Chapter 22 - International Responses to Aggression

• What happened on 7th March 1936?

  Germany remilitarises the Rhineland
• What happened in 1936-39?

  The Spanish Civil War
• What happened in 1937?

  Italy joins Anti-Comintern Pact
• What happened in March 1938?

  Germany annexes Austria
• What happened in April 1939?

  Italy invades and annexes Albania
• What happened in May 1939?

  Pact of Steel
• Why was the remilitarisation of the Rhineland a key objective for the Nazis?

  It would link together their rearmament plans and the restoration of Germany to Great Power status
• What had been more or less abandoned by 1936 and why?

  The Stresa Front - as a result of the Abyssinian invasion and the Anglo-Naval Agreement
• What meant that the LON was distracted from German actions in 1936?

  The fact that Mussolini's troops were about to claim victory over the Abyssinians
• How did Germany begin the remilitarisation of the Rhineland on 7th March 1936?

  32,000 German soldiers marched into the Rhineland, but officers had been given orders to retreat if they met with French resistance
• What was Hitler's excuse for if he was challenged in remilitarising the Rhineland in 1936?

  The fact that a new Franco-Soviet alliance (the Treaty of Mutual Assistance ratified in Feb 1936) directly threatened German security and he claimed that remilitarising the Franco-German border was necessary for defence
• Why was the remilitarisation of the Rhineland 1936 a huge gamble for Hitler?

  If the French did send in troops, Germany's retreat would be humiliating
• What was the British reaction to the remilitarisation of the Rhineland 1936?

  • Britain's reaction to the Rhineland Crisis was indifferent because Lord Lothian, outspoken critic of the TOV, argued the Germans were doing no more than "walking into their own back garden"
  • For the British gov, remilitarisation was a welcome solution to an outdated problem
• What was the French reaction to the remilitarisation of the Rhineland 1936?

  • Its gov was deeply troubled but struggled to agree on an effective response
  • The French military stepped up its defences on the Maginot Line, which consisted of a series of fortifications running along its eastern birders with Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany built in 1929 to protect against a German invasion
  • From 1936 onwards, France's military strategy was defensive, not offensive
• What factors prevented the French from taking action against the remilitarisation of the Rhineland 1936?

  • The gov was deeply divided in March 1936 - with a general election looming, no party wanted to advocate intervention for fear of losing votes
  • French generals overestimated the strength of the German army: France could have successfully used force to make the Germans retreat
  • The French felt unable to act alone without the support of the British - this reliance on Britain when considering their response to German aggression, despite the greater threat to France, weakened the international response as a whole
• What were the results for France of their issues reacting to the remilitarisation of the Rhineland 1936?

  • The result for French security would later prove to be disastrous
  • When Belgium declared its neutrality in 1937, France's position became even more perilous
• How had Britain and France previously responded to Germany's rearmament?

  • Before the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, France and Britain asked Hitler to limit Germany's rearmament
  • Hitler was stull cautious at this point and did not immediately reject the proposal but played for time
  • Neither France of Britain trusted Hitler's intentions, however, on 4th March 1935, the British gov used the German rearmament to justify its plans to expand the air force
  • Also in March 1935, France increased its conscription period from 12 to 18 months
• How had the LON responded to Germany's rearmament?

  Condemned German militarisation but planned a reactive, not proactive, response
• When were the USSR finally accepted as a member of the LON?

  September 1934
• What happened at the LON council's discussion about the remilitarisation of the Rhineland 1936?

  Maxim Litvinov (Soviet delegate) was the only one to advocate sanctions against Germany, despite the acceptance that Germany's actions had contravened both the Versailles and Locarno treaties
• When was the Anschluss?

  March 1938
• What international developments had transformed the prospects for Anschluss by 1938 despite its failure in 1934?

  - Rearmament had been a success- The Nazis claimed that the German economy had grown stronger than Italy, which was now less likely to protest- The collapse of the Stresa Front and the LON's rep made the prospect of determined opposition to Austro-German union very unlikely
• Who was Kurt Schuschnigg (1897-1977)?

  • Right-wing but anti-Nazi Austrian politician
  • Became Austrian Chancellor in 1934, replacing Mussolini's favourite Dollfuss after his assassination
  • Deeply committed to Austrian independence and suspicious of Nazi Germany, he attempted to appease them until the Anschluss, after which he was imprisoned by the Nazis in concentration camps for opposing the union
  • He survived the war and emigrated to the USA
• How did Austrian Nazis treat Schuschnigg?

