Road to war Flashcards
(a) Describe the remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936. [4]
– Hitler marched his troops in the Rhineland on 7th March 1936
– The German army was not strong enough to withstand any French or British retaliation and had been ordered to retreat in the event of this
– However -> Chamberlain said that Hitler was “only marching in his own backyard”
– France wouldn’t act without British support
– Therefore, Hitler got away with his invasion
(a) What happened at the Munich Conference in 1938? [4]
– Britain, France and Germany met to try and solve the Czechoslovakian crisis
– Signed the Munich Agreement -> 30th September 1938
– They agreed to give Hitler the whole of the Sudetenland, provided that he did not invade the rest of Czechoslovakia
– Hitler and Chamberlain agreed to never go to war with each other
– Chamberlain believed he had gained “peace for our time”
(a) What did Hitler achieve by the Anschluss? [4]
– Reunited his homeland, Austria with Germany -> believed the states belonged together as one greater Germany
– Austria had rich deposits of iron ore and gold -> increased German industry
– Austria’s soldiers and weapons were amalgamated into the German army
– Showed Hitler that the Allies would not oppose him breaking the Treaty of Versailles terms -> they would not go to war over a flawed treaty
(a) What were the aims of Hitler’s foreign policy? [4]
– Lebensraum and Groβdeutschland
– Gain racial purity -> rid the world of “Jewish embrace and world poisoning”
– Destroy the TOV
– Destroy his enemies -> called the Big Three (Britain, France and Russia) a “gang of wretched criminals”
(a) What measures had Hitler taken by 1938 to prepare Germany for war? [4]
– Remilitarised the Rhineland (March 1936)
– Reintroduced conscription (1936)
– Created a new air force -> Luftwaffe, unveiled during the “Proclamation of Freedom to Rearm Rally” (1935)
– Made alliances with Italy and Japan -> Rome-Berlin Axis (1936) and Anti-Comintern Pact (1937)
(a) What actions did Hitler take between 1933 and 1937 to destroy the Treaty of Versailles? [4]
– Began rearming in earnest -> Proclamation of Freedom to Rearm Rally (1935)
– Saar Coalfields re-joined Germany in a totally legal procedure (1935) -> had been taken by TOV
– Reintroduced conscription -> 1936
– Remilitarised the Rhineland -> 7th March 1936
(b) Why did Hitler want to unite Germany and Austria? [6]
- To begin expanding properly
– Hitler wanted to create a Groβdeutschland (Great Germany) -> with all German speaking countries in Europe being part of Germany
– He wanted more Lebensraum (living space for the German people)
– Austria was his homeland and he therefore wanted to reunite Austria and Germany, believing they belonged together as a large German state
– Austria also shared a border with the Sudetenland which Hitler wanted to acquire as well - To gain money and resources
– Hitler could gain Austria’s soldiers and weapons, amalgamating them into the German army -> added seven million people and an army of 100,000
– Austria had good iron ore and gold deposits -> more industry meant more money and income for Hitler to fund his future invasions
(b) Why did Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact? [6]
- Britain and France seemed like unworthy allies
– Appeasement of Hitler made Britain and France look weak -> failed to stop Mussolini in Abyssinia and Hitler from remilitarising the Rhineland
– The Czechoslovakian crisis showed that Britain and France were powerless to stop Hitler and would not stop Hitler’s expansion over Eastern Europe - Stalin wanted to expand Communism
– Stalin wanted to control Eastern Poland which the Nazi-Soviet Pact would allow him to do -> Hitler wanted to split Poland between them
– Stalin also had designs on the Baltic States which Hitler would allow him to take over, whereas Britain and France would oppose this spreading of Communism
) Why did Hitler want to take over Czechoslovakia? [6]
- Return German speakers to Germany
– 3.5 million Germans were living in the Sudetenland with others in the rest of Czechoslovakia -> Hitler wanted to continue creating Groβdeutschland
– Due to the multinational nature of Czechoslovakia, having been created by the post-WWI treaties, a hierarchy of ethnicities emerged
– Hitler claimed that the Germans were being “mistreated” and needed to be “rescued” - Increase German military and industry
– Czechoslovakia contained important raw materials -> coal and iron deposits
– Czechoslovakia also contained the Skoda factory which was very productive and mainly manufactured armaments -> Hitler could use it to easily supply his own army
(b) Why did Britain follow a policy of appeasement towards Germany in the 1930s? [6]
- Britain itself was not strong enough to fight a war
– The British economy was not strong enough to fund a war, following the detrimental effects of the Great Depression, which began after the Wall Street Crash (29th Oct 1929)
– The British public were against the idea of war, especially during the early-mid 1930s.
– Peace Pledge Union, a British pacifist movement supported Appeasement -> they had over 100,000 members by 1936
– By appeasing Hitler, the British public were united behind the idea of war when it actually happened in 1939 - Britain did not have any allies
– Self-governing colonies were staunch supporters of appeasement and they said that they would not support Britain in a war against Germany
– Britain had no powerful allies other than France
– USA were following an isolationist policy and in 1939, their army was far smaller than Italy, Germany and Japan’s were anyway
– USSR was corrupt and unstable and the British did not support Communism
– There was also a threat of war from Japan -> we were not strong enough to fight a war on two fronts
(b) Why was Hitler able to unite Germany with Austria in 1938? [6]
- Hitler’s scheming
– Caused political unrest in Austria -> told Nazi party members to start riots and demonstrations
– Hitler then tries to persuade the Austrian Chancellor, Schuschnigg, that joining Germany would solve these problems
– Schuschnigg calls for a plebiscite, Hitler threatens him and the marches troops into Austria to scare people into voting for joining him
– Unsurprisingly, 99.75% voted for the Anschluss - Support of some Austrians
– Many Austrians were German anyway -> felt they should be united again
– Many wanted to join Germany as the Austrian economy was so weak
– Strong Nazi presence in Austria already
