from occurring
91
Why was Hitler angry?
War had been prevented and he was embarrassed that he had not succeeded in invading Czechoslovakia
92
What was Hitler's next plan?
Hitler planned to attack Czechoslovakia on October the 1st 1938
This was called operation green
93
What did Britain decide to do?
Britain decided to meet with Hitler to calm the situation and avoid war
94
Describe the first meeting
15th of September 1938
Berchtesgaden
Hitler and Chamberlain met
Hitler wanted Britain to agree that Germany would get the Sudetenland sometime in the future
Chamberlain returned to Britain to persuade other countries to accept this demand
95
Describe the second meeting
22nd of September 1938
Hitler and Chamberlain
Godesberg
Hitler demanded control of the Sudetenland by September 28th
96
Describe the third meeting
29th September 1938
Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler and Mussolini
Munich
Czechs were not invited
Chamberlain agreed to Hitler’s terms but Czechoslovakia were given 12 hours to agree and 10 days to implement them
Chamberlain got an agreement with Hitler that he would keep peace with Britain
War had been avoided once again
97
what happened to Czechoslovakia?
In March 1939 Hitler took Bohemia and Moravia
| Czechoslovakia ceased to exist
98
Why did Hitler want Poland?
Hitler hated Poland as it was created with land Germany lost from the TOV
Hitler complained about the treatment of German’s in the polish corridor
99
What happened in April 1939?
Russia asked Britain and France for an alliance
100
Why did they turn it down?
Poland did not trust Russia and would not let Russian soldiers enter
Britain hated communism and no deal was made
101
What was the pact of steel?
May 22, 1939 the pact of steel was made between Italy and Germany
This meant that Germany and Italy were allies and was a backup of the Rome-Berlin axis
102
What happened in August 1939 and what did it mean?
In August 1939 Hitler and Stalin signed the Nazi-soviet non-aggression pact
This meant they would not fight each other and Germany could take Poland with ease
The agreement also contained a secret pact that Germany and Russia would divide Poland between them
103
What happened on the 1st of September?
Germany invaded Poland
104
What was the consequence of the invasion?
Britain declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September 1939
105
Why did Britain follow a policy of appeasement?
The British public wanted peace
Versailles guilt
Chamberlain believed Hitler was a reasonable man
Britain had an overseas empire to control
Britain had no allies
Britain were not militarily ready
Britain thought the German forces were stronger than they were
