How did German history influence Nazi foreign policy?

Question 1

What was the Aryan Racial Theory

Answer 1

• The Nazi ‘Aryan’ race was an invention which drew on ideas circulating in the 19th century of:
• the superiority of Nordic and Germanic races
• Social Darwinism

Question 2

What was social darwinism

Answer 2

The theory that humankind, like all species, faced a struggle for existence - “survival of the fittest”

Question 3

What did Nazis believe the survival of a race depended on

Answer 3

• Its ability to reproduce:
• the process of gathering land to support and feed that expanding population, and focus on maintaining the purity of its gene pool
• This struggle, naturally, resulted in violent conquest and military confrontation

Question 4

What was the Nazi belief of Eugenics that were current in WG

Answer 4

The Nazis thought that the ‘Aryan’ races was superior to all other races, specifically ethnic groups

Question 5

How did the nazis justify their foreign policy through Eugenics

Answer 5

• They wanted Germany to be a great Aryan empire and used the idea of Pan-Germanism to excuse this
• Uniting all German-speaking peoples in one country would mean capturing other countries and clearing them of ‘inferior’ people to give pure Germans’ enough land to live on thus fulfilling their aim of Lebensraum

Question 6

Define ‘Pan-Germanism’

Answer 6

• the idea that all German-speaking peoples should be united and live in one country

Question 7

What are 3 key ways that Nazi Aryan Racial Theories influenced Nazi Foreign Policy

Answer 7

• Lebensraum for ‘pure Germans’
• aim to expand eastwards (at times, using military force), taking land from those who were racially inferior
• Germanisation policies implemented in the new territories e.g. the persecution of inferior races and ‘undesirables’

Question 8

Ideas on Aryan racial theory, therefore, affected Nazi foreign policy because they led the Nazis to favour alliances….

Answer 8

with racially acceptable countries, such as Britain

Question 9

However, their racial theory did not stop the Nazis from making alliances with …….. countries to gain …….

Answer 9

• inferior
• temporary advantage

Question 10

Where was Hitler’s sense of entitlement for a strong Third Reich possibly from

Answer 10

• Earlier German empires and the sense that power and land were Germany’s right
• Hitler’s Third Reich was meant to be a Germany returned to its rightful power and place in Europe

Question 11

In what way was Hitler’s Third Reich aspirations in relevance to previous Germanies different to WG

Answer 11

• Unlike the Weimar politicians, who simply wanted to overturn the ToV and return to 1914,
• the Nazis wanted to overturn ToV and then expand further, securing far more land in the east than Germany had held in 1914.

Question 12

Which two earlier German empire’s successes did Nazi German Policy orientate towards

Answer 12

• The First Reich - 800-1806
• The Second Reich - 1871-1914

Question 13

What features of 2 previous German empires successes influenced Nazi foreign policy

Answer 13

• Both empires had gained land, and kept it, by war and military strength
• they also worked hard diplomatically for acceptance by other nations, especially when first in power
• e.g The Second Reich had a series of carefully created alliances with other nations.

Question 14

How could previous German empires influence on German foreign policy be utilised in propaganda

Answer 14

• As well as endorsing a policy of expansionism, during his early years in power, his foreign policy emphasised his desire for peace
• Referring back to earlier empires in propaganda was also a way of giving the Nazis credibility and justifying the expansion of the German nation
• They could highlight that they were ‘continuing’ and ‘restoring’ a great Germany

Question 15

How did the response of the Allies to the ToV also encourage the Nazis to expand further and develop militarily

Answer 15

• Countries, like Britain, perceived the terms of the Treaty as too harsh
• & consequently turned a blind eye to Germany’s infringement of the terms, like German rearmament
• Britain even signed a Naval Agreement with Nazi Germany in 1935

Question 16

Why perhaps did the Allies acceptance of the Nazis view of the ToV perhaps make them think that wouldn’t encourage the Nazis to expand further and develop militarily

Answer 16

• They seemed to accept this reversal of “unfair” terms, hoping that Germany, if appeased would not pursue expansionist policies and they would not to have to fight another war

