Chapter 3 Why had international pease collapsed by
1939
What were the long term consequences of the pease
treaties of 1919
Germany had significant impacts of the treaty which
included
All these led to the rise of Adolf Hitler
What were the aims of Adorlf Hitler
1 abolish The treaty - Like most Germans Hitler also
hated the treaty moreover he called the german leaders
who signed it the November Criminals , he promised
that he would reverse these terms .
2 Expand german territory - hitler wanted to regain all
the territorial losses under the treaty but majorly he
wanted to reunite with Austria Get the saar region of
czechoslovakia and most of czechoslovakia and other
german minorities to come back under Germany and
wanted to carve out extra living spase for Germans
(Lebensraum)
3 Defeat communism or (Bolsheviks) - Hitler believed
that communists were the major reason of german
defeat in the great war and also blamed them for
starting it
HIS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PROPOGANDA
WAS
GUES ARE UES
Hitler’s Actions
1933: Germany left the LON and disarmament
conference and began rearming in secret-
first strike against TOV. Refused to pay reparations.
1934
10 year non aggression pact with Poland - no war
against Poland if Hitler made a move against Austria or
Czechoslovakia. Surprise due to Germany’s territorial
claims to Polish land but it did weaken France’s
security system.
Attempted union with Austria
‘In 1934, Hitler attempted to take over Austria.’
‘Germany failed in its attempt to unify Germany with
Austria.’ ‘He used the Austrian Nazi Party to stir up
discontent in the country.’ ‘The Nazi Party put pressure
on the Austrian Chancellor, Dollfuss.’ ‘Dollfuss was
determined to keep his country independent of
Germany.’ ‘Dollfuss outlawed the Nazi Party.’ ‘In July,
the Austrian Nazi Party assassinated Dollfuss.’ ‘The
Nazi Party again tried to seize power.’ ‘Mussolini
stopped Hitler from taking over Austria.’ ‘Mussolini was
not close to Hitler in 1934.’ ‘Mussolini did not want a
powerful Germany on his border.’ ‘Mussolini sent 100
000 troops to the Austrian frontier. (Brenner Pass)’
‘Hitler was surprised at Mussolini’s actions.’ ‘Hitler
denied all knowledge of the assassination of Dollfuss.’
Anschluss failed because Hitler was not close with Italy
yet. Spanish Civil War brought them together, Rome
Berlin Axis in 1936, then Pact of Steel 1939.
1935: Held massive rearmament rally in Germany,
boosted Nazi support
January 1935: Saar Plebiscite- 90% were in favour to
return to Germany, Germany regained first piece of lost
territory by legal means
‘In January 1935, a plebiscite was held. This was in
accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.’
‘Voters were asked whether they wanted the Saar to
remain under the League of Nations. The alternatives
were to return to Germany or become part of France.’
‘The League provided an international force of over
3000 troops to maintain the peace. The troops came
from Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy.’ ‘There
were accusations of intimidation on the part of
Germany.’ ‘People voted to return to Germany. Over
90% were in favour.’ ‘Just under 9% wanted to stay
under the League of Nations.’ ‘Less than half of one per
cent wanted to join France.’ ‘Germany had regained its
first piece of lost territory by legal and peaceful means.’
‘It was a tremendous propaganda success for Hitler.’ ‘It
gave Hitler confidence to continue with his plans.’
March 1935: Conscription, Hitler aimed to build up to
550,000 men and have an air force - Allies (Britain,
France and Italy) responded with Stresa Front which
was a strongly worded protest against Hitler’s violations
of the TOV but then undermined by the Anglo-German
Naval Agreement of June 1935. Hitler got away with it.
Prompted France and Russia then Russia and
Czechoslovakia to sign mutual assistance pacts.
June 1935: British sympathised that the TOV military
clauses were too strict - signed Anglo-German Naval
Agreement, allowing Germany to increase navy up to
35% of the British army, France was angry but nothing
they could do
1936
Rhineland declared to be demilitarised zone for 15
years. Constant reminder of humiliation and
disadvantage for Germany. Hitler also wanted to secure
Germany’s western border. German troops in
Rhineland March 1936 - very risky - army was weak,
France could certainly crush them. However, France
was occupied with financial crisis and facing a
reelection in 6 weeks. They were militarily too weak for
offensive action. Hitler was confident that Britain
wouldn’t intervene (Public wanted peace, Rhineland
was rightfully Germany’s) Abyssinia happening at the
same time -France and Britain occupied
LON condemned Hitler but could not do anything
France refused to act without Britain’s support and so
Hitler got away with it. Boosted Hitler’s prestige at
home.
1936-39:Spanish Civil War
- War broke out between supporters of the
Republican Government (socialists,
commies) and right wing rebels under General
Franco.
- USSR supported the Republicans in the form of
some weapons, aircrafts and pilots.
- Hitler and Mussolini supported General Franco.
- Mussolini sent thousands of Italian troops as
‘volunteers’.
- Germany sent aircraft and pilots who
took part in major campaigns in the war.
- Britain and France didn’t intervene although
France did provide a few weapons for the
Republicans.
- Franco won, ruled for 36 years.
- Positive Results
- Hitler persuaded Mussolini to abandon Britain
and France soon became allies - not formal allies
but Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936
- Germany tested out weapons to use in WW2 and
tested out Blitzkrieg
- German armed force, Luftwaffe were able to
practice dive bombing on Guernica
- He got away with it, showing he could get away
with other invasions
- Spanish War was a distraction for Hitler’s
takeover of Austria & Czechoslovakia
- Negative Results
- Hitler thought Spain would ally him in WW2 but
Spain remained neutral.
