Download Remilitarization of the Rhineland

Remilitarization of the
Rhineland
Done by
Maysa Jaman Hema
What is the Remilitarization of the
Rhineland
 It was when the German army entered the Rhineland.
 The German forces had entered the Rhineland on the 7th of March 1936.
 Hitler denounced the Locarno Pact and German troops infiltrated the area.
 First time entering Rhineland after World War 1.
 Twenty German infantry battalions, a small number of planes and about 32,000
armed policemen and soldiers occupied the Rhineland.
The Elaborate Decision
 Hitler was smart with his moves.
 Major Powers of League of Nations were busy with Abyssinia crisis at that point.
 Hitler knew that they Britain or France would not be able to interfere in their plans.
 Risky move since they broke Locarno Treaty/ Treaty of Versailles.
 Hitler’s army lacked essential equipment and the army would have had to have leave if France
or Britain intervened. This would have been embarrassing.
Bloomberg VS Hitler
 In March 1933, Werner von Bloomberg, Germany’s Defense Minister, had plans drafted for
the remilitarization of the Rhineland.
 In 1935, Germany’s Chancellor Adolf Hitler, canceled the armed forces conditions of the
Treaty of Versailles.
 On February 12, 1936, Hitler told his Marshal Werner von Bloomberg (his Field Marshall), of
his intentions.
The Actual Occupation
 By 11:00 a.m., they had reached the Rhine River, after which three battalions crossed over
to the Rhine’s west bank area.
 At this point, General Bloomberg pleaded with Hitler to evacuate all of their armed
German forces from the Rhineland territory.
 General Bloomberg strongly disagreed that German troops would be able to conquer the
Rhineland.
 Hitler asked if the French military forces had crossed the border area, he was told they had
not.
 He informed Bloomberg that they should stay the course unless the French Army crossed
the border.
 Even though Bloomberg was extremely nervous, Baron Konstantin von Neurath (Hitler’s
foreign minister) remained calm and told Hitler not to withdraw the Germany Army.
After the Remilitarization of the Rhineland
 German military group was too small and was out
soon outnumbered by the French military group, near
by the border.
 The Remilitarization exercise was nerve-wrecking for
Hitler, but the success gained him POPULARITY
amongst army generals and German people.
 Britain and France were experiencing political crisis.
 Unable to focus on the Remilitarization of the
Rhineland due to lack of a political leader.
 British leadership thought Nazi Germany was just
entering their own backyard and that there was no
need to enforce this part of the Treaty of Versailles.
Sly Trickery
 After the Remilitarization, Hitler shared his plans
about peace throughout Europe.
 Hitler wanted to negotiate about non-aggression
pacts with France and Belgium.
 While doing all this, Germany rapidly constructed
fortifications along it’s borders near France and
Belgium .
 Bought them defense and time to prepare for
World War 2.
Why Remilitarize?
 Hitler's aims were aggressive, and he openly stated them in his book "Mein Kampf" in 1924.
 Destroy the Treaty of Versailles.
 Create a Greater Germany (a country of all the German people).
 Lebensraum (living space) to conquer land for Germany in Eastern Europe.
The believed aim of Remilitarization
Date
Event
What happened
1933
1934
League of Nations
Austria
1935
Saar
1935
Rearmament
Hitler leaves the League of Nations.
Hitler tries to take power in Austria. Austrian Nazis murder
the chancellor, Dolfuss. Italy moves its army to the border
and Hitler backs down.
As planned in the Treaty of Versailles, the people of Saar
(which had been given to France for 15 years) vote to
return to Germany.
Hitler increases the size of the German army to half a
million members. Britain, France and Italy do nothing.
1935
Anglo-German Naval Treaty
1936
Rhineland
1936
Guernica
1937
Anti-Comintern Pact
1938
Anschluss
1938
Sudetenland
1939
1939
Czechoslovakia
Poland
Britain helps Germany break the Treaty of Versailles by
signing an agreement to allow Germany a navy onethird of the size of Britain's.
German troops re-occupy the Rhineland. They are given
orders to retreat if France offers any resistance. France
does nothing.
Hitler tests his armed forces when German bombers,
which are helping the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War,
bomb the Spanish town of Guernica. Civilians in Britain
and France are frightened.
Alliance of Germany, Japan and Italy against
communism
Hitler occupies Austria. First, Hitler encourages the
Austrian Nazis to demand a union with Germany. Then he
invades when the Austrian chancellor announces a vote
to see what Austrians want. After the German invasion,
99 per cent of Austrians vote "Ja". Britain and France do
nothing.
Hitler bullies France and Britain into giving him the
Sudetenland.
Hitler invades Czechoslovakia and takes control.
Hitler invades Poland and provokes the Second World
War.
Believed aim of Remilitarization [2]
 As seen in the table, all these actions were planned very carefully by Hitler.
 He only decided to remilitarize Rhineland after the Abyssinia crisis.
 He knew Britain and France would not be able to help as they needed to sort out the
crisis.
 Nobody would stop him and the remilitarization exercise would be a success.
 This aided his aggression for the second world war.
 The League of Nations would soon fall victim and collapse due to the weak forces.
Thank you for listening, hope you
enjoyed it ;)
P.S. Hitler is awesome.