lebensraum + securing the army

securing the loyalty of the army

H promised

• to restore army to its place of honour

• rearmament

gained their loyalty after KoLN + death of Hindenburg → had to take an oath of loyalty to H not to the state

rearmament

spending was 4.4M reichsmarks per annum from 1933 - 1941

army @ 1.4M by 1939

Wehrmacht Defence Law

• 1935

• established the army, navy and the air force

changes in army leadership

H removed key leader such as Blomberg + von Fritsch (marrying prostitute + homosexuality) 1938

completed final phase of gleichschaltung by appointing himself as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces

lebensraum

expansion of “living space” to preserve G’s racial identity

acquire territory in EE at the expense of Slavics + reclaim G territories in the East

H’s idea of a struggle made conquest of territories through conflict inevitable

beginnings of foreign policy

withdrew from LoN in 1933

publicly announced rearmament 1935

signed agreements such as:

• Non-Aggression Pact with Poland (1934)

• Anglo-German Naval Treaty with Britain (1935)

to establish a peaceful intent

reoccupation of the Rhineland

1936

western powers took no action:

• France under provisional care taker govt.

• Britain didn’t want to act against G after signing of AGNT

signified beginning of policy of appeasement + ended H’s caution in foreign policy

enabled H to launch attack on the Western Front in 1940

anschluss

Austria annexed in March 1938

became part of the Greater German Reich

czechoslovakia + the sudetenland

the sudetenland housed 3M Germans, H wanted to regain this territory + breader Czechoslovakia to enablev eastward expansion

Neville Chamberlain flew to G to see Hitler in 1938 + agreed that G should have the Sudetenland

France + Britain created the Anglo - French Declaration which was accepted by Czech

H then demanded Sudetenland immediately “by peace or by war” and Allies began preparing for war

munich conference

September 1938

Britain + France refused to support the Czechs + forced them to hand over all disputed territories to Germany

invasion of czechoslovakia

March 1939

marked the end of appeasement:

• public opinion in Britain and France now against Germany

• Britain guaranteed support to Poland if G tried to expand in March 1939

soviet-german non-agression pact

August 1939

signed to ensure that G could invade Polan w/o response from Soviet Union

invasion of Poland

2M German troops into Poland 1/9/39

Britain + France declared war on G 3/9/39