Hitler + road to ww2

The Saar Plebiscite (vote)

A plebiscite is a vote on a single issue. The Saar (area rich in coal), according to the Treaty of Versailles, was to be ruled by the League of Nations for 15 years. Accordingly, in 1935 a plebiscite was held asking if the area wished to return to German control. This was entirely legal within the terms of Versailles and also gave Hitler a morale boost.

The Sudetenland, Sept 1938 - "Uniting German Speakers"

After Austria, Hitler's next target was an area of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland which was populated by 3 million German speaking people. First, Hitler encouraged the Sudeten Nazis to demand union with Germany. Then, Hitler made plans to invade Czechoslovakia. The Czech leader, Edward Beneš, asked Britain and France to help. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was determined to prevent war so flew to see Hitler 3 times during Sept 1938- 1st ​meeting-​Hitler said he only wanted the German speaking bits of the Sudetenland and the people there could have a vote. Chamberlain agreed and forced the Czechs to accept 2nd meeting - Hitler now demanded the immediate takeover of all of the Sudetenland, and there would be no votes. Chamberlain said no. 3rd meeting = t​he Munich Conference . UK, Germany, France and Italy attended this conference but the Czechs were not invited. Chamberlain now said that Germany could have all of the Sudetenland straightaway. Britain and France would guarantee the rest of Czechoslovakia. Hitler then signed a bit of paper that promised he wouldn't go to war with Britain and would sort out disputes with Britain peacefully. The Czechs were forced to hand over the Sudetenland.

Czechoslovakia, March 1939

After the successful conquest of the Sudetenland, Hitler then took the whole of Czechoslovakia. He hated the country as it had been established through the Treaty of Versailles, also taking over the land would help his policy of lebensraum. In March 1939 the German troops invaded. The Czechs made no resistance, without the essential forts, industries and railways of the Sudetenland they were defenceless. This was clearly an invasion and not simply the unification of German peoples. Britain and France realised that Poland was likely to be Hitler's next target and told him that if he attacked they would declare war. After so many years of appeasement, however, Hitler did not believe them.

Anglo-German Naval agreement

Also in 1935 he tried to look friendly towards Britain by signing the A​nglo-German Naval agreement with Germany which allowed the German navy to be increased by up to 35% the size of the British navy. By doing this Britain had allowed Hitler to break the Treaty of Versailles again

What was Appeasement?

Appeasement was the big idea of Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister from 1937-40. It had been started before him but he was the biggest believer in it. Appeasement meant letting Hitler get what he wanted, p​roviding what he wanted seemed reasonable and p​roviding​Hitler didn't start a war.

Rearmament

As soon as he came to power Hitler began to rearm in secret, breaking the Treaty of Versailles by expanding his army and building an air force.

Invasion of Poland, 1939

Hitler demanded that Poland hand over the city of Danzig where many Germans lived. The Poles refused because UK and France had promised to defend them On 1 September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. On 3 September 1939, C​hamberlain declared war on Germany.​WW2 had started

Anschluss with Austria, 1938 - "Uniting German Speakers"

Hitler had attempted Anschluss (union with Austria) in 1934, but Mussolini (Italy) had stopped him. By 1938, though, he was friends with Mussolini Hitler encouraged Nazis in Austria to stir up trouble for the government. He then told the Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg that only Anschluss could solve the problems. Schuschnigg asked Britain and France for help but they refused. Schuschnigg then decided to hold on vote on whether to join up with Germany,. This was a clever move as he knew most Austrian would vote NO. Hitler realised this and sent his army to the border to threaten an invasion. Schusschnigg was bullied into resigning and a pro-Nazi called Seyss-Inquart took over. He then invited the German army into Austria. The Austrian army was too weak and divided to fight back. To make it look better, a vote on union was held and the result was fixed to make it appear as if 89% of Austrians wanted to join Germany.

Defeat Communism

Hitler hated communism and hoped to expand the German Empire by taking land from the USSR.

Get Living space (L​ebensraum) for Germany

Hitler wanted more land in Eastern Europe by taking over Poland and Russia (USSR)

Unite all German speakers in one bigger Germany

Hitler wanted to take over any countries where lots of people spoke German. This was Austria (A​nschluss) ​and the part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland.

Tear up the Treaty of Versailles

Hitler,like many Germans, believed that the Treaty was extremely unfair and unjust. He called the German leaders who had signed it the 'November Criminals'. By the time Hitler came to power the Germans had already stopped making reparations payments, but he hated other aspects of the Treaty that were still in place.

World Disarmament Conference

In 1933, he promised (lying) not to rearm if all other countries destroyed their armed forces within 5 years. Since France didn't trust him they refused and this gave Hitler an excuse to walk out of the conference and Rearm faster.

​Non-Aggression Pact (deal) with Poland

In 1934, Hitler signed a N​on-Aggression Pact (deal) with Poland, ​in which both countries agreed to settle any disputes peacefully. This made him look peaceful, gave him more chance to rearm, and upset France who were an ally of Poland.

Conscription

In 1935 he introduced conscription.​This clearly broke the terms of the which stated that the army could not exceed 100,000 men.

