Crisis and Conflict
An Enquiry Approach to Modern World History
Secondary 3
Chapter 6:
War in Europe
Could war in Europe have been
avoided?
What were the immediate
causes of World War II in
Europe?
Why was peace threatened
in the 1930s?
Events in the 1930s that made
Europe a less peaceful place
and war a greater possibility
Crisis and Conflict: War in Europe
Events in 1939 that triggered the
war
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In a Nutshell

After World War I, peace in Europe was built on the
Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.

The rise of the Nazi regime challenged the Treaty and
caused peace to break down.

To create a Greater Germany, Adolf Hitler invaded
countries such as Austria and Czechoslovakia.

World War II was also partly caused by the policy of
appeasement.

The League of Nations, which was set up to preserve
world peace was too weak to stop the outbreak of World
War II.
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Why was peace
threatened in the 1930s?
Hitler’s foreign policy aims
The League of Nations could
not make countries give up their
weapons
Hitler’s actions
More authoritarian governments
came to power in Europe
because of the economic
problems of the 1930s
Failure of the League of Nations
to deal with aggressors
The League of Nations was too
weak to maintain peace in
the 1930s
The members of the League
of Nations put their own
interests first
The policy of appeasement
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To make Germany strong again
by breaking the terms of
the Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty was unfair because it was designed to keep
Germany weak.

The Treaty forbade Germany to keep a large army.

Furthermore it had taken away much land from
Germany.

Hitler wanted to make the military strong and regain the
land that was lost.

To achieve this, he had to break the terms of the Treaty
of Versailles.
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To get more land for Germany
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• Hitler wanted to create a Greater Germany uniting all
lands containing German-speaking people.
• Hitler also felt that Germany needed lebensraum or
living space. So he had to get the land by conquering
other countries.
These included lands such as:
Parts of Russia
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Austria
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To fight Communism

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Hitler made a war with Communist Russia likely because
he was targeting the living space in Russia.
He knew that Russia had lots of land and resources.
Personally Hitler wanted to destroy Communism. He
believed that if he did not destroy Communism first, it
would annihilate Germany.
He was also aware that by gaining control of East Europe,
he would be able to exterminate the Jews living there.
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Rearmament

One of the first steps Hitler undertook was to rearm Germany.

This was achieved through acquiring more weapons and
increasing the size of his army.

In October 1933, Hitler pulled Germany out of the Geneva
Disarmament Conference.

Shortly after this incident, Germany withdrew from the League of
Nations.

Spending on the army and navy was doubled.

Production of arms increased sharply.

In March 1935, conscription was brought back by Hitler.
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Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
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The Rhineland was demilitarised by the Treaty.
Most Germans felt this to be most unfair to them.
Hitler was determined to reclaim the Rhineland.
On 7 March 1936, German troops marched into
the Rhineland unopposed.
It was a gamble by Hitler as he was not sure if the
League of Nations would stop him by using
military action.
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Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

No action was taken against Germany.

The French were horrified but did not do anything
without the support of the British.

Gave Hitler the confidence that Britain and France would
give in to his demands.

Hitler was able to start building a defensive force to
protect Germany from any attack by France.

This made him even more ambitious.
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Anschluss

Hitler was an Austrian.
 He wanted Austria to be part of the Third Reich.
 The Austrian empire broke up at the end of World War I.
Subsequently, a small and independent Austrian republic
was set up.
 The Treaty of Versailles however stated that there should
be no union (or Anschluss in German) between these two
countries.
 A number of attempts were made by Germany to take
over Austria in the 1930s.
 The most serious attempt, in 1934, was stopped by Italy.
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Anschluss

Austria led by Chancellor Schuschnigg protested but the
protests were ignored. A secret plebiscite was arranged.

In March 1938, Germany marched across the border into
Austria.

Schuschnigg was pressured to resign and the plebiscite
was abandoned.

A vote was held and the majority voted for Anschluss.
Anschluss (union of the two countries) was completed
without any resistance.

Many Austrians welcomed the German takeover.
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Anschluss

It was another gamble taken by Hitler that paid off.

