Download Hitler`s Challenge to the International System 1933-1939

Hitler’s Challenge to the International System 1933-1939
I. Manifestations of Versailles
A. France Stands Alone
Enforce the Treaty of Versailles
Military alliances with the successor states
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Belgium
None were a replacement for Russia
B. “Policy of Fulfillment”
Good-faith effort to fulfill the Treaty of Versailles
No matter how unfair the terms were
Germany would demonstrate that the terms were unreasonable
Could not be fulfilled
Revision through negotiation
C. Returned to the International
League of Nations
Kellogg-Brian Nonaggression Pact, 1928
All states pledged to resolve all differences
D. United States and Economic Recovery
Dawes Plan
Helped Europe with economic problems
II. Great Depression: Strains on Germany and the International System
A. Wall Street Crash, 1929
Short-term loan
Massive unemployment and business failures
Economic problems
Anti-Republican bitterness
Held the government responsible
B. Resentment and Polarization
National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
1928-3% of the vote
1930-18% of the vote
1932-37% of the vote
Formed a coalition based on the negative
Attacked the failures of the other parties
Attacked the Republican government
Restore the German position in the World
C. Domestic Policy
Great deal of emphasis
Framework of a totalitarian regime
III. Hitler’s Foreign Policy
A. International System
Four major power blocks
Germany
Dominate the continent
British
Maintain their global empire
Japanese
Dominate the East
United States
Western Hemisphere
Would collapse
B. Goals for Hitler
Lebensraum
Successor states
Economically Self Sufficient
Racially pure empire
Bring together the best racial stock
Crusade against Judeo-Bolshevism
Goals could not be achieved peacefully
C. Destroying the Versailles Treaty
Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations 1933
Non-aggression Pact with Poland
Series of leaks
March 1935
Luftwaffe for defensive reasons
Rebuild the army
League of Nations protested
No action was taken
Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935
Did not consult the French
Reached their own agreement with Hitler
German troops take the Rhineland in 1936
German territory
League of Nations
Olympic Games
IV. Responses to the German Challenge
A. Four-Year Plan
Make Germany self-sufficient
For the next few years
Peace and justice
1936 Hitler had taken the major steps toward restoring Germany
B. France: An Impossible Situation
Workable solution to the Nazi menace
Political polarization during the 1930s
No real consensus to meet the threat
“Maginot mentality”
Fighting the First World War again
Not prepared for a mobile war
Charles De Gaulle
Move beyond the defensive mentality
C. Collective Security Arrangement
No follow through
British-French relations were strained
British came to believe Versailles was too harsh
Revisions
French searched for allies
1935 Soviet feared a possible German-Poland axis
League of Nations
Bridges to Western Europe
Soviets would come to Czechoslovakia’s aid
Meet the Fascist threat
Considered an alliance with Italy
D. Hossbach Memorandum 1937
General aims and objectives of the regime
“Living Space”
Isolate his opponents diplomatically
Prepare for war
Was this a blue print for War?
Top German officials who raised questions concerning policy
Removed from office
V. Austria and Czechoslovakia
A. Austrian Crisis 1938
Kurt Von Schuschnigg
Guarantees of Austria’s sovereignty
This upsets Hitler
Franz von Papen
Summit diplomacy
Schuschnigg meets with Hitler in the Alps
Hitler makes demands
Annexation of Austria
International response
B. Sudetenland 1938
Ethnic Germans
Czech government
Mobilized its forces
Prepare for an invasion on October 1
Benito Mussolini and Neville Chamberlain
“Appeasement”
Meet reasonable demands
War over Sudetenland?