Lesson 3 - Hitler's foreign policy

3.   Rhineland

Hitler invaded the Rhineland on 7 March 1936 (Operation Winter Exercise).  This broke the Treaty of Versailles.  It was a bluff – the German army had only 22,000 soldiers and had orders to retreat if they met any resistance.  But once again, Britain and France did nothing.  

•  Effects

  • 1.  It broke the Treaty of Versailles.

  • 2.  It was the first military action by Hitler and it was successful.

  • 3.  France lost the opportunity to stop Hitler once and for all.

4.   Anschluss with Austria

There had already, in 1934, been one attempt to unite Austria with Germany by Austrian Nazis, who had assassinated the Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss in an attempted 'July Putsch' ... which had been prevented only when Mussilini in Italy threatenned war.

In 1938, Hitler took over Austria.  First, Hitler encouraged the Austrian Nazis to demand union with Germany.  Then, on 11 March 1938, the planned invasion of Austria took place ('Operation Otto').  This broke the Treaty of Versailles, but Britain and France did nothing.  

•  Effects

  • 1.  It broke the Treaty of Versailles.

  • 2.  It was the first time Hitler had annexed land outside Germany.

  • 3.  It marked the beginning of Mussolini's support for Hitler.

  • 4.  It marked the first time Chamberlain appeased Hitler because Austria was 'too far away to help'.

5.   Munich

In 1938, Hitler tried to take over the Sudetenland.   First, Hitler encouraged the Sudeten Nazis to demand union with Germany.   Then, Hitler made plans to invade Czechoslovakia.

Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler.   At Munich, on 29 September 1938, Britain and France gave Hitler the Sudetenland.  

•  Effects

  • 1.  It was the first time Hitler took land that was not simply redressing the Treaty of Versailles.

  • 2.  It convinced Hitler that Chamberlain and Daladier were 'worms' who could be bullied.

  • 3.  It convinced Stalin that Chamberlain and Daladier would not stand up to Hitler and led him to make the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

  • 4.  The German army, hoping Hitler would be humiliated by the allies, had planned to topple him when he was; his success meant the end of any hope of getting rid of Hitler.

6.   Czechoslovakia

On 15 March 1939, Hitler’s troops marched into the rest of Czechoslovakia.  This, for most British people, was the time when they realised that the only thing that would stop Hitler was a war.  

•  Effects

  • 1.  It discredited appeasement and demonstrated that Hitler's promises could not be trusted.

  • 2.  It was the first time Hitler had annexed a non-German people; thus it appear to prove that he wanted to dominate the whole world.

  • 3.  Czecholsovakia was a democracy, which worried the other western democracies.

  • 4.  It convinced Chamberlain that Hitler would ot be stopped by negotiation, and led him to make the Polish Guarantee (which was the eventual trigger of the war).

  • 5.  It outraged the British people, and got them ready for war (where in September 1938 they had been overwhelmingly in favour of peace).

7.   USSR/Nazi Pact

In summer 1939, Hitler began to unfold his plan to take over Poland.  First, the Germans in Danzig demanded union with Germany.  Then, Hitler threatened war.

Chamberlain promised the Poles that Britain would support them if Germany attacked Poland.

In August 1939, Hitler made a secret treaty with Russia.  He thought this would stop Britain & France helping Poland.

•  Effects

  • 1.  It was the agreement which made Hitler brave enough to invade Poland.

  • 2.  It was seen as a disgusting act of political cynicism which convinced British people of the need for a war to stop this evil man.

8   Poland

In April 1939, Chamberlain announced the 'Polish Guarantee' - a promise to defend Poland if Hitler invaded (this was the event which ended appeasement).

•  Effects

  • 1.  The Polish Guarantee was the end of appeasement - a 'non-negotiable' which provoked war.

  • 2.  The Polish Guarantee was the promise that prevented Chamberlain cutting another deal with Hitler in August 1939.

  • 3.  The Polish Guarantee was the decision which threw Stalin into the Nazi-Soviet Pact the invasion of Poland was the event which explicitly caused Britain to declare war on 3 September 1939.

On 1 September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland.

On 3 September 1939, Chamberlain declared war on Germany.

Consider:

1.  List the 'eight steps' on Hitler's 'Road to War'.  For each step, explain how it 'went further' than the previous, so as to establish the progression ('escalation') of Hitler's actions.

2.  List all the facts which support Reed Brett's interpretation that: 'Most of the aggressions, leading step by step to open war in September 1939, were the outcome of the deliberate policy of Hitler.'  Do you agree: DID Hitler intend war from the beginning?

The Sudeten Crisis

Before 1938, Britain had already given way to Hitler on a number of occasions, but it was the events of the Sudeten crisis which showed appeasement in action – trying to buy off Hitler by giving way to his demands.

On 11 March 1938, Hitler invaded Austria.  It was clear he wanted to do the same in the Sudetenland.

On 7 September 1938, the German Sudeten Party demanded union with Germany.

•   There were riots.

•   German newsreels showed ‘evidence’ of Czech ‘atrocities’ against the Sudeten Germans.

•   Hitler threatened to support the Sudeten Germans with military force.

At this point, Chamberlain intervened.

1. Chamberlain met Hitler at Berchtesgaden (15 September).

•   Hitler promised him that this was the ‘last problem to be solved’.

