The origins and outbreaks of the second world war

Question 1

What are the things Hitler wanted to do to make Germany a world power again when he became chancellor in 1933

Answer 1

Overturn the T of V
Rearmament
Take Lebensraum
Unite Volksdeutsche (people with German blood, but without German citizenship) to make a greater Germany
Unite Germany and Austria - Anschluss
Destroy communism

Question 2

why did Lebensraum lead to war

Answer 2

Hitler wanted land in the east. To get this he would have to invade countries in Eastern Europe. This would be considered an act of war and other countries might try to protect the ones being invaded

Question 3

Why did Germanys rearmament lead to war

Answer 3

under the T of V, Germanys military power was severely restricted and the Rhineland was demilitarised. Hitler wanted to introduce conscription and build a Luftwaffe (air force) - this broke the T of V and other countries would become suspicious about why Germany needed a large army

Question 4

what was the main reason Britain didnt oppose Hitler in his early career

Answer 4

they wanted to avoid another war

Question 5

what policy did the USA follow and what did it mean

Answer 5

policy of isolationism - they refused to get involved with European conflict

Question 6

why did Hitler wanted to destroy communism lead to war

Answer 6

The USSR had a massive army and was developing good relationships with Britain and France. USSR was also allied with Eastern European countries that Hitler was targeting for Lebensraum. Hitler was provoking a powerful nation that was bound to fight back

Question 7

which area of land did Chamberlin agree to let Hitler have and what was this policy called

Answer 7

The Sudetenland
Policy of appeasement
Chamberlain allowed Hitler this land if he promised to not take any more land

Question 8

what did Chamberlain think he had achieved by appeasing Hitler

Answer 8

‘peace in our time’
he thought that giving Hitler the Sudetenland would please Hitler and he wouldnt want any more

Question 9

how was communism an argument for appeasing Hitler

Answer 9

the USSR was a strong country that filled the allies with dread, they didnt want communism spreading to the west. If they could keep Hitler as a strong Nazi - whose opinions were exactly opposite to communists) Germany would act as a buffer zone to the USSR

Question 10

why did France and Britain appease Hitler

Answer 10

wanted to avoid another war
they had a lack of money to fight again
they were limiting the inevitable german rearmament

Question 11

what did the appeasement for Hitler show other countries

Answer 11

other powerful dictators such as Mussolini and Stalin saw how Hitler was getting away with doing how he pleased therefore gave them similar ideas

Question 12

when did Germany leave the League of Nations and why

Answer 12

1933
other countries failed to promise to disarm
he argued that he would continue to re arm if other countries did

Question 13

when was the Dolfuss affair

Answer 13

1934

Question 14

what was the Dollfuss affair

Answer 14

Aware of Hitlers intentions to unite with Austria, the Austrian chancellor, Dollfuss banned the Nazi party in Austria. In 1934, Hitler responded by getting Austrian Nazis to cause havoc in Austria - they murdered Dollfuss.
The plot failed - Mussolini moved his troops to Austria to stop Hitler. Hitlers army wasnt strong enough. He claimed the Austrian Nazi party acted alone

Question 15

what event marked the fact that Hitler was sure he could openly defy the T of V

Answer 15

the ‘Freedom to Rearm Rally’ in 1935 where Hitler showed off the weapons and troops he had been building. He announced he was reintroducing conscription - did in 1936 - and that he was expanded the army to 1 million men and building a Luftwaffe.

Question 16

what was the Saar plebiscite and when was it

Answer 16

1935
Saar = rich industrial area given to the L of N for 15 years under T of V
in 1935 a plebiscite was held to see who should govern the area - france or germany

Question 17

what was the result of the saar plebiscite

Answer 17

90% of the population voted to rejoin Germany - used victory as propaganda to show that german speaking people wanted to unite under the nazis

Question 18

what was the anglo-german naval agreement and when was it

Answer 18

1935
people in Britain had felt that the terms of the treaty were too harsh
in 1935 they signed an agreement saying that Germany could grow their navy to 35% of the British one. also allowed Germany to build 45% of British submarines.

Question 19

what was the significance anglo-german naval agreement

Answer 19

Hitler saw this as Britain admitting that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair, therefore he could ignore it
The military terms of the treaty were officially dead

Question 20

what was the Franco-soviet pact and when was it signed

Answer 20

1935
signed between France and USSR - they promised to protect each other if there was an attack from Nazi Germany

Question 21

what was Hitlers response to the Franco-Soviet pact

Answer 21

said it was an act of aggression so he sent his troops into the Rhineland in 1936

Question 22

what did invading the rhineland in 1936 show Hitler

Answer 22

his army still wouldve been beaten in the allies assembled to fight him for breaking the treaty
he invaded the Rhineland to see if the allies would do anything
they didnt do anything, so Hitler took the Rhineland, this showed him that he could do whatever he wanted

Question 23

why did the allies let Hitler take the Rhineland and how did they react after

Answer 23

they thought he was taking back land that was his in the first place
they didnt want a war over that area of land
they had enough domestic issues in their own country to deal with
after the invasion they saw it as a sign that they needed to re-arm so they did

Question 24

what was the rome-berlin axis and when was it signed

Answer 24

1936
as a result of Hitlers display of strength, Mussolini signed a treaty to support Hitler.
Both countries promised they would work closely together

Question 25

what was the anti-comintern pact and when was it signed

Answer 25

pact between Japan and Germany - they promised to work together against communist countries
signed 1936

Question 26

how did Hitler respond to Shuschnigg

Answer 26

he invaded Austria in march 1938 in protest to the proposed plebiscite
He was unopposed and many nazis greeted him and his troops

Question 27

what was the result of the plebiscite Hitler held after invading Austria

Answer 27

99% of people wanted Anschluss with Germany

Question 28

when did Hitler invade the Sudetenland

Answer 28

1938

Question 29

why did Hitler invade the Sudetenland

Answer 29

3 million German speaking people lived there
rich in natural resources
had important factories in it

Question 30

why did germany want to invade poland

Answer 30

In the hated T of V, German land had been given away to form the new state of Poland.
Hitler promised to destroy the terms of the T of V and claim Lebensraum in the east - therefore invaded Poland
He knew Britain and France didnt do anything to stop him breaking the terms of the treaty, he only had to worry about the USSR

Question 31

what was the Nazi - Soviet pact and when was it signed

Answer 31

signed 1939
USSR and Germany hated the new state of Poland and both wanted the land. Hitler couldnt risk Stalin intervening with his invasion, so sent his forgein minister to the USSR to make a deal. If the USSR allowed Hitler to invade Poland, the USSR would be given Polish land. Therfore, in 1939 a non aggression pact was signed, they promised they wouldnt attack each other

Question 32

why did Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet pact

Answer 32

he knew the allies wouldnt approve of him taking Poland for himself
was fearful of Hitlers military stregth, so believed signing a treaty would protect him against Hitler/ give him time to mobilise properly.
stalin thought the allied countries were too weak against Hitler

Question 33

when did Hitler invade Poland

Answer 33

1st September 1939
blew up the port of Danzig and sent his army and air force into the country

Question 34

what happened two days after Hitler invaded Poland

Answer 34

Britain issued an ultimatum to Germany - withdraw your troops or face a declaration of war

Question 35

what happened after Britains ultimatum for Germany

Answer 35

Germany ignored it - so Britain declared war on Germany, so did France
within 4 weeks Hitler took all of Poland, breaking the T of V, Nazi-Soviet pact and ignoring the ultimatum from Britain and France

Question 36

what was the pact of steel and when was it signed

Answer 36

formal pact joining Germany, Italy and Japan as allies in WW2