Transcript Hitler`s Expansion 1938-1940


Hitler has eliminated rivals in the military through the
Blomberg-Fritsch Affair
 Now in a position to execute more aggressive foreign policy
 Working towards revision of Versailles, Lebensraum and
Generalplan Ost

Order of Attack
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Austria 1938
Sudetenland 1938
Rest of Czechoslovakia 1939
Poland 1939
Western Europe 1940
USSR 1941

Had signed an AustroGerman agreement in
1936
 Secretly gave pro-Nazi
politicians a role in the
government

1938, Austrian
Chancellor Kurt
Schuschniss alarmed by
the activities of the
Austrian Nazis and
requests a meeting with
Hitler
 Hitler launches into attack

Two hour rant by Hitler,
demanding
 The release of Nazi agitators
 Lifting the formal ban against
the Nazi Party
 The appointment of Nazi
ministers
 Assimilation of the two nations

Schuschnigg calls for a
plebiscite, but Hitler decides
to intervene prior and
marches the Wehrmacht into
Austria on March 12
 Subsequent April vote confirms
the incorporation of Austria
into the Reich

Hitler turned his attention
to Czechoslovakia, reasons
 Hitler considered the Slavs
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untermenschen
Many Czechs had resisted
Austrian rule
Czechoslovakia was an
example of successful ethnic
blending, which Hitler could
not accept
The Sudetenland held a
major German demographic
Czechoslovakia was a major
supporter of the League and
an ally of France and the
USSR
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Sudetenland was a natural
border provided for the Czechs
after WWI which had then been
fortified with a strong army
Many of the Sudeten people had
resented their fall from the old
Austro-Hungarian Empire
 Grievances rising as a result of the
Depression

Sudeten Germans led by Konrad
Heinland, demanding selfdetermination
 Propped up by Hitler, though the
Fuhrer at first did not want to use
force

Hitler changed his mind
with the May Crisis
 Unfounded rumors of
German troops massing on
the Sudetenland border
 Czech, British and French
mobilization
▪ Made Hitler seem as if he had
backed down

Summer of 1938, began to
order further agitation by
the Sudeten Germans
 Heinland actually granted
them self-determination, but
Hitler now desired conquest


British PM Neville
Chamberlain now
organizes an intervention,
desperately trying to avoid
the war
Three meetings
 Berchtesgaden, Sept 15
▪ Agreed Sudetenland would be
transferred to Germany
 Godesberg, Sept 22
▪ Hitler furious, looking for an
excuse for war
▪ Now insists that the Hungarians
and Poles get their own
territory as well
▪ Czechs rejected these terms

Three meetings (cont.)
 Munich, Sept 29
▪ German occupation
▪ Czechs would be allowed to leave
and Germans allowed to enter
▪ Poland was to be given Teschen
▪ Hungary was to be given South
Slovakia
▪ Germany would guarantee
remaining Czechoslovakian
independence
▪ Notes on Munich
▪ Benes nor Stalin invited
▪ Mussolini acting as mediator
▪ Brtain and France told the Czechs
they would not be supported
unless they accepted the terms
Czech Pres. Eduard Benes
resigns
 Oct. 21, Hitler orders the
“liquidation of the remainder
of the Czech state”
 Czechs had just lost 70% of
industry, 66% of population
and natural defenses
 Hitler urges continued
agitation in Czechoslovakia

 Czech Pres. Emil Hacha orders
troops to suppress uprising
▪
Hitler used this as an excuse to
invade the rest of
Czechoslovakia on March 15
▪
Britain no longer works with
Germany

Clear that Hitler’s next
target is Poland
 Part of the TOV that had
been greatly resented by
the Germans
▪ Particularly West Prussia
and the “free city” of
Danzig
 Germans proposed that
the corridor be returned
to allow for access to
East Prussia
▪ Refused
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Early March, Hitler asks
Lithuania to turn over Memel
 With no support, Lithuania is
forced to accept
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March 30, Britain creates a
new Anglo-Polish Treaty,
pledging assistance
 Hitler was furious: “I’ll cook
them a stew that they’ll choke
on.”
▪ Declared the Anglo-German
Naval Agreement and his 1934
Non-Aggression Pact with Poland
▪ Began preparations for Operation
White, the limited invasion of
Poland
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Affirmed the alliance
between Hitler and
Mussolini
 Italy still wary of full-
scale conflict and admits
it will not be ready for
three-four years

Hitler intent on
immediate war with
Poland

Both the West and Hitler
approached Stalin for an alliance
 Hitler needs temporary protection
against two-front war
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Stalin had shown desire to work
with the West
 Joined the League in 1934, pact
with France I 1935
 Undone by the Munich Agreement

Now Stalin seeking an alliance
with either side for practical
reasons
 First to an agreement was Hitler in
August of 1939
▪ Pledged to remain neutral in a thirdparty attack
▪ Included secret protocols for the
division of Northern and Eastern
Europe

Why did Hitler sign?
 Now had a free hand in Poland
 Assured he will not fight a two-
front war
 Secured valuable raw materials
from the USSR

Why did Stalin sign?
 Kept the Soviets out of war –
facing the Japanese in the East and
the effects of 1937 military purges
 Hoped that Germany and the West
would weaken one another and he
would be left standing
 Hoped to get territorial gains – half
of Poland, Finland, the Baltics
 Mechanical goods from Germany

Hitler did not believe Britain and
France would act
 Gave a last minute proposal to
Britain to leave the Empire alone
and agree to later disarmament if
the Poles gave up the corridor
▪ Not accepted by either Britain and
Poland

Hitler fabricated an attack by
Polish nationalists along the
German border
 Sept. 1, invasion of Poland had
begun
 Britain presented an ultimatum
 With no response, two days later
Britain and France declare war on
Germany

Hitler using “blitzkrieg’
style, quickly defeats
Poland
 Divided up between
Germans and Poles at
Molotov-Ribbentrop Line
 Germans now transport
forces to the West

Britain and France did
very little until the next
spring
 Was referred to as the
Phoney War

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Occupied Denmark and Norwegian ports in April 1940
Attacked Holland, Belgium and France in May 1940
 British miracle at Dunkirk to continue fighting
 Moved south through France, which surrendered six
weeks later

Planned the invasion of Britain, Operation Seal Lion,
but needed control of the English Channel
 Thwarted by the Royal Air Force in the Battle for Britain
throughout the summer of 1940
 Switched to the bombing of British cities, which still had
limited effect

June 1941, returns to original war aims, invades the
Soviet Union