Hitler's Foreign Policy (1934 - 1935)

Remilitarization of the Rhineland
1. Gamble that Britain and France wouldn't stop him
  1. Gamble paid off
    1. Gained the support of the German army
    2. Increased his confidence
Nazi - Soviet pact
1. Both invaded Poland
  1. Germany invaded from the west
  2. Soviet forces invaded from the east
    1. Britain and France declare war on Germany
      1. Triggers the start of WW2
2. Nazi's hated communism
  1. Joseph Stalin - USSR
    1. Made an agreement with France in 1935
      1. Promised to defend USSR if they were attacked by Germany
3. Munich Agreement
  1. Secret, Stalin didn't know
    1. Stalin didn't trust Britain and France anymore
      1. USSR didn't trust Hitler either
        Thought he wouldn't keep his word
        Read Mein Kampf
        Hitler wanted Russian land
        Russian re-armed
4. Britain prefferred Germany, they thought they'd be a good buffer against communism
Disarmament conference
1. Germany left as nobody was disarming
  1. French claimed they needed an army for protection from Germany
  2. Hypocrisy (hypocrits)
  3. Introduced conscription in 1935 and began to rearm secretly
10 Year non-aggression pact with Poland (1934)
1. Pleased Britain
  1. Saw Germany as trying to be "peaceful"
2. Invaded Poland 5 years later (1939)
3. False sense of security
  1. Buying time
3 Aims
1. Defeat communism - USSR
  1. Anti-comunist
2. Expand German territory (Lebensraum)
  1. Invades Czechoslovakia on 15th March 1939
    1. Czechs did not do anything
    2. Britain and France said they'd declare war on Germany if they invaded Poland
  2. Wanted an empire
  3. Anschluss
    1. He encouraged Austrian Nazi Party to rebel
      1. Resulted in the murder of the Austrian Chancellor, Dolfuss
    2. Prevented by Mussolini by moving his army to the frontier of Austria
      1. Hitler realised his army was not strong enough and backed down
        Denied any involvement with the Austrian Nazi Party
3. Abolish the Treaty of Versailles
  1. Reminder of defeat
  2. Unfair, stopped paying reparations
Anschluss with Austria
1. Gained all of Autria's soldiers, weapons, Iron and Gold ore and land
  1. Anchluss was not unpopular in Austria however the plebiscite results were 99.75% Yes
    1. Showed the results were rigged
Stresa Front
1. Britain sympathised with Germany not France
2. Protest against Germany introducing conscription
Anglo-German naval agreement
1. Britain agreed Germany's navy was limited to 35% the strength of Britain's but did not include submarines
  1. By signing this agreement Britain agreed to Germany re-arming
    1. Breaking the Treaty of Versailles
Appeasement (Avoiding war at all costs)
1. ARGUEMENTS FOR APPEASEMENT
  1. Germany deserved a fair deal - By the 1930's many people thought that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh
  2. Fear of another world war - Many people would agree to almost anything to prevent another war
  3. Fear of Communism - Britain saw Germany as a good buffer against Communism
  4. Many people thought it wasn't worth fighting Germany over Czechoslovakia
  5. There was no point in fighting Germany as they had a bigger and stronger army than Britain's, Britain needed time to rearm
2. ARGUEMENTS AGAINST APPEASEMENT
  1. Appeasement encouraged Hitler to be more aggressive - He kept thinking he could get away with everything
  2. Germany was growing stronger - Remilitarization of the Rhineland ment he could defenc Germany's border and Anschluss meant Hitler gained soldiers, weapons and gold and iron ore deposits

Next up

Hitler's Foreign Policy (1934 - 1935)

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by Zozaaa almost 10 years ago