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CH1201
March 2014
THE ROAD TO WORLD WAR II IN EUROPE
ADOLPH HITLER
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Leader of the Nazi
He blamed Communists &
Jews for the loss of German
pride & defeat in the First
World War
In January 1933, became to
power in Germany &
immediately began to
challenge the Treaty of
Versailles
Immediately adapted an
aggressive foreign policy,
which led to war.
ADOLPH HITLER
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Hitler's aims were aggressive, & he
openly stated them in his book "Mein
Kampf" in 1924:
Question #1
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Destroy the Treaty of Versailles.
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Create a Greater Germany (a country of
all the German people).
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Lebensraum (living space) to conquer
land for Germany in Eastern Europe.
THE ROAD TO WAR
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Once he came to power, Hitler set about doing exactly what he
had said he would do
For each of his actions between 1935 & 1939, you can see which
aim(s) he was fulfilling by undertaking
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1935 - Rearmament
1936 - Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
1938 - Anschluss with Austria
1938 - The annexation of the Sudetenland
1939 - The invasion of Czechoslovakia
1939 - The invasion of Poland
HITLER & REARMAMENT
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Hitler promised to reestablish Germany
as a world power in the face of
Versailles Treaty
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Withdrew German from the League of
Nations
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He implemented rearmament Question
#2 (army / navy / air force / tanks /
tactics)
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Question #3: Blitzkrieg or lightening–
combined use of air force, artillery,
tanks &, infantry in attack
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Rearmament helped German
unemployment drop from 6 million in
1931 to just over 1 million by 1937
HITLER & EXPANSION
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In addition to breaching the Versailles Treaty through
rearmament, Hitler also began a policy of territorial
expansion in Europe beginning in 1936
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Question #4: His goal was to expand Germany’s borders &
reacquire territory that had been stripped from Germany
following the First World War
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This would help to restore Germany as a major power in
Europe
MARCH ’36…RHINELAND
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Prior to WWI & Versailles it belonged to Germany but
following WWI it became a DMZ under League of Nation
control (occupied by allied troops)
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Hitler was determined to get it back & in March 1936 he
peacefully invaded.
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It was the first outright violation of the Versailles Treaty
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Question #5: Britain & France were not prepared for war
so they did not act
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Hitler now set his sights on Eastern Europe
MARCH ’38…AUSTRIA
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Hitler wanted all Germans living within new German
state…..the Reich.
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Anschluss (Union)
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Question #6: Hitler argued that many Germans lived in Austria
so it should be part of Germany.
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March ’38 Nazi forces entered Austria.
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Once again Britain & France did nothing…..didn’t want to risk
another war.
SEPT ’38…SUDETENLAND
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Question #7: This territory was located in northwestern
Czechoslovakia
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It was taken from Germany in 1919 (3 million German
speaking people living there).
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Question #8: It was important for Czechoslovakia because
most of the countries heavy industry & defenses were
there
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Czechs wanted to fight but Britain & France would not
support them
SEPT ’38…MUNICH AGREEMENT
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Question #9: The leaders of Britain & France met with
Hitler in Munich & decided to give Germany the
Sudetenland in return for Hitler’s promise to not make
any further territorial demands in Europe
SEPT ’38…MUNICH AGREEMENT
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The western powers hoped to save the world from war
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Czechs were not invited
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Hitler promised it was going to be his last territorial demand
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British Prime Minister Chamberlain stated this agreement
would bring “Peace in our Time”
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Britain & France used the policy of appeasement to deal with
Hitler. Why give in to his demands?
MARCH ’39…CZECHOSLOVAKIA
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Britain, France, stood by as Germany
occupied all of Czechoslovakia
Munich Agreement was broken by
Hitler
Question 11: Britain & France
declared to stand up to future
German aggression by Hitler in
Europe
Why did appeasement fail?
MARCH ’39…CZECHOSLOVAKIA
AUGUST ’39…NAZI-SOVIET PACT
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Question #12: The world
was shocked in August
1939 when the Nazi-Soviet
Pact was announced
AUGUST ’39…NAZI-SOVIET PACT
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Both promised not to attack each
other in the event of war
They also secretly agreed to divide
Poland which secured Germany’s
eastern border from a Soviet
invasion
This also allowed Germany to
concentrate on a war against Britain
& France…eliminate a two-front war
as in WWI
SEPT ’39…INVASION OF POLAND
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Question 13: Hitler
demanded Polish Corridor
be handed back to Germany
When Poland refused
Germany invaded using
“Blitzkrieg” on Sept 1st, 1939
Question 14: Britain &
France came to Poland’s aid
& declared war on Sept 3,
1939
ROAD TO WORLD WAR II
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Here’s a neat review activity from the BBC
Road to World War II
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/m
wh/ir1/war2act.shtml