Transcript Hitler*s Foreign Policy - vcehistory

HITLER’S FOREIGN
POLICY
The Munich Crisis and the question of appeasement
HITLER’S FOREIGN POLICY
WAS BUILT ON THREE AIMS
To reverse the Treaty of Versailles
To create a “Greater Germany” by uniting all
German speaking people
The creation of Lebensraum - living space for the
German people.
LEBENSRAUM
Hitler’s Greater Germany would have a population of over 85
million people
Germany’s land would be insufficient to feed this many people
Hitler intended to expand eastward towards Poland and Russia
Russians and Poles were Slavs-Hitler believed them to be
inferior and so Germany was entitled to take their land.
C R E AT I O N O F A G R E AT E R G E R M A N Y
Hitler wanted a single
homeland for all German speaking
people
 After Versailles millions of
Germans were living in Foreign
countries
 The Treaty of Versailles had
forbidden the union of Germany
and Austria- The Anschluss
APPEASEMENT
A policy aimed to prevent
aggressors from starting wars by
finding out what they want and
agreeing to demands that seem
reasonable
Neville Chamberlain was the
British Prime Minister that
negotiated with Hitler in 1938
THE MUNICH AGREEMENT
 In September 1938, Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister, met Adolf
Hitler at his home in Berchtesgaden. Hitler threatened to invade Czechoslovakia
unless Britain supported Germany's plans to takeover the Sudetenland.
 After discussing the issue with the In September 1938, Neville Chamberlain, the
British prime minister, met Adolf Hitler at his home in Berchtesgaden. Hitler
threatened to invade Czechoslovakia unless Britain supported Germany's plans to
takeover the Sudetenland.
 After discussing the issue with the Edouard Daladier (France) and Eduard Benes
(Czechoslovakia), Chamberlain informed Hitler that his proposals were
unacceptable. (France) and Eduard Benes (Czechoslovakia), Chamberlain
informed Hitler that his proposals were unacceptable.
THE MUNICH AGREEMENT
 The meeting took place in Munich on 29th September, 1938. Desperate to
avoid war, and anxious to avoid an alliance with Joseph Stalin and the Soviet
Union, Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier agreed that Germany could
have the Sudetenland. In return, Hitler promised not to make any further
territorial demands in Europe.
 On 29th September, 1938, Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Edouard
Daladier and Benito Mussolini signed the Munich Agreement which transferred
the Sudetenland to Germany.
THE MUNICH AGREEMENT
 In March, 1939, the German Army seized the rest of Czechoslovakia. In
taking this action Adolf Hitler had broken the Munich Agreement. The British
prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, now realized that Hitler could not be
trusted and his appeasement policy now came to an end.
B R I TA I N A N D A P P E A S E M E N T
 Most politicians wanted to avoid war
 The people of Britain wanted to avoid
war
 Britain had only a small army and
airforce
 Many people thought of the
Sudetenland in the same way they had
about Austria
 Winston Churchill did not agree but he
was in a minority.
T H E R E S U LT S O F A P P E A S E M E N T
 Europe saved from war? Possibly though some historians that if the Czechs, French, British
and Russians had stood up to Hitler he would have been defeated, and would have faced war on
two fronts
 Czechoslovakia was abandoned, and weakened by the loss of important military defences
and resources
 Germany gained the Sudetenland- another step towards the Greater Germany.
 Britain and France gained time to build up their armed forces, but so did Germany
 Hitler decided Britain and France were unlikely ever to oppose him by force
 Stalin was offended at being excluded from the talks and decided he could not rely on Britain
to help the USSR stand up against Germany
THE SOVIET PACT
Joseph Stalin
BACKGROUND
 Stalin had been very worried about German threats to
the Soviet Union since Hitler came to power in 1933
 Hitler had openly stated that he wanted Soviet land for
his Lebensraum
 Stalin tried to create alliances with Britain and France
but to no avail
 In 1934 Stalin took the USSR into the League of Nations
as a guarantee against German aggression.
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
 Stalin gained no satisfaction from the League.
Instead he saw failures
 Abyssinia
 Spanish Civil War
 German rearmament
BRITAIN AND FRANCE
 Britain:
 France:
 Some welcomed a strong
 Stalin signed a pact with
Germany as a force to fight
France in 1935
Communism.
 He did not trust the French to
 Communism was seen as a
keep to it- especially after
bigger threat than Hitler
Rhineland
THE MUNICH
AGREEMENT
 This agreement made Stalin even more wary
 Stalin was not consulted about the agreement
 Stalin concluded that Britain and France were
powerless to stop Hitler
 Or that they were happy for Hitler to take over
Eastern Europe and the USSR
THE NEXT MOVES
 Despite misgivings Stalin was still prepared to talk to
Britain and France about an alliance
 The three countries met in March 1939
 Chamberlain was reluctant to commit Britain
 Stalin believed that Britain and France made things
worse by guaranteeing to defend Poland if it were attacked
 Chamberlain saw the guarantee as a warning to Hitler
 Stalin saw it as support for a potential enemy.
THE DEED IS DONE!
On 24 August 1939 Stalin made his
decision and signed a pact with Germany
The world was shocked as two arch
enemies promised not to attack each other.
Privately they also agreed to divide Poland
WHY DID STALIN SIGN THE
PACT?
 Stalin was not convinced that Britain and France would be
strong and reliable allies against Hitler
 He also wanted large parts of eastern Poland
 He did not believe that Hitler would keep his word. He wanted
time to build up his forces.
INVASION OF POLAND
 On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army
was defeated within weeks of the invasion.
 Britain and France, standing by their guarantee of Poland's border, had
declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939.
 The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on September 17, 1939.
 In October 1939, Germany directly annexed those former Polish
territories along German's eastern border: West Prussia, Poznan, Upper
Silesia, and the former Free City of Danzig.
WORLD WAR TWO
Germany (Hitler) and Russia (Stalin) and Italy (Mussolini)
VS
Britain (Chamberlain), Daladier (France)
Same old story – remember World War One