What prevented international peace during 1919-1939
Hitler and rearmament 1933-1939
The Treaty of Versailles cut Germany’s armed forces cut to a tiny proportion of what they had been during the First World War. During the 1920s the League of Nations tried to establish a programme for disarmament, but many countries were using rearmament as a way of staving off the Depression, especially after 1929. Nothing was done until 1932 when a World Disarmament Conference was called. Needless to say the conference was a failure with no country willing to risk major disarmament..
Hitler claimed that as no other power was willing to disarm, why should Germany?
Germany withdrew from the Conference, and the League of Nations, in 1933
German rearmament began in secret at first, but by 1935 Hitler had introduced conscription and shown off his new armed forces in a massive military parade. Acting without French or Italian knowledge, the British government signed the AngloGerman Naval Agreement in 1935. Britain knew that Germany was rebuilding its navy and could do little to stop it other than going to war, which she was not prepared to do. The Naval Agreement limited Germany to the same number of submarines and an overall strength of 35% of Royal Navy. Although this was a good agreement for
Britain, it angered the French and Italians and contributed to the break up of the
Stresa Front, which had prevented Hitler’s first attempt at anschluss with Austria in
1934.
In 1936 Hitler took a major risk by moving German troops into the Rhineland. This remilitarisation was a clear contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, but it was unopposed. The Abyssinian Crisis and the shift of Mussolini towards an alliance with
Hitler distracted Britain and France. In Britain, many felt that it was only fair that
Germany should be able to protect her borders, after all the Rhineland was Germany’s
‘own backyard’. The success of the remilitarisation emboldened Hitler to attempt a series of foreign policy adventures in the certain
The Treaty of Versailles cut Germany’s armed forces cut to a tiny proportion of what they had been during the First World War. During the 1920s the League of Nations tried to establish a programme for disarmament, but many countries were using rearmament as a way of staving off the Depression, especially after 1929. Nothing was done until 1932 when a World Disarmament Conference was called. Needless to say the conference was a failure with no country willing to risk major disarmament..
Hitler claimed that as no other power was willing to disarm, why should Germany?
Germany withdrew from the Conference, and the League of Nations, in 1933
German rearmament began in secret at first, but by 1935 Hitler had introduced conscription and shown off his new armed forces in a massive military parade. Acting without French or Italian knowledge, the British government signed the AngloGerman Naval Agreement in 1935. Britain knew that Germany was rebuilding its navy and could do little to stop it other than going to war, which she was not prepared to do. The Naval Agreement limited Germany to the same number of submarines and an overall strength of 35% of Royal Navy. Although this was a good agreement for
Britain, it angered the French and Italians and contributed to the break up of the
Stresa Front, which had prevented Hitler’s first attempt at