Foreign Policy Aims:1919-33
 Fought in WWI, blinded by a gas attack, admitted in
hospital when he heard of Germany’s surrender. He
decided to go into politics.
 Germany’s victory over Russia- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
1917- German domination of Eastern Europe.
 Germany left in a dominant position after peace
treaties- as Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires
had fallen.
 Nazi foreign policy shaped by the Treaty of Versailles
Foreign Policy Aims:1919-33
 1919- Hitler became a member of a new political party-
DAP-German Worker’s Party, later renamed NSDAPNational Socialist German Workers’ party
 1921- became party leader
 1923- Hitler and his nazis attempted to seize power in a
coup d’etat in Munich- known as Munich Beer Hall
Putsch
 This attempt failed- Hitler was sent to prison for 9
months where he wrote Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
 a work on political theory
 Hitler announces his hatred of what he believed to be the world's twin
evils: Communism and Judaism. The new territory that Germany
needed to obtain would properly nurture the "historic destiny" of the
German people; this goal, which Hitler referred to as Lebensraum
(living space), explains why Hitler aggressively expanded Germany
Eastward, specifically the invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland,
before he launched his attack against Russia. In Mein Kampf Hitler
openly states that the future of Germany "has to lie in the acquisition of
land in the East at the expense of Russia". Hitler's invasion of France
was not motivated by that part of his ideology, as he had previously
claimed that Lebensraum should be found eastward, but as a
retaliation and strategic occupation after the war declaration against
Nazi Germany by the Allies (including Great Britain and France). The
invasions of Denmark and Norway were similarly not motivated by
ideology, but by a strategic need to fortify all coastlines in Europe in
preparation for the Allied invasion of Europe.
Lebensraum
 Lebensraum (German for "habitat" or literally "living room")
was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an
important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the
motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming
to provide extra space for the growth of the German population,
for a Greater Germany. In Hitler's book Mein Kampf, he detailed
his belief that the German people needed Lebensraum ("living
space", i.e. land and raw materials), and that it should be found
in the East. It was the stated policy of the Nazis to kill, deport, or
enslave the Polish, Russian and other Slavic populations, whom
they considered inferior, and to repopulate the land with
Germanic peoples. The entire urban population was to be
exterminated by starvation, thus creating an agricultural surplus
to feed Germany and allowing their replacement by a German
upper class.
Plans in Mein Kampf
 1st Stage- termination of Treaty of Versailles, formation
of an alliance with Britain and Italy.
 2nd Stage- war against France and her Eastern
European allies
 3rd stage- war with USSR
Hitler’s rise to power
 Impact of global economic crisis
 Mass unemployment and despair
 Therefore President General von Hindenburg made
Hitler Chancellor of Germany in 1933.
 Germans and Nazis believed that Hitler would be
successful in crushing the Treaty and restoring
international prestige for the country.
Hitler’s rise to power
 1933-34
 Consolidated his control in Germany
 Gained cooperation of the army and the industrialist
 Military conscription and rearmament
Hitler and the Short-term causes of
WWI
1. Revising the Treaty of Versailles
 1933- announced that Nazis would not resume
payments.
 1933- Germany’s withdrawal from the Disarmament
Conference- military spending grew five-fold
 1933- withdrew Germany from the League of Nations
 1934- Non- Aggression Pact (for ten years) with Ploand
to secure his eastern border, undermine the French
Alliance system(the Little Entente) in Eastern
Europe,gave international community the impression
of Hitler’s peaceful intentions.
1. Revising the Treaty of Versailles
 To unify Austria with Germany
 1934- pro Nazi groups in Austria murdered the
Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss – attempted to
seize power in a coup
 Hitler saw this coup as an opportunity to obtain his
goal of Anschluss
Anschluss
 A union of Germany and Austria to create a 'Greater
Germany', any attempt at an Anschluss was banned by
the Treaty of Versailles, but Hitler drove it through
anyway on March 13 1938.
 1935-Saar Plebiscit- 9-1 in favour of reuniting with
Germany.
 Announced compulsory military training and increase
in armaments.
The European Response
 Britain, France and Italy signed the Stresa Front.
 1935- Anglo-German Naval Agreement- Britain and
Germany- allowed for a much larger German Navy
than permitted by the Treaty of Versailles.
Stresa Front
 The Stresa Front was triggered by Germany's declaration of
its intention to build up an air force, to increase the size of
its army to 36 divisions (750,000 men - many times the
amount prescribed by the Treaty of Versailles, the original
figure set was 100, 000 men) and to introduce conscription,
in March 1935.
 Mussolini believed that the signing of the Stresa Front
would mean Britain and France would not interfere in the
Abysinian crisis
 its aim was to reaffirm the Locarno Treaties and to declare
that the independence of Austria "would continue to
inspire their common policy". The signatories also agreed
to resist any future attempt by the Germans to change the
Treaty of Versailles
German remilitarization of the
Rhineland
 1936- Hitler turned his attention to the western
borders
 1936-sent 10,000 troops, 23,000 armed policeinto
Rhineland.
Hitler’s involvement in the Spanish
Civil War.
 On the outbreak of Civil War in Spain Mussolini and
Hitler sent support to Franco’s forces.
