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Causes of WW2/Tension in Europe - Coggle Diagram
Causes of WW2/Tension in Europe
Hitler's Foreign Policy
Hitler Leaves Disarmament conference (1933)
Hitler said that Germany would disarm fi everyone else did, if not they would disarm to the same level of France, France refuses and Hitler leaves the conference and pulls Germany from the League of Nations
The Dollfuss Affair (1934)
Austrian leader Dollfuss banned the Nazi party in Germany and was murdered by Nazis however Hitler had to back down from his proposed union because Austria was an Italian ally
Saar Plebiscite (1935)
The Saar had been controlled by the League of Nations for 15 years, vote was held in 1935 and 90% of voters voted for the Saar to return to Germany
Rearmament (1935)
Hitler reintroduces conscription, Luftwaffe begins to form, Hitler holds rally to show off troops and weapons (all against the treaty of Versailles)
Anglo-German Naval Agreement (1935)
Britain signs agreement allowing Germany to have a navy 35% the size of the British navy (allowed Hitler to break the treaty of versailles)
Rhineland Remilitarisation of the Rhineland (1936)
Hitler marched German troops back into the Rhineland, German forces had orders to withdraw if French army moved in, France did nothing as it was the middle of an election, League of nations and Britain did nothing which gave Hitler confidence that he could break the treaty of versailles
Anschluss (1938)
Hitler wanted to unite with Austria which was part of his plan to unite German people, March 1938 German troops entered Austria on the new chancellor's request (old one forced to resign by Hitler). Vote held in April 1938 with a result of 99% in favour of Anschluss (although the vote was rigged), Britain did nothing as it was following appeasement
Sudetenland (1938)
Munich Conference
Agreed that Sudetenland should be given to Germany, Hitler promises that he would not invade the rest of Czechoslovakia, UK Prime Minister Chamberlain claimed he had prevented war, Czechoslovakia and USSR not consulted
20% of Sudeten population were German. In 1938 Hitler claimed they were being persecuted and used this as an excuse to attack, Britain wanted to avoid war so met with Hitler 3 times
Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1939)
After losing Sudetenland unrest grew in Czechoslovakia, Hitler persuaded President of Czechoslovakia to allow German troops in to restore order, Nazis marched into the rest of the country
Poland (1939)
After the Nazi-Soviet pact was formalised, Hitler and Stalin secretly planned to divide Poland between themselves. Hitler invaded on September 1st and started WW2
Appeasement
Policy followed by Britain and France which involved giving in to German demands in the hope that peace would continue
Gave away Austria (anschluss) and Czechoslovakia to try and keep peace in Europe
This ultimately failed and everyone realised this when Hitler took the rest of Czechoslovakia in March of 1939 (something he promised not to do at the Munich conference in 1938), which made Hitler untrustworthy and Britain and France made an agreement with Poland that they would support Poland if it was invaded by Germany
Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939)
1929, Britain and France wanted USSr to help them protect Poland but the USSR was angry that they had been excluded from the Munich conference in 1938 and didn't trust France. Stalin negotiated with germany as he wanted to protect the USSR, Nazi-soviet pact signed in August 1939. Both countries secretly planned to divide Poland