Foreign Policy Flashcards
WWI as an influence on Nazi Foreign Policy:
Many Germans had been misinformed about how the war was going and believed Germany could have won had the Kaiser stayed and the army kept on fighting,
Many believed the ‘stabbed in the back’ by the ‘November Criminals’ theory.
Aryan Racial Theory as an influence on Nazi Foreign Policy:
Hitler saw the Aryan race as superior to all other races and wanted Germany to be a great Aryan empire.
This led the Nazis to favour alliances with racially acceptable countries such as Britain (who had Aryan roots) and favour German expansion eastwards by taking land from those who were racially inferior in order to implement Pan-Germanism (all German-speaking people should be united and live in one country)
The First and Second Reich as an influence on Nazi Foreign Policy:
Both empires had gained land and kept it by war and military strength, however, they had also worked hard diplomatically for acceptance by other nations, especially when first in power
Influenced Hitler because his foreign policy during his early years in power included stressing his desire for peace.
Terms of the Treaty of Versailles
- Guilt: Germany had to sign a war guilt clause that
seemed to hold it responsible for starting the war - Lost Land: Germany lost land and 6.4 million Germans
found themselves outside the new borders. - Army: Germany was told to disarm. It could have no
submarines, no heavy warships, no tanks and no air
force. It could no longer conscript soldiers for its
severely reduced army of 100,000 troops that could
not leave Germany. - Rhineland: The German army could no longer enter
the Rhineland, which ran along most of the border
with France as it became a demilitarised ‘buffer zone’
for France. - Reparations: Germany had to pay heavy reparations
set at 132 million gold marks in 1921 - Equal power: it was not allowed to join the League of
Nations so it was not accepted as an equal power in
Europe - Diktat: Germany had no say in terms of the Treaty as
it was a diktat (a dictated peace)
Impact of the the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles caused resentment as the terms led to Germany losing status, the ability to defend itself and led to Germans feeling humiliated.
The treaty was used as a measure to gain support from the German population - the treaty was blamed for problems caused by the way, e.g. the economic disruption because of reparations.
Main features of Nazi foreign policy
- Germanisation: Spreading nazi racial ideas, oppression
and removal of ‘undesirables’ in german controlled
lands. - The Third Reich: Hitler’s expansionist policy aimed to
create a large German empire in Europe and was
meant to be Germany returned to its rightful power
and place in Europe. - Alliances: strategic alliances ensured germany did not
have to fight a war on two fronts - made with individual
countries to divide other nations - Versailles: The treaty had to be overturned: Germany
had to rearm, lost land had to be regained, the - Rhineland had to be occupied and reparations left
unpaid. - Expansionism/Lebensraum (‘living space’): Germany
had a shortage of raw materials and farmland -
Germany needed to expand to meet the needs of its
people
Evidence of Hitler’s masterplan
Hitler’s aims of overturning Versailles and lebensraum are expressed in Mein Kampf could show planning however it could be argued these policies were broad aims, rather than a plan
Evidence of the defiance of the Treaty of Versailles
Hitler built up an army from 1935, openly defying the Treaty of Versailles - conscription forbidden by the treaty was reintroduced: forbidden tanks and other armoured vehicles were built
Evidence of Hitler’s intention of war
Hitler’s Four Year Plan stressed Germany’s need to put militarisation first and to develop synthetic oil and other war materials so germany would not depend on other countries during war
Could Hitler achieve his aims without war?
No - Hitler could not achieve lebensraum and expansion eastwards without war
Yes - Germany remilitarized Rhineland and took Austria by invasion without causing war so hitler did not expect military opposition to his next claim - the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia
History of enmity between Germany and Poland
The Treaty of Versailles gave land to Poland along with about 800,000 Germans
The Polish Corridor created by the treaty with the ‘free’ port of Danzig on its coast to give Poland access to the sea, was bitterly resented
Nazi relations with Poland up to 1936 -
In 1934, Hitler made a non-aggression pact which include military support in times of war with Poland despite his many speeches about reversing the terms of Versailles - Hitler saw the USSR as the biggest threat to germany so poland who stood between was a useful ally
Relations after 1936
The nazis remilitarised the Rhineland in 1936: The polish government expected France to drive the German troops out so offered military help under the terms of the 1921 Mutual Assistance Pact with France but France did not send in troops into the Rhineland
The response of other countries to Hitler’s remilitarisation of the Rhineland and the impact
Poland exposed itself as willing to fight Germany
France had shown itself as unwilling to fight so did Britain and the League of Nations
Hitler became more confident about pressing for what he wanted by force as he was not going to meet resistance
Hitler always intended to invade poland
Hitler agreed to Poland getting Teschen when Czechoslovakia was divided up in 1939 but dependent upon the term of Poland joining the Anti-Comintern Pact which would have certainly set off a Soviet invasion
The Anti-Comintern Pact was Hitler’s litmus test of obedience; although Germany was technically offering a peaceful alliance to Poland, it was offering it on terms that Poland was likely to refuse.
Nazi-Soviet Pact - Hitler wanted a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union so that his armies could invade Poland virtually unopposed by a major power
Hitler didn’t always intended to invade poland
In 1934, Hitler made a non-aggression pact which include military support in times of war with Poland - Hitler saw the USSR as the biggest threat to germany so poland who stood between was a useful ally
Hitler face outspoken opposition in the Reichstag but between 1935-37 but the nazis still presented themselves to the poles in various high-level meetings as wanting to sort out the problems of the polish corridor and danzig by diplomacy and wanting poland as an ally
Hitler wanted Danzig and the Polish Corridor back but it was not as important as the securely rearming
Pact of Steel
May 1939: Between Italy and Germany which committed both sides to close economic ties and mutual military aid
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
August 1939 - 10-year non-aggression pact + signatories of the pact did not reveal the secret clause in which Germany and the USSR agreed to invade Poland and divide it between them.
The Franco-Polish Alliance
Military alliance ( active participation and contribution to the defence of others in the alliance in the event of a crisis) between Poland and France signed in February 1921 and formally took effect in 1923.
Anglo-Polish alliance
Mutual assistance in case of a military invasion from Nazi Germany formalised in 1939
Evidence that Hitler intended to invade Poland and move into war
Britain and France had promised military aid to Poland if it was attacked - Franco-Polish Alliance + Anglo-Polish Alliance
In speeches and negotiations with Italy, Hitler talked of being ready to fight a large-scale war in the early 1940s when the newly acquired land in the east would be Germanised and Germany would have a larger military force
Hitler thought that Britain and France were weak as there was no evidence of Britain and France rearming more rapidly by introducing conscription or transferring troops/equipment
Evidence that Hitler intended to invade Poland but not war
Hitler may have perceived the British and French promises as just bluff: failing to see his actions of breaking promises to not take more territory after the Sudetenland led to them seeing their policy of appeasement as neither keeping the peace or keeping the new nations of Eastern Europe secure
The contribution of other nations to the outbreak of war - Ideological divides
Germany (Hitler), Italy (Mussolini) and Japan (military leadership) - united by their anti-communist beliefs and a rejection of democracy
At first their anti-communist attitude appealed to Britain and France who hoped they might destroy the USSR (fear of communism) however as the dictatorships became more powerful, Western Democracies began to see them as dangerous
The League of Nations
Not all nations were part of the League which made it weak as a worldwide organisation as non-League countries did not have to work with it
The League was slow to make decisions and members seldom agreed to economic sanctions
It did not have its own army: member countries had to agree to supply troops (many were reluctant to do so)
- failure to act quickly and use force made it seem increasingly weak
