History - Road to WW2

• Hitler's aims


  • 1. To abolish the Treaty of Versailles
  • 2. To expand German territory
  • 3. To defeat Communism
• The Germans hated the Treaty of Versailles, especially: Tiny armed forces, 100,000 men, limited Navy, No air force, Rhineland demilitarised, Anschluss with Austria forbidden, Germans forced to live in Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland) and Poland (including Danzig)
• The Treaty was a constant reminder to the Germans of their humiliation in World War I. Hitler did not believe that the German army had lost the war, and he was determined to make Germany great again.
• Lebensraum


  German term meaning 'living space'
• The German population was growing, and Hitler was determined to get Lebensraum by conquering land in eastern Europe.
• The Nazis were Fascists, the exact opposite of the Communists who ruled Russia. Hitler was determined to destroy Communism, and this meant a war with Russia.
• Hitler withdraws Germany from the League of Nations


  19 September 1933
• Many Germans associated the League with the hated Treaty of Versailles and were pleased with the decision. Few other European countries had faith in the League at this time so it was not seen as unusual. Japan had left on 27 March 1933.
• The Saar region votes to re-join Germany

  13 January 1935
• 90.8% vote 'yes'. This was a significant demonstration of support for the Nazi government in Germany.
• Hitler reintroduces conscription, clearly remilitarising


  16 March 1935
• Hitler began to build up his armed forces which broke the Treaty of Versailles, but Britain and France let him get away with it.
• Germany remilitarises the Rhineland


  7 March 1936
• 3,000 German troops entered the area with 30,000 remaining on the eastern side of the river. Germany's remilitarisation of the area was the first aggressive action by Germany.
• This action was not negotiated with anyone and was in direct defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. The German population largely welcomed the reinstatement of their sovereignty in the area. A plebiscite on 29 March 1936 (rigged) gave 98.9% German support to the action.
• The French government feared there were 10 times more German troops. They did not want a war over the area so they did nothing. Britain opposed any action against the Germans.
• Anschluss


  A German word meaning 'link'
• Germany occupies and annexes Austria

  12 March 1938
• Widespread support in Austria and Germany for the move to unite the German speakers. Referendum gave 99.7% support to the move (but it is likely this was another rigged vote). This was expressly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles.
• Britain and France did nothing.
• Hitler demands the Sudetenland - an area of Czechoslovakia with 3 million German speakers


  22 September 1938
• Hitler met with British PM Chamberlain, Italian leader Benito Mussolini and French PM Edouard Daladier in Munich. They signed the Munich Agreement which agreed the Sudetenland would be taken by Germany, if Germany agreed to leave the rest of Czechoslovakia independent.


  29 September 1938
• Appeasement


  A diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an enemy power in order to avoid conflict
• Neville Chamberlain, adopted a policy of appeasement as his way of dealing with Hitler. Nowadays, many people criticise Chamberlain for appeasing Hitler but at the time, most people thoroughly agreed with him.
• Historians have said that appeasement: let Hitler grow stronger, caused the war, by encouraging Hitler to think he could do anything, gave Britain the moral high ground – when war came, Britons knew they had done everything possible to keep the peace, would never have stopped Hitler, who was determined to go to war.
• Neville Chamberlain misjudged Hitler - he believed that Hitler 'was a man who could be relied on'. Hitler rearmed/ persecuted people in secret. Western countries didn't know. Many people, especially young people, wanted peace. Hitler promised in 1938 that Sudetenland was the 'last claim I have to make'.
• Germany invades the rest of Czechoslovakia

  16 March 1939
• Hitler had invaded a foreign country with no previous connection to Germany or German speakers. Germany could no longer pretend it was about restoring the wrongs of the Treaty of Versailles. It was about lebensraum. German rearmament was escalated. Chamberlain was furious about Hitler's actions. It was the first time they realised that the only thing that would stop Hitler was a war.
• Britain introduced conscription


  April 1939
• 'Pact of Steel' signed with Mussolini. Nazi-Soviet Pact signed in August 1939. Agreed to split Polish territory between Germany and Soviet Union.
• Germany demanded Polish territory; in particular the former German city of Danzig and the Polish corridor. Hitler also claimed that Germans living in Poland were a persecuted minority.
• Germany invades Poland


  1 September 1939
• At 4:45 a.m., some 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced.
• Britain declares war on Germany, initiating World War II


  3 September 1939
• Task: Road to War- Documentary 50 minutes and Questions
• Weimar Republic


  Germany 1918-1929
• Kaiser


  Hereditary for life, appoints, summons, commands
• Government


  Imperial Parliament, Bundesrat, Reichstag
• Reichstag


  • A debating chamber with some control over finance, can only approve laws
• Bundesrat


  • Made up of States' representatives, supported the Kaiser, made the laws