The outbreak of war

• Why did Germany want Poland?

  • By late 1938 Hitler had taken over both Austria and Czechoslovakia
  • Poland was Hitler's next step in his quest for Lebensraum
  • In the hated Treaty of Versailles, areas of Germany had been given away to form the state of Poland
  • Many Germans lost their property or found themselves living outside Germany
  • When Hitler came to power he promised to destroy the Treaty of Versailles, to reunite German-speaking people, and to claim Lebensraum in the east
  • Invading Poland would help him achieve all of these aims
  • Furthermore, Hitler had grown confident
  • He had seen Britain and France fail to take action against him as he broke the terms of Versailles and felt that, even though they had made agreements to protect Poland, they would do nothing to stop him invading the country
  • Finally, Poland had no natural frontiers, so would be easy to attack
• What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

  • When Poland was created at the end of the First World War it had been made up of former German and Russian territories
  • Both countries despised the new state and the USSR had immediately started questioning its existence
  • Stalin was determined to reclaim this land and Hitler was concerned about what Stalin would do if the Germans invaded
  • Hitler could not risk Stalin intervening, so he sent his foreign minister to make a deal
  • If the USSR allowed Hitler to invade Poland, the USSR would be given Polish territory
  • On 23 August 1939 a non-aggression pact was signed
  • It was called the Nazi-Soviet Pact
• Why didn't the USSR trust Britain and France?

  • During the First World War Russia had been allies with Britain and France
  • Hitler had made many speeches about how Russians were genetically inferior to Germans, he'd murdered and imprisoned Communists in Germany and had promised to destroy Communism
• Reasons why Stalin didn't trust his old allies in 1939

  • Stalin joined the League of Nations in 1934, but witnessed how weak it was in the Manchuria, Abyssinia and Rhineland crises. He lost faith in the League's ability to protect Russia from Hitler's threat
  • In 1934 the USSR and France had signed an agreement stating that France would protect Russia from the German invasion. But when Hitler remilitarised the Rhineland in 1936, France did nothing. If the French wouldn't stop an act of aggression on their own doorstep, then the USSR could not be sure that they would do anything to protect anyone else
  • Britain and France had followed a policy of appeasement towards Germany in the 1930s. One of their justifications for this was that Hitler could act as a barrier against Communism, so he should be allowed to rearm. Britain and France clearly didn't trust Stalin, so he had no reason to turn to them
• Reasons why Stalin didn't trust his old allies in 1939

  • In 1938 the Allies signed the Munich Agreement with Hitler. Stalin was not invited or consulted. He lost any faith he had left in these nations
  • The Polish people knew that the Russians hated them and wanted their territory back, so they said that they would not allow Russian troops to be stationed in Poland to defend them from Nazi invasion. This added to the culture of mistrust between Russia and the Allies
  • Hitler sent Ribbentrop, one of his most senior Nazis, to meet with Stalin. Compared to Britain and France ignoring him in Munich, Hitler seemed to respect and value Stalin
• Why did Russia sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

  • Hitler and Stalin secretly agreed to split Poland between them. Stalin could destroy Poland and reclaim land that had been taken from Russia. He would gain territory in Poland and didn't have to lift a finger to take it; Hitler would do all the fighting
  • Stalin did not really trust Hitler. He suspected that Hitler would turn against him at some point (which he did, in 1941, when he invaded Russia). Signing this pact meant that he was able to buy time, which allowed Russia to build up its army ready for war
• Why did Russia sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

  • The USSR could see that Britain and France would not stand up to Hitler; they had not consulted Stalin over key issues such as the Munich Agreement, and Chamberlain had insulted him by sending a diplomat with no real power or status to negotiate an alliance. Stalin felt isolated. Some Soviet historians have said that Stalin had no choice but to agree to the pact. It was better to be allies with Hitler than to be invaded by him
  • Owning territory in Poland would create a buffer zone, which could be useful if and when Hitler decided to invade Russia
• The Nazi-Soviet Pact; what was in it for Germany?

  • During the First World War Germany had fought a war on two fronts
  • The French and British attacked from the west while Russia attacked from the east
  • Germany had had to divide its troops to fight in two different directions, which had weakened the army and ultimately led to defeat
  • Hitler was determined not to make the same mistake
  • He knew that, with every step he took towards achieving his foreign policy, war became more and more likely and Russia was a vast country with an equally vast army
  • He needed to take the Russians out of the equation
• The significance of the Nazi-Soviet Pact

  • Some historians have said that the Nazi-Soviet Pact made war inevitable. Hitler now knew that he could invade Poland without facing a war on two fronts
  • After Hitler had broken the Munich Agreement and invaded Czechoslovakia, Britain and France realised that the policy of appeasement was not working and vowed to protect Poland if Hitler invaded, which he now surely would
  • The pact also meant that when war did break out, Britain and France would face Germany without the support of Russia. The mighty Soviet army would instead side with the Nazis, which meant that Hitler had the upper hand
  • The pact persuaded Britain that war was imminent. They formalised their previous agreement with Poland. If Hitler invaded Poland, Britain would fight
• The invasion of Poland and the declaration of war

  • When the peace treaties were signed at the end of the First World War and the League of Nations was created, the aim was to prevent another war
  • Throughout the 1930s both Britain and France followed policies of appeasement towards aggressive dictators such as Hitler and Mussolini in the hope that they could avoid a major conflict
  • But these measures failed
  • On 1 September 1939 Nazi troops entered Poland and two days later the British and French declared war on Hitler's Germany
  • The world was at war once more
• The invasion of Poland

  • Hitler was confident he could invade Poland with ease
  • After signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact he had the might of the USSR on his side and was convinced that Britain and France would continue their policy of appeasement
  • But Britain had signed an agreement with Poland, guaranteeing it security from Nazi attack
  • On 1 September 1939, a German battleship opened fire on the port of Danzig
  • Danzig had been made an independent state in the Treaty of Versailles
  • Poland ran it, but 90 percent of the population was German
  • At the same time 62 divisions of the German army and 1300 Luftwaffe aeroplanes invaded Poland
  • The Polish air force was caught on the ground and obliterated
• War is declared

  • Hitler's generals were worried that they were still not ready for war and even leaked plans to Britain in the hope that it would force Hitler to abandon his plans
  • Hitler ignored his generals' concerns and made them swear oaths of loyalty to him
  • On 3 September 1939, the British sent an ultimatum to Germany
  • The Germans were to send assurances to Britain that they would withdraw their troops from Poland by 11 am or Britain would be in a state of war with Germany, and would send troops to Europe
  • When no reply came by the deadline, Britain declared war on Germany
  • France followed suit and also declared war
  • Poland was overrun by Nazi and Soviet troops within 4 weeks and Hitler was convinced that Britain and France would back down
  • He was wrong; the Second World War had started
• What were the causes of the Second World War? - Hitler was to blame

  • Some historians say that Hitler hated communism and wanted to stop it by controlling Russia. To do this, he would have to invade, starting a war
  • Hitler's foreign policy were to overturn the Treaty of Versailles, create a Greater Germany to unite German-speaking people and acquire Lebensraum
  • This meant that Hitler would have to invade countries, which would start a war
  • In Mein Kampf Hitler said that the only way to make Germany strong again was to fight to overturn the Treaty of Versailles and take Lebensraum
• What were the causes of the Second World War? - The failure of the League of Nations

  • The failures in Manchuria and Abyssinia showed Hitler that acts of aggression would not be dealt with effectively
  • The League of Nations had no army, meaning was weak and could not apply sanctions
  • Britain and France were able to undermine the League, showing Hitler that he could as well
• What were the causes of the Second World War? - The Depression

  • Desperate countries were too preoccupied with their own problems to support the League of Nations, so there was less international cooperation
  • Desperate people turned to dictators like Hitler and Mussolini
  • The League of Nations could not afford to put effective economic sanctions of aggressors
• What were the causes of the Second World War? - Appeasement

  • Politicians like Chamberlain were to blame
  • The Munich Agreement alienated Stalin who turned to Hitler and signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact
  • Chamberlain made a mistake trusting Hitler
  • People all over Europe were desperate to avoid repeating the horrors of the First World War
  • Opportunities to stop Hitler were missed, such as when he remilitarised the Rhineland
• What were the causes of the Second World War? - The NNazi-Soviet Pact

  • The pact meant that Hitler did not have to face a war on two fronts
  • Hitler was backed up by the USSR
  • Hitler was able to invade Poland, which Britain and France had promised to protect
• What were the causes of the Second World War? - The Treaty of Versailles

  • The treaty was seen as too harsh, leading Hitler to promise to 'Right the wrong of the Treaty'
  • Territory was taken from Russia to create Poland. Russia wanted to land back and so signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact
  • The treaty created new states such as Czechoslovakia and Poland, where many Germans were living. Hitler was determined to reunite these people in a Greater Germany
  • Britain felt Hitler should be allowed to overturn the Treaty, so didn't intervene to prevent events such as Anschluss at first