Germany's Ambitions in Europe: Comprehensive Notes

Germany's Ambitions in Europe: The Road to War

Review: Circumstances Allowing Dictatorships

  • Flaws of Versailles: The Treaty of Versailles had inherent weaknesses that contributed to instability.

  • Post-War Europe: The failure to find consensus in post-war Europe led to diplomatic instability.

  • League of Nations Failure: The League of Nations was unable to provide collective security.

  • Great Depression: The economic impact of the Great Depression exacerbated the issues.

  • Diplomatic Instability: Overall diplomatic instability was a key factor.

  • Appeasement: The policy of appeasement towards aggressive powers.

Role of Ideology

  • Ideology played a fundamental role in Nazi foreign policy and, hence, German ambitions in Europe.

Hitler and Germany's Ambitions

  • Ideology of Dictator: Hitler's personal ideology was a driving force.

  • Ideology to Foreign Policy: This ideology evolved into foreign policy.

  • Aggressive Foreign Policy: The pursuit of an aggressive foreign policy.

  • Weaknesses Revealed: This aggressive policy demonstrated weaknesses in the League of Nations and liberal democracies.

Evidence of Hitler's Ideology

  • Nazi Party 25-Point Programme: The Nazi Party's first manifesto, drawn up in February 1920.

  • Mein Kampf: Hitler’s semi-autobiographical book, published in two volumes in 1925 and 1927.

  • Hitler’s Second Book: A book written in 1928, but not published until 1961.

  • Letters and Speeches: Hitler's letters and speeches dating from 1919.

Hitler and Nazi Ideology: The 25-Point Programme

  1. Greater Germany: Demand for the union of all Germans in a greater Germany based on national self-determination.

  2. Equality and Revocation of Treaties: Demand for equality of rights for the German people and revocation of the Versailles and St. Germain peace treaties.

  3. Lebensraum: Demand for land (lebensraum) and territory (colonies) to feed the people and settle the surplus population (autarky).

  4. Citizenship: Only members of the nation may be citizens; only those of German blood may be members of the nation; no Jew may be a member of the nation.

Evolution of Hitler's Thought

  • Revision of Versailles: Hitler wanted to revise the Treaty of Versailles.

  • Greater Germany: He aimed to create a new, greater Germany (Gross Deutschland).

  • Accommodation of Germans: He sought to include all 'pure' Germans, including those of the former Hapsburg empire in Austria and Czechoslovakia.

  • Lost Colonies: He wanted the return of Germany's lost colonies.

  • Obstacles and Allies: He saw France and Britain as obstacles and Italy as a potential ally.

  • Russia and Anti-Bolshevism: Russia was seen as a potential ally until Hitler became convinced that all Bolsheviks were Jews. Anti-Bolshevism became as important as anti-Semitism.

  • Britain as Potential Ally: The French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 shifted his perspective, with Britain seen as a potential ally due to racial affinity, though colonial recovery complicated this.

Mein Kampf: Race, Space, and Struggle

  • Population, Territory, and Resources: Hitler believed the outcome of racial struggle depended on these.

  • Germany's Vulnerability: Germany was a 'nation without space,' demonstrated by the blockade.

  • Lebensraum in the East: The solution was acquiring living space (lebensraum) in the East, similar to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

  • Achieved by Struggle: This could only be achieved through struggle.

  • Rejection of Peaceful Means: Hitler rejected peaceful economic means, a policy he rigidly adhered to, impacting later foreign policy.

Race and Space: Central Tenets

  • Core Concepts: Race and space remained central to Hitler's thinking: the union of all Germans (the master race) in a greater Germany and lebensraum in the East.

  • Obsessive Focus: Hitler was obsessive about these concepts.

  • Expansionism Parallels: Expansionism was also fundamental to the 'men of 1914' in the September program and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

  • Biological Struggle: They saw warfare as a biological struggle between Teutons and Slavs (subhumans: untermenschen), influenced by social Darwinism.

  • Appalling Conclusion: Hitler intensified these concepts, carrying them to their logical and appalling conclusion.

Consistency and Primacy of Ideology

  • Consistent Views: The consistency of Hitler's views before and after coming to power is striking.

  • Ideology-Driven Policy: It is essential to consider whether Hitler’s foreign policy was ideology-driven.

  • Expansion Meant War: If ideology was the primary driver, then German expansion meant war.

German Ambitions Driven by Nazi Ideology

  • German ambitious were driven by Nazi ideology

  • German Foreign Policy was motivated by the Nazi ideology of race and space.

