The build-up to WWII

Question 1

What did unemployment reach in Germany due to the Great Depression?

Answer 1

6 million

Question 2

What were ways in which the Great Depression acted as a key turning point for international relations?

Answer 2

i) It helped bring Hitler to power in 1933.
ii) Strengthened the case for military intervention in Manchuria.
iii) Prompted Mussolini to draw up plans for the conquest of Abyssinia
iv) Created a climate of suspicion between Britain, France, USA which prevented effective responses to aggression.

Question 3

What was the impact of the German-Polish non-aggression pact (1934)?

Answer 3

The pact seriously weakened France’s defence system in Eastern Europe, as it relied on Poland to put pressure on Germany’s eastern frontiers.

Question 4

What was the attempted Nazi coup in Austria? (1934)

Answer 4

Hitler was unable to persuade Mussolini of his plan to absorb Austria into one German state, yet ordered an uprising anyway. Mussolini wanted to keep Austria as a buffer state, he immediately mobilised troops and forced Hitler to disown the coup. This marked a sharp deterioration in German-Italian relations.

Question 5

What was German rearmament 1933-35?

Answer 5

In 1933, the decision was taken to create an independent Luftwaffe. In March 1935, Hitler announced the reintroduction of conscription. A naval programme was drawn up that would create a moderate German fleet.

Question 6

What was the Stresa Conference? (1935)

Answer 6

The British, French and Italians met at Stresa to discuss forming a common front against Germany. Hitler launched a diplomatic offensive, ultimately the Stresa Front came to nothing.

Question 7

What were causes of the Abyssinian Crisis?

Answer 7

Mussolini had long wanted to build a large empire in North Africa. It helped that it could distract the Italians from their suffering economy. It would connect Eritrea with Italian Somaliland (putting most of the Horn of Africa under Italian control).

Question 8

What was the League of Nations response to the Abyssinian Crisis?

Answer 8

On 18 October, the League condemned the Italian invasion of Abyssinia and voted for a programme of gradually escalating sanctions. The failure of diplomacy meant weak action against Mussolini. The League put no embargo on oil exports to Italy and Britain refused to close the Suez canal to Italian exports on the grounds this might lead to war.
Mussolini was able to step up his campaign and by May 1936 had overrun Abyssinia.

Question 9

What were the consequences of the Abyssinian Crisis?

Answer 9

The crisis was a crucial turning point in the 1930s. It irreparably weakened the League and provided Hitler with the opportunity for the illegal remilitarisation of the Rhineland. The crisis also destroyed the Franco-Italian friendship and replaced it with the Rome-Berlin ‘axis’.

Question 10

Why was Hitler able to successfully remilitarise the Rhineland?

Answer 10

The favourable situation provided by the Abyssinian Crisis meant that Hitler brought forward the remilitarisation of the Rhineland to March 1936. Mussolini, isolated from the Stresa powers by his Abyssinian policy, had little option but to assure Hitler he would not cooperate with the British or French. The French refused to intervene without backing from the British, who were only prepared to support France in the event of a German attack on French territory. The remilitarisation of the Rhineland marked a decisive shift in power from France to Berlin.

Question 11

What was German-Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War?

Answer 11

Hitler dispatched 6000 troops in support of Franco. He wanted to distract Western powers from his rearmament programme, as well as in anticipation of the potential benefits of a friendly government in Madrid. Mussolini also supported Franco for similar ideological and pragmatic reasons. Italian and German air forces bombed the town of Guernica in 1937.

Question 12

Why did Britain and France choose not to intervene in the Spanish Civil War?

Answer 12

The French decided against intervention as this would have risked polarising French society. Furthermore, Britain came out strongly against intervention, as they did not want the jeopardise a possible settlement with Germany.

Question 13

What was Soviet intervention in the Spanish Civil War?

Answer 13

Stalin sent hundreds of military advisers and large quantities of military equipment. Like Hitler, Stalin saw the Civil War as a way of dividing their enemies. By early, 1937, Stalin realised the Republicans could not win and reduced the flow of weapons, just so that they could prolong the conflict. It was not until March 1939 that Franco occupied Madrid.

Question 14

What were the consequences of the Spanish Civil War?

Answer 14

It polarised public opinion in the democracies between right and left, threatened France with encirclement and cemented the German-Italian rapprochement. It may have convinced the USSR of Western weakness, paving the way for the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939. Germany benefitted the most as it was a distraction from their rearmament programme.

Question 15

What were symbolic of better relations between Germany and Italy?

Answer 15

i) The October Protocols were signed which introduced the idea of Rome-Berlin axis.
ii) The Anti-Comintern Pact was signed between Germany and Japan, more symbolic than of practical importance. Italy joined in 1937.

Question 16

What was the Hossbach Memorandum?

Answer 16

Hitler called a special meeting on 5 November 1937, which was attended by his commanders-in-chief and foreign and war ministers. The account was written down by Hitler’s adjutant, Colonel Hossbach. Hitler stressed that his overriding aim was to acquire Lebensraum within Europe rather than colonies in Africa.

Question 17

What was the Anschluss?

Answer 17

The Austrian chancellor, Schuschnigg, called for a referendum for an independent Austria. On 12 March 1938, Hitler ordered German troops to occupy Austria. He decided to incorporate Austria into the Reich, rather than as a separate German satellite. Mussolini had decided that Austria was a sphere of influence for Germany, and consequently backed Hitler. Both Britain and France protested but neither had any intention of going to war over Austria. The French were paralysed by an internal political crisis. Chamberlain still hoped to offer Hitler colonial concessions, though privately began to realise that force was the only argument Hitler understood.

Question 18

What was agreed by the Munich Agreement?

Answer 18

It was agreed that Hitler would only take the Sudetenland, delay the occupation and allow an international commission to map the boundary line.

Question 19

How did Hitler violate the Munich Agreement?

Answer 19

During March 1939, Czechs suddenly moved troops into Slovakia, Hitler persuaded the Czechs to appeal to Berlin for help. Shortly after, German troops occupied Prague, and Bohemia and Moravia became a German protectorate. Slovakia became nominally independent, but in reality was a German satellite. Hitler had succeeded in the destruction of Czechoslovakia.

Question 20

What was the Nazi-Soviet pact? (August 1939)

Answer 20

The pact committed both nations to benevolent neutrality towards each other and in a secret protocol it outlined spheres of interest in Eastern Europe. The Baltic states fell within the Soviet sphere, while Poland was to be partitioned between the two. By neutralising the USSR, a German attack on Poland was much less risky, even if Britain and France came to its defence.

Question 21

When was the attempted German coup in Austria?

Answer 21

1934

Question 22

When was the Stresa Conference?

Answer 22

1935

Question 23

When was the Abyssinian Crisis?

Answer 23

December 1935

Question 24

When was the remilitarisation of the Rhineland?

Answer 24

Early 1936

Question 25

When did the Spanish Civil War start?

Answer 25

Mid 1936

Question 26

When were the October Protocols?

Answer 26

October 1936

Question 27

When was the Anti-Comintern Pact signed?

Answer 27

November 1936

Question 28

When was the Hossbach Memorandum?

Answer 28

1937

Question 29

When was Anschluss achieved?

Answer 29

1938

Question 30

When was the Munich Agreement signed?

Answer 30

1938