The Road to War
Refusing to pay reparations
Due to the Great Depression, Germany's economy was in such a poor state that Britain and France indefinitely suspended the repayment of reparations from Germany in 1932. This removed a key issue that Germans had with the humiliating Treaty of Versailles.
Rearmament
The Saar Plebiscite (1935)
Remilitarising the Rhineland & Supporting the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War
Anschluss with Austria (1938)
The Pact of Steel (1939)
The Sudeten Crisis
The Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939)
The rearmament was funded by MEFO bills (gambling on repaying with resources from future territorial gains to pay for bills)
Hitler did this in secret, until the Germans formally announced rearmament in 1935 military rally
Hitler used this as a testing ground for tactics before moving to war themselves
Military and political alliance between Italy and Germany, aimed to prmote the power and image of the Rome-Berlin Axis (which aimed to oust the London-Paris Axis as the leading party in world affairs)
The allies gave Hitler the Sudetenland, a territory that belongs to Czechoslovakia, but Hitler invaded the country afterwards
Shortly before Germany declared war on Poland, Germany and the USSR signed a non-aggression pact, splitting Poland and allowing both parties to establish their spheres of influence in Eastern Europe.
No one saw this as a permanent peace between the two powers, but it prevented an imminent conflict from each other after the fall of Poland.
This Pact was signed by Stalin as a method to preserve the safety of the USSR and delay the outbreak of war, following the failure of negotiating an alliance with Britain. Factors such as internal instability and a weak military coupled with the growing threat of Japan in the East meant that Stalin had to sign this Pact in order to provide some chance of rearmament over facing an immediate war.
Remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936 served to gauge the response of Britain and France in face of what was a blatant violation of the Treaty of Versailles and Locarno, by placing a small number of troops. Hitler gambled on a minimal response from Britain and France.
This Pact allowed Hitler to invade Poland without fear of Soviet opposition or interference, proving to be one of the final few steps in the road to global war.
France did not respond as they believed their territory was not violated. However, they were prepared to fight if needed.
Britain did not respond either as it did not want war. Many were content with the German remilitarisation as they believed that it removed a major German concern from Versailles, hoping that they would be more cooperative.
Britain and France's appeasement and assumptions showed to Hitler that his gamble paid off and that Britain and France were unwilling to fight a war against him.
Guaranteed military aid to each other for war - Italy was possibly unprepared to fight wars by way of this Pact, and could've been forced into doing so by Hitler.
In 1933, Hitler rose to power from Chancellor to Fuhrer (combined the role of President and Chancellor), following the death of Hindenburg. Hitler cancelled all payments out of his committment to overturn the Versailles Treaty.
Spanish Civil War 1936-9 - Following an army coup against the government, the Nationalists (army, Church, conservatives) fought the Republicans (socialists, republicans, anarchists, communists). Germany and Italy supported the Nationalists whereas the USSR supported the Republicans. Britain and France were 'neutral', insisting on arms embargoes. However, even after agreeing to the embargoes, Germany and Italy continued to support and fight for the Nationalists.
It was considered fair for Germany to take the Sudetenland due to the large presence of ethnic Germans. Again, Britain believed that this would solve one of the issues Germans had with Versailles, and allow them to be more cooperative.
After the failure of Hitler's attempts to start a Nazi coup in Austria in 1934, Hitler was determined to merge Germany with Austria seeing its abundance of resources. Hitler demanded the installation of an Austrian Nazi Party member as Minister of Public Security, which Austria complied with. He also falsely suggests that millions of Germans were suppressed in Austria.
Hitler was given areas with more than 50% ethnic German population by the Munich Agreement. To test the boundaries of Britain and France, he made new demands to give Hungary and Poland areas of Czechoslovakia with majority Hungarian and Polish populations, though this was rejected.
