The outbreak of war Flashcards
What happened in March 1939?
What did Britain and France think/do?
H invaded rest of C-breaking promise of M A
Realised that war was inevitable -nxt target P
warned H if he did invade it they d declare WAR.Prepared for WAR.
Why did Hitler take this warning lightly?
after years of appeasement H no longer believed B /F wud risk war by standing upto G.
USSR between 1938-1939 how did their opinion change?
beginning of 1930s aimed having close alliances with Western governments B/F.1934 joined LoN -commited themselves to collective security.
But the M/A crises proved that LoN unable to stand upto aggressive countries.
G given S land against will of Czechs many ppl in USSR feared that they too wud be ABANDONED if G attacked them.
So they gave up idea of collective security as they cudnt trust B/F and instead turned towards G.
When was the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed?
Why was this such a shock?
23rd August 1939
Stalin and H agreed not to attack 1 another
agreed to invade P and divide it between them
shock bc S and H hated each other ,H hated C and Lebensraum from USSR known
Why did Stalin sign the pact?
Didnt trust H to keep to his word
had time to build up USSR s forces
cud invade eastern P
Why did Hitler sign the pact?
no intention of sticking to his word-promised generals he d ‘crush the Soviet Union’
send troops to P without fear of bringing USSR in war
easier to invade P
If F/B declared war didn’t fear fighting a war on 2 fronts.