 Hitler’s motive to be involved in this war were 1. benefit from right-wing government in Europe
 2. To test Germany’s new armed forces
 3. preparing his forces for realities of war in Europe
 4. to test effectiveness of civilian aerial bombing- 26
April 1937
Rome-Berlin Axis & antiComintern Pact
 Rome-Berlin Axis, Coalition
formed in 1936 between Italy
and Germany. An agreement
formulated by Italy’s foreign
minister Galeazzo Ciano
informally linking the two
fascist countries was reached on
October 25, 1936. It was
formalized by the Pact of Steel
in 1939. The term Axis Powers
came to include Japan as well.
Hossbach Memorandum
 The Hossbach Memorandum
was the summary of a meeting
on November 5, 1937 between
German dictator Adolf Hitler
and his military and foreign
policy leadership where Hitler's
future expansionist policies were
outlined. The meeting marked a
turning point in Hitler's foreign
policies, which then began to
radicalize. The memorandum
was named for the keeper of the
minutes of the meeting, Hitler's
military adjutant, Colonel Count
Friedrich Hossbach
 Colonel Count
Friedrich Hossbach
 . It outlined Hitler's plans for expansion in Europe.
According to the Memorandum, Hitler did not want war in
1939 with Britain and France.
 What he wanted was small wars of plunder to help support
Germany's struggling economy (although the Nazis never
let on about their financial problems).
 Hitler wanted a full-scale European war with Britain and
France between 1941-1944/5.
 Planned for autarky- self-sufficiency.
 Issue of space (Lebensraum) discussed 1. demand for space
 2. Germany’s growing population
 3. narrow limits of habitable land in Europe
 4. to counter the decline of Germainism in Austria and
Czechoslovakia and
 5. to overtake Austria and Germainism
Part II
Anschluss
 March 1938-Anschluss, German: “Union”, political
union of Austria with Germany, achieved through
annexation by Adolf Hitler in 1938.
 Hitler encountered no military resistance as italy was
an ally and Britain felt treaty of Versailles was very
harsh.
 Hitler sent troops into Austria to ensure peaceful
voting.
 Result- Hitler was strengthened by the Austrian armed
forces and its rich deposits of gold and iron ore.
Video
Takeover of Czechoslovakia
 Edvard Benes, leader of Czechoslovakia appealed for
help from Britain and France.
 France agreed to help if attacked by Germany as it was
bound by a treaty.
 Britain agreed to support France.
 Hitler declared he would fight for Sudetenland- a
heavily fortified region containing key industries and
railways.
 This resulted in tension in Europe.
 Chamberlain attempted to resolve the crisis by
meeting Hitler.
 Compromise- Hitler asked for parts of Sudetenland
whose plebiscite showed that the people wanted to be
a part of Germany.
 Second meeting: Hitler wanted all the Sudetenland.
 Britain mobilised its navy.
 Third meeting: Britain, France and Italy agreed to
Hitler’s demand and agreed to give Sudetenland- this
came to be known as the Munich Agreement.
 Chamberlain authorized a massive increase in arms
spending resulting in an arms race.
Hitler occupies
Czechoslovakia
 15 march, 1939- Germany
marched in and occupied rest
of Czechoslovakia
 Britain and France failed to
respond to the occupation of
Czecoslovkia but warned
Germany that an attack on
Poland would mean war.
Nazi- Soviet Pact
Invasion of Poland
 Reasons for Germany 1. Independent Polish state created by the Allied and
created a corridor to sea through German territories.
 2. Danzig- important German port would be a free city
under the League of Nations.
 Poland was threatened by Soviet as it lay claims that
Poland was given more territory than it had before the
Peace Settlements. 1920 Red Army had invaded Poland
but was defeated by the Polish army.
 1939- Hitler demanded return of Danzig, Poles
decide d to meet Germany with force.
 3 March, 1939- Chamberlain announced Britaina nd
France would guarantee independence of Poland.
 24 August, 1939- Hitler secured a deal with Stalin
 1 September, 1939- Hitler invaded Poland.
Appeasement as a cause of the
war
 It was a policy followed by Brtain and France to settle
international disputes by satisfying grievances through
negotiations and compromise.
 It led Stalin to believe that this policy was aimed at
allowing German expansion in the east thus
promoting a conflict between the Nazis and the Soviet
communists.
 Appeasement had encouraged Hitler to be increasingly
aggressive and each victory had given him confidence
and increased power.
 With each territorial acquisition, Germany was better
defended, had more soldiers, raw materials, weapons
and industries.
 This led to Nazi-soviet Pact- Hitler did not fear a twofront war and continued to provoke the West with his
claims to Polish territory.
Chamberlain and Appeasement
 Chamberlain believed
that Germany had 3 key
issues that need to be
resolved 1. territorial grievances
 2. economic problems
 3. absence of raw
materials
 Solutions
 1. to give territorial concessions
 2. economic credits
 3. colonial concessions
Reasons to adopt appeasement
 To buy time for Britain to rearm as it had reduced its
military forces.
 French followed this policy as they could not do
anything independently and took their lead from the
British.
Questions
 1. To what extent has the policy of appeasement had a
negative impact on international relations since
1930s?
 2. Do you think chamberlain’s Policy was right?
Activity-Debate
 The policy of appeasement was the right policy for
Britain in the 1930s.