Britain was not prepared for war. Chamberlain furthered his policy of appeasement by determining that the Sudetenland would be given to Germany in the Munich Conference of 1938, which involved France's support. Czechoslovakia would not receive support from Britain or France in the event of a German invasion. As such, it was forced to accept the terms, ceding the Sudetenland to Germany. Germany would later occupy the rest of the country.
Showed to Hitler that Britain and France were intent on using appeasement and that they were not willing to fight a war with Germany. Provided confidence to Hitler to continue his expansion and aggressive acts, while Britain and France were blinded by the threat of Soviet communism, which they considered to be more concerning. As such, this paved the way for Hitler's aggression to spiral out of control.
Germany had the ability to threaten war and could make other countries appease him for the sake of peace. Giving Hitler the Sudetenland may have avoided an immediate war, but only delayed what was an inevitable war.
Hitler suggests that riots erupted against the Austrian Chancellor (in the midst of preparation for a plebiscite), causing the Chancellor's resignation and the installation of Austrian Nazi Party officials to power. It is annexed after the officials request Germany to enter and "restore public order".
There was no response from the League of Nations as this act was done legally.
Britain and France responded to a minimal extent. More concerned with Spain and they believed that a stronger Germany would be beneficial in their cause against the USSR in a future conflict. Viewed communism as destructive and dangerous.
Appeasement meant that Hitler could observe that Britain and France were eager to allow him to do whatever in Central Europe to avoid war. Hitler already viewed democratic states as fundamentally weak, though negotiating could've reinforced that view. Subsequently, this provided him with the confidence to further his aggression in Europe, seeing that there would be an extremely low risk of allied military intervention.
With the gradual defeat of the Republicans, the Soviets were more convinced that Britain and France believed more so in preserving their own security rather than collective security (Spain belonged to the League of Nations). Britain and France were also understood to oppose communism (USSR) more so than fascism (Germany), as such, they could not be depended upon to form an alliance against fascism.
Germany for the most part supplied Nationalists with supplies, with minimal military participation (e.g. German-piloted aircraft).
Germany's main goal was to prolong and extend the Civil War in the hopes that this would trigger France's eventual involvement, which would draw out its resources and remove its military presence along the Franco-German border. This could also weaken France diplomatically. (though France ultimately did not interfere)
Germany retakes the Saarland after major support voting to be under German rule
Residents of the Saar, an iron and coal-rich region of Southwest Germany (given to France following WW1 in compensation for damages caused to French coal mines) voted in a League of Nations plebiscite to rejoin Germany.
Provided confidence for Hitler to further rearm while increasing the popularity of his policies. Showed to Hitler support for his policies and government.
Condemnation was the international response, with no solid action taken against Germany.
Hitler believed that the Treaty of Versailles was humiliating and left Germany in a vulnerable situation militarily. Though Germany had to significantly disarm itself, its neighbouring countries including France and Poland kept sizeable militaries positioned by the German border to counter (or attack) Germany at any time. Moreover, many were concerned over the growing USSR, which could possibly invade Germany.
Germany was drive to rearm itself seeing the failure of the World Disarmament Conference of 1932, which Germany withdrew from (along with the League of Nations) after seeing that France would not disarm. As such, there was a belief to rearm to preserve national security.
Conscription would be introduced in March of 1935, alongside a greater aircraft production, expanded Navy, mass-production of weapons and equipment, and more. By 1939, Germany had an army of 700,000 with 3 million more in reserve.
In Britain, though there was little support initially for rearmament due to the Depression, German rearmament concerned the government who knew that they could only negotiate with Germany with a stronger army. British industries began to focus on war production, including producing aircraft, artillery, and warships, along with infrastructure. This would enhance Britain's defensive and offensive capabilities.
The French military in the early 1930s was the strongest in Europe. Military spending increased to further fortify the Maginot Line with barbed wire, trenches, etc.
Stresa Front created after the combined condemnent of Germany's rearmament breaching the Treaty of Versailles by Britain, France and Italy in April 1935. However, their goals differed and military action against Germany was unlikely due to the Depression.