German Foreign Policy and Nazi Ideology: Means and Ends

  • Nazi foreign policy grew out of Nazi ideology.

  • Early stages of Nazi foreign policy were the means.

    • Revisionism of the Treaty of Versailles.

    • Creation of Gross Deutschland.

    • Self–sufficiency (autarky).

    • A reckoning with France.

Stages in Nazi Foreign Policy

  1. Revisionism:

    • Gradual process of tearing up the Treaty of Versailles.

    • Ending reparations (achieved at the 1932 Lausanne Conference).

    • Restoring German military power with conscription and rearmament.

    • Taking back territories lost in 1919.

    • Re-establishing Germany’s rightful place in Europe.

  2. Creation of Gross Deutschland:

    • Bringing all Germans in Europe under Nazi control.

      • Uniting Germany with German-speaking Austria (Anschluss).

      • Bringing 'home' Germans in countries like Poland, Lithuania, and Czechoslovakia.

  3. Autarky:

    • Revising the Versailles Treaty and restoring lost territories would move Germany toward economic self-sufficiency, important for future expansion.

  4. France:

    • Hitler believed a reckoning with France was inevitable to dominate Europe, after which he could turn eastward.

Key Parts of Nazi Ideology

  • Blut (Blood): Only pure Aryans can be part of the nation.

  • Führerprinzip (Leadership Principle): The nation needs to be led by a kind of superman.

  • Volk (Community): All pure Germans are part of a classless society.

The 'Ends': Long-Term Objectives

  • Lebensraum Achievement:

    • The German Aryan race was destined to comprise 250 million people by the end of the century.

    • This master race would need space to grow in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, achievable through war.

    • Victory would provide space, grain (Ukraine), and oil (Caucasus).

  • Racial Aims:

    • Nazi ideology was racial; inferior races would be overcome in a Darwinian conflict.

    • Inferior Slavs would become a slave force.

    • Jews had to be eliminated to maintain racial purity.

  • Nazi aims : Economic, strategic, and ideological.

Main Steps in Nazi Foreign Policy

  • Hitler’s intention upon attaining power was the attainment of long term aims.

  • Hitler was an opportunist who seized the moment, but kept his long-term objectives in mind.

1933-1939: Key Events

  • Early years (1933-6): Rearmament, conscription, Rhineland remilitarization.

  • Diplomatic revolution (1935-9): Abyssinia, Spanish Civil War, Rome-Berlin Axis, Pact of Steel.

  • Appeasement:

  • Hitler changes gear (1937-8): Hossbach Memorandum, Anschluss, Munich Agreement.

  • Outbreak of war (1939): Prague, Nazi-Soviet Pact, Poland invasion.

Main Steps in Nazi Foreign Policy: Detailed Timeline

  • 1933:

    • Germany leaves the League of Nations.

    • Germany leaves the Disarmament Conference.

    • Rearmament begins.

  • 1934:

    • Germany and Poland sign a 10-year Non-Aggression Pact.

    • Assassination of Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss by Austrian Nazis.

    • Mussolini prevents a German excursion into Austria.

  • 1935:

    • Saar region votes to rejoin Germany.

    • Hitler reintroduces conscription.

    • Anglo-German Naval Agreement enables Germany to build its naval forces.

  • 1936:

    • Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland.

    • Germany sends aid to Franco’s fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War.

    • Hitler uses the war to give his armed forces ‘practice,’ e.g., bombing of Guernica in 1937.

    • Hitler and Mussolini sign the Rome-Berlin Axis agreement.

    • Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact.

  • 1937:

    • Italy joins Germany and Japan in the Anti-Comintern Pact, forming the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.

  • 1938:

    • Germany marches into Austria; Austria is absorbed into the Reich (Anschluss).

    • Hitler demands the cession of the Sudetenland; war seems imminent.

    • Munich Conference; Sudetenland handed over to Germany, war avoided.

  • 1939:

    • March: Germany takes over the rest of Czechoslovakia.

    • Germany seizes the Memel district of Lithuania.

    • England and France agree to defend Poland if attacked by Germany.

    • May: Hitler and Mussolini sign the Pact of Steel.

    • Hitler demands from Poland the right to build a road across the Polish Corridor to East Prussia.

    • Hitler demands the return of the port of Danzig.

    • August: Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

    • September 1: Germany invades Poland.

    • Britain and France declare war on Germany.

Map of Third Reich

  • Map illustrating territorial expansion from 1933-1938

    • Key locations: Saar, Rheinland, Austria, Sudetenland, Danzig