8 Steps to War

Steps 1-4

Guiding Questions
What were Hitlers major successes along the road to war? How did Hitler threaten peace in Europe in the years 1933-1938?

Rearmament (Step 1)
Hitlers policy of rearmament NOT ONLY increased Germanys armed forces, it:
Made him very popular at home Destroyed the Treaty of Versailles Undermined the principle of collective security of the League Drove wedges between all his enemies
Bi-lateral Treaties

Withdrawal from the Disarmament Conference 1933

Germany demanded gleichberechtigung (equality of armaments) with other countries in 1932
In October 1933 Hitler withdrew from the Conference and the League, blaming the French

Success for Hitler?

It wrecked the conference It drove a wedge between the French and the British
Angered France who deemed Britain sellouts
In April 1934, French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou withdrew from the conference

British delegation tried to persuade Germany to return to the conference British politicians agreed in that the arms clauses of the Treaty of Versailles were too harsh

It left him free to rearm however he wanted

Non-Aggression Pact with Poland 1934

The Polish chief of state Jzef Pilsudski signed a treaty with Germany
Refrain from war with each other for the next ten years Followed by a trade treaty

Speculation that the treaty is a result of the French refusing Polands suggestion to invade Germany no proof of this Success for Hitler? This arrangement:
Left his eastern border safe and gave him time to rearm Undermined the principle of collective security of the League
Afterwards, Poland actively neglected the League

Divided the countries allied against him When he was ready, he simply invaded Poland anyway

Conscription and Rearmament 1935-6

Conscription was specifically forbidden Rearmament going on secretly since 1933 1935 Hitler held a huge Freedom to Rearm military rally 1936 he reintroduced conscription
1932-9, the number of soldiers grew 10-fold from 100,000 to a million Number of airplanes grew 200-fold from 36 to 8250

Success for Hitler?: Military rally risk paid off

No country questioned his breach of the Treaty of Versailles Other countries backed down and his prestige grew

It made him very popular in Germany

It reduced unemployment It made Germany strong Defied the hated Treaty of Versailles

Anglo-German Naval Agreement, 1935

What about the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-22 and the London Naval Conference of 1930?
Navies of the USA, France and Japan proportionally fixed (10-10-7)

Why uphold the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles when Germany was blatantly disregarding them?
And nobody was willing to go to war to enforce them Part V of the Treaty of Versailles is, for practical purposes, dead (1934)

On second thoughtWas wiser to make an agreement which accepted German rearmament but limited it by treaty, than to condemn it and watch while Germany rearmed without any regulation.
Thus, the British government accepted a naval agreement with Hitler in May 1935

Anglo-German Naval Agreement, 1935

Regulate rearmament? The German navy wanted to grow until it was equal to the French navy
Emphasis on cruisers and submarines

Frightened the British Admiralty

Admiralty wanted to fix the German navy to that of Britain

Hitler overruled his Admirals and agreed to a percentages agreement Signed a treaty in June 1935
British agreed to allow the Germans to build their tonnage up to 35% of whatever the British tonnage was in the various categories of warship

Anglo-German Naval Agreement, 1935

Success for Hitler? The treaty:
Secured and validated his breaking of the Treaty of Versailles Continued the undermining of the principle of collective security of the League. Britain signed the treaty without consulting the French, who were furious Gave him power over Britain

Hoped that the A.G.N.A marked the beginning of an Anglo-German alliance

But, when it came to it, he was able simply to cancel it in 1939.

Saar Plebiscite (Step 2)

Background
Not an example of Hitler breaking the Treaty of Versailles Was a major step in his build up to World War Two.