Question 17

Why were the allies wrong about appeasing rearamament policies

Answer 17

• Instead, Hitler and the Nazis were given the confidence to pursue expansionist goals in their foreign policy

Question 18

Why was opposition to the ToV vital to support for Nazi foreign policy

Answer 18

• Opposition to the ToV made any political party popular and the Nazis, like most Germans, rejected the Treaty as a matter of course
• The Nazi foreign policy, therefore, aimed to overturn the terms the Treaty

Question 19

What were the implications from the ToV creating states in Eastern Europe

Answer 19

• Smaller countries were weak and often had ethnic divisions that made governing them difficult.
• It also meant 6.4 million Germans found themselves outside the new borders

Question 20

The creation of new states as a term in the ToV affected Nazi foreign policy because…

Answer 20

• The unintended consequence of the creation of these states was that their weakness and demographics made them desirable targets for Germany, the USSR, Italy and Poland
• For the Nazis, therefore, uniting German-speaking people included endorsing a policy of expansionism and Germanisation

Question 21

Nazi foreign policy: a continuation of prior German governments

ToV

Answer 21

• Even the Weimar goverment had turned a blind eye to signs of rearmament,
• Hitler’s entire foreign policy was motivated not by a desire to retur to the pre-1914 borders but to destroy the Europe created atToV

Question 22

Nazi foreign policy: a continuation of prior German governments

Racial Policies

Answer 22

• Continuity as the Second Reich & Nazis shared an attitude to the treatment of what they saw as their racial inferiors and the policies of the second Reich.
• Germany developed colonies in modern day Namibia in the late 19th century with the aim of providing Lebensraum.
• Colonial farmers exploited the indigenous Herero people in part legitimised by Social Darwinism.

Question 23

Nazi foreign policy: a continuation of prior German governments

Lebensraum

Answer 23

From the late 19th century those on the far right such as the Pan- German League in Germany had argued for “living space” at the expense of those in eastern Europe as Hitler did.

Question 24

Nazi foreign policy: a continuation of prior German governments

Anti-semitism

Answer 24

• Discrimination against Jews had been a reality across Europe for nearly 2000 years
• Concepts of Judaism came to be viewed as a negative racial characteristic rather than a religious identity in the 19th century

Question 25

Nazi foreign policy: a continuation of prior German governments

Aims to be the most powerful nation

Answer 25

Hitler, like the Second Reich aimed to make Germany the most powerful nation on the continent a policy followed by German Chancellors before WW1. Von Bulow Chancellor 1900-1909 advocated an aggressive militaristic foreign policy. His Weltpolitik was dedicated to creating a German Empire through military force which would lead to conflict with France and possibly Britain.

Question 26

Nazi foreign policy: a continuation of prior German governments

Methods in Foreign Policy

Answer 26

• The methods Hitler used to pursue his foreign policy goals, mainly when he first came to power were similar to his predecessors e.g. Stresemann aimed to overturn the ToV diplomatically

Question 27

Nazi foreign policy: a continuation of prior German governments

Foreign Policy as a continuation namely

Answer 27

• Hitler also called the regime the Third Reich following on the first and Second Reich’s

Question 28

Nazi foreign policy: a break with the past, offered something new

Colonisation

Answer 28

• Hitler wanted the third Reich to expand beyond its pre-war borders and was not concerned by the problem of managing colonies.

Question 29

Nazi foreign policy: a break with the past, offered something new

Empire

Answer 29

• Developing an Empire is a very vague ambition followed by many nations.
• It was followed by the Second and Third Reich’s but the Second Reich was more interested in colonial expansion.
• The idea of making yourself stronger in relation to other countries is an ambition every country would have - no country commits to a foreign policy to weaken itself.
• Hitler and the Nazi were significantly more aggressive in achieving their foreign policy aims

Question 30

Nazi foreign policy: a break with the past, offered something new

Preparing for war

Answer 30

• An aggressive foreign policy was so key to Hitler and the Nazis that many areas outside of foreign policy were targeted towards preparing Germany for war unlike previous regimes:
• Economy - 4-year plans, autarky
• Education - preparing boys to be soldiers
• Women - to have many children with the aim of providing workers but also soldiers

