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CHAPTER 20 - Why did Hitler's foreign policy so successful??? - Coggle…
CHAPTER 20 - Why did Hitler's foreign policy so successful???
Hitler's aims and plans for foreign policy?
In Hitler's secret book, it stressed the need for Lebensraum and his view of why Germany would not oppose Germany.
Revise the TOV, and unite German or german speaking people
Make Germany great again
Hossbach Memorandum
was a document which outlined his aggressive foreign policy and goals for Lebensraum. Austria and Czechoslovakia were targeted as the main countries for expansionism.
How did the situation in Europe during the 1930s help Hitler?
France
Concerned about the Germans and wanted them to have a harsh TOV.
Afraid of German invasion, so invaded Ruhr but it backfired.
Formed alliance with countries in German eastern border like Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania & Yugoslavia
1935 major defensive alliance with Czech
Major economic problems
Britain
Afraid of Japan, Italy and Germany
Determined to avoid another war and had formed an
appeasement policy with Hitler
Some sympathized with Hitler
ITALY
wanted to uphold
Brenner front
and defend Austria. did not want hitler there
Wanted to expand territory and decided to invade Abyssinia. This showed major weaknesses of LON, esp of Britain and France.
Austria
Anschluss was forbidden but many Austrians favored it. It was a German state.
Czechoslovakia
New slav state and had a lot of ethnic minorities, had 3 million Germans
Japan
Expansionist military govt and invaded Manchuria in 1931
Ally for Fascist Regime
General situation
World trade slump AKA 1929 depression
Key events in Hitler's foreign policy
1934
Jan -
Non aggression Pact
with Poland
as he felt that he would not be able to challenge Poland at that time and would weaken the French Security.
Jul - Nazis
assassinated Chancellor Dollfuss
in an attempt to unite Austria. However, Italy signed an agreement with Austria to protect it from external aggression and so Italian troops rounded up in the
Brenner front
. so this attempt to Anschluss failed
Oct 1933
- Withdrew Germany from Disarmament Conference and left LON. He disliked that multilateral nature
1935
JAN -
Saar plebiscite
where 90% voted to rejoin Germany
MARCH - Hitler announces that he had military air force and the next week announced that he was going to enforce conscription with 750,000. Britain, France & Italy do nothing but denounce
Jun -
Naval Agreement
with Britain to increase army by 35% only.
1936
March -
Remilitarization of Rhineland
where around 22,000 German troops marched. They used the excuse of the Franco - Soviet Pact, which they claimed to have threatened Germany
July - Sends General Franco to Spain
Nov - Signs the
Axis and Anti-Comintern Pact
. This helped assist General Franco in the
Spanish Civil war
, gained military experience and aid from Italy.
1937
Nov -
Hossbach meeting
aggressive foreign policy for Lebensraum.
1938
Mar - Bullied Chancellor Schuschnigg into
Anschluss
and calls a plebiscite for Anschluss.
May - Tells Sudeten German to cause unrest
Sept - Britain arranges the
transfer of Sudetenland
. He attended the Munich conference and was given on 10th oct
1939
May -
Pact of steel
with Italy
Aug - Signed the
Nazi-Soviet
pact
Sept - Invaded Poland and war started
Why was Hitler able to smash the Versailles settlement?
Remilitarization of Rhineland
Why did Hitler want to do this?
Hitler wanted to
secure
the German border and wanted
full control
over Rhineland.
By 1933-35 Hitler was playing it safe, by 1935 he announced that he was rearming. Soon by 1936, he started to raise the bar.
During this time, the LON was concentrating on the crisis and this created a distraction for Hitler to carry this out and this seemed favorable
Hitler justified this because the
Franco- Soviet pact
was "threatening Germany"
Why did none of the Western powers intervene?
the British government thought that the
Rhineland was not vital
and wanted to appease Hitler because he was a bulwark against Bolshevism
France had
cut military expenditures by 17% in 1930-34
and focused more on the Maginot Line. There was also going to be a general election and military action was not favored.
Both Britain and France were focusing on the Abyssinian crisis.
Actions and effect
Initially 14,000 lightly armed men approached the 22,000 police force.
A plebiscite was also carried out to see of the Germans wanted to invade Rhineland and 98.9% of the Germans said yes.
It was a huge success for Hitler and distrust was created for Britain and France.
Anschluss with Austria
Overall Timeline
In
1934
, Austrian
Nazis tried to form a coup
, but this was suppressed and a new govt was formed under Kurt Von Schuschnigg.
In
1936
, an
Austro-German Agreement
was formed were Germany reassured Austrian independence and Austria said they she "acknowledges herself to be a German state".
In
1938
, Austria was faced with
economic problems
due to the depression and German offered assistance.
In 1934, he tried to have Anschluss, but at that time Italy signed an agreement with Austria to protect Austria, he sent his troops and the Nazis were defeated.
