Events of German and Italian Expansion

When did Germany withdraw from the League of Nations and what did that signify?

1933 – Germany withdrew from the League of Nations and the Disarmament Conference, openly rejecting Versailles restrictions.

Describe German conscription

March 1935

• Hitler announced the reintroduction of conscription

• declared the creation of the Luftwaffe

  • directly breaching Versailles.

• The army expanded from 100,000 men to 550,000 men in one year.

Describe the Anglo-German Naval Agreement

June 1935 – Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement

• permitting Germany a navy up to 35% of British tonnage

• undermining collective security.

Describe remilitarisation of the Rhineland

March 1936 – Hitler remilitarised the Rhineland

• sending 22,000 troops into the demilitarised zone.

• France, in election season, failed to act

• Britain argued Germany was “entering its own backyard.”

Describe German intervention in the Spanish Civil War

July 1936 – Germany intervened in the Spanish Civil War

• sending the Condor Legion of fighters, bombers, and tanks

• The bombing of Guernica (April 1937) by German aircraft demonstrated new blitzkrieg tactics.

Describe the Hossbach Memorandum

November 1937 – the secret Hossbach Memorandum

• recorded Hitler’s meeting with generals

• outlining long-term expansionist aims.

• Hitler's declaration that "the time for a war for Lebensraum was near"

• Outlined Austria and Czechoslovakia as primary targets for “living space”

Describe the Anschluss with Austria

March 1938 – Germany achieved the Anschluss with Austria

• German troops occupied Austria

• a plebiscite claimed 99.7% voted for union.

• Following the failure in 1934 as a result of Italian blocking (no longer an issue since Mussolini was on Hitler’s side)

Describe the Munich Agreement

September 1938 –

• the Sudetenland Crisis led to the Munich Agreement

• Britain and France accepted German annexation of the Sudetenland (3.5 million ethnic Germans; 70% of Czechoslovakia’s heavy industry).

Describe the occupation of Czechoslovakia

March 1939 – Hitler occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia

• proving ambitions beyond self-determination.

• Britain responded by guaranteeing Polish independence.

Describe the Nazi Soviet Non Aggression Pact 

23 August 1939 – the Nazi-Soviet Pact

• secretly divided Poland and the Baltic states between Germany and the USSR

• removing the threat of a two-front war for Germany as the Soviet agreed not to interfere 

• spurred by Stalin’s mistrust in Western action against Hitler, fear of German invasion and following the Soviet’s exclusion from the Munich Agreement 

Describe the German invasion of Poland

1 September 1939 – Germany invaded Poland

• employing blitzkrieg tactics

• Britain and France declared war on 3 September 1939

• marking the start of WWII.

Describe Italian invasion of Abyssinia

October 1935 – May 1936 – Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

• with 400,000 troops

• using poison gas and aerial bombardment.

• Addis Ababa fell in May 1936.

• The League imposed sanctions but excluded oil and steel

• Britain kept the Suez Canal open, enabling Italian victory.

Describe Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War

July 1936 – Mussolini intervened in the Spanish Civil War

• sending 70,000 troops, 600 aircraft, and tanks

• to support Franco’s Nationalists

Describe the Rome-Berlin Axis

October 1936 – Mussolini proclaimed the Rome–Berlin Axis

• formalising Italy’s ties with Germany

Describe the Anti Comintern Pact

1937 – Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany and Japan

• aligning against communism.

Describe Italian invasion of Albania

April 1939 – Italy invaded Albania

• with 100,000 troops

• conquering it in three days

  • harder than it needed to be

• previously infiltrated its systems

• installing King Victor Emmanuel III as monarch.

Describe Italian entry into WWII

June 1940 – Mussolini declared war on Britain and France

• calling it an opportunity for a “parallel war”

• to seize spoils as the democracies collapsed.