Test 1 - Source Analysis WWII Flashcards
ToV Terms - B
- Germany was responsible for causing all the loss and damage caused by the war.
ToV Terms - R
- Germany would have to pay reparations, to be decided later - eventually set at 6.6 billion euros.
Tov Terms - A
- The German army restricted to 100,000 men.
- The German navy restricted to six battleships and no submarines.
- Germany not allowed to have an air force.
- The Rhineland was demilitarised - the German army was not allowed to go there.
ToV Terms - T
- The Saar, with its rich coalfields, given to France for 15 years.
- Alsace-Lorraine returned to France.
- Germany forbidden to unite with Austria.
- Lands in eastern Germany - the rich farmlands of Posen and the Polish corridor between Germany and East Prussia - given to Poland.
- Danzig made a free city under League of Nations control.
- All Germany’s colonies taken and given to France and Britain as ‘mandates’.
ToV contributing to WW2
- Woodrow Wilson, Clemenceau, and David Lloyd George signed the Treaty.
- Caused hyperinflation since Germany kept on printing money.
- The Treaty of Versailles contributed to WWII because all it did, instead of subduing Germany, was make them even more furious.
- Germany’s economy collapsed, they had a weak military and lost government power. Germany, fuelled by fury, they viewed it as an unfair punishment and ‘dictated peace’.
- The reparations forced them to even lower economic status since they already had their monetary losses from the war.
ToV contributing to hitlers rise of power
- This fury led to Adolf Hitler’s rise. He promised to the German people that he would tear up the Treaty and restore Germany to being a global superpower which led many people to support him.
- The Nazi Party’s meteoric rise to power began in 1930, when it attained 107 seats in Germany’s parliament, the Reichstag. In July 1932, the Nazi Party became the largest political party in the Reichstag with 230 representatives.
- After German national humiliation from WW1 and also the worldwide economic depression, many Germans perceived the parliament coalition as weak, making Hitler’s new Nazi party ground to rise around 1930-1933. Hitler was a powerful speaker who attracted many followers. He tapped into public anger and helplessness promising to destroy the ToV.
Hitler’s acts of aggression
Remilitarising the Rhineland – 7th March 1936
Annexation of Austria – 12th March 1938
The Sudeten issue/Munich conference – 30th September 1938
Invasion of Czechoslovakia – 15th March 1939
Nazi-Soviet Pact – 23rd August 1939
Attack on Poland – 1st September 1939
Remilitarization of rhineland
- The Rhineland is a piece of land just East of Germany’s border with France.
- By demilitarizing the Rhineland as one of the clauses of the Treaty, it would act as a ‘buffer’ between Germany and France, protecting France (who was not ready for war) from Germany.
- By remilitarizing the Rhineland, Germany was announcing to the world they were ready for war.
- This helped strengthen Germany’s military and stop their vulnerability of French invasion.
Annexation of Austria
- Called the Anschluss
- Germany claimed that Austria had descended into chaos because of communists and therefore needed German troops to resolve the matters.
- Austria was one of the lands that Germany had lost after the war and also had a large portion of ethnic Germans.
The Sudeten issue/Munich conference –
- Between UK, France, and Italy.
- It was an international agreement that Hitler should have the Sudetenland in exchange for Germany making no further demands for land in Europe as part of the Policy of Appeasement.
- Czechoslovakia surrendered the Sudetenland
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
- The Invasion of Czechoslovakia happened after the Sudeten issue, meaning that Germany broke the terms that France, Italy, and UK proposed. (munich pact)
- This was a very aggressive act.
- However there was no military response from the allies.
Nazi-Soviet Pact
- Hitler needed Soviet neutrality if he wanted to invade Poland, but Stalin knew that Hitler wanted to advance to the East.
- The Western Powers were not serious about defending Poland.
- Stalin sent signals to Hitler, offering neutrality.
- The Western Powers thought that the Soviets wanted to advance through Finland and the Baltic States to get into Germany.
- According to the pact, Germany would get the Western half of Poland, whilst the Soviets would get the Eastern half, including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and parts of Lithuania.
- This non-aggression pact was signed by Russian Foreign minister Molotov, and German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop.
- The Soviets wanted Germany and Italy to go to war with The UK and France, and therefore the Soviets could remain neutral.
Policy of Appeasement
The terms appeasement means attempting to bring about a state of peace and calm.
In WW2, the term appeasement refers to the fact that although Germany broke many of the terms of the Treaty.
France, UK and USA did nothing about it, since they wanted to ‘appease’ Germany, thinking they were just taking back what they thought they were owed.
The Allies did not want to start another war by attacking Germany. Little did they know, Germany was already preparing for another war. Appeasement was the name given to the way in which the UK hoped to avoid war with Germany, by not taking action against Germany’s act of violence.
Adoption of PoA by Neville Chamberlain
The policy of appeasement that the French and British followed was one made in the 1930’. It was adopted by Neville Chamberlain and allowed Germany to expand into the territories that they lost in WW1. Many people now regard it at an act of weakness. Chamberlain though that Germany, after taking the land that they lost from ww1, would be satisfied, and therefore they could avoid war. However, Chamberlain was wrong. Germany wanted revenge. Most allied government prioritized peace. Chamberlain also had to adopt it due to the great depression in the `20’s and military instability from ww1 since they were unprepared, they were also quite scared of Germany. Nazi’s were fueled by anger and revenge, wanted to expand furhter out east.