•  Chamberlain decided Hitler was ‘a man who can be relied upon’.

•  Chamberlain persuaded the Czechs to hand over the Sudetenland.

2. Chamberlain met Hitler at Bad Godesberg (22 September).

•   Hitler made more demands.

•   At first Chamberlain refused, but then he decided that Czechoslovakia was not one of the ‘great issues’ which justified war, but just ‘a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing’.

3. Britain and France made a Pact with Hitler at Munich (29 September).

•   They gave the Sudetenland to Germany.

•   Czechoslovakia was not even invited to the talks. The Czechs were free to fight if they wished, but they had no support. They chose not to fight.

On 30 September, Chamberlain returned to England with his famous piece of paper.  ‘I believe it is peace for our time’, he told the cheering crowds.

On 1 October 1938, Hitler marched unopposed into the Sudetenland.  He said that it was the start of a 1000-year German Reich (empire).

The precipitant cause of the Second World War was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (Nazi-Soviet Pact) in which they agreed not to attack each other and to the division of Poland between them. 

Activity: The Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939

Germany and Russia agreed to bury the hatchet; they agreed to bury it in Poland.

BBC TV, Why Appeasement?

2.  The Story of the Pact

a.  Britain and Russia

Stalin knew that Hitler’s ultimate aim was to attack Russia.  In 1939, he invited Lord Halifax, the British Foreign Secretary to go to Russia to discuss an alliance against Germany.  The British feared Russian Communism, and they believed that the Russian army was too weak to be of any use against Hitler. 

In August 1939, with war in Poland looming, the British eventually sent a minor official called Reginald Ranfurly Plunckett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.  He travelled by slow boat, not by plane.  He did not have authority to make any decisions, and had to refer every question back to London.  The talks dragged on. 

The Russians asked if they could send troops into Poland if Hitler invaded.  The British refused.  The talks broke down. 

Why did Anglo-Soviet Talks Fail? [SCAB]

Suspicion

a.  Chamberlain did not trust Stalin, who was a Communist and a dictator.  In particular, he would not ever have allowed Russia to control Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

b.  The Russians thought Britain wanted to trick them into war against Germany.

c.  Poland did not trust that the Russians (who wanted to send troops into Poland), once in, would ever leave.

Choice

a.  Britain could not send troops to fight in Poland, so if Stalin supported Britain, he would end up fighting a war in Poland on Britain’s behalf.

On the other hand, Hitler was promising him peace, half of Poland and a 'sphere of influence' over eastern Europe.   

Appeasement

After Munich, Stalin was convinced that Britain would break its promise to Poland.  He was convinced that Britain would leave Russia fighting Hitler alone.

Britain delayed

a.  At first, Lord Halifax refused Stalin’s offer of a meeting.

b.  When the British sent an official, he could not make any decisions.  Stalin got fed up with British delay.

b.  Hitler and Russia

In August 1939, Hitler sent Ribbentrop, a senior Nazi, to Russia.  He offered a Nazi-Soviet alliance – Russia and Germany would not go to war, but would divide Poland between them.  Germany would allow Russia to annex Estinia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. 

Stalin knew Hitler was lying, but he did not trust the British either – the Munich Agreement had convinced him that Britain and France would never dare to go to war with Hitler. 

Stalin had two choices:

  •      if he made an alliance with Britain, he would end up fighting a war with Hitler over Poland. 

  •      if he made an alliance with Germany, he would get half of Poland, and time to prepare for the coming war with Germany. 

He chose the latter.  On 23 August 1939, he signed the Pact with Hitler. 

Why did the Nazi-Soviet Pact happen? [THUG]

Time to prepare for War

Stalin said: ‘We got peace for our country for 18 months, which let us make military preparations’.

Hope to gain

Stalin was sure that Russia could only gain from a long war in which Britain, France and Germany exhausted themselves.

Unhappy with Britain

Stalin was insulted by Britain’s slowness to negotiate, and did not trust Britain.  When the Anglo-Soviet alliance failed [SCAB], he turned to Germany.

Germany

Hitler wanted the alliance because only Russia could keep Britain’s promise to defend Poland.  He believed that, if he got a promise of peace with Russia, Britain would be forced to back down over Poland and Danzig

3.  The Shock to the System

The British government had know about the Nazi-Soviet negotiations since the bgeinning of August but the Pact came as a complete surprise to the British public, who found it hard to believe that communist, Hitler-hating Russia had made an alliance with nazi, Communist-hating Germany.  They judged, correctly, that the Pact was a cynical lie to devour Poland. 

The following Low cartoons reflect their amazement and outrage, as well as the hope/feeling that the two liars would get their come-uppance in the end:

4.  The Nazi-Soviet Pact and War

Historians have argued that the Nazi-Soviet Pact was instrumental in causing the Second World War, inasmuch as it:

  1.      Freed up Hitler to invade Poland - he knew that Britain couldn't do anything to defend Poland (he invaded 9 days later). 

  2.      Ended Britain's hopes of an alliance with Russia to stop Hitler - people in Britain realised that nothing would stop Hitler now but war. 

  3.      Improved morale of British people for war - showed Hitler as an opportunist and a trickster, who could never be trusted.