Road To War

Question 1

Aims of Hitler

Answer 1

• destroy the treaty of Versailles
• create a greater Germany
• destroy communism
• acquire lebensraum

Question 2

Destroy the treaty of Versailles

Answer 2

• the disarmament clause would be broken by introducing conscription and building up Germany’s armed forces
• The demilitarized Rhineland would be militarized, strengthening Germany’s western frontier
• territory under the treaty would b resigned
• uniting with Austria was specifically banned by the treaty but now formed part of hitters plans

Question 3

Create a greater Germany

Answer 3

• all German-speaking people were to be brought into a German empire
• this would be austria and parts of chezcoslovakia and Poland

Question 4

Destroy communism

Answer 4

• he believed that bolsheviks were responsible for Germany’s defeat in the First World War and that they wanted to take over Germany

Question 5

What did Hitler do in 1933?

Answer 5

• Germany refused to pay anymore reparations
• Hitler walked out of the disarmament conference
• he withdrew Germany from the League of Nations
• rearmament of Germany began in secret

Question 6

What happened in 1934?

Answer 6

• a non-aggression pact was agreed with Poland. This ensures that if Germany decided to attack Austria or Czechoslovakia, Poland would not intervene
• attempted Union with Austria but backed down by Mussolini as he showed his disapproval by moving Italian troops to the Brenner Pass

Question 7

What happened 1935?

Answer 7

• hitler announced that conscription would be reintroduced
• massive rearmament rally was held in Germany, boosting Nazi support. Britain and France believed that the constraints of the treaty were too great and also a strong Germany was a was a buffer against communism
• Germany signed a naval agreement with Britain allowing Germany to have a navy up to 35% of the size of the British navy
• a plebiscite was held in the Saar in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Versailles
• over 90% were in favor of returning to Germany
• propaganda success
• first territory regained

Question 8

What happened in 1936?

Answer 8

• Germany remilitarized the Rhineland
• alliance with Italy (Roman Berlin axis)
• anti-Comintern pact: hostility towards soviet Russia
• neither Germany nor japan would assist soviet Russia if it attacked either country

Question 9

The Spanish civil war

Answer 9

• Italy and Germany supported Franco’s nationalists in the Spanish civil war, hoping that if they were successful Spain would become a German ally
• this was an opportunity to test his new military equipment

Question 10

Reasons for the Union with Austria

Answer 10

• hitler was born in austria
• all German speaking people under Germany rule
• many Austrians supported this as the country was economically weak after it had been reduced in size by the treaty of st Germain

Question 11

1938 events in Austria

Answer 11

• encouraged the strong Nazi party to stir up trouble: they started riots encouraging Union with Germany
• he told schussing that political union was the only way to sort out the problems
• schussing ordered a plebiscite to be held a,omg the Austrian people
• hitler was furious, ordering schussing to call of the plebiscite and to resign
• the new leader Seyss-Inquart asked Germany to send troops to restore law and order
• plebiscite was hold, and under the German eye 99% voted anchusslus

Question 12

Results of events in Austria 1938

Answer 12

• Germany broke another term of the treaty of Versailles
• hitler had increased land and resources
• had support from Mussolini
• Austria’s soldiers and weapons increased the strength of German military

Question 13

Arguments for appeasement

Answer 13

• Many people agreed that T of V was unfair and too harsh in Germany
• soviet Russian was seen as a bigger threat than Germany: (strong Germany, would stop the spread of communism)
• Britain and France were not ready for a fight = appeasement time to rearm
• avoiding war
• no support from America

Question 14

Arguments against appeasement

Answer 14

• morally wrong (cowardice) , giving him too much power
• he was not a rational politician with whom they could negotiate
• opportunity to stop hitler has faded away, if resistance had been shown in the Rhineland he may well have withdrawn
• gave Germany the opportunity to continue to grow more powerful

Question 15

The Sudetenland

Answer 15

• formed the border area between Germany and Czechoslovakia
• the Sudeten Germans complained of discrimination by the Czech government
• in 1938, hitler demanded that Sudetenland should be given to him
• if this happened, Czechoslovakia would be defenseless against a German attack
• chamberlain wanted to solve this peacefully, there were 2 meetings

Question 16

First meeting

Answer 16

• in Bavaria
• 15 September 1938
• areas of Sudetenland where the majority of the population was German should be handed over to Germany
• approval of the British, French and Czech governments

Question 17

Second meeting

Answer 17

• Rhineland
• 22 September 1938
• chamberlain reported that approval had been given
• hitler had changed his mind and wanted the whole of the Sudetenland by the 1 October 1938 there should be a war

Question 18

The Munich conference

Answer 18

• 29 September 1938
• chamberlain, Hit,er, Mussolini and France
• Czechoslovakia and the USSR were not invited
• the Czechs were forced to accept the agreement or face the full force of the German army on their own

Question 19

Outcomes of the Munich conference

Answer 19

• Britain and France had abandoned Czechoslovakia
• 1 October Germany invaded Sudetenland
• in 1939 he took over the rest of Czechoslovakia
• Poland was hitlers next target
• Britain promised Poland it would guarantee its independence

Question 20

Background of Nazi soviet pact

Answer 20

• Stalin had been concerned about the threat Germany posed
• hitler wanted to gain land as lenensraum
• Stalin had failed to reach an agreement with Britain and France in the 1930’s
• he had joined the League of Nations in 1934 but it had shown it was toothless over Abyssinia
• Stalin signed an agreement with with France in 1935
• it stated that it would help the USSR if attacked by Germany
• Stalin was unsure as France had failed to stop Germany when it had remilitirised the Rhineland
• his concerns increased during Muncie agreement he had not been invited

Question 21

Importance of the Nazi soviet pact

Answer 21

• USSR and Germany in August 1939 had signed a non aggression pact
• they had agreed to split Poland between them
• Stalin wanted the Baltic states which had once been part of Russia
• the pact gave Stalin time to build up his armed forces
• he also feared that japan would attack (war at two fronts)
• the pact encouraged hitler to invade Poland
• he did not think France and Britain would go to war but Britain had signed an agreement with Poland

Question 22

Why was Poland important to Hitler

Answer 22

• under the terms of the t of v the polish corridor (German land) was given to Poland in order provide an outlet to the sea and Danzing was under the League of Nations
• hitler wanted this back
• danzing was mainly German speaking
• invasion of Russia
• destruction of communism and acquisition of lebensraum

Question 23

Why did Britain and France declare war on Germany in September 1939

Answer 23

• Germany ignored ultimatums from both Britain and France demanding that the German army be withdrawn from Poland
• the poles failed to take the opportunity to negotiate with Germany over the disputed areas of the polish corridor and danzing
• if they didn’t attack they faced humiliation and acceptance that Germany was the dominant one in Europe