Hitler's Foreign policy

When was the Saar given back to Germany?

1935

How many in the Saar voted to go back to Germany?

90%

Hitler’s foriegn policy aims

Destroy the T of V - Expand Germany’s army to take back lost territory, reintroduce conscription, rearm.

Unite Germany - Hitler wanted to unite all Germany speakers to become part of a greater Germany: this would include taking back the Polish corridor and the Sudetenland.

Lebensraum - Expand East towards Poland and the soviet union, to create Lebensraum for German people as a part of the 3rd Reich.

Destroy communism - Destroy the threat of Communism from the USSR, as he believed the communists wanted to destroy the German Reich.

How many Germans lived in the Sudetenland?

over 3 million

When was the remilitarisation of the Rhineland?

7th of March 1936

How many soldiers did Hitler march into the Rhineland?

22,000

Why did Hitler invade the Rhineland at that time?

the league was busy in Abyssinia

What did Hitler use as an excuse to invade the Rhineland?

France and Russia’s Mutual assistance pact (1935) - he claimed he was surrounded by hostile forces

How did the Powers get involved in the SCW?

Stalin - supported ad sent military aid to the left wing

Mussolini and Hitler - Supported and sent aid to the Right wing rebels under General Franco

GB and France - refused to get directly involved

When did Hitler send his Luftwaffe and how did they contribute?

Starting in 1936, they took part in civilian bombing raids.

When did Germany ally with Japan and why did they?

1936 (the Anti-Comintern Pact) to oppose communism

When did Germany and Italy make their alliance and what was the effect?

1937 (Axis alliance) - increased relations between Hitler and Mussolini, and GB and France increased the scale and rate of their rearming.

When did Hitler annex Austria?

11-13th of March 1938

What was the Nazi presence like in Austria and how did Hitler use this to his advantage?

There was a large presence - Hitler asked them to stir up trouble, and demand the union

What happened with the Austrian leader during 1938?

Schuschnigg appealed to the league for help, and planned to hold a plebiscite. Hitler demanded his resignation and he was replaced with a Nazi - Seys-Inquart

What was the outcome of the plebiscite about Anschluss?

over 99% in favour - many historians believe it was rigged

What did Chamberlain say about Anschluss?

It was wrong to ban the union in the first place

Arguments for appeasement:

It bought Britian and France more time to rearm

They believed Hitler would stop if they gave him what he wanted

To avoid war - Britian and France were struggling economically and couldnt afford another war, and the public didn’t want another war after ww1

The T of V was too harsh in the first place, and Hitler was taking back what was lost

Hitler was the best way to stop the spread of Communism in eastern Europe

Arguments against appeasement

Hitler cannot be trusted, he had repeatedly broke his promises and continued asking for more - he aimed to conquer the east and all of Europe

Germany was rearming quickly and needed to be stopped before it was too late

It made Britian look weak - Hitler was taking advantage of them and getting way with it.

What was the Geographical benefit of taking the Sudetenland?

It bordered Germany, so could help protect from invasion

What was the Economic benefit of taking the Sudetenland?

It had fertile soil and rich mineral deposits that could benefit Germany’s economy.

What was the Military benefit of taking the Sudetenland?

It contained much of Czechoslovakia’s defences, which were advanced and modern, so taking it would weaken Czechoslovakia and strengthen Germany.

What was the Social benefit of taking the Sudetenland?

3.5 million Sudeten Germans lived there. It would help Hitler’s aim to to unite all German speakers → he wanted to absorb them into the German Reich

What happened on the 15th of September 1938?

Chamberlain met with Hitler in Bavaria and told him he could have parts of the Sudetenland if the other Powers agreed

What happened in September 1938 (after Hitler met with Chamberlain?

Hitler demanded all of the Sudetenland, claimed that the Czechs were mistreating the Germans, and Chamberlain ordered GB to prepare for war.

What happened on the 29th of September 1938?

Munich confrence was held. It gave Hitler the Sudetenland, but Benes and Stalin weren’t present.

Munich agreement

Gave Hitler the Sudetenland, and guaranteed the rest of Czechoslovakia’s borders. Benes had no choice but to agree

When did Hitler march into the Sudetenland?

1st of October 1938

Consequences of the Munich agreement (other than Hitler gaining the Sudetenland)

After Chamberlain returned to the UK, he declared the agreement had guaranteed ‘peace in our time’ - war had been temporarily avoided

The Czech government fell into chaos and Benes resigned

GB and France continued to rearm - they believed war was delayed not avoided - and trust in Hitler was gone.

When did Hitler take over the rest of Czechoslovakia?

March 1939

What were the consequences of Hitler taking over the rest of Czechoslovakia?

Appeasement officially ended

GB and France realised Hitler would try and take Poland next and warned him they would go to war if he invaded.

Did Hitler believe GB and France’s threats?

No - but he did feat a war with the USSR if he invaded Poland

What was the Nazi-Soviet pact?

Signed in August 1939

It was a non-aggression pact that secretly divided Poland b/w them and gave Stalin the Baltic states

When did Hitler invade Poland?

1st of September 1939

When did Britian and France declare war?

3rd of September 1939