Appeasement and the Road to
War
19331939
Hitler’s Foreign Policy Aims
Outcomes
By the end of this lesson you will:
Be able to describe four main aims of
Hitler’s foreign policy.
 Understand the debate among historians
about Hitler’s intentions in the 1930’s.

Hitler’s Foreign Policy Aims
Nearly all of Hitler’s actions can be linked to four key aims
which he had outlined in his autobiography Mein Kampf,
written during his time in prison, 1924-25.
Gross Deutschland
Supremacy of
Aryan Race
Revision of the
Treaty of
Versailles
War?
Lebensraum
Gross Deutschland
“We must make Germany strong by bringing together all
German-speaking people in one large country”
The Nazi’s demanded the union of all German
speaking people in a Greater Germany; a Gross
Deutschland.
Anschluss
This would include the Anschluss with Austria, the
German minority in the Sudetenland
(Czechoslovakia), and the German minority in
Poland.
Revision of Versailles
“We, the National Socialists, demand a revision of the Treaty
of Versailles”
Hitler wanted nothing less than the complete revision of the
Treaty of Versailles.
Including an end to reparations payments, and the
rearmament of German forces. The Nazi’s rejected
Article 231, the War Guilt Clause, as hypocritical.
Lebensraum
“As Germany grows more powerful, we must
have land and resources so that Germans
can have space to live in and grow strong”
Hitler demanded Lebensraum or living
space for the surplus German population
to settle in. This land was to come from
the East. In Mein Kampf he wrote:
“ If we speak of soil in Europe today, we can
primarily have in mind only Russia and her
vassal border states”
Racial Supremacy
Hitler’s racial theories stated that the pure
‘Herrenvolk’ would be the master race
using the inferior ‘untermensch’ and the
resources of their land for the benefit of
the Reich.
Especially the Slavs and Poles in the East.
War?
In his books Hitler claimed that war was
necessary and healthy for a nation so it
should be welcomed and not avoided.
Also military success in foreign affairs
could be used to justify the totalitarian
regime at home.
However Historians have continued to
debate over Hitler’s intention to go to war.
Yes – Hitler WAS a warmonger

Historians such as Hillgruber and
Hildebrand argue that Hitler’s books can
be taken literally as proof of his intention
create a ‘programme’ for war, which he
believed was the only way to achieve his
foreign policy aims.
No – Hitler was an opportunist

AJP Taylor argues that Hitler’s plans were
no more radical than previous German
foreign policy aims and that he was simply
taking advantages of the opportunities that
presented themselves to him.
Both – Hitler was a warmonger and
an opportunist?
Alan Bullock suggests that Hitler’s
consistent aims show he was intent on
war. However he also suggests that he
had no ‘programme’ of how this would
happen, and simply took the opportunities
that arose in the 1930’s.