German & Italian Expansion 1933-1940

German & Italian Expansion 1933-1940

Impact of the First World War and the Peace Treaties 1914-1919 • Initially, there was much nationalist support for the war and, at first, the First-World -War went well both for Germany and for Austria - its main ally in the Triple Alliance. • Germany’s war plan - the Schlieffen Plan - which was designed to enable Germany to survive a two-front war, saw France quickly invaded via Belgium, and it soon looked as though Paris would fall to the German army. • The Schlieffen Plan: The main idea of the Schlieffen Plan was based on the belief that, once war was declared, Russia (as it was relatively backward as regards economic and military preparedness) would take some time to mobilise -thus the idea was that Germany could quickly defeat France, as in 1870-71, and then be able to turn all its forces against Russia in the east. • lt was also based on the assumption that Britain would remain neutral in the event of a war between Germany and France.

However, the British Expeditionary Force joined with the French to prevent this, while Russia’s army mobilized quicker than planned; and, by November 1914, a stalemate existed on the Western Front. • New weapons and tactics, and several hugely-costly offensives failed to break it, and the First 'World’ War soon became a war of attrition. • In April 1917, the US joined the Triple Entente and, although revolution in Russia meant German troops could be switched from the east to the west, Germany's last offensive in the spring of 1918 failed after early successes.

Then, in August 1918, the Allies - now fresh troops from the US- were able to launch a counter-offensive. • With hunger, mutinies and revolution within Germany, in Cotober 1918, the German General Staff handed power over to a civilian government, so that the army could avoid being directly blamed for any subsequent peace settlement. • They then secretly advised this new German government that Germany would have to surrender - even though no enemy troops were actually on German territory. • Thus, on the advice of Germany's top military leaders, Germany signed the armistice in November 1918

However, the German government assumed that the peace treaty would be based on the Fourteen Points, issued by US president , Woodrow-Wilson in January 1918. • These had called for a peace that was not punitive, and which would honor the principles of self-determination.

Yet when the main allied leaders met in Paris in January 1919,it soon became clear that Germany was going to have to sign a harsh treaty. Ominously, no German representatives were present as the Allies began to draw up the Treaty of Versailles, which was the treaty intended to deal with Germany. once the terms had been agreed between the Allies, the German representatives were called in simply to sign the treaty. • The terms were seen as so harsh by them that, at first, they refused to sign - but were informed by the German military chiefs that they could not prevent an Allied invasion of Germany. So, very reluctantly, they signed.

The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were relatively harsh - but nowhere near as harsh as those imposed on Russia by Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918. • As well as restrictions on the size of its army and navy, Germany lost land to Poland, France, Belgium and Denmark. In all, Germany lost 10% of its lands in Europe, along with 12.5% of its population, l6% of its coal fields and 50% of its iron and steel industries. • All its overseas colonies were taken away, while Anschluss (union) with Austria was expressly forbidden. • In addition, it was forced to accept what became known as the 'War Guilt Clause', by which Germany accepted total responsibility for starting the war, and agreed to pay reparations (compensation) for all the damages suffered by the Allies • Finally, Germany was not allowed to join the newly-established League of Nations.

German nationalism and the'diktat' • Right up to the signing of the armistice in November 1918, the German people had been told by the Kaiser and his military -dominated government that Germany was actually winning the war. • Hence many in Germany felt that the 'undefeated heroes’ of the German army had been 'stabbed in the back’ by enemies and traitors at home, whilst German soldiers - after heavy casualties - had finally been on the point of victory. • Thus those who had signed the armistice were seen by German nationalists as the 'November criminals' (Novemberverbrecher ).

Novermberverbreher ; Novermber Crimininals : Future Scape goats • A 1924 right-wing German political cartoon showing the new government's politicians - the so-called 'November criminals' - stabbing the German army in the back, by signing the armistice and then the Treaty of Versailles. The caption reads: 'Germans, remember!'

(Dolchstosslegende) • For German nationalists, these 'enemies and traitors' were variously a mixture of liberals, democrats, socialists, communists and Jews. The 'stab-in-the-back' myth (Dolchstosslegende) was first put forward by Hindenburg and Ludendorff – despite the fact that they knew the German Army had informed the new government that they would have to agree to an armistice. • This myth proved to be a strong one, and was later used to good effect by Hitler and the emerging Nazi Party in the 1920s. As it was the new democratic government of the Weimar Republic which had signed the armistice and peace treaty, many German nationalists never really supported the democratic changes to Germany's constitution - and hence were not worried when Hitler and the Nazis argued for its overthrow.

Then, once the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles were made public, there was much nationalist resentment at what were seen as grossly unfair terms. • For many Germans, this treaty was particularly resented as it seemed to be punishing the German people, when they had little influence over the Kaiser and his military commanders, or the policies they had pursued before 1914. The fact that the treaty had been drawn up and imposed without any German representation led many Germans - not just nationalists - to see it as a diktat, or 'dictated peace'. It was in this post-war atmosphere that German Nazism was born.

Very Important Fact : NO MYTH • Although seen as unfair by the German people, in reality, Germany did not lose that much territory - and what it did lose was far less than what it had taken from Russia in the Treaty of Brest- Litovsk in 1918. • ln addition, the German economy revived quickly in the second half of the 1920s; while the amount of reparations was progressively reduced after 1919. Finally, throughout the '1920s, Germany was able to avoid complying with many of the military restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.

