road to war

• Germany was angry and bitter about its harsh treatment in the peace treaties of 1919–23.
• Britain and France declared war on Germany.
• Some British politicians felt the peace treaties were too severe.
• Germans turned to extremist parties such as the Communists and Nazis.
• The Nazi Party was founded with the aim of reversing the Treaty of Versailles.
• Many Germans blamed the Treaty of Versailles on democratic politicians.
• This led to many Germans turning against democracy, as it was not working.
• Reparations led to the Ruhr Crisis and Hyperinflation in Germany, which further increased hatred of the politicians who had signed the Treaty.
• Germany, Italy and Japan became more aggressive around 1930 due to the Depression.
• Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 and had promised to overturn the Treaty of Versailles.
• Hitler targeted lands in the east (e.g Poland, Czechoslovakia) and wanted to remilitarise the Rhineland etc.
• Italy invaded Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia) in 1935.
• Japan invaded Manchuria (in China) in 1931.
• The Pact of Steel was signed between Italy and Germany in May 1939, strengthening their alliance and making both sides more likely to go to war.
• The failures of the League in the 1930s helped cause WWII in 1939 because none of the aggressive countries (Germany, Italy, Japan) was afraid of it anymore.
• Hitler felt free to remilitarise the Rhineland, unite with Austria, invade Czechoslovakia etc because he knew that the League of Nations would never stop him.
• Hitler also knew that the USA was isolationist and was not interfering in European or world affairs.
• Stalin wanted to speak directly with the British Foreign Minister, but Britain did not trust Stalin.
• The Nazi-Soviet Pact was shocking because the two sides were complete opposites and hated each other.
• Poland refused to give control of Danzig to Germany.
• Britain and France declared war on Germany in September 1939 because Hitler invaded Poland on 1st September and refused to remove his troops by the deadline given by Britain.
• Hitler had gone too far, even for Chamberlain.
• Hitler wanted the Pact because he thought that it would stop Britain from defending Poland and he also preferred not to be surrounded by enemies (i.e Britain and France in the west, Soviet Russia in the east).
• On 3rd September, German troops were still in Poland.
• Stalin (Russia) had wanted an agreement with Britain and was scared of Hitler’s intentions.
• Chamberlain abandoned appeasement in March 1939 when Hitler broke his promise not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia.
• The Nazi–Soviet Pact was signed on 23 August 1939 between Fascist Nazi Germany and Communist Russia (the USSR, the Soviet Union) and is also known as the Non-Aggression Pact.
• The city of Danzig was in the Polish Corridor, which was part of Germany which was taken off them at the Treaty of Versailles.
• The Pact stated that Stalin (Russia) would not stop Hitler invading Poland and Hitler would give half of Poland (the eastern half) to Russia.
• Hitler wanted control of Danzig, arguing that it should be returned to Germany as it was an important port.
• The impact of the Nazi-Soviet Pact was that it freed up Hitler to invade Poland, ended Britain's hopes of an alliance with Russia to stop Hitler, and improved the morale of the British people for war.
• On 30 September, Chamberlain returned to England with his famous piece of paper ‘I believe it is peace for our time’, he told the cheering crowds.
• The British–Russian (i.e Anglo-Soviet) talks failed due to suspicions and choices.
• On 1 October 1938, Hitler marched unopposed into the Sudetenland.
• Britain ordered Hitler to remove his troops from Poland by 3rd September.
• On 1st September 1939, German troops entered Poland.
• The Pact also showed that Hitler had no morals as he had done a deal with his enemy in order to carve up Poland.
• Appeasement caused the war by encouraging Hitler to think he could do anything.

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• GB and France declared war on Hitler after he invaded Poland in September 1939.
• Many British people wanted peace, especially after the horrors of WWI.