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3 The collapse of international peace - Coggle Diagram
3
The collapse of international peace
'Hitlers war'
Hitler wrote out all his plans in his book 'Mein Kampf'
hitler wanted to do 3 things
Abolish the treaty of versailles:
Hitler hated the treaty and wanted it gone. he saw the treaty as a constant reminder of their loss in WW1. Hitler promised that he would get rid of it when he came to power
Expand German territory
the treaty had taken away a lot of Germany's territory including all of their colonies. Hitler wanted to get the territory back. He wanted to unite with Austria and take over places with lots of german people in. He also wanted Lebensraum (living space) in eastern europe.
Defeat Communism
Hitler was anti-communist, he believed that the Bolsheviks had helped to bring about the defeat of Germany in the First World War. He also believed that the Bolsheviks wanted to take over Germany
Gambler vs Planner
Gambler
some people like A.J.P Taylor thought that Hitler was a gambler. he thought that Hitler was just taking the next step to see what he could get away with. Because he kept his nerve and was bold he was able to get away with quite a lot.
planner
other people thought that Hitler was a planner he had all his steps laid out in Mein Kampf and a list of what he wanted to achieve. if you look at a timeline of what happened it looks like Hitler planned it all step by step.
Rearmament
one of the first things Hitler wanted to do when he came into power was rearm Germany
he drafted thousands of unemployed workers into the army. not only did this help him remove unemployment into expanded the military drasticaly.
Hitler knew that the German people supported rearmament but he also knew that other countries didn't
At first Hitler kept the rearmament secret, not to raise suspicion in Germany or outside of it. He did this as the allies were asking countries to disarm completely at that time.
In 1935 though Hitler staged a huge rally celebrating the armed forces and reintroduced conscription. This went directly against the treaty of Versailles but none of the allied powers did anything to stop him
Rearmament boosted Nazi support in Germany
Britain was sympathetic to Germany and had helped them in signing the Anglo-German naval agreement in 1935 allowing Germany to increase its navy by 35%
The Saar plebecite
in 1935 held the promised plebiscite for the people to vote on weather their region should return to German rule. Hitler was initially wary as many of his opponents had fled to the Saar. The league was determined that the vote went ahead but it was a decisive win for Hitler in the end due to a huge propaganda campaign
Re militarisation of the Rhineland
Hitler took his first big move in March 1936 by moving troops into the Rhineland area
This directly went against the treaty of Versailles so the troops went in with strict orders to instantly retreat if they were met with any kind of opposition
If Hitler retreated then he would loose the support of the German people and the army
Hitler ordered 20,000 troops into the Rhineland
luckily for Hitler he faced no opposition as France and Britain were busy dealing with the Abyssinia crisis with Italy at the time
Even France who was the most directly affected didn't do anything because they didn't want to start a war
Spanish Civil War
In 1936 a Spanish civil war broke out in Spain between the Republicans and the Nationalists who were under General Franco.
The USSR supported the Republicans
Stalin helped the republicans by giving them weapons, aircraft and pilots.
Due to Hitler's and Mussolini's hatred for communism they joined the Nationalists side as the nationalists were also fascist
Mussolini sent thousands of Italian troops
Germany sent aircraft and pilots
Hitler used the Spanish civil war to test out his new military and new military tactics.
he used this as an opportunity to develop the Blitzkrieg (a very fast and efficient way of invading countries)
he also trialled out attacks on civilian towns through carpet bombing and it was the first time the world saw that the new style of war now affected civilians as well as soldies.
Militarism and the Axis
Japan was a lot like Nazi Germany wanted to expand and make an empire of themselves.
Hitler and Mussolini saw they had a lot in common with General Tojo (the leader of japan) and approached him to sign the Anti-Comintern Pact to oppose communism. this was later named the Axis.
there was very little Britain and France could have done about the formation of the Axis
Anschluss with Austria 1938
After the successes of 1936 and 1937 Hitler turned his attention to Austria
Many people in Austria wanted union with Germany
The Nazi party started pro union demonstrations and started causing trouble for the Austrian government
Hitler told chancellor Shuschnigg that only an Anschluss would solve the problem
Shuschnigg had no choice but to hold a plebecite
In march 1938 before the plebecite Hitler marched his troops in to Austria to encourage the votes in his favour.
In the end 99.75% voted for the Anschluss
What did the allies think
Britain
Chamberlain felt that the Austrians and Germans should unite and that the treaty of Versailles was wrong to separate them. Chamberlain did however increase rearmament and start air raid practices and reintroduced conscription
France
didn't engage in any military confrontation
Appeasement
FOR
Trusting Hitler
after each new move he made Hitler said that was all he wanted. This was based on the idea that Hitler was trustworthy.
Fear of Communism
Hitler was not the only concern of Britain and its allies. They were more concerned about the spread of communism and Stalin. Many people saw Hitler as a buffer to Stalin
Memories of the great war
Both Britain and France had had vivid memories of WW1 and did not want to start another one
The Treat of Versailles
many people thought that the treaty of versailles was unfair and that some of Hitler's response was just and reasonable. they assumed that once the wrongs were right Hitler would stop
Economic problems
Britain and France had large debts and were not financially ready to go to war
British Arms
the British government did not think that their army was ready for war
The USA
American support was vital to success in WW1 and the allies thought they couldn't win the war without the hep of america who were following a policy of isolationism
The British empire
Britain wasn't sure that he had the support of its colonies to help fight if they went to war
AGAINST
German arms
Germany was rearming publicly and quickly each year
Make a Stand
Hitler was taking increasing risks so at some point Britain and France had to go to war to stop him
Soviet Union
Hitler made no secret of his plans to expand eastwards. He had openly talked of taking land in Russia. Appeasement sent the message to Stalin and the USSR that Britain and France would not stand in Hitler's way if he invaded Russia.
Hitler's allies
Hitler had already observed how his allies, particularly the right wing dictatorship in Japan and Italy had gotten away with acts of agression
Sudetenland
Benes not consulted.
Gave Hitler whole of Sudetenland.
leaders of Br, Fr, Italy and Germany decided the fate of Czechoslovakia.
29th sept 1938
Potential Questions
Why was Edvard Benes horrified by the anschluss?
What did he do to make himself feel more secure?
sought guarantee from Br and Fr to protect Czechoslovakia
However Chamberlain asked Hitler who reassured him!
Why did Hitler want the Sudetenland?
Lots of German living in this area
Henlein leader of Nazis in Sudetenland demanded it be part of Germany
How did he Hitler expect to take the Sudetenland?
willing to fight!
Sept 15th - chamberlain met Hitler -Hitler said only wanted parts of Sudetenland and would hold a plebiscite. Chamberlain agreed! BUT hitler increased his demand.
Czechoslovakia and end of appeasment
March 1939 German troops took over rest of Czechoslovakia
Br and Fr did nothing despite their guarantee to Benes.
BUT….. STEP TO FAR
Britain and France told Poland they would protect her and declare war on Germany if they invaded.
Policy of appeasment was over.
The Nazi Soviet Pact
What was the pact?
Privately agreed to divide Poland between them!
Hitler and Stalin agreed not to attack each other
2 parts (open and secret!)
23rd Aug 1939
What did Hitler get from the Pact?
Assurance he wouldn’t fight a war on 2 fronts!
½ poland!
Why did Stalin agree to the Pact?
TIME! Didn’t trust Hitler - knew he was also his target but also couldn’t trust Br and Fr to help Russia. This gave him time to build up his army.
Got territory that was previously Russian.