Conflict and tension - the origins and outbreak of WWII

• what were Hitler's foreign policy aims? (6)

  - overturn the Treaty of Versailles,

  - rearm Germany

  - take Lebensraum (living space in the East)

  - unite Volksdeutsche (people with German blood but not German citizenship)

  - unite Germany and Austria in Anschluss

  - destroy communism
• what did Hitler do in 1934?

  combined the role of President and Chancellor and declared himself Fuhrer
• when did the Disarmament Conference start?

  1932
• when did Hitler withdraw from the Disarmament Conference?

  1933
• why did Hitler withdraw from the Disarmament Conference?

  French refused to accept his plan that the French should disarm to the level of the Germans/Germans should rearm to the level of the French
• what did Hitler order his army generals to do in 1933?

  treble the size of the army to 300,000 men
• what did Hitler order the Air Ministry to do?

  build 1,000 war plans
• what was the Maginot Line?

  fortresses on Germany's border built by the French to defend themselves
• what was the ten year non-aggression pact?

  1934 Hitler signed a ten year non-aggression pact with Poland - guaranteed Poland's boundaries - ensured that Hitler would not try to take back the Polish Corridor
• when was the Anglo-German Naval Agreement?

  June 1935
• what was the Anglo-German Naval Agreement? (2)

  - Germany allowed to have a navy 35% of the strength of the British one, no submarines

  - Britain did not consult France and Italy, weakened the Stresa Front
• what was Britain's policy towards Hitler? (2)

  - used appeasement - gave him what he wanted so that he would be satisfied and not start another war

  - wanted Germany to become strong to stop the USSR from expanding and spreading communism to Europe
• what was France's policy towards Hitler?

  could not act against him as they were still recovering from the Depression
• what was the USSR's policy towards Hitler?

  wanted to work with capitalist states to prevent Hitler's invasion of the East
• what was the USA's policy towards Hitler? (3)

  - avoided possible war with Europe

  - Roosevelt tried to convince Hitler to stop invading, but his request was ignored

  - Roosevelt could not take further action - USA did nothing and quietly started preparing its armed forces
• why did the USA want to remain isolated from Europe? (2)

  - unemployment rates were rising after the Wall Street Crash - Roosevelt was focused on creating jobs for everyone

  - most Americans unhappy about USA's part in WWI and did not want to be part of a possible WW2
• when was the Dollfuss Affair?

  1934
• what was the Dollfuss Affair? (4)

  - Austrian Chancellor, Dollfuss, banned the Nazi Party in Austria

  - Hitler ordered Austrian Nazis to cause havoc, they murdered Dollfuss

  - Mussolini moved his troops to the Austrian border to stop Anschluss

  - Hitler realised his army was not strong enough for war, so backed down and claimed the Austrian Nazi Party had acted alone
• why did the Nazis' plot fail? (3)

  - Austrian army continued to support their government

  - Mussolini moved his troops to the Austrian border to prevent Hitler from achieving Anschluss

  - Hitler backed down from invading Austria as he knew his army was not yet strong enough for war
• give 2 consequences of the Dollfuss Affair

  - Hitler pretended that the Austrian Nazi Party had acted alone in Dollfuss' assassination

  - Hitler knew he was not powerful enough to achieve Anschluss - needed to strengthen Germany's army and gain Mussolini's trust first
• when was the Saar plebiscite?

  January 1935
• what was the Saar plebiscite? (2)

  - after 15 years of being under the LofN's control, people in the Saar would vote to be ruled by Germany/France

  - 90% of Saar's population voted to return to German rule
• what percentage of the Saar's population voted to return to German rule?

  90%
• what were the consequences of the Saar plebiscite for Hitler's foreign policy? (3)

  - increased Hitler's confidence, brought him closer to achieving his foreign policy aims

  - he used it as propaganda, to convince German-speaking people to join with Germany

  - boosted rearmament - Germany gained control of large coalfields which could power factories producing weapons and goods to rearm Germany
• give 3 examples of Hitler breaking the military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles

  - secretly started building fighter planes

  - reintroduced conscription in Germany

  - trebled the size of the German army
• give 2 reasons why Britain did not oppose Hitler's actions

  - lots of people thought the Treaty of Versailles was already harsh enough

  - wanted Germany to become stronger to prevent communism spreading to Europe
• when was the Franco-Soviet Pact?

  1935
• what was the Franco-Soviet Pact? (2)

  - France and USSR agreed to support each other against attack from Germany

  - Hitler used this pact to claim that Germany was under threat by having enemies on the western and eastern fronts
• when did Hitler invade the Rhineland?

  March 1936
• how many soldiers marched into the Rhineland in March 1936?

  22,000
• when was the Rome-Berlin Axis?

  1936
• what was the Rome-Berlin Axis?

  alliance between Mussolini and Hitler
• why did Hitler choose to act in 1936 and not later when he was more powerful? (3)

  - countries were not focused on him - concentrating on Abyssinian invasion

  - countries were dealing with the Depression - could not afford to get involved, limited resources

  - he needed to act in order to gain more power
• when was the Anti-Comintern Pact?

  1937
• what were the 3 most serious consequences of the remilitarisation of the Rhineland?

  - Hitler had confidence

  - other countries began to disarm, distrust grew

  - Mussolini and Hitler signed the Rome-Berlin Axis
• what was the Anti-Comintern Pact?

  alliance against communism between Germany, Japan and Italy
• how did relations between Mussolini and Hitler improve? (3)

  - Rome-Berlin Axis 1936

  - Spanish Civil War 1937

  - Anti-Comintern Pact 1937
• when did Hitler achieve Anschluss?

  14th March 1938
• how did Hitler achieve Anschluss in 1938? (6)

  - in 1938 there were rumours that the Nazis may try to overthrow the Austrian government again, so Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg tried to cooperate with Hitler

  - Hitler refused to cooperate, ordered Schuschnigg to appoint Seyss-Inquart as Minister of the Interior (in charge of police force)

  - Schuschnigg called a plebiscite to determine what the Austrians wanted - alarmed Hitler, who then moved his troops to the border and forced Schuschnigg to resign - Schuschnigg realised France and Britain would not intervene and resigned

  - Seyss-Inquart became Chancellor of Austria and invited the German army into Austria on 12th March 1938

  - Hitler sent 80,000 political opponents to concentration camps

  - On 14th March Hitler proclaimed Anschluss, in April a plebiscite showed 99.75% people agreeing to Anschluss
• who was Seyss-Inquart?

  head of the Austrian Nazi Party