To prevent further Nazis from coming into Austria, Schuschnigg signed a
Austro-German agreement
but in
1936
, Italy's protection was undermined because of the Rome - Berlin axis alliance.
Hitler ordered the Austrian Nazis to create havoc and put pressure on Schuschnigg. Then he could justify the march and say that he was restoring peace
Despite all this, Schuschnigg wanted to hold a plebiscite and let Austrians themselves decide whether they wanted this or not. This put Hitler under pressure as this would ruin his annexation of Austria. He told his generals to prepare for an invasion and forced Schuschnigg to call this off and he did.
Nazi generals marched and there was no resistance front he Austrians. IN fact, they welcomes them because 99% voted yes for Anschluss.
Czechoslovakia - September 1938 to March 1939
It was a state created by the Treaty of Versailles and was an ally of France and Soviet Union but
had no direct border
. As a result, Poland and Romania did not allow soviets to enter their territory. Czechoslovakia had a
large ethnic minority as a population
with 2 million Poles, Slavs and Hungarians and 3 million Germans in
Sudetenland
.
Events in a nutshell
Hitler makes a speech about attacking Sudetenland and so Chamberlain comes to make an agreement with Hitler that he can have the parts where there are
50% Germans
. Hitler agrees and the Czechs are somehow persuaded. Chamberlain
persuaded Edvard Benes
However, Hitler changed his mind and said that
he wanted Sudetenland by oct 1
and now there is fear of war. Chamberlain
persuades Mussolini to arrange a conference at Munich to discuss this issue.
In the
Munich Conference
, Czechoslovakia and Soviet Union were not present and the 4 countries agree that
German troops can occupy Sudetenland between October 1st and 10th.
Chamberlain returns and claims that he achieved "
peace in our time"
. It was clear that he was following the policy of rearmament and wanted to avoid war.
Poland and the outbreak of war - 1939
So Hitler started to draw up plans to attack Poland and contacted Italy to form a
Pact of Steel
which is a mutual agreement where they would help each other if there was war. Italy was less committed because they were not ready for war.
Hitler had also formed the
Nazi Soviet Pact
which claimed non aggression for 10 years but secretly agreed to help each other if there was war in Poland. They would also get some parts.
Even though Hitler claimed that the Soviet Union was their main enemy, this was a
great foreign policy movement
because
it left Poland isolated and avoided a chance of war on 2 fronts.
Hitler was also able to gain vital raw materials
from the Soviet Union
which helped Germany's economic problems and stimulated rearmament.
In 1934, Hitler negotiated a
Non -Aggression Pact with Poland
.
However, the Germans were forcing Lithuania to hand over Memel. Along with the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the pressure on Poland increased. They demanded the return of Danzig. It was a German city supervised by the League of Nations
However, the British felt that Hitler could no longer be trusted and guaranteed Poland's safety. This enraged Hitler because it reduced the chance of him bullying Poland.
How did Major Powers react to Hitler's foreign policy?
- States in Europe can be divided into
ideological camps
Liberal democracies (B&F)
Dictatorship of the Right (Italy)
Communist (USSR)
Ideological differences was a factor in diplomacy but not the main reason as countries were willing to be practical about any concern related to National interest. Most of the agreements made by them were based off of national interest than ideology.
Was Hitler a Master planner or an Opportunist?
Some historians argue that
he had a clear vision that involved a master plan and he controlled the events that led in his desired war
. Mein Kampf and Hitler secret book was the key to understand German foreign policy.
Whereas other historians like A.J.P Taylor argue that Hitler
had no clear aims and was an opportunist
and that the Mein Kampf was largely based on daydreams
However, most historians claim that Hitler had
a clear overall view and was prepared to be flexible.
To understand German foreign policy, it will require the consideration of earlier policies, especially those that include economic policies.
Did Hitler plan the World war in 1939?
Hitler believed that war was inevitable and that Germany was in a constant life and death struggle of Jewish Bolshevism. He intended that the war would start from 1943-45 onwards.
Although the 4 year plan was intended to get Germany ready for war, it was not dictated by this date. In his mind, Germany would be prepared for a minor war in 1940
1933-36
- Make Germany strong enough to resist French/Polish attacks
1937-40
- strong enough to
take over Czechoslovakia
and Austria
1943-45
- Exploit Eastern European states and achieve Lebensraum.
Overall, Hitler did not have a master plan but had a clear vision for his aims. His foreign policy was largely based on his overall plan but he changes it to the circumstance. Hitler was not planning for a war in 1939, but felt that it was necessary with Poland to isolate it. In the Mein Kampf, Hitler claimed to have wanted Germany to become allies with Britain and not USSR but the exact opposite happened.
Britain and France unexpectedly declared war with Germany and that is where he had to change his plans.