The remilitarisation of the Rhineland (1936)

Question 1

When did the remilitarisation of the Rhineland take place?

Answer 1

March 1936

Question 2

Had the Rhineland been taken away from Germany under the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 2

No - but they were not allowed to have any armed forces there

Question 3

What is meant by demilitarised?

Answer 3

You are not allowed to have any armed forces there

Question 4

Where was the Rhineland located?

Answer 4

On the western border of Germany.

The border was also shared by: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Netherlands

Question 5

What was the main purpose of the demilitarisation of the Rhineland?

Answer 5

To protect France from invasion

Remember: It had been invaded in 1870 during Franco-Prussian War AND in 1914 during WWI

Question 6

When had the demilitarisation been reaffirmed?

Answer 6

In the 1925 Locarno Treaties - which Germany had agreed to

Question 7

What was agreed in the 1925 Locarno Treaties?

Answer 7

That Germany would stick to all accept its western borders as outlined in the ToV

(This agreement helped pave the way for Germany to join the League of Nations)

Question 8

What else was happening in the world in 1936?

Answer 8

The League was preoccupied with the Abyssinian Crisis (the Hoare-Laval Pact had just leaked)

Question 9

Had Hitler failed with the remilitarisation, whose support would he have lost?

Answer 9

The army’s (lots of top generals were still unsure about him)

Question 10

What had France and the USSR signed in 1935?

Answer 10

A mutual assistance treaty to protect each other from German attack

Full name: The Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance

Question 11

How did Hitler exploit the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance?

Answer 11

He claimed he needed to put troops in the Rhineland - on his own frontier - because Germany was under threat from France and the USSR.

Question 12

How did Hitler exploit British attitudes?

Answer 12

He knew many Britons believed Hitler should be allowed to station troops in ‘his own backyard’ and therefore would do little to stop him

Question 13

What orders did Hitler give to his generals?

Answer 13

To pull troops out of the Rhineland if they met any resistance from the French

Question 14

How would Germany’s army have fared against France’s?

Answer 14

Not well, despite rearmament, France’s army was far stronger than Germany’s

Question 15

What did the League do after Hitler remilitarised the Rhineland?

Answer 15

Condemned his actions - but did nothing else

Question 16

Why did the French dither over their response?

Answer 16

1. France was in the middle of a financial crisis
2. They were about to hold an election - none of the French leaders wanted to be held responsible for plunging the country into a war with Germany.

Question 17

What did France not know?

Answer 17

How strong - or rather, how WEAK - the German army really was. They fell for Hitler’s bluff.

Question 18

What did Hitler take from the remilitarisation?

Answer 18

Increased confidence - made him more likely to gamble in the future

Question 19

What did Hitler promise after the Rhineland triumph?

Answer 19

1. That he only had peaceful intentions

2. He proposed a 25 year NON AGGRESSION PACT with the western powers