Part 3

• What were some of the aims of Hitler?

  1. overturn the treaty of Versailles
  2. Rearm Germany
  3. GrossDeutschland - Greater Germany
  4. Lebensraum - expand German land
• What was the Dolfuss Affair?

  • Hitler wanted Anschluss but the Austrian PM Engelbert Dolfuss didn’t want Anschluss
  • So Hitler inspired the Austrian Nazis to commit terrorist attacks until they actually led a coup de tart and killed Dolfuss and took control over the governmental buildings
  • The coup was poorly organised and order was soon restored once Italy warned them by moving troops to the border
• What did the Dolfuss Affair show about Hitler?

  • in his early years of ruling Germany he was quite vulnerable so he needed to be patient and increase his military strength
• How did Hitler reclaim the Saarland?

  • the league of Nations’ control over the Saarland ended in 1935
  • A plebiscite then took place with 90% of the voters choosing to reunite with Germany and was returned back to in March
• What did the Saar Plebiscite show about Hitler and Germany?

  • people were willing to live under Nazi rule in order to be a part of the country again
  • Some Historians suggest that Saar plebiscite boosted Hitler’s confidence, making him demand more until the start of WW2
  • german military was weak at this point so the Nazis backed down to invade when Britain threatened to send troops over
• What was the stresa Front?

  • Britain, France and Italy met in Northern Italy for the Stresa Conference in April 1935
  • They condemned German rearmament and would work together to keep peace in europe and defend Austrian sovereignty
  • Russia was excluded from this meeting
• What was the Stresa Front undermined by?

  • the Anglo-German naval agreement
  • It allowed Germany to build up to 35% of their naval strength and 45% of their submarine strength
  • Britain wanted a strong Germany to act as a buffer against communism and guarantee its own naval superiority
• How did France feel about the anglo-German naval agreement?

  • harmed their relationship at a time where they needed to work against Abyssinia
• How had Hitler re-militarise the Rhineland in March 1936?

  1. League of Nations were busy in Abyssinia
  2. France + Russia made a pact to help each other if they were attacked by Germany
  3. Hitler claimed this threatened him so he took a gamble and remilitarised the Rhineland
  4. France couldn’t react as it was election period
• How did Hitler, Mussolini and Japan all become allies?

  1. Mussolini saw German military strength so in 1936 the 2 agreed on the Rome-Berlin Axis
  2. Then in 1937, Italy joined the Anti-Comintern pact with Germany and Japan and they became detached from Western powers
• After the Dolfuss Affair, how did Hitler achieve Anschluss with Austria?

  1. encouraged Austrian nazis to protest in favour of Anschluss
  2. Demanded Austrian Nazi seyess-inquart to be made minister of interior
  3. Austrian chancellor schuschnigg and his cabinet were forced to resign
  4. Seyess became chancellor and invited Germany in
  5. 12 march 1938 Hitler proclaimed the greater German reich
  6. Rigged referendum held and resulted in majority voting in favour of Anschluss
• Why did Hitler want Sudetenland?

  • home to a large minority of Germans - about 3 million predominantly
  • Hitler accused the Czechoslovakian government of persecuting these Germans
• What was the Munich agreement and what was promised?

  Chamberlain‘s agreement to appease Hitler, promised Sudetenland to Germany on the condition he wouldn’t invade more of Czechoslovakia
• Under what pretext did Hitler invade Czechoslovakia?

  1. after requiring of Sudetenland the country fell into anarchy
  2. Slovakia wanted independence
  3. So Hitler persuaded the president of Czechoslovakia to allow German troops in to ‘restore order’
• What was the pact of steel that Hitler and Mussolini signed in 1939?

  • Hitler and Mussolini agreed to support each other in war
• Why, in 1939, did Russia and Germany sign the Nazi-soviet pact?

  • Stalin couldn’t understand why no one stood up to Hitler so lost faith in his western allies
  • He also didn’t trust France
  • Stalin was excluded by his former friends and had been alienated in the Munich agreement
  • He also wanted to protect his western borders of the USSR
• How is the treaty of Versailles a long term factor of ww2?

  • Germans hated the treaty - this resentment continued throughout the inter-war years
  • New countries that had been created as a result of this treaty were unstable and vulnerable - Hitler knew this
  • The treaty caused economic problems for Germany which created further resentment
  • Plus their pride had been damaged by this being a diktat
• How was the Wall Street crash a long term factor for ww2?

  • It created global economic instability which prevented prior global powers from stopping Hitler
  • At a time like this Hitler rose up and led Germany to economic glory and the others were in awe - autobahns, DAF, RAD
  • America distrusted the western world and distanced itself from them even more side they never replied their loans back from WW1
• In the short term significance of ww2 how was Hitler to blame?

  • wanted new land for Germany
  • Prepared to bully and fight to get what he wanted
  • Had an aggressive foreign policy
  • Always intended to go to war - since he rearmed Germany as a military power but excused it as returning to the glorious ‘kaiser days’
• How was chamberlain to blame for the start of ww2?

  • his appeasement policy
  • His trust in hitler’s promises was shown to be unwise
  • But he also managed to delay war and get Britain sorted out
• How was Stalin to blame for ww2?

  • the Nazi-soviet pact meant that Hitler could invade Poland without worrying about Stalin defending it
  • And also Britain and France pushed Stalin into siding with Hitler by excluding him from their negotiations