Question 31

Nazi foreign policy: a break with the past, offered something new

Race

Answer 31

• Race was never the driving force behind any other German regimes’ foreign policy marking Hitler’s actions 33-39 unique

Question 32

Overall - how did the Third Reich influence Nazi foreign policy

Answer 32

• encouraging the Nazis to upholf previous policies, such as German righst to power & land
• Encouraging the Nazis to seek to gain land by war & military strength, as well as diplomatically (alliances of the 2nd Reich)

Question 33

Overall - how did WW1 & ToV influence Nazi foreign policy

Answer 33

• opposing the ToV increased Nazi popularity, determinng their vision for foreign policy
• The Nazis were instilled with confidence following appeassemnts to pursue expansionism, & unite German speaking people

Question 34

Overall - how did the Aryan Racial Theory influence Nazi foreign policy

Answer 34

• encouraging the Nazis to favour alliances with racially superior countries
• encouraging the Nazis to expand German territory to unite German speaking people
• promoting expansion eastwards (racically inferior populations)
• determining the new Germanisation policies in the regime

Question 35

Evidence of continuity in foreign policy

Overturning the ToV

Answer 35

• Weimar politicians wanted to overturn treaty and turned a blind eye to re-armament.
• Politicians even secretly broke some of the terms of the Treaty - e.g. limitations placed on the size of the army.
• Likewise Hitler wanted to rearm and regain lost land

Question 36

Evidence of continuity in foreign policy

The Third Reich should be a powerful empire

Answer 36

• The Kaiser’s government, & Weimar government wanted Germany to be a world power and like Hitler, saw war as a way of achieving that. Hitler’s policy aimed to create a large German empire as well.
• The pan-German League of the 1890s was later harnessed by Hitler in his drive to unite German speaking people.

Question 37

Evidence of continuity in foreign policy

The Third Reich required Lebensraum

Answer 37

• Hitler’s expansionist policies meant taking lebensraum to become a great nation and meet the needs of its people
• The Kaiser’s government had similar expansionary motives

Question 38

Evidence of continuity in foreign policy

Europe under threat from Jewry & Bolshevism

Answer 38

• wanted to delay war as long as possible

Question 39

Evidence of change in foreign policy

Overturning the ToV

Answer 39

• Hitler wanted to go further, expand beyond its pre-war borders in Europe and he did not want the problems of managing colonies until
• Germany was fully established
• The Weimar government however only wanted to restore Germany’s colonies

Question 40

Evidence of change in foreign policy

The Third Reich should be a powerful empire

Answer 40

• Unlike the Kaiser’s government, Hitler wanted to create a world power by creating alliances only with countries that had an ‘acceptable ethnic mix, e.g. Britain.
• In the short term Hitler did make allances with countries containing racially inferior people if it benefitted him

Question 41

Evidence of change in foreign policy

The Third Reich required Lebensraum

Answer 41

• Although earlier govemments might have shared Hitler’s views about race, these view, were never integrated Into government policy
• therefore clearing the east for racially pure people was a departure from previous policies.
• The Kalser’s government had also wanted to acquire more colonies (Imperialistic) unlike Hitler

Question 42

Evidence of change in foreign policy

Europe was underthreat from world Jewry & Bloshevism

Answer 42

• Hitler was both anti-Semitic and anti-communist and perceived these groups to be conspriring together
• e.g jews and communists to control governments
• This belief combined with the need for lebensraum meant that sooner or later Germany would have to go to war to defeat communism
• His eary foreign policy was therefore concerned with delaying war until Germany had re-armed and convincing Western powers that Germany wanted peace.

Question 43

Out of 10, to what extent did hitler shape foreign policy - Overturning ToV

Answer 43

8/10

Question 44

Out of 10, to what extent did hitler shape foreign policy - Empire

Answer 44

6/10
wants world power status but only European countries

Question 45

Out of 10, to what extent did hitler shape foreign policy - Lebensraum

Answer 45

7/10

Question 46

Out of 10, to what extent did hitler shape foreign policy - Europe under threat from Jewry & Bolshevism

Answer 46

10/10