Hitler took several steps between 1935 and 1939 to undermine the Treaty of Versailles and expand German territory, which ultimately led to the start of World War 2. These steps included reoccupying the Rhineland in 1936, annexing Austria in 1938, demanding the Sudetenland at Munich in 1938, occupying the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939, signing a non-aggression pact with the USSR also in 1939, and finally invading Poland on September 1st, 1939, leading Britain and France to declare war on Germany.

1. Hitler’s Foreign Policy
GCSE Revision

2. Hitler’s Main Aims
• Abolish the Treaty of Versailles: Hitler believed the TofV was unjust,
and called the German leaders who signed it “The November
Criminals”
• Expand German Territory: Hitler wanted to get back the territory
lost to the TofV. He wanted to reunite with Austria, Czechoslovakia
to re-join Germany and to carve out an empire in eastern Europe
for Lebensraum
• Defeat Communism: Hitler was anti-Communist and believed that
they had brought about the defeat of Germany in WW1.

3. Initial Rearmament
Nazi Rearmament 1932 1939
Warships 30 95
Aircraft 36 8,250
Soldiers 100,000 950,000
% of Government
Spending on
Armaments
1 23

4. The Saar Land
• The events in the Saar were not an example of Hitler breaking the Treaty of
Versailles, or even of him confronting the international community, but they were a
major step in his build up to World War Two.
• The Treaty of Versailles had put the Saar under the control of the League of Nations
for 15 years. During these years, the region was administered by the League. In
1935, as preparations began to hold the plebiscite (vote) then the inhabitants would
decide whether they returned to Germany, or retained their separate identity, it was
being administered by a Briton, Sir Geoffrey Knox.
• The vote was by no means a certainty. Many anti-Nazis had fled to the Saar after
1933. Seeing what Hitler was doing in Germany, Communists and Social
Democrats formed a 'united front' campaign to try to retain League of Nations status.
• On the other hand, Saar Nazis were equally determined that the Saar should return
to Germany. They formed a 'German Front' with the Catholics. Helped by the Saar
police and the German Gestapo, they boycotted and beat up their opponents.
• In January 1935, 90% of Saarlanders voted in favour of returning to Germany. The
decision was very popular in Germany, and the Nazi Party celebrated a great
victory. They presented the restoration of the Saar as the undoing of the first of the
injustices of Versailles. This success encouraged Hitler to challenge more of the
Versailles provisions

5. Remilitarising The Rhineland
• Hitler had originally planned to reoccupy the Rhineland in 1937, but his plan
was brought forward a year for several reasons:
• The Franco-Soviet Pact of 1935 allowed Hitler to claim his actions were a
defensive response
• France would be better armed in 1937
• There was a French political crisis and no political leadership to
concentrate against Nazi Germany
• Economic problems in Germany meant Hitler wanted a foreign policy
success to restore popularity
• In March 1936 Hitler took a huge gamble: he ordered his troops to openly re-
enter the Rhineland, thus breaking the TofV terms. He ordered that if the
French showed the slightest hint of making a military stand that the troops
should retreat.

6. Entering The Rhineland
• Over 32,000 soldiers and armed policemen crossed into the Rhineland.
• France was going through an internal political crisis, and Britain generally
supported the view that Nazi Germany was only going into it’s own
“backyard”. It was believed that Germany was behaving in a reasonable and
understandable manner.
• Therefore, no action was taken against Nazi Germany.
• On March 29th a nationwide referendum was held in which 98.8% of
voters voted “yes” to approving Hitler’s reoccupation of the Rhineland

7. The Spanish Civil War
• These early successes gave Hitler confidence. In
1939 a Spanish civil war broke out between
Communists and right-wing rebels. Hitler saw this
as an opportunity to fight against Communism and
at the same time to try out his new armed forces.
• In 1937 German aircraft made devastating
bombing raids on civilian populations over Spain.
The world saw the suffering that modern weapons
could cause.

8. The Anti-Comintern Pact
• Mussolini was also heavily involved in the Spanish Civil War. Hitler
and Mussolini saw that they had much in common also with the
military dictatorship in Japan.
• In 1936, Germany and Japan signed an Anti-Comintern Pact. In
1937, Italy also signed it. Anti-Comintern means “Anti-Communist
International”.
• The aim of the pact was to limit Communist influence around the
world. It was particularly aimed at the USSR. The new alliance was
called the Axis Alliance.

9. The Anschluss
• Hitler wanted an anschluss to get all German speaking
people into one nation. This included 6million Austrians.
Strategically, a bigger population meant a bigger army.
• It would also allow Hitler to dominate Italy and would give
him access to south east Europe. Czechoslovakia’s
Sudetenland could be the next area to bring back into
Germany

10. How It Happened
• In January 1938 Schuschnigg (Austria chancellor) bans Austrian Nazi Party
• 12th February 1938: Schuschnigg and Hitler meet at Hitler’s
house in Bavaria. Hitler demands:
• Schuschnigg’ to lift ban on Nazi party
• Nazi prisoners to be released and reinstated
• Nazis to be put in key government positions
• If the demands weren’t met, Hitler would occupy Austria.
• Schuschnigg arranges a plebiscite in Austria
• Hitler isn’t happy as this is too much of a gamble. He was desperate for a “yes” vote
• Nazis create trouble in Austria declaring Austrian people asking for help from Germany
• 11th March: Hitler sends ultimatum to Schuschnigg – hand over
power to Austrian Nazis or face invasion
• Schuschnigg realises no help is coming from GB or France, so he resigns
• 12th March, German troops cross the border unopposed into
Austria. Anschluss complete