Saar under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years

Region was administered by the League

In 1935, League prepared to hold the plebiscite

Ultimately, inhabitants would decide whether they returned to Germany, or retained their separate identity

Background cont.
What would the people decide?
Many anti-Nazis had fled to the Saar after 1933
Communists and Social Democrats tried to retain League of Nations status (united front)

Saar Nazis were equally determined that the Saar should return to Germany
Formed a 'German Front' with the Catholics Helped by the Saar police and the German Gestapo, they boycotted and beat up their opponents
League took no action

Background cont.
Nazis turned up the pressure Spaniol led 17,000 Nazi Saarlanders
Threatened to invade the Saar and impose Nazi rule Had gone to the Sturmabteilung (SA) or Brownshirts for help

Plan was thwarted in December 1935 when Britain's Anthony Eden

Offered to send soldiers to keep the peace

Saar Plebiscite
13 January 1935 Overseen by representatives from Italy, Holland (judges), and the USA (history professor)
Declared the election was fair and the result was genuine 90.3% of the voters voted to return to Germany

Effects of the Plebiscite

Validated the Nazi regime
Quoted as 'the greatest triumph of the Nazis in a free election'.

What did Germans who lived outside of Germany show to the rest of the world?
They were NOT being browbeaten into supporting Nazi Brownshirts They hated the Treaty of Versailles Germans loved Germany more than they feared Hitler's regime

Became difficult to argue that the German people were not wholly behind Hitler.

Further Effects
Massive boost to Hitler's prestige Confirmed Hitlers expansionist agenda Gave him the moral authority to demand unity with Austrian and the Sudeten Germans
Barrier for democratic regimes to oppose Hitlers claims to Austria and the Sudentenland.

Final Effects
Showed the League was scared to confront violence. Irony
Appeasers failed to notice that the Nazis had immediately backed down when Eden had threatened to send soldiers

Rhineland (Step 3)
"If France had then marched into the Rhineland, we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs." - Hitler

Rhineland
March 7, 1936 German troops marched into the Rhineland
32,000 soldiers and armed policemen

Direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles Hitler's first illegal act in foreign relations since coming to power in 1933

Britain and France Reaction

France dealing with internal political conflict Britain felt it was reasonable Success for Hitler?
France showed they werent willing to do anything
Wasnt even willing to fight for the safety barrier Eastern focus was would add to their reluctance

Britain showed there was flexibility within the Treaty terms Empowered to set sights on Austria

Austria 1938 (Step 4)

By 1936 Mussolini withdraw his support for Austria Hitler felt empowered to bully Schuschnigg for reunification with Germany
He was born in the Austrian town of Brannau but considered himself German Many Austrians had the same belief

In February 1938, Hitler gave the Austrian chancellor a list of ten demands
Seyss-Inquart, an Austrian Nazi, should be made Minister of the Interior.

Schuschnigg tried to order a plebiscite

Results could put Hitler is a precarious position Hitler counter?
Resignation or rescind the plebiscite order OR risk Luftwaffe invasion

Schuschnigg resigned - along with his cabinet except for Seyss-Inquart Seyss-Inquart Invited German troops into Austria in March 1938
On March 15th 1938, Hitler entered Vienna in triumph Austria became part of the German Greater Reich

Austria 1938
Success for Hitler? Mussolini, as expected, did nothing Britain and France verbally protested to the German government but did nothing else just as Hitler had predicted German and Austrian people responded with overwhelming support

Axis Militarism
Militarism has three facets:
Build up of armed forces
Between 1932 and 1939 Germany increased the navy from 30 to 95 warships Airforce increased from 36 to 8250 planes Army increased from 100,000 to almost a million soldiers

Japan and Italy built up huge armed forces

In 1939, even Italy had an army greater than that of the United States

Axis Militarism cont.

Control of the government by the military and by the 'hawks' (people who want war)
Hitler gave a key role to the army
Openly said that he was going to go to war to gain lebensraum in the east

Mussolini boasted that he was going to rebuild the Roman Empire Japans army established almost complete control over the government
Political enemies were assassinated 26 February 1936, 1,500 soldiers assassinated current and former prime ministers and other cabinet members Navy and army officers soon occupied most of the important offices, including the one of the prime minister The civilian government was powerless

Axis Militarism cont.

Aggressive foreign policy
Germany marched into the (1936), Austria and the Sudetenland (1938) and Czechoslovakia and Poland (1939) Italy invaded Abyssinia (1935) Albania (1939) and Libya (1939), and attacked Egypt (1940) Japan invaded Manchuria (1931), Jehol (in China , 1933), China (1937) and attacked Pearl Harbor (1941)