The Weight of History

1939 Collapse of international peace

8 min read

2022-07-27 Wednesday

1939 Collapse of international peace

Learning Objectives

  • [] x] Describe the aims of Hitler’s foreign policy.
  • [] x] Explain how Hitler destroyed the Treaty of Versailles.
  • [] x] Assess the importance of the Treaty of Versailles as a long-term cause of the Second World War.
  • [] x] Assess the importance of the failure of the League of Nations in the collapse of international peace in the 1930s.
  • [] x] Describe how Hitler built up his armed forces after 1933.
  • [] x] Describe what happened in the Saar in 1935.
  • [] x] Describe and explain the German remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936.
  • [] x] Describe and explain the Anschluss of March 1938.
  • [] x] Understand what happened at the Munich Conference in September 1938.
  • [] x] Explain why Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1938 and the impact of this action on the foreign policy of Britain and France.
  • [] x] Assess the contribution of Hitler’s foreign policy to the outbreak of war in 1939. (his foreign policy was literally to conquer every country within five hundred km of Germany)
  • [] x] Explain why Britain and France adopted a policy of appeasement towards Germany during the 1930s.
  • [] x] Assess the contribution of appeasement to the outbreak of war in 1939.
  • [] x] Explain why Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
  • [] x] Assess the contribution of the Nazi-Soviet Pact to the outbreak of war in 1939.
  • [] x] Understand why Britain and France declared war on Germany in September 1939.

Timeline Summary

Hitler’s main aims

Hin

Pay attention to the timeline of what was going on in Nazi Germany and the League of Nations.

  1. Crush the 1919 Treaty of Versailles
    • he blamed the November Criminals for signing it and ‘weakening’ the country
    • he wanted to get rid of it and pretend it didn’t exist
  2. Expand German territory (Living Space)
    • wanted to unite all Aryans together
    • expand territory to give Germans more space to live
      • which kind of meant getting rid of non-Aryans…
  3. Defeat communism
    • the Russian wave of communism was heading west, and Germany was in a position and wanted to stop it
    • people in Germany hated communism so much that, when given the choice between Nazi and communist ideology, they chose Nazi
      • under communist ideology, they would lose land, private property, freedom of market, etc.

1933: German Re-Armament

  • thousands of unemployed people were drafted into the army → reduced unemployment
  • began in secret at first, especially when 🇩🇪 Germany was in the LoN
  • Hitler introduced conscription, a blatant violation of the ToV terms, and got away with it
  • 🇬🇧 Britain sympathised with 🇩🇪 Germany
    • they thought that a strong Germany would be a good buffer against communism

1935: Saar Plebiscite (Vote)

Inf

A plebiscite is like a direct referendum vote held to decide on various important issues in a country (e.g. amendments to the constitution).

  • Saar region had been run by LoN since 1919
    • France insisted that the Saar be detached entirely from Germany
      • reason: the 3Rs
        • Resources
        • Reparation
        • Revenge
  • Plebiscite to see if Saar should return to German rule
    • LoN determined that the vote should take place
      • one rare success of LoN
  • Hitler wasn’t optimistic about the result; lots of his opponents had fled to the Saar
    • Joseph Goebbels mounted a successful propaganda campaign and influenced the residents of the Saar region
  • around 90% of the Saar population voted for the Nazi party
  • legal within the ToV and a real morale booster for Nazi Germany
    • Hitler declared that no further territorial demands were to be made of France

1936 March: Re-Militarisation of the Rhineland

  • demilitarisation of the Rhineland was a ToV term designed to protect France from Germany
  • Hitler gambled on this
    • if it went badly → he would be humiliated and lose support of the German army
  • but he succeeded
    • the Franco-USSR Treaty had just been signed
      • Hitler argued that the Treaty meant that Germany was under attack
    • Britain was sympathetic to Germany, and Hitler knew and weaponised it
    • LoN was too busy dealing with the 1935 Abyssinian Crisis
      • they were literally too incompetent to multi-task

