WWII and the Holocaust

R What were Hitler’s main foreign policy goals?

1. Restore Germany’s honour

2. Create a Greater Germany

3. Secure Lebensraum

Restore Germany’s honour​	Reclaim what German lost in the Treaty of Versailles: its territory, army, and pride​
Create a ‘Greater Germany’​	Expand the borders of Germany to encompassed all Germans in Europe​
Secure lebensraum​	Colonise Eastern Europe to provide living space for the German nation.​

What was the foreign policy goal of Hitler’s Restore Germany’s Honour? (1 of 3)

• Involved reclaiming losses from the treaty of versailles

• Included territory (13% lost), army (rearmament) and pride

What was the foreign policy goal of Hitler’s Create A Greater Germany? (1 of 3)

• Involved expaning boarders to encompass all Germans in Europe

 

What was the foreign policy goal of Hitler’s Secure Lebensraum? Why was this a goal of his? (1 of 3)

Lebensraum: Living space

• Lebensraum describes the idea of Germany colonising Eastern Europe to provide ‘living space’ for Germany families

• Due to Hitler’s belief that Germany poverty was largely caused by overcrowding and lack of resources

NAI What and when was the Munich conference? How did this influence the following actions of Britain and France?

• September 1938: A conference of European leaders from France, Britain, Germany and Italy

• Held to address Germany's aggressive expansion under Hitler

• The outcome shaped what Britain and France considered as their next actions

NAI What were the possible options Britain and France considered as a result of the Munich Conference? What response was chosen and why?

1. Do nothing: Stay neutral to avoid war, Germany’s choice to threaten other governments

2. Diplomacy: Compromise (accept some demands), may reduce risks of war

3. Threaten sanctions: All European countries cease trade with Germany until its aggression stops

4. Prepare for war: Form an alliance and increase military spending to intimidate Germany

• Option 2: Diplomacy chosen as UK +France were desperate to avoid another global war

Why did the UK and France engage in appeasement up to 1939? How did they appease Hitler?

Appeasement: Accepting an opponent’s demands to avoid conflict

• Appeased Hitler to avoid military escalation at all costs

1935: Britain negotiated the Anglo- German Naval Treaty

• Allowed Germany to build more warships whilst still ensuring Britain’s navy was larger

1938: French and British governments agreed on the Austrian referendum as a non- violent way to resolve disagreements

1938: French and British governments agreed that Germany seize Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia

• In exchange for Hitler promising to halt further demands for territory

NAI What was the Sudetenland and why did Hitler gain it? How did he validate his claiming of it?

Sudetenland: A region of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by German speakers

• Gained due to appeasement of Allied leaders in September 1938

• Formed part of Hitler's foreign policy goal to "create a Greater Germany" by uniting Germans outside its borders

• Nazis fabricated stories that the Czechs were oppressing the German population, which justified his threat to invade

• Framed invasion as restoring law and order and protecting the Germans, rather than as territorial expansion

NAI What was the Anschluss? Why did it occur?

Anschluss: Meaning union, refering to the peaceful joining of Austria and Germany in 1938

• Caused by Hitler's aggressive expansionism combined with the Allied powers' appeasement

• Austrian chancellor + UK + France agreeded to the referendum

• However Nazi officials controlled it resulting in 99.75% voting ‘Yes’ in April 1938

NAI What were the key events of German expansion leading to WWII (1935–1939)?

• 1935: Germany reclaims Saarland from France following a referendum

• 1936: German soldiers enter the Rhineland, forcing the French to leave

• March 1938: Germany merges with Austria in a peaceful Anschluss (union)

• September 1938: Germany gains the Sudetenland by France and Britain appeasement

• September 1939: Germany invades Poland September 1st, 1939, UK and France declare war on Germany September 3rd

What is appeasement? Who used it and why?

Appeasement: Accepting an opponent’s demands to avoid conflict

• Used by UK and France to avoid military escalation at all costs

• Involved negotiating and agreeing to some of Hitler’s demands whilst placing constraints on them

Why did the UK declare war on Germany in 1939?

• September 3, 1939: UK (and France) declared war on Germany

• UK obliged by treaty with Poland to defend it (also wanted to halt Hitler)

• Due to Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1st

• British (+ French) appeasement byBritish Prime Minister Nevillehad failed

What began the outbreak of war in Europe?

Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939

• Led to UK + France declaring war on Germany on September 3rd (2 days later)

• UK declaration due to treaty with Poland to defend it and desire to halt Hitler

Who were the Axis and Allied powers?

Axis powers: Germany, Japan, Italy (all forms of dictatorship at the time, working seperately against the allies)

Allied powers: UK (Canada + Australia), US, USSR, China and France (briefly)

Define blitzkrieg. Who used it and what was it’s aim?

Bliztkrieg: Strategy of lightning fast war

• Germany’s strategy for conquereing Britain during WWII

• Also strategy to break enemy lines of other European countries

• Involved planes, terror bombing, tanks, and trucks to carry large numbers of soldiers

What is terror bombing? What was it intended to do and who used it?

Terror bombing: Bombing non-military targets such as innocent people’s homes to create fear

• Strategy used by Germany as part of the Blitz and Britain against Germany

What was the Blitz? What was the aim of the strategy, how long did it last and how many died?

The Blitz: A strategic terror bombing campaign by Nazi Germany against the UK during WWII

• Also used by the UK who mainly targeted Dresden and Hamburg resulting in 75,000 deaths (more than the Blitz)

• Strategy adoptedto provoke fear and break morale, force surrender due to casualties and destroy industrial factories

• Nightly from September 7th 1940 to May 21st 1941, German military terror bombed(bombing non-military targets such as innocent people’s homes to create fear) English cities

• 40,000 killed, 1 million houses destroyed

Define genocide. How does genocide relate to the Holocaust?

Genocide: The deliberate attempt to murder an entire ethnic or racial group

Holocaust: The Nazi goverment’s program of systematic murder of 6 million European Jews from 1941-1945

• The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews

What were the purpose of Ghettos? Why were they established in Poland?

Ghettos: A part of Nazi occupied city in which Jews were imprisoned and controlled

• Germany invaded Poland 1939, gaining control of 3 million Polish Jews

• Nazi’s decided to segregate the Jews as they hadn’t decided how to get rid of them

• All Jews in Poland forced to move into Ghetto where Nazi withheld food and medicine deliberately

• 82,000 Polish Jews died of starvation and disease from 1940-1942

What was the purpose of the SS Einsatzgruppen? Why were they created?

Einsatzgruppen: Nazi death squads who murdered Jews, Communists adn other undesirables’ in Eastern Europe between 1941-1945

• Created when Nazi Germany invaded the USSR

• These special units composed of strongest, most devoted Schutzstaffel (SS)

• Followed German army, murduring anyone who posed a ‘threat’

• Within 12 months, they killed 2 million people including 1.3 million Jews across Europe

Who were the Schutzstaffel (SS)?

What was the significance of the Wannsee conference?

Wht was the ‘Final Solution’ established by Nazi leaders in the Wannsee conference?

Who were the other minority groups targted by Hitler and thereby considered ‘undesirables’ and targeted by the SS Einsatzgruppen?