The League of Nations protested but took no action.
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It gave Hitler the confidence to take on further
gambles.
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Italian aggression in Abyssinia

In 1934, plans were made by the Italian dictator Mussolini, to invade
Abyssinia.

Following an appeal to the League of Nations by the Emperor of
Abyssinia, war was averted.

By 1935 however, Mussolini began full-scale invasion into Abyssinia.

The League only managed to sanction an embargo of rubber and
metal on Italy to stop the invasion.

The League did not resort to drastic measures for fear of triggering a
war.

In fact, the organisation was willing to give Italy two-thirds of
Abyssinia if Mussolini withdrew his troops. This was called the HoareLaval Plan.

As a result, Italy which sought Hitler’s help, managed to gain control
over Abyssinia in May 1936.
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The members of the League
of Nations put their own
interests first

The British and French needed Italy to counter the Nazi
menace.
 They tried to shirk their responsibility to the League but
public opinion in Britain would not allow them.
 This shows how the League was not strong enough to
protect the interests of its members.
 As a result the Hoare-Laval Plan was abandoned.
 Mussolini was angry that the plan was abandoned and he
became closer to Hitler.
 On 25 October 1936, the Rome-Berlin Axis was formed.
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The League of Nations could not make
countries give up their weapons

Most of disarmament efforts by the League of Nations failed.

E.g. The 1932 Disarmament Conference was bogged down by
disagreements over how disarmament should be carried out.

Countries like France refused to disarm for fear of Germany.

Due to the fact that most countries did not want to disarm to
Germany’s level, Hitler pulled out of the Conference in Oct
1933.

The Anglo-German Naval Treaty also demonstrated how Britain
had violated the Treaty of Versailles by allowing Germany to
increase its naval size.

Following this, other members followed Britain’s example.
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More authoritarian governments came
to power in Europe because of the
economic problems of the 1930s

Due to serious economic problems resulting from the Great
Depression, many government were blamed for failing to
solve unemployment.

This had the effect of drawing support towards authoritarian
regimes.

Economic problems had encouraged many countries to resort
to protectionism triggering off a trade war.

Despite efforts by the League to stop the trade war, few
countries cooperated.

Trade war also increased worldwide unemployment.

Many countries used rearmament to create jobs. But this had
the effect making war more likely.
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Illustration showing rearmament in Germany during the 1930s. What
does it tell you about the changes in Germany at that time?
Aggressive rearmament:
In 1933, Hitler announced that he
was increasing the size of the
army from 100 000 to 300 000
men. In 1935, he increased the
size of the army to 550 000 men.
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Conscription:
Hitler reintroduced
compulsory military service
for all male citizens in 1935.
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The League of Nations was too weak to
maintain peace in the 1930s

By the mid 1930s, the members of the League of Nations
no longer believed that it could protect countries that were
being attacked.

Efforts at collective security had failed.

The League officially ended in 1946.
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The League of Nations was too weak to
maintain peace in the 1930s
Which one of these reasons do you think illustrates the
League’s greatest weakness?
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The policy of appeasement
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One of the main reasons for the
failure of collective security was
the policy of appeasement.
Appeasement means the practice
of avoiding war by giving in to the
aggressive demands made by a
country.
Neville Chamberlain, the British
PM most closely associated
with appeasement.
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Reasons for adopting policy of appeasement
To buy time
Britain hoped appeasement
would give it some time to
modernise its armies. The
German army on the other hand
had been growing steadily.
Economic problems
The British economy had been
damaged by World War I and
Great Depression. Its efforts at
rebuilding its economy would
be destroyed by another war.
Britain’s other problems
Britain was having problems
with its colonies that were fighting
for independence. Its troops were
too stretched to deal with a
possible war.
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Lack of US support
US policy of isolation meant that Britain
and France were left to face the threat of
Germany alone.
Memories of World War I
Britain was keen to avoid another war that
would cause millions of lives.
Fear of Communism
Most Britons felt that a strong Germany
would prevent the spread of Communism,
which to them was a greater threat.
Attitudes towards the Treaty of Versailles
Most Britons felt that the Treaty had
been too harsh on Germany.
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How appeasement worked
Background
 Czechoslovakia was one of the richest countries in Eastern
Europe.
 The main problem was that Czechoslovakia was made up many
different ethnic groups.
 Some smaller groups wanted to merge with neighbouring
countries like Germany, Hungary, Poland.
 Hitler took advantage of this.
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How appeasement worked