1936: Spanish Civil War

republicansGeneral Franco’s right-wing supporters
supported by USSRsupported by Rome-Berlin Axis
USSR sent weapons, aircraft, pilotsItaly sent troops, Germany sent aircraft and pilots
  • Britain and France refused to intervene
  • but France sent weapons to the Republicans
  • the Civil War strengthened the bonds between Mussolini and Hitler
    • also encouraged Mussolini to believe that France and Britain wouldn’t intervene against him
  • Pablo Picasso painted Guernica in response to the 26 April 1937 bombing of Guernica by Nazi Germany and Italy

1937: Axis Powers Coalition

  • 1936: Hitler and Mussolini form a military coalition called the Rome-Berlin Axis
  • 1937: Germany, Japan, Italy sign an anti-comintern pact to oppose communism
  • they become the Axis Powers (aka the Axis Alliance)

1938: Anschluss with Austria

Anschluss

Anschluss: political union (of two countries in this case)

  • why Austria?
    • Hitler’s homeland
      • he believed that Germany and Austria belonged together as one German nation
      • rich deposits of gold and iron ore for Germany’s industry and army
  • Hitler encouraged the Austrian Nazi Party to stir up trouble for the government
    • he then told the Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg that only Anschluss could solve the problem
  • Schuschnigg appealed to Britain and France but as usual they did Nothing At All
    • so he called for a plebiscite
    • silent witness was practically endorsement at this point
  • Hitler sent his troops into Austria
    • non-violent; no military confrontation
    • but the troops pressured people
      • under the troops’ watchful eyes, 99.75% voted for Anschluss
    • as usual Britain and France took No Action against Germany

1938: Sudetenland

Inf

Czechoslovakia: New state made by ToV; contained lots of Germans in the Sudentenland area.

  • Benes (leader of Czechoslovakia) was horrified by Austria’s Anschluss with Germany
    • he realised Czechoslovakia would be next
  • he made Britain and France promise to defend Czechoslovakia if Hitler invaded
    • USSR also pledged to help
  • 1938 September: Utter Crisis.
    • Chamberlain flew to meet Hitler
    • Hitler asked for only parts of the Sudetenland – if the people consented via a plebiscite
  • then Hitler changed his mind (big surprise) – he wanted all of Sudetenland
    • justified it by saying the Czech government was ‘mistreating’ Germans and that he was ‘rescuing’ them
      • Chamberlain thought it was unreasonable.
      • same story different place
  • Munich Agreement happens ^c9ae2c
    • between Britain, Germany, France, Italy
    • gave Hitler what he wanted to keep the peace… For Now.

1939 March: Consequences of Sudetenland issue

  • Hitler got what he wanted without violence
  • 1939 March: German troops take over Czechoslovakia
    • this was an invasion, NOT an Anschluss
  • next: Poland
    • Britain and France warned that this was the last one
    • if he invaded Poland, they would declare war on him
      • well we know what happened…

1939 August: Nazi-Soviet Pact

  • Stalin was concerned about the German threat to the USSR
  • 1936: Remilitarisation of the Rhineland – France didn’t stop Hitler
  • 1938: Munich Agreement – USSR not consulted, Britain and France powerless to stop Hitler
  • 1939: Felt that Britain and France were making things worse by promising Poland to defend it in inavsion
  • 1939 August: Signed Nazi-Soviet Pact with Hitler
    • promised not to attack each other
    • Hitler gained: half of Poland, and that he wouldn’t fight a two-front war if he invaded Poland
      • he promised the Russians that they could have the rest of Poland and other Baltic states, but he never really wanted to let Stalin keep these territories
    • Stalin gained: territory once part of Russia, time to prepare his forces for a Nazi attack
      • he knew Hitler would backstab him

FOR LATER – Was Appeasement justified?

  • if Chamberlain had stood up to Hitler in 1938 in Sudetenland, what would’ve happened?
    • Germany’s defences weren’t ready for a two-front war
      • Germany wouldn’t have won even if the war was fought over Czechoslovakia
  • did appeasement buy time for Chamberlain to re-arm Britain after WWI?
    • yes, Britain started re-arming only after Chamberlain became PM in 1937
  • did Chamberlain have any other alternatives, realistically?
    • “War was the Hitler regime’s main aim”
    • was Hitler just determined to go to war?

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