road to WW2

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

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* 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