Transcript Slide 1
NAZI GERMANY’S FOREIGN POLICY An understanding must be reached between the great Germanic peoples Germany and Britain through the permanent elimination of naval rivalry. One will control the sea the other will be the strongest on the land… 1935 We demand the union of all Germans in a Greater Germany on the basis of the right of national self-determination. Point 1 of Nazi Programme, 1920 Germany will either be a world power or there will be no Germany Mein Kampf 1925 War is the most natural, the most ordinary thing. War is constant; war is everywhere. There is no beginning, there is no conclusion of peace. War is life. All struggle is war. War is the primal condition. 1939 We stop the endless German movement to the south and the West, and turn our gaze towards the land into the East Mein Kampf 1925 Nobody wishes peace more than I. To Associated press agency 1933 Everything I undertake is directed against the Russians; If the West is too stupid and blind to grasp this, then I shall be compelled to come to an agreement with the Russians, beat the West and then after their defeat turn against the Soviet Union with all my forces. I need the Ukraine so they can’t starve us like in the last war. To League of Nations Commissioner in Danzig August 1939. No human being has declared or recorded what he wanted more often than I. Again and again I wrote these words – the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles. January 1941 How did the situation in Europe in the 1930’s help Hitler? League of Nations: international body set up to preserve peace and prevent aggression. Power to call for economic sanctions and military action by member states. Members should submit disputes to League before taking up arms. USA and USSR (1934) not members. Germany joined in 1926. France built up alliances (Yugoslavia, Czech) to defend the status quo. “He fully expected to be Betrayed by the British… He considered Chamberlain A desiccated stick; the King A moron… England had become So feeble and senile that Britain Would give away every possession “The French are bankrupt … rather than stand up to Germany Fourth rate power… And Italy.” US Secretary of State” H. Morgenthau “France never kept a secret For more than half and hour Nor a government for more Than nine months” British PM Neville Chamberlain French PM E. Daladier in 1939 Told the US Ambassador By 1935, Hitler felt secure enough to announce in public Germany’s rearmament. He sensed that Europe there was a mood of reluctance to risk war In 1936, entered into the Rhineland. “More than once, even during the war, I heard Hitler say: The 48 hours After the march into the Rhineland were the most nerve wracking in my life… If the French had marched into the Rhineland we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs, for the military …been completely inadequate.” Hitler’s interpreter, Paul Schmidt, writing in 1949 Why did the West not intervene? In Britain, public opinion was hostile to military action In January 1935, the govt decided that the Rhineland was not vital and favoured negotiations Germany offered itself as a buffer towards the Soviet Union France was militarily too weak, it focused its energy on the Magninot Line rather than modernise weaponry. Britain and France were quarrelling over their response to Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia. The French requested support over the Rhineland and the British refused. Sudetenland In 1938, Germany + Austria joined together This was known as ANSCHLUSS. Hitler claimed he was uniting all German speaking people in one “greater Germany” Seeing this, German speaking people In Czechoslovakia began to demand They become part of Germany too. Hitler could not just take the area – Czechoslovakia was a powerful new Country and had the backing of the Soviet Union. What did Hitler do? •Used the argument of the Sudeten Germans’ right to self – determine and undermine the Czech state. •Threaten war to persuade the West to dismember the Czech. Everything depended on the actions of Britain, France and the Soviet Union. Road to War .. Review questions What were the 3 aims of Hitler’s foreign policy? What was Lebenssraum? What was Anschluss? What were the six steps to War? What is conscription? What date did Hitler introduce conscription? What was the Munich Agreement? What was appeasement? List some reasons why Chamberlain appeased Hitler? Answers To abolish the Treaty of Versailles, to expand Germany territory, to defeat communism ‘Living space” room for the growing German population, especially Eastern Europe ‘Union’ specifically between Germany and Austria Six steps to war: Rearmament 1933 onwards Invasion of the Rhineland 7th March 1936 Austria 11 March 1938 Sudetenland 1 October 1938 Czechoslovakia 15 March 1939 Poland 1 September 1939 In 1935 conscription (compulsory joining of army) The Munich agreement was the “handing” over of the Sudetenland to Hitler. Appeasement to allow concessions to Hitler therefore, establishing a peace. There were many reasons why Chamberlain appeased Hitler: communism 1st World War League of Nations France Democracy approval Think …. Think back over what you can remember of the events of the period 1919 – 1939. Can you think of any reasons why the Second World War broke out? There is a difference between how and why the war came. HOW the war came is the story of the events which led to the war. WHY the war came is the analysis of the factors which caused the war to happen. The five most important causes 1. The Treaty of Versailles solved nothing Reparations left many in the victorious nations guilty. The loss of land made Hitler’s early aggression look justified. The Treaty made angry. 2. League of Nations failed to keep the peace It was weak from the beginning. It had failures in Manchuria and Abyssinia. It failed to achieve disarmament. Countries left the League. 3. Appeasement This encouraged war. It made Hitler think that he could continue unchallenged. The Sudetenland led Stalin to make the NaziSoviet pact , he believed he could not trust 4. Hitler Many historians believe that WWII was Hitler’s personal war 5. Events (the six steps to war) Each event created anger in the allies. This Anger grew until Chamberlain declared WAR On 3rd September 1939.