- General Franco gave asylum to Jews in WW2
November 1936
Anti Comintern Pact
Signed by Germany and Japan with Italy joining in
1937. Directed against Comintern (Soviet Russia)
that was promoting communist. Real purpose was
to ensure that neither Germany or Japan would
assist Soviet Russia if attacked.
1938:
Took over Austria- Anschluss because relations
were better with Italy
Nazi Party in Austria cause riots so Germany
could intervene.
HItler told Austrian Chancellor, Schuschnigg that
Anschluss would sort out the problems
Schuschnigg appealed to Britain and France for
support like economic sanctions or disapproval -
they failed to do this so Schuschnigg called a
plebiscite to see what Austrian people wanted.
Hitler sent his troops to Austria in March 1938 and
under the Nazis eyes, 99.75% voted for Anschluss.
Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, felt that Austria
and Germany had a right to be united. Britain and
France were not prepared to go to war to defend a
flawed TOV. Hitler gained Austria’s soldiers, weapons,
gold, iron ore and once again got away with it.
Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia
In 1938, Hitler tried to take over the Sudetenland as it
was populated by 3.5 million Germans. Hitler disliked
Czechoslovakia as it was a product of Treaty of Saint
Germain which was part of Versailles agreement, had
an alliance with Russia and France and was
democratic. First, Hitler encouraged the Sudeten Nazis
to demand union with Germany. Then, Hitler made
plans to invade Czechoslovakia.
Munich Agreement
2 meetings in September - agreements were areas of
Sudetenland that were mostly Germans given to
Germany, approval from British, French and Czech
Government. Hitler demanded Czechs withdraw from
Sudeten areas by 1 October to avoid war. Churchill
shocked and called another meeting.
Munich Conference
29 September - Chamberlain, Hitler, Mussolini and
Deladier (France) - Sudetenland would be given to
Germany over a 10 day period and plebiscites would
be in areas that had doubts over the dominant
nationality. Churchill proceeded to make a speech
‘peace in our time’
1939: Invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia, On 15
March 1939, Hitler’s troops marched into the rest of
Czechoslovakia. This, for most British people, was the
time when they realised that the only thing that would
stop Hitler was a war.
Sudetenland 1938
Early in 1938, the German leader in the Sudetenland Konrad Henlein complains that
Sudeten Germans are being mistreated by Czechs.
30 May 1938 – Hitler orders plans to destroy Czechoslovakia by 1 October.
12 September 1938 – Hitler makes a speech attacking Czechoslovakia.
15 September 1938 – Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, flies to see Hitler
at the Berghof and agrees that Czechoslovakia should give all areas with 50 per cent
German Sudetens to Germany. The British and French persuade the Czechs to agree.
22 September 1938 – Chamberlain is successful in persuading Edvard Beneš,
President of Czechoslovakia, to accept Germany’s demands. Chamberlain meets Hitler
at Bad Godesberg confident that the crisis was over. Hitler however had changed his
mind and wanted the Sudetenland by 1 October. The talks break down and there is real
fear now of a war in Europe. Chamberlain persuades Mussolini, the Italian dictator, to
arrange a conference at Munich to discuss the issue of the Sudetenland.
The munich agreement
29-30 September 1938 – Britain, France, Germany and Italy met in Munich. Crucially
Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were not present. The four countries agreed to
the German occupation of the Sudetenland between 1 and 10 October. German troops
occupy the Sudetenland. Britain and France were following a policy of appeasement.
Neville Chamberlain returned to Britain claiming he had established peace in our time.
However following the agreement both Britain and France speeded up their own
rearmament plans. Chamberlain's claim turned out to be a false hope as within a year of
the agreement World War Two had started.
The final destruction of Czechoslovakia - 1939
The Munich agreement dealt only with the Germans in the Sudetenland. It said nothing
of the nearly 2 million Germans living in Bohemia and Moravia. Hitler now moved to
bring them under German control.
Using the same tactics as in other events, he claimed that Germans were being treated
unfairly. He claimed that the Czech government had lost control and that the German
army should be sent in to restore order.
Hitler invited President Hacha to Berlin on 14 March 1939 and kept him waiting until
01:15 while Hitler finished watching a film. Hitler demanded that Hacha agreed to split
Czechoslovakia within a few hours. At 04:00, President Hacha caved in to Hitler’s
demands and German troops marched into Prague on 15 March 1939. This was
conquest pure and simple.
Germany expanded and gained valuable resources as Czechoslovakia was rich in coal
and possessed the huge Skoda armaments factory.
To what extent was appeasement justified ?
Czechoslovakia
Rich in agriculture and industry so Hitler wanted
resources for Germany. German army occupied Prague
and Czechoslovakia on the 15 March 1939. Up until
this, every challenge for land had been justified
because of self determination. This was unacceptable.
German land increased by 36% since 1935 to 39.
British French Guarantee to Polannd
Poland would be Hitler’s next target as it was created
by Versailles agreement, included territory that had
been part of Germany before 1919 (West Prussia),
Polish Corridor separated East Prussia from Germany
and Danzig in the Polish Corridor mainly had Germans.
British French guarantee given to Poland that they
would receive support if attacked. For this to be
effective, they needed Russia to become a member.
Failed because of Nazi Soviet Pact.
Poland- In April 1939, Chamberlain announced the
'Polish Guarantee' - a promise to defend Poland if Hitler
invaded (this was the event which ended
appeasement).
May 1939 - Pact of Steel - Italy and Germany formal
allies
On 1 September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. Broke
the 10 year non aggression pact. Did it for territory and
now had the confidence from the Nazi Soviet Pact.
On 3 September 1939, Chamberlain declared war on
Germany.
IMPORTANCE OG THE NAZI SOVIET PACT
1,100 × 830
THIS COULD NOT HELP AND WW2
STARTED
