Unit 10

1. Unit 10 Part 3 The Road to World War II

2. The Road to WW II • Hitler’s goals laid out in Mein Kampf • Unite all Aryan people, Lebenstraum, slavs) • Rid Germany of the Jews • Germany re-arms • Stopped reparation payments in 1933 • 1933 Germany withdrew from the League of Nations • Signed a non-aggression pact with Poland (undermined France’s ability to contain Germany) • March 1935: Hitler formally renounced the Treaty by forming the air force (Luftwaffe) under Herman Goehring and conscripting a 250,000 man army

3. The League of Nations Fails • Japan grabbed Manchuria and they did nothing • Germany rearms they took no action • Britain made a separate treaty concerning naval tonnage • Italy attacked Ethiopia and their Emperor Haile Selassie in October of 1935 • Used poison gas to restore the Imperial “Glory” of Rome and distract from problems at home avenge loss in 1896 (1 million died from 1936-1941)

4. Remilitarization of the Rhineland • Hitler makes this decision based on the impotence of the League of Nations in the Ethiopian problem • March 7, 1936 marched troops into the Rhineland • Appeasement begins • Britain would not support any action and France could not stand alone (FEAR) • Great opportunity to stop him and no one did anything

5. Austria and the Anschluss • Hitler had attempted a Nazi coup in Austria in 1934 but was stopped when Mussolini moved troops to the Austrian border • 1938: There was a new diplomatic situation and Hitler was ready to try again • The Austrian Chancellor called for a vote and Hitler sent his army into Austria on March 12 1938 • After the anschluss France’s ally Czechoslovakia was now surrounded on 3 sides

6. Czechoslovakia • Problems for Hitler: Czechoslovakia was democratic and pro-Western (allied to both France and the USSR) • He concentrates on a region known as the Sudetenland (3.5 mil Germans) • The Nazi party in this area continually demanded concessions from the Czech government • May of 1938 tensions were running high based on the rumor of a German attack (riot in September after a speech in Germany)

7. The Munich Conference • September 29th 1938: Mussolini called for a meeting in Munich of Germany, Italy, GB and France (Edourd Daladier) to settle the Sudetenland question • Germany received everything they asked for and the Czechs lost their buffer German attack • Hitler promised that he had “no more territorial demands to make in Europe” • Neville Chamberlain of GB announces that they have achieved peace with honor and peace in our time” • Problem: Russia was not invited which cut them out of the anti-Hitler loop (led to non-aggression pact) • March 15th 1939 Hitler violates the agreement and takes the rest of Czechoslovakia

8. Poland • The next target for Hitler was the formerly German city of Danzig on the Baltic Which was run by the League of Nations • Also he wanted direct access to East Prussia • Propaganda insisted that Germans were being mistreated by the Poles • March 31 1939 Chamberlain announces the Franco-British Guarantee of Polish independence • However..there was not a lot of support for war to defend Poland in either country (needed Stalin’s help)

9. The Nazi-Soviet Pact • August 23rd 1939 Hitler and Stalin announce the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression Pact • Divided Poland and allowed the Soviets to occupy the Baltic States and take part of Romania • September 1st 1939 Hitler invades Poland • September 3rd Br/Fr declare war on Germany • September 17th Russia invades Poland (occupied the Baltic States) • November the Russians invade Finland (took 6 months to defeat them)