Transcript HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 14 The Second World War

HI136 The History of Germany
Lecture 14
The Second World War
German Foreign Policy, 1933-1937
Oct. 1933
Germany leaves League of Nations and Disarmament Conference
Jan. 1934
Non-Aggression Pact with Poland
Jan. 1935
The Saar votes to return to Germany
March. 1935
Hitler announces reintroduction of conscription
April 1935
Stresa conference, Britain, France, and Italy protest against
German infringement of Versailles
June 1935
Anglo-German Naval Agreement on an enlarged German Navy
Oct. 1935
Italy invades Abyssinia
January 1936
Mussolini ends Italian guarantee of Austrian independence
March 1936
German troops reoccupy the demilitarised Rhineland
July 1936
Germany sends military to help the nationalist rebels in Spain
Nov. 1936
Rome – Berlin Axis announced; Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan
Nov. 1937
Italy joins Anti-Comintern Pact
German Foreign Policy 1938-1939
One woman’s reaction to the German entry into
the Sudetenland, Sept. 1938.
March
1938
Invasion of Austria
(Anschluss)
Sept.
1938
Munich conference of
Germany, Italy, France,
Britain
Oct. 1938
Germany takes
Sudetenland, Teschen to
Poland
March
1939
Germany occupies
Czechoslovakia
March
1939
Germany occupies
Memel
March
1939
Britain and France
guarantee Poland
The Nazi-Soviet Pact, 23 August 1939
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“Rendezvous”, by David Low, The Evening
Standard, 20 September 1939
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Article I. Both High Contracting Parties obligate
themselves to desist from any act of violence, any
aggressive action, and any attack on each other,
either individually or jointly with other Powers.
Article II. Should one of the High Contracting
Parties become the object of belligerent action by a
third Power, the other High Contracting Party shall
in no manner lend its support to this third Power.
Secret Additional Protocol:
Article I. In the event of a territorial and political
rearrangement in the areas belonging to the Baltic
States (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the
northern boundary of Lithuania shall represent the
boundary of the spheres of influence of Germany
and U.S.S.R. In this connection the interest of
Lithuania in the Vilna area is recognized by each
party.
Article II. In the event of a territorial and political
rearrangement of the areas belonging to the Polish
state, the spheres of influence of Germany and the
U.S.S.R. shall be bounded approximately by the
line of the rivers Narev, Vistula and San.
The question of whether the interests of both parties
make desirable the maintenance of an independent
Polish States and how such a state should be
bounded can only be definitely determined in the
course of further political developments.
In any event both Governments will resolve this
question by means of a friendly agreement.
Article III. With regard to Southeastern Europe
attention is called by the Soviet side to its interest in
Bessarabia. The German side declares its complete
political disinterestedness in these areas.
Article IV. This protocol shall be treated by both
parties as strictly secret.
Blitzkrieg
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Germany had only begun to rearm in
1935 – they needed tactics to offset
their numerical inferiority.
Emphasis on speed and movement –
use of modern technology (tanks, air
power, paratroops etc.) to avoid the
long drawn-out war of attrition.
Break through enemy lines, seize key
objectives, present the enemy with a
fait accompli before they can react.
Schwerpunkt
(focal
point)
–
concentrate forces to break through
enemy lines at a single point.
Speed of movement would then allow
the Germans to paralyse the enemy’s
decision-making
and
limit
their
freedom of action.
The Polish Campaign, 1-28 Sept. 1939
Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich
Right: Campaigns in western Europe and the Mediterranean,
April 1940-April 1941
Source: The Encyclopaedia of the German Army in the 20th Century
The Battle of Britain
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Air superiority
necessary if Germany
to mount an invasion of
the British Isles.
Reasons for failure to
do so:
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Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich
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German aircraft have
limited range & were
designed to support land
forces.
British fighters superior.
Britain building more
fighters more quickly
than the Germans.
Radar.
Change of tactics.
The ‘Blitz’
Operation Barbarossa
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The largest land invasion ever
seen.
Three Army Groups made up of
German, Italian, Hungarian and
Romanian troops aim to capture
key strategic areas: the Baltic
coast and Leningrad (North), the
Ukraine & Moscow (Centre) and
the oil fields of the Caucuses
(South).
Intended to be a repeat of the
successful Blitzkrieg in the West.
Armies covered vast distances but
didn’t achieve their objectives.
Flaws:
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Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich (1996)
Operation started too late =
armies at the mercy of the
Russian winter.
Deep penetration into Russia left
supply lines exposed.
The Home Front
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Hitler convinced that the collapse of the home front had led to defeat
in 1918 – determination to avoid a similar situation in WWII.
Continued provision of leisure & entertainment.
“A reluctance to ask the public to bare sacrifices” (Craig), initially led
to limited state interference in the economy & a failure of mobilize
the full resources of the state.
Women not brought into the war effort on ideological grounds.
Surveillance of the population – the security forces on the look-out
for signs of defeatism.
Intensification of propaganda & cult of the Führer.
Exploitation of occupied territories and forced labour.
Fritz Todt (1891-1942),
Minister of Armaments, 1940-42
Albert Speer (1905-1981),
Minister of Armaments, 1942-45
Source: R. Overy, Russia’s War (1997)
Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich
The ‘New Order’ in Europe
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Poster inviting Dutchmen to join the SS
By 1942 Germany dominated
Europe – even those states that
remained neutral had to keep on
good terms with the Germans.
Germany ruthlessly exploited
occupied territories, expropriating
assets, raw materials, art treasure
etc.
Use of foreign workers to solve
the labour shortage – 7 million
foreign workers in Germany, and a
further 7 million in the occupied
territories by 1944.
Ambitious plans to colonize the
east – ghetoization & ‘liquidation’
of Jews, slavs etc. to make way
for colonists.
‘The Turning of the Tide’, 1942-43
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7 Dec. 1941: Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbour.
11 Dec. 1941: Hitler declared war on the USA, globalizing the
conflict.
5 Sept. 1942: German forces reached the Russian city of Stalingrad.
23 Oct. – 5 Nov. 1942: Battle of El Alamein – the British 8th Army
defeated the Germans in North Africa and pushed them into retreat.
8 Nov. 1942: Anglo-American forces invaded Morocco & Algeria,
cutting off the German retreat and trapping them in Tunisia.
July-August 1943: The British & Americans invade Sicily.
Sept. 1943: Anglo-American forces move onto the Italian peninsula.
Germany occupies Italy.
Stalingrad
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Confrontation between the two
dictators over the ‘City of
Stalin’ – neither would give in.
Russian
counter-attack
in
November 1942 encircled the
German 6th Army.
The Germans lost 750,000
men (killed or missing) and
91,000 were captured.
A turning point in the war –
after Stalingrad the Germans
did nothing but retreat on the
eastern front.
Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich
Aerial view of Dresden after allied bombing
Allied troops enter Berlin, 1945
Russian soldiers wave the ‘Hammer & Sickle’ flag from the roof of the Reichstag building, Berlin, May 1945
Reasons for Defeat
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The role of Hitler.
Fighting on multiple fronts.
The failure to fully mobilize the population and the
economy.
Flexibility.
Morale.
Key texts:
 Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich at War (2008)
 Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won (2006)