Hitler’s
Foreign Policy
1933 - 1939
Factors of International Relations in
Europe 1933 - 1939
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Financial Instability
Fear of Communism
Rise of Fascist leaders
Diminishing role of League of Nations
Fear of War
Admiration for German Recovery & Stability
Increasing dislike of Treaty of Versailles
‘Appeasement’
League of Nations Failure
(1919 – 1939)
• USA – never joined
• No Army – could not impose their
decisions
• Slow to React: Unanimity of
Decision-Making Required
• Depression – created more
selfish behaviour by individual
countries e.g. Germany & Italy
• Rise of Imperial Fascism:
Germany, Italy & Japan
Japan left in 1933
(Invasion of Manchuria)
Germany left in 1933
(Treaty of Versailles)
Italy left in 1937
League of Nations Complexity
Hitler’s Foreign Policy Aims
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Grossdeutschland: Creating a larger, more
powerful all-German Reich that Hitler
claimed would last 1,000 years.
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Anschluss: Uniting Germany & Austria into
one greater German Reich
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Lebensraum: Creating ‘living space in the
east’ i.e. displacement of inferior (Slavic)
races to make way for re-population of
Germanic peoples.
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Destruction of Treaty of Versailles: The ‘War
Guilt Clause’ and restrictions on German
Armed Forces as well as the loss of
territories & colonies was naturally a key
focus of Hitler’s Foreign Policy
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Eradication of ‘International Jewry’ While
this was a facet of Hitler’s rhetorical oratory,
it would not become a key policy until much
later in the 1930’s, culminating in the ‘Final
Solution’ proposed in 1942.
European leaders 1933 - 1939
United Kingdom:
Neville Chamberlain
(1937 – 1940)
France:
Édouard Daladier
(1933, 1934, 1938 – 1940)
Italy:
Benito Mussolini
(1922 – 1944)
Spain:
General Franco
(1939 – 1975)
1934
German – Polish Non-Aggression Pact
A ten-year non-aggression pact with Poland
gave Hitler the appearance of a
benevolent, peaceful statesman. However,
it lulled the Poles into a false sense of
security and weakened their alliance with
France.
Stresa Front
In July 1934, Austrian Nazis staged a coup
d’etat. Vice-Chancellor Schuschnigg quickly
suppressed it and Hitler was kept at bay by the
threat of Italian intervention. Hitler declared that
he had no interest in Austria. However, Britain,
France and Italy did not believe him and formed
the Stresa Front to formally oppose German
interference in Austria
1935
Anglo-German Naval Agreement
In March 1935, Hitler announced that
Germany was rearming, thereby
repudiating the terms of the Treaty of
Versailles. The British concluded a
naval agreement (Anglo-German
Naval Agreement) with Germany
showing that even the Allies regarded
the Treaty as a ‘dead letter’
Saar Plebiscite
In January 1935, the people of the Saar
region in France voted (Saar Plebiscite) to
re-unite with Germany, which greatly
encouraged Hitler’s dream of creating a
larger German Reich
1936
Re-militarisation of the Rhineland
On the 7th of March 1936, Hitler took an enormous gamble by sending
German troops into the de-militarised Rhineland, which had formed a buffer
zone of safety for France since the Treaty of Versailles. The gamble paid off, as
Britain was unwilling to go to war over this and showed that France either
could not or would not resist open German defiance of the Treaty of
Versailles regulations.
Spanish Civil War
German involvement in the Spanish Civil War from 1936 on placed
Franco in Hitler’s debt with the Supply of German dive-bombers
(STUKAS), expertise and manpower.
Rome-Berlin Axis
The closer links between Germany and Italy were
reflected in the drawing up of the Rome-Berlin Axis, an
agreement by the two countries to follow a common
foreign policy
1937
Joachim Von Ribbentrop
Foreign Minister 1938 - 1945
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Appointed Foreign Minister in
February 1938. Replaced the
conservative & cautious Neurath
Radical & pro-war, Von Ribbentrop
was both feared and hated. His
appointment was a signal that Nazi
Germany was moving to a much
more aggressive foreign policy.
"Ribbentrop belongs to the category
of Germans who are a disaster for
their country. He talks about making
war right and left, without naming an
enemy or defining an objective”
- Benito Mussolini (1938)
1938 Sudetenland & Munich Conference:
“Peace in our Times”
Hitler demanded that the 3 million
German – speaking inhabitabants of
the Sudetenland region of
Czechoslovakia be ‘returned’ to the
German Reich.
Hitler fully realised that his German
army was not yet ready for all-out
war. With a secure relationship
already established with Mussolini,
he secretly asked him to call a
conference of European leaders. On
the 28th of September 1938,
Chamberlain, Hitler, Daladier &
Mussolini met at Munich.
Czechs had little choice but to
secede to Hitler’s demand for
control of Sudentenland.
1938: Anschluss & Sudentenland
Annexation
Throughout 1936 and 1937,
pressure from Hitler’s Germany
forced the Austrian Chancellor
(Schuschnigg) to legalise the Nazi
party and place key ministries
under the control of Nazis.
When Schuschnigg tried to hold a
referendum to ensure Austrian
independence, Hitler threatened to
invade if Schuschnigg did not
resign. He did so, and Seyss
Inquart (Austrian Nazi Party)
became Chancellor. Inquart invited
the Germans into Austria. to
“preserve law and order”
In April 1938, 99% of Austrians
voted to accept Anschluss –
Union with Germany
Annexation of Czechoslovakia
1939
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
On the 23rd August, 1939, Nazi Germany &
USSR signed a ten year
‘Non-Aggression Pact’.
This contained secret clauses to partition
Poland and divide it between themselves.
Urged on by Hitler, Poland and Hungary annexed the
region of Teschen and Ruthenia, while
Slovakia declared its independence in March
1939.
Hitler persuaded the Czech President Hatcha To
‘invite’ German troops into what was left of the
country to ‘preserve law and order’. Czech
Army was disbanded and the Skoda factories fell
into German hands. Major military coup for
Germany even before WWII had started.
Hitler continued to put pressure on Poland as he did
not take the Anglo-French guarantee to Warsaw
seriously. He demanded concessions from the
Poles in the regions of Danzig and the Polish
Corridor.
1939
Invasion of Poland
On the 1st September 1939, German
forces staged an attack on a German
border checkpoint. Hitler declared war on
Poland and invaded on the same day.
On the 3rd of September, after an
ultimatum to withdraw from Poland passed
with no response, Britain & France
declared war on Germany.
The Second World War had begun
Lebensraum
Past Exam Questions
2006 – 2011 = 0 Questions
2003 – D.1. Hitler and Mussolini: Foreign Policy
“To what extent were the foreign policies pursued by Hitler and Mussolini
responsible for the outbreak of WWII.”
2000 – D.3. International Relations, 1933-1939
“Discuss critically the view that ‘Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy was the main
cause of WWII’’’.