Wareurope

WAR IN EUROPE

Could war in Europe have been avoided?

• Why was peace threatened in the 1930’s

• What were the immediate causes of WWII in Europe?

Paris Peace Conference

• Victorious countries had own agenda

(could not agree on the kind of peace to be established)

• Germany left out of the talks

• Germans forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

• War Guilt Clause

• Reparations(Compensation for war damage)

• Loss of territories(parts of Germany + overseas colonies)

• Size of armed forces limited(No conscription, small army, small navy, no air force, demilitarisation of Rhineland)

GREAT DEPRESSION

(1930s)

Many Germans lost their

jobs

Life was difficult

Germans lost faith in the

Weimar government

Hitler becomes

Chancellor

NAZIS become largest party

NAZI propaganda and Hitler’s

Oratorical skills

Rich Germans feared the rise of

Communism

Support for Communists

Support for NAZIS

Reichstag Fire

Hitler becomes Fuhrer (Could rule without the

consent of the Reichstag)

Weakness of the Weimar

governmentPower Struggle

Why was peace threatened in the 1930’s?

Hitler’s foreign policy:

- To make Germany strong by breaking the treaty of Versailles

- To get more land for Germany

- To fight communism

Some terms…

• Großdeutschland

• Lebensraum

• Anschluss

Rhineland

Hitler’s Actions

• Rearmament

- Hitler pulls out of disarmament conference in 1933

- Germany pulls out of League of Nations

- Increased size of army to 550 000 men

- Introduced conscription in 1935

Reaction?

• No one was prepared to enforce the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

• Hitler was able to keep his army

Why do you think this was so?

Hitler’s Actions

• Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

- Hitler orders troops to move into the Rhineland in 1936

- This was against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Reaction?

• France was horrified but did not take any action (not without British support)

• British were not willing to take any action (claimed that Germany was ‘only marching into its own backyard’)

Anschluss

Anschluss

• Treaty of Versailles did not allow for union between Germany and Austria

• German troops march into Austria in March 1938

• A vote was held and 99.75% of Austrians voted for Anschluss

Thinking point…

• What do you think was the impact of Hitler's actions?

• How did they impact the League of Nations?

Failure of the League of Nations (1930s)

Failure of the League of Nations (1930s)

• The league failed to promote peace and prevent a future war

• Key members of the league were reluctant to take firm action against belligerent nations (Germany, Japan, Italy)

Abyssinia

Italian Aggression

• Benito Mussolini was the dictator of Italy.

• Dreamed of building an Italian empire

• 1935, Italy invades Abyssinia

Reaction?

• League of Nations took no significant actions.

• Both Britain and France tried to negotiate with Mussolini rather than take firm, decisive action.

League of Nations

• Too weak

• Members put their own interests first.

• Disarmament was a failure.

• Appeasement was a failure.

• Munich Conference, 1938 – Allied powers agreed to Hitler taking over Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia)

League of Nations

End of Appeasement

• 1939, Hitler invades Czechoslovakia.

• This convinced Britain and France that Hitler could not be trusted.

• Poland was Hitler's next target.

• Both Britain and France promised to help if Poland was attacked.

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

• Stalin was concerned about the rise of Hitler.• USSR joined League in 1934 to gain protection• However, Stalin saw how useless the League

was.• USSR was not invited to the Munich

Conference.• Stalin suspected that Britain and France were

waiting for Germany to destroy Communism in Russia.

• 23 August, 1939 – USSR and Germany sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

Invasion of Poland

• 1 September 1939

• Hitler invades Poland

• 2 September – Britain and France demand that Germany withdraw from Poland. Hitler refused.

• 3 September – Britain and France declare war on Germany.

• War begun in Europe.

Europe on the eve of war.

What does this source tell you about the Nazi-Soviet Pact?