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

In March 1936,​Hitler moved troops into the Rhineland. This was clearly against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which stated that the area was to be demilitarised in order to protect France from invasion. Following the League of Nation's failure to act in Abyssinia, however, Hitler decided to risk invading the Rhineland as he did not believe Britain and France would respond. He order his troops to turn back if they faced any form of resistance at all as he knew he was not strong enough to fight a war at this point. Hitler was correct, France was still too weak after WWI to retaliate and Britain allowed this to happen as they believed the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh on Germany.

The Nazi -Soviet Pact August 1939

In summer 1939, Hitler began to unfold his plan to take over Poland. First, the Germans in Danzig demanded union with Germany. Then, Hitler threatened war. Chamberlain promised the Poles that Britain would support them if Germany attacked Poland. In August 1939, Hitler made a secret treaty with USSR (Russia). He thought this would stop Britain & France helping Poland. In August 1939, Hitler sent Ribbentrop, a senior Nazi, to Russia. He offered a Nazi-Soviet alliance -USSR and Germany would not go to war, but would divide Poland between them. Stalin, ​the leader of the USSR, knew Hitler was lying, but he did not trust the British either - the Munich Agreement had convinced him that Britain and France would never dare to go to war with Hitler. Stalin had two choices:​ If he made an alliance with Britain, he would end up fighting a war with Hitler over Poland. If he made an alliance with Germany, he would get half of Poland, and time to prepare for the coming war with Germany. He chose the latter. On 23 August 1939, he signed t​he Pact with​ Hitler.

Why was the Nazi-Soviet Pact a cause of WW2

● Hitler could now attack Poland and not have to worry about USSR trying to stop him.​ Because of Appeasement, he didn't think Britain and France would do anything either . This made him very confident ● If Britain and France did declare war over Poland then Hitler knew that he wouldn't also have to fight USSR. One of the reason Germany had lost WW1 was that it had fought Britain and France in western Europe and Russia (USSR) in eastern Europe- this had proved too much.

Why was the Rhineland a cause of WW2?

● It gave Hitler more confidence that Britain and France would not try to stop him in future. Even though France's army was bigger than Germany's in 1936, France had been scared to do anything. Hitler believed France and UK were weak. Hitler also got more confidence because the Rhineland made him more popular in Germany ● It led to Italy and Hitler becoming allies.​They had both been criticised by the League of Nations over Abyssinia and the Rhineland. Having Italy as an ally made Hitler more aggressive and made Britain and France more nervous about opposing him in Austria or anywhere else. ● It showed Hitler that he didn't h​ave to worry about the League of Nations.​ The League had condemned him over the Rhineland but did not bring in any Economic sanctions

Why was Appeasement a cause of WW2?

● It gave Hitler time to build up his armed forces and his economy to be ready for war. We could have stopped him in the Rhineland in 1936 when the French army was bigger than his, but by Appeasing him he was able to have bigger armed forces than UK & France by 1939 when WW2 did start ● It gave Hitler confidence to demand more after every time he was appeased; Rhineland lead to Austria which led to the Sudetenland. These successes also made him more popular in Germany which made him more powerful ● It made USSR angry with Britain and France - USSR knew that Hitler hated them and had been willing to resist him over Czechoslovakia if UK & France had also helped. When USSR wasn't invited to the Munich conference they became convinced that there was no point in trying to work with Britain to stop Hitler. USSR began to think of doing a deal with Hitler instead. This deal made WW2 a certainty On the other hand, Appeasement ● gave Britain time to re-arm.

Why was Austria a cause of WW2?

● It made Hitler more powerful as he now had control of the Austrian Army and the industries of Austria, such as steel and coal ● Germany now surrounded his next victim, Czechoslovakia,​on 3 sides, so it would be easier for him to bully or invade. ● It made him even more confident as, again, Britain and France had done nothing even though the Austrian leader had asked for their help

Why was the Sudetenland a cause of WW2?

● It would now be much easier for Hitler to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia-​most of the Czech defences had been built in the Sudetenland and now Hitler had them. He had also gained the weapons factories and mines located in the Sudetenland. ● It made him even more confident as, yet again, Britain and France had allowed him to get what he wanted. He was confident they wouldn't stop him when he attacked Czechoslovakia ● The USSR was angry at the behaviour of Britain and France-U​SSR knew that Hitler hated them and had been willing to help Czechoslovakia if UK & France had also helped. When USSR wasn't invited to the Munich conference they became convinced that there was no point in trying to work with Britain to stop Hitler. USSR began to think of doing a deal with Hitler instead

Reasons for appeasement

● Many people thought the Treaty of Versailles was unfair on Germany. ● Chamberlain thought taking over the Rhineland, Austria and even Sudetenland were reasonable. He also believed that Hitler could be trusted to keep his word AND that he didn't want war either ● Britain and France were suffering from economic problems and could not afford another war. They had large debts and high unemployment. ● The armed forces were not ready for war. ● Both Britain and France vividly remembered the horrific experiences of the First World War. They wished to avoid another war at any cost. ● Britain could not be certain that they would gain support from their empire ● Hitler was standing up to communism. ● The USA would not help stand up to Hitler, Britain and France were worried that they could not succeed without them.