Hitler's foreign policy ch.3

Stresa Front

made up by Italy, France, and Britain to keep the status quo in Europe when Hitler decided to rearm Germany

Conscription

Compulsory military service for certain groups of society, such as men between particular ages.

Weimer Republic

Germany's new democratic government was set up in 1919. It was named the Weimer Republic after the city where the national assembly met. It was a very weak republic from the start. Germany lacked a strong democratic tradition, so postwar Germany had several major political parties and many minor ones. The country's defeat and postwar humiliation was blamed on the Weimer government not their wartime leaders.

Engelbert Dollfuss

(1892-1934) In 1932 this Christian socialist became chancellor of Austria. He tried to steer a course between the Austrian Social democrats and the German Nazis, who had surfaced in Austria. In 1934 he outlawed all political parties except the Christian socialists, the agrarians, and the paramilitary groups, which composed his own. He was murdered by Austrian Nazis in July of 1934.

National Socialist German Worker's Party

(Nazi Party) was a far-right, racist political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945.

Adolf Hitler

Austrian-born Hitler moved to Munich in 1913 and won medals for bravery in the First World War. He later adopted an extreme right-wing nationalist outlook and joined the German Workers' Party (later the Nazi party). Rising through the ranks, Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933 and established his dictatorship. His policies contributed to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Towards the end of the war, facing Germany's certain defeat, Hitler committed suicide.

World Disarmament conference

Here, Hitler argued that for reasons of national security, Germany should be allowed to rearm to the same level as other countries. Without this, Germany was vulnerable to an attack, particularly by France. He claimed that Germany was a peaceful country, and that it would willingly disarm if only other countries would do the same.

Anglo-German Naval agreement

Realizing the weaknesses of the Stresa Front, Hitler set about exploring them. In June 1935, he signed the Anglo-German Naval agreement, agreeing to limit German navy to 35% of the strength of the British navy. While this guaranteed British naval supremacy, Britain was effectively condoning a transgression of the Treaty of Versailles, which limited the size of the German naval fleet.

Stormtroopers

Specialist soldiers of the German Army in World War I, SS soldiers. They were specifically tasked with using violence.

Third Reich (Deutsches Reich)

The constitution of Hitler's new totalitarian state became known as the Third Reich, which translates to third 'realm' or 'empire'. Between 1919 and 1933, Germany's official name was Deutsches Reich. It linked the present with Germany's past glories. The First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire (AD 962-1806) and the Second Reich followed the unification of Germany in 1871 and lasted until 1918.

Anschluss

The union of Austria with Germany, resulting from the occupation of Austria by the German army in 1938.

Locarno Treaties

seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on 5 October - 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on December 1, in which the World War I Western European Allied powers and the new states of central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, in return normalizing relations with defeated Germany (which was, by this time, the Weimer Republic).