Download History Chapter 6: War In Europe23/2/2010 Chapter 6.1: Why was

History Chapter 6: War In Europe
Chapter 6.1: Why was peace threatened in the
1930s?
Chapter 6.1.1: Hitler’s Foreign Policy Aims
To make Germany strong again by breaking
the terms of the TOV
The TOV made Germany very weak to attack
other countries as it took away land and
placed restrictions on Germany’s armies.
Hitler wanted to make the military strong again
and take back all the land that Germany lost.
By challenging the TOV, Hitler brought Europe
closer to war as it showed that Hitler had a
clear intention to expand Germany into a
powerful country, thus war was eminent as
actions had to be taken to stop further
aggression.
Examples: Rearmament, Remilitarisation of
the Rhineland, Anschluss with Austria.
To get more land for Germany
Hitler wanted more land so that all German
people could live together in “Greater
Germany”
Hitler also felt that Germany’s growing
population required more lebensraum (living
space).
Therefore, Hitler’s actions of wanting to take
away land that belonged to other countries
made the outbreak of war in Europe more
likely as it showed that Hitler had the clear
intention to expand Germany into a powerful
country through colonization of countries, thus
war was eminent as actions had to be taken to
stop further aggression.
To fight communism
Hitler made a war with Communist Russia to
fight Communism and get lebensraum for the
Germans.
Russia had plenty of land and lots of food
Hitler was also aware that there are many
Jews and he will be able to exterminate them
by gaining control of East Europe.
Therefore, Hitler’s actions of wanting to fight
communism made the outbreak of war in
Europe more likely as it showed that Hitler had
the clear intention to expand Germany into a
powerful country, thus war was eminent as
actions had to be taken to stop further
aggression.
Chapter 6.1.2: Hitler’s Actions
These are examples of how Hitler expand Germany
into a powerful country (from 6.1.1)
Rearmament
Hitler showed that he wanted to go to war by
getting more weapons and soldiers.
In Feburary 1932, the LON met for a
Disarmament Conference but there were
many disagreements. Germany announced to
disarm only if there was international
disarmament.
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Hitler pulled Germany out of the Conference in
1933 and the LON.
Hitler increased the size of the army from 100
000 to 300 000 men, and then to 550 000 men
in 1935 and reintroduced conscription.
Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
Hitler’s actions of putting German troops in the
demilitarized zone of the Rhineland brought
Europe closer to war.
Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland to test the
world’s reaction to this violation of the TOV.
The France wanted British support to drive
Germany out.
However Britain felt that Germany was only
“marching into its own backyard”, thus no
action was taken.
 Rhineland originally belonged to
Germany
 Britain/France felt that Hitler was justified
in regaining the Rhineland
 Policy of Appeasement
By remilitarizing the Rhineland, Hitler became
bolder as it gave him confidence that
Britain/France would not stop him (Policy of
Appeasement).
By remilitarizing the Rhienland, it was evident
that Hitler had the clear intention to expand
Germany into a powerful country, thus war
was eminent as actions had to be taken to
stop further aggression.
Anschluss with Austria
The TOV stated that there should be no
Anschluss between Germany and Austria,
however Hitler wanted to make Austria part of
“Greater Germany” as he was born there.
On 12 Feburary 1938, Hitler tried to take
control of Austria when he met with
Schuschnigg (Austria Chancellor) and
threatened to send his army to Austria if he
didn’t agree.
Schuschnigg prepared a secret plebiscite for
the people to vote, thus Hitler prepared for an
invasion, Schuschnigg then resigned and his
plebiscite was abandoned.
On 12 March 1938, German troops marched
into Austria and a vote was held. Majority of
Austrians voted and Schuschnigg was jailed
for opposing Hitler.
Chapter 6.1.3: Failure of the LON to deal with
Aggressors
The failure of the LON was another reason that led to
WWII.
The LON failed in many areas in the 1930s to deal
with powerful countries like Germany, Italy and
Japan.
The League members were not willing to work
together in the policy of collective security to deal
with aggressors.
Members of the LON put their own interest first
 Failed to exercise collective security  No
military army to enforce security
C:\Users\Chiamdj\Documents\Secondary 3 Documents\Elective History\Elective History Chapter 6 - War In Europe\Chapter 6 - War
In Europe (Textbook notes).docx
History Chapter 6: War In Europe
Absence of USA: No effective force to deal
with aggression in the 1930s.
The LON also failed to make all countries
disarm. By failing to convince countries to
disarm and repeating the errors that led to
WWI and authoritarian regimes to flourish, the
shift to WWII began.
Example: Japan’s Invasion of Manchuria (1931)
Example 2: Italian Aggression in Abyssinia (1935)
Example 3: Spanish Civil War (1936)
Chapter 6.1.4: Policy of Appeasement
The policy of appeasement led to the outbreak of
WWII as it failed to curb the rising ambitions and
expansion of aggressive countries such as Japan,
Germany and Italy. The “Inaction” on the part of
the LON embolden Hitler who went over to take
over the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Example: Munich Agreement.
Over 3 million Germans were living in
Sudetenland and Hitler wanted it to be
part of his Greater Germany.
Hitler encouraged members of the
Sudetenland Nazi Party to make trouble
for the government to make it give up
Sudetenland.
The Czech government refused as
Sudetenland had weapons/barriers that
protected Czechoslovakia and heavy
industries, losing it would make it
vulnerable to Germany.
Britain and France saw that a war could
break out due to Sudetenland, thus they
wanted to avoid war.
Chamberlain (Britain PM) went to
Germany thrice in September 1938 to
prevent WWII.
First meeting: Hitler only wanted the parts
of Sudetenland where there are many
Germans and voted to join Germany. On
19 September, his request was approved.
Second meeting: Hitler wanted all of
Sudetenland as the Czech government
was ill – treating the Germans living there.
It looked that they were ready for war
however Chamberlain still wanted to avoid
war.
Third meeting: Britain and France said
that they would give Hitler Sudetenland,
provided that he does not take any more
land from Europe.
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allowed Hitler to focus on fighting the Western
Powers without having to fight a 2 – front war.
Prior to signing of the pact on 23 August,
no one expected Hitler and Stalin to ally
with each other as both of them used to
be enemies.
As Hitler was fearful that an invasion of
Poland might trigger war with USSR, with
the signing of the Pact the fate of Poland
was sealed between the 2 allies.
Germany and Poland agreed to split
Poland among themselves.
Chapter 6.2.2: Invasion of Poland
The Nazi Soviet Pact allowed Hitler to attack
Poland with confidence knowing very well that he
would not need to face a 2 front war against Soviet
Union.
Hitler would have been able to handle a
counter attack without the assistance of the
Soviet Union
The attack also meant that there were no more
excuses the west could give in to appease
Hitler.
As Hitler broke his promise, Britain and France
should declare war against Germany.
Chapter 6.2: What were the immediate causes
of war in Europe?
Chapter 6.2.1: Nazi Soviet Non – Aggression
Pact
The pact brought the inevitability of WWII
forward. It accelerated the coming of war as it
C:\Users\Chiamdj\Documents\Secondary 3 Documents\Elective History\Elective History Chapter 6 - War In Europe\Chapter 6 - War
In Europe (Textbook notes).docx