Hitler encouraged different racial groups to complain
about the Czech rule.
 He targeted mainly the Germans living in Sudetenland in
western Czechoslovakia.
 He got the Sudeten Nazi party to create problems for the
Czech government.
 Britain and France could see a crisis developing over the
Sudetenland.
 They feared that it might lead to war.
 Chamberlain tried to persuade the Czech government to
give way to Hitler.
 He hoped that this would stop Hitler from causing more
trouble.
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The Munich Agreement
Three visits were made by Neville Chamberlain to Germany
to resolve this issue.
First visit:
 Chamberlain was so anxious to avoid conflict that he
made three trips to speak to Hitler.

Hitler threatened to go to war with Czechoslovakia if the
Sudetenland was not given to Germany.

Chamberlain was so keen to avoid war that he agreed to
see what concessions he could persuade the Czech
government to make.
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Second visit:
 This meeting was held at Godesborg in the Rhineland.
 Chamberlain offered to transfer to Germany all those parts of
Sudetenland where more than fifty per cent of the inhabitants
were German.
 Hitler however threatened to go to war again if Sudetenland
was not transferred to Germany immediately.
Third visit:
 This meeting was held at Munich, the main city of Bavaria in
southern Germany.
 There were representatives from Britain, France, Italy and
Germany but no representatives from Czechoslovakia.
 Outcome: Almost everything that Hitler asked for was given.
 Within days, Germany was in control of the whole of
Sudetenland.
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The Munich Agreement
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For Hitler, this was a great triumph as he made important
gains without fighting.

In fact it only served to encourage him further.
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For Chamberlain, this seemed like proof that appeasement
worked.

For the Czechs, it was a great disaster and the first step
towards their annihilation.
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What were the immediate
causes of World War II in
Europe?
Britain ended
the policy of
appeasement
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The Nazi-Soviet
Non-Aggression
Pact
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Hitler’s
invasion of
Poland
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Britain ended the policy of
appeasement

Britain and France had been rearming for some time in
the event that appeasement fails.

The German invasion of Czechoslovakia finally convinced
them that Hitler could not be trusted.

More aggressive action was needed to deal with Hitler.

Poland looked likely to be the next victim.

In March 1939, Britain and France signed an agreement
with Poland promising to go to its aid if Germany was to
invade.
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The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
 Hitler’s next target was Poland, particularly
the Polish corridor and Danzig.
 However he was wary of the possible interference from
the USSR.
 Stalin on the other hand was wary of German
aggression.
 Stalin’s attempts to reach a deal with Britain and
France failed.
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The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact

This pact came as a great surprise to the world.

Hitler and Stalin were known to be arch enemies.

For years, Hitler had attacked Communism and Stalin
had done his best to prevent growth of German power.
Terms of the Pact

The USSR was to stay neutral in any war between Germany
and Poland.

Secret clause: Both agreed to divide Poland between them.

Germany took the west. The USSR took eastern Poland that it
had lost at the end of World War I.
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The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact

The pact allowed Hitler to risk a war with Britain and
France, knowing that he did not have to fight the
Russians as well.

In doing so, he avoided the possibility of war on two
fronts.

To Britain, the pact was a big blow as war with Germany
became more likely.

To many, this pact was seen as the trigger to full-scale
war in Europe.
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Hitler’s invasion of Poland
 The pact secured Germany its
Eastern Front.
 On 1 September 1939, Hitler
invaded Poland.
 This time Britain and France was
determined to keep their promise to
Poland and declared war on
Germany.
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Summary
Causes of World War II in Europe
Hitler’s foreign
policy
Economic
problems
Ways World War II could have
been avoided
A fairer Treaty
of Versailles?
Join forces with
the USSR?
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Appeasement
to stop
aggression
by other countries
Fight Hitler while
he was still
weak?
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Failure of the
League of
Nations
to stop
rearmament
Support collective
security in
the League?