Hitler's Foreign Policy, Appeasement, and the Outbreak of World War II

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler's foreign policy aims, rearmament, the Rhineland, Anschluss, the Munich Agreement, appeasement, and the events leading to the outbreak of World War II.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace treaty drawn up after World War I imposing stringent territorial, military, financial, and war guilt obligations on Germany.

Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles

The War Guilt clause requiring Germany to accept complete responsibility for causing all the loss and damage of the First World War.

Article 232 of the Treaty of Versailles

The reparations clause requiring Germany to pay for war damage, which was eventually established at $132$ billion gold marks.

Article 160 of the Treaty of Versailles

The military restriction limiting the German army to a maximum personnel level of $100{,}000$ men.

Article 80 of the Treaty of Versailles

The clause explicitly forbidding Germany from uniting with Austria.

Polish Corridor (Article 87)

A strip of land, along with the rich farmlands of Posen, given to Poland under the Treaty of Versailles, which separated Germany from East Prussia.

League of Nations

An international organization formed after World War I to resolve global conflicts without war through moral condemnation, economic sanctions, or military force, though weakened because the USA never joined.

Lebensraum

A primary foreign policy objective defined by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf ($1924$) aimed at securing extra 'living space' for the German population through eastern colonisation in Europe and Russia.

German Armed Forces Growth ($1932$–$1939$)

The expansion of the German military prior to World War II, increasing warships from $30$ to $95$, aircraft from $36$ to $8{,}250$, and soldiers from $100{,}000$ to $950{,}000$.

Anglo-German Naval Agreement ($1935$)

A bilateral agreement allowing Germany to rebuild its navy up to $35\%$ of the British Royal Navy's size, dismantling Versailles terms without French consent.

Saar Plebiscite ($1935$)

A legal vote supervised by the League of Nations wherein approximately $90\%$ of the Saar population voted to return from League/French control back to Germany.

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland (March $1936$)

Hitler's deployment of German troops into the demilitarised frontier zone alongside the River Rhine, violating both the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties ($1925$).

Anti-Comintern Pact ($1936$–$1937$)

An alliance signed by Germany and Japan in $1936$, and joined by Italy in $1937$, aimed at containing the influence of the Communist International (particularly Russia), forming the Axis Alliance.

Anschluss (March $1938$)

The political union between Germany and Austria, completed after German troops crossed the border and an official plebiscite showed $99.75\%$ voted in favour of the union.

Appeasement

The diplomatic policy pursued notably by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain from $1935$ to $1938$, which gave Hitler what he wanted in hopes of avoiding a major war.

Sudetenland

A mountainous border area of Czechoslovakia containing vital railways, industries, and approximately three million German speakers previously belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Munich Agreement ($29$ September $1938$)

An agreement reached by Britain, France, Germany, and Italy—excluding Czechoslovakia—ceding the Sudetenland to Germany on $1$ October $1938$ in exchange for peace.

Take-over of Czechoslovakia ($1938$–$1939$)

The complete partition of Czechoslovakia, including Poland taking Teschen (October $1938$), Hungary taking Slovak border areas/Ruthenia, and Germany taking the remainder on $15$ March $1939$.

The Axis vs. The Allies

The opposing coalitions of World War II, pairing the Axis powers of Japan, Italy, and Germany against the Allied powers of France, America, Britain, and the Soviet Union.

Nazi-Soviet Pact ($24$ August $1939$)

A non-aggression agreement signed between Hitler and Stalin agreeing not to attack each other and secretly agreeing to divide Poland between Germany and the USSR.

Invasion of Poland (September $1939$)

The German invasion from the west on $1$ September $1939$, followed by Britain and France declaring war on $3$ September and Soviet forces invading from the east on $17$ September.