A protest in Munich • A protest in Munich against the decisions of the Treaty of Versailles on 1 June 1919. • ln all, over 30,000 Germans protested in Munich alone

CHANGING DIPLOMATIC ALIGNMENTS IN EUROPE In the years after the First World War, Britain and France were the two most powerful countries in Europe. Italy, despite being on the winning side in the War, was a far less influential country and Germany was an outcast among the nations –a pariah state.

CHANGING DIPLOMATIC ALIGNMENTS IN EUROPE Germany had been reduced to the lowest of the low by the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty had stripped Germany of land, much of her military power, and forced to pay huge amounts in financial reparations to the victors of the First World War –or the Great War as it was known at the time because there had never been a war like it before, and nobody expected there to be a war like it ever again.

CHANGING DIPLOMATIC ALIGNMENTS IN EUROPE The Treaty of Versailles had been signed to create a lasting peace, but this backfired with great irony as the very treaty singed to create a lasting peace, instead helped to set Europe on the path to another war even greater than the one that had just ended. The Treaty of Versailles had helped make the Great War not so much the war to end all wars –as the war to begin all future wars!

CHANGING DIPLOMATIC ALIGNMENTS IN EUROPE The terms of the Treaty of Versailles turned Germany into a perfect breeding ground for Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler and the Nazis were able to play on the treaty and exploit the German people’s resentment of it. Hitler promised to rip up the treaty if he became German Chancellor (equivalent to Prime Minister), and that was a vote-winner in the eyes of many German people.

CHANGING DIPLOMATIC ALIGNMENTS IN EUROPE The Nazis’ exploitation of Versailles and the German people’s resentment of it, along with the promise to make Germany great again, was one of the key factors in Hitler’s eventual coming to power in Germany. It was all too well known what path Hitler sent Germany and indeed all Europe on the road once he had become German Chancellor!

CHANGING DIPLOMATIC ALIGNMENTS IN EUROPE If the Treaty of Versailles had not been so harsh there may very well have been no Adolf Hitler in German politics, the Nazi party would have remained an obscure fringe party with no influence beyond the German state of Bavaria, and there may therefore very well have been no Second World War.

CHANGING DIPLOMATIC ALIGNMENTS IN EUROPE How Europe went from what everyone thought would be a lasting peace with Germany an outcast among the nations, to a Nazi Germany led by Hitler with plans to take over Europe is a catalogue of missed opportunities to forestall a major conflict, mis-judgements by the key European powers of the time, and numerous changes in attitudes and alignments between nations from Europe and beyond.

German Nazism • German Nazism - like Italian Fascism - developed as a direct result of the First World 'War. • Unlike Mussolini, Hitler (an Austrian, not a German) seemed to have had no real interest in politics before 1914;but as the war came to an end, he began to develop an increasingly extreme form of German nationalism. • Like many, Hitler was deeply affected by the Treaty of Versailles, and he soon determined that this treaty should be overturned. • In 1924, just four years after Hitler had formed his Nazi Parry his

German Nazism • Hitler's early admiration of Mussolini's fascism is shown by the fact that he adopted the Roman salute. The idea of uniforms for the Nazi Party’s paramilitary forces, along with other aspects of Mussolini’s propaganda techniques . • As well as sharing with Mussolini's Fascist Parry hatred of democracy, liberalism and all left-wing political parties, he also expounded on foreign policy.

German Nazism • Here, too, were great similarities with Italian Fascism: including the idea of Lebensraum ('Living Space'), which was very similar to Mussolini's idea of spazio vitale. • However, unlike Italian Fascism, the Nazis 'nationalist ideology did not aim for the establishment of a colonial empire - instead, the focus was on gaining Lebensraum and resources by expanding in eastern Europe. • As well as regaining land lost to Poland in 1919, this policy was particularly aimed against the Soviet Union: in addition to destroying 'communism', such expansion would gain the greater German Reich sufficient food and raw materials to make it self-sufficient.

German Nazism • Thus, like Italian Fascism, Nazi ideology led in the direction of an aggressively expansionist foreign policy - and, ultimately, to the prospect of war and conquest. In order to achieve this, Nazi ideology and policies - again like Mussolini's - included the idea of increasing the nation's birthrate, in order to ensure sufficient soldiers for such wars.

Nazism and German nationalism after 1918 • In Bavaria, following the violent suppression of a short-lived socialist revolution during 1918-19,an extreme right-wing nationalist administration had come to power. • It was in this atmosphere that Hitler first joined the German Workers’ Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or DAP). • Despite its name, usually associated with left-wing movements, it was an extreme nationalist party. It was had been formed in March 1919 by Anton Drexler, who was also its leader.

(Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) • Once a member, Hitler soon emerged as an effective speaker and, in February 1920,he persuaded its members to change the party’s name to the National Socialist German 'Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP). • He also got the re-named party to accept a new 25-point party programme. This was essentially a right-wing nationalist, corporatist and anti-Semitic programme.

Significantly for German foreign policy after 1933,it called for the overturning of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, and for all German-speakers to be united in a greater German Reich. • Soon, the party was known as the Nazi Parry. • Then, in November 1923, Hitler attempted to imitate Mussolini's successful’ March on Rome', which had taken place the previous year. • However, Hitler's 'March on Berlin’ failed to get out of Munich - and, as a result, is known as the Beer Hall Putsch.

Although Hitler was briefly imprisoned for this violent attempt to overthrow the German government, he used his time in prison to write his book, Mein Kampf ('My Struggle'). • In it, he expounded all his ideas - including those on German unity and nationalism, and on what kind of foreign policy Germany should follow.

German & Italian Expansion 1933-1940