11. Appeasement in the 1930s
• After signing the naval agreement with Germany in 1935, Britain followed a
policy of giving Hitler what he wanted called appeasement.
• This was because:
• Britain didn’t know whether its empire would support a war
• It did not want to repeat the horrors of WW1
• Britain was not ready for war in terms of its army and economy
• The TofV was unfair and many felt that Hitler had a point in what he was doing
• The USA wouldn’t support Britain in another war
• Britain was also worried about Communism, so at least Hitler was doing
something about it

12. What Was Wrong With
Appeasement?
• Britain’s leaders may have felt that they had no option but to appease Hitler,
but there were obvious risks to such a policy. Some of these were stated at the
time. Others became obvious with hindsight.
• It allowed Germany to grow too strong: Germany was not only recovering lost
land, it was also becoming much more powerful than Britain and France
• It scared the USSR: Hitler made no secret of his plans to expand eastwards.
Appeasement sent the message to the Soviet Union that Britain and France
would not stand in Hitler’s way
• It put too much trust in Hitler’s promises: appeasement was based on the
mistaken idea that Hitler was trustworthy
• It encouraged Hitler to be aggressive: with each gamble he got away with,
Hitler was encouraged to take a bigger risk (pushing his luck)

13. The Sudetenland
• 12-13 September 1938: Hitler encourages Konrad Henlein, leader of the
Sudeten Nazis, to rebel, and demands a union with Germany. When the Czech
government declares martial law, Hitler threatens war.
• 15 September 1938: Chamberlain goes to see Hitler at Berchtesgaden.
Without consulting Czechoslovakia, he promises to give Hitler all the areas
where more than 50 per cent of the population is German. Then he persuades
France to agree.
• 22-23 September 1938: Chamberlain goes to Bad Godesberg to tell Hitler
about the decision, but Hitler now demands ALL the Sudetenland.
Chamberlain refuses; it looks like war. Chamberlain calls the crisis 'a quarrel in
a faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing'.
• 30 September 1938: At Munich, France and Britain agree to give Hitler the
Sudetenland. Chamberlain waves 'a piece of paper' with Hitler's statement
that he does not want to go to war. German troops march into the
Sudetenland, and are welcomed as heroes.

14. The End of Appeasement
• Although the British people welcomed the Munich Agreement, they did not
trust Hitler. This was proved right on 15th March when Germany decided
to take over Czechoslovakia.
• There was no resistance from the Czechs. Nor did Britain and France do
anything about the situation. However, it was now clear that Hitler could
not be trusted. For Chamberlain it was a step too far. Unlike the Sudeten
Germans, the Czechs were not separated from their homeland by the TofV.
• This was an invasion. If Hitler continued unchecked, his next target was
likely to be Poland. Britain and France told Hitler that if he invaded Poland
they would declare war on Germany. The policy of Appeasement was
ended. However, after years of Appeasement Hitler did not actually
believe that Britain and France would risk war by resisting him.
• The British feared communism and delayed for as long as they could.
Poland feared an invasion from the USSR as much as they did Germany
and was not prepared to accept help from them

15. Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939
• On 23rd August 1939, Germany and the USSR signed the Nazi-
Soviet Pact. They agreed not to attack each other, but to attack
Poland and split it between them
• The Nazi-Soviet Pact stunned the world:
• Hitler’s policy of finding Lebensraum involved conquering the USSR
• Hitler’s hatred of Communism made an attack on the USSR almost inevitable
• Stalin lost patience with the British, who were hesitating to sign an
agreement with him. Stalin suspected that Britain and France
were trying to direct Hitler’s attention away from the West to the
East.
• By signing the pact, Stalin gained half of Poland and had time to re-arm the USSR.
• Now there was nothing stopping Hitler from invading.
• 1st September ‘39: Nazi Germany invades Poland
• 3rd September ‘39: Britain & France declare war on Germany

16. Why Did They Both Sign?
Hitler Stalin
He could see Russia was desperate;
wouldn’t provoke Germany, easy for
Hitler
Stalin thought Germany would invade;
Britain responded slowly, Stalin
offended; Hitler boosted Stalin’s ego
Could focus on the West without Russia
being an issue; would get Russia later
Stalin knew there would be war; needed
more time to build his army; signing
gave him time, Hitler distracted
Hitler could take the lead in war; he
would make the big decisions
Stalin would enter war last; could
calculate his decisions; do what’s best
for the USSR
Didn’t have to worry about USSR being
against him; got some of Poland
Stalin didn’t like appeasement; wanted
to join with Britain, they were too slow;
Hitler was quick, pleased Stalin
He had an ally; could scare Poland;
gained power
He felt protected by Germany; he gained
Poland from signing; USSR was in
power/control

17. 8 Steps To WW2
Saarland plebiscite
Conscription and
rearmament
Rhineland
Austria
Munich
Czechoslovakia
USSR / Nazi pact
Poland