  They were still active in stirring up agitation and opposition to him
• What happened on 12th February 1938?

  • Schuschnigg was summoned to meet Hitler to discuss the worsening situation in Austria
  • This was because rioting by the Austrian Nazis was causing considerable problems for the gov
• What was the outcome of the meeting between Schuschnigg and Hitler in Feb 1938?

  Schuschnigg was given a set of demands:

  • The appointment of fanatical Nazi Seyss-Inquart as minister of the interior
  • The coordination of economic and foreign policy with Germany's
  • If Schuschnigg refused, Germany would invade
  • In what amounted to the partial loss of Austria's sovereignty, the stunned Schuschnigg agreed to Hitler's demands
• How did Schuschnigg react to the proposed Anschluss when back in Austria, however?

  He became more defiant and planned a plebiscite for 13th March 1938, believing Austrians would vote to remain independent
• How did Hitler react to Schuschnigg's plans for an Austrian plebiscite?

  • He ordered his army to prepare for the invasion of Austria and instructed Seyss-Inquart to demand the postponement of the plebiscite
  • Schuschnigg gave way, to be met with another demand from Hitler - he must resign and be replaced by Seyss-Inquart
• What did the new Austrian Chancellor Seyss-Inquart do in regards to the Anschluss?

  Sent a telegram requesting German intervention to "restore order" in Austria
• What happened on 12th March 1938?

  The Nazis sent an invasion force to cross the border
• What happened on 14th March 1938?

  The successful Anschluss was declared and the subsequent plebiscite was held
• What was the outcome of the Austrian plebiscite?

  • With the German army already on Austrian land, 80,000 opponents locked up and the Anschluss already a fait accompli, a scarcely believable 99.75% of Austrians voted in favour of union with Germany (absolutely rigged)
  • Hitler now had 70 million people under his rule, and borders with Italy, Yugoslavia and Hungary
  • Czechoslovakia was dangerously exposed to German aggression, but once again there had been little protest in response to Hitler's actions
• Who was Edward Wood, First Earl of Halifax (1881-1959)?

  • Senior Conservative politician in the 1930s and FM 1938-40
  • Became Viscount Halifax in 1934
  • An influential voice in favour of appeasement
  • In 1940 he advocated negotiating a peace settlement with Germany after the Dunkirk evacuation when a German invasion of Britain seemed imminent
  • Halifax later served as British ambassador to the US
• What had Schuschnigg done in the midst of the Anschluss Crisis?

  He appealed to the Western powers for help, but Britain in particular was reluctant to intervene
• How did Britain respond to the Anschluss Crisis 1938?

  • In Nov 1937 Viscount Halifax had visited Germany on a "goodwill mission" and was impressed by Germany's recovery from the Depression and agreed that Germany was "the bulwark of the West against Bolshevism"
  • Crucially, Halifax privately sympathised with Hitler's aims of overturning the TOV and reuniting German speakers in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Danzig
  • He supported the appeasement policy and suggested that Britain wouldn't oppose these aims as long as they were carried out peacefully and that "methods likely to lead to far-reaching disturbances" were avoided
  • However, not everyone approved of this proposal
• How did France respond to the Anschluss Crisis 1938?

  • They were incapacitated by a gov crisis - 4 days before the German invasion, Camille Chautemps had resigned as PM and his successor, Leon Blum, had not yet assumed office
  • Therefore, they produced no response to the Crisis
• How did Italy respond to the Anschluss Crisis 1938?

  • Despite having signed up to the Stresa Front against German expansion in April 1935, it had since aligned itself with Germany
  • The Anschluss was still more of a concern to Mussolini than the British and French, but by 1938 Italy was already committed in Abyssinia and the Spanish Civil War, so Mussolini had little choice other than to accept the German annexation
• Why did Civil War break out in Spain in 1936-9?

  Right-wing nationalists rebelled against the Republican, left-wing gov, the Popular Front
• What secured the victory of nationalist leader General Franco in the Spanish Civil War?

  • The intervention of Germany and Italy proved decisive in securing victory
  • Meanwhile, the Western democracies committed themselves to non-intervention
• Who was Francisco Franco (1892-1975)?

  • Chief of Staff in the Spanish army before the outbreak of Civil War
  • When he led the revolt against the Popular Front, he became the leader of the Nationalist movement in the war- Ruled Spain as a dictator after his victory in 1939
  • Refused to get involved in WW2 as he recognised the weakness of post-Civil War Spain
  • He died in office in 1975