road to WW2

Consequences of the peace treaties of 1919-23

Consequences of the peace treaties of 1919-23

• made the LON look less credible as it was set up by a treaty that was seen as unfair

• Hitler used discontentment over the terms of the TOV to rise to power

• Discontentment from peace treaties, in combination with the great depression that fostered the rise of extremism and political violence, spurred aggression from Japan, Italy and Germany

• Only Germany had disarmed, Hitler exploited this disadvantage

Consequences of the failures of the League in the 30’s

• Exposed League’s weaknesses

• Britain & France unprepared for war and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. Needed to buy time to prepare. Led to appeasement, which made Hitler more confident

• Led to the second world war

Hitlers aims:

• abolish the TOV

• expand german territory (lebensraum) (outlined in Mein Kampf)

• defeat communism

Hitlers foreign policy

• very aggressive

• expanded Germany on an unprecedented scale

• even if he didn’t want a war specifically, his foreign policy goals made war unavoidable

• failure of the League meant there was no condemnation or collective security to impede him

Abolish TOV (why germans hated it)

• tiny armed forces

• Saar under LON control

• Rhineland demilitarised

• Anschluss w Austria forbidden

• Germans forced to live in Sudetenland and Poland

• Danzig under LON control

• reminder of constant humiliation in WWI

Expanding German territory

• German population expanding

• unite German speaking countries (Austria)

• needed Lebensraum (by conquering Eastern Europe)

• connected to superiority of Aryan race

• believed he had the right to make Slav peoples his slaves

Defeat communism

• Fascists ≠ Communists

• blamed Communists for WWI, they aided the defeat of Germany

• Feared communist takeover

Spanish Civil War was:

1936-1939

Spanish nationalists led by:

• Franco

• supported by Germany and Italy

Spanish republicans led by:

• variety of leaders including President Azana

• supported by International Brigades and USSR

• officially there was a Non-Intervention Pact, only Britain and France followed it

Bombing of Guernica

• 26 April 1937

• made Germans feel self confident, Britain and France scared

Saar Plebiscite

• January 1935

• TOV put Saar under control of LON for 15 yrs

• 90% of Saar inhabitants voted to return to Germany

• boosted morale

Conscription & Re-armament

• 1935

• Hitler began secretly building up armed forces

• introduced conscription, breaking TOV

• increased spending on arms

• Britain let it slide because this wasn’t a good enough reason for war, and Germany was a good buffer against communism

• boosted Nazi support as people wanted re-armament

Rhineland

• Hitler invaded 7 March 1936, breaking TOV

• claimed USSR+France agreement threatened Germany

• very big risk for Hitler as if it failed he would’ve lost support of army, humiliating, negative propaganda and would be forced to withdraw

• Germany had only 22k soldiers, they were ordered to retreat if resisted

• Britain and France let it slide, didn’t want to risk war

Austria (unsuccessful)

1934

Austria (successful)

• Feb 1938: encouraged Austrian Nazis to demand union w Germany, Austrian Chancellor sought British and French help but was refused

• 9 March 1938: Hitler persuaded Austrian Chancellor that the only way to solve crisis was union, Chancellor called for a plebiscite

• 11 March 1938: Hitler sent in troops,

• 10 April 1938: 99.7% voted for union with Germany

• Britain and France let it slide

Munich Conference

• April 1938: Hitler encouraged Sudeten Nazis to demand union w Germany

• 15 Sept 1938: Hitler agreed to those areas of the Sudetenland which voted for unity with Germany, He promised that the rest of Czechoslovakia was safe.

• 27 Sept 1938: Hitler demands immediate control of the Sudetenland

• 29 Sept 1938: in Munich, Britain and France gave Hitler the Sudetenland

• Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler, traveled to meet him 3 times

Czechoslovakia

• 15 March 1939, Hitler marched troops into Czechoslovakia

• British realised only way to stop Hitler is a war

USSR/Nazi Pact

• August 1939, Hitler made secret pact w Russia, thought it would stop Britain and France helping Poland

• Ribbentrop/Molotov, Nazi-Soviet

Poland

• April 1939, Chamberlain promised Polish guarantee (the event that ended appeasement)

• 1st September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland

• 3rd September Chamberlain declared war on Germany

Appeasement

• accepting re-armament of Germany

• no action over re-occupation of the Rhineland

• Allowed Hitler to use German bombers in Spanish Civil War

• No action over Anschluss

• Gave in over Sudetenland in Munich

Why appeasement

• Chamberlain wanted feared another war, public wanted peace, Chamberlain would not have had enough public support to go to war

• Belief in the LON to solve problems, which didn’t threaten Hitler for war

• Britain was too weak for war, appeasement bought Britain a year to re-arm

• TOV considered unfair, many British people sympathised with Hitlers demands

• Chamberlain misjudged Hitler, he trusted Hitler's promises that Sudetenland was the last thing he wanted

• Fear of communism, people believed a strong Germany would help stop Russia

Was appeasement justified (yes)

• major domestic problems

• high unemployment and large debts

• militarily and economically weak

• needed to buy time

• LON failed, this was the only feasible option

• saw Hitlers demands as reasonable

Was appeasement justified (no)

• encouraged Hitlers agression

• mistook Hitler for a sane politician and trusted him too much

• allowed Germany to grow

• lost Czechoslovakia as an important ally

• put Hitler under the impression that Britain and France would be complacent and allow him to take any action he desired

Anglo-Soviet talks and why they failed (SCAB)

• Suspicion

• Choice

• Appeasement

• Britain delayed

Suspicion

• Chamberlain didn’t trust Stalin – Communist/dictator.

• Stalin didn’t trust the British [thought they wanted to trick him into war with Germany]

• Poland didn’t trust USSR

Choice

• If Stalin allied with Britain, he would end up fighting in Poland on Britain’s behalf

• Hitler was promising half of Poland for doing nothing

Appeasement

• Stalin didn’t think Britain would honour its promise to Poland

• He thought he would be left fighting Hitler alone

Britain delayed

• Britain sent an official to USSR by boat - too slow

• An admiral, he was not important enough to make decisions

Why a Nazi-Soviet Pact (THUG)

• Time to prepare for war

• Hope to gain

• Unhappy with Britain

• Germany’s motives

Time to prepare for war

gave Russia 18 months to make military preparations

Hope to gain

Stalin hoped Germany, Britain and France would wear themselves out in a long war

Unhappy with Britain

Stalin turned to Germany when Britain was too slow

Germanys motives

Hitler thought it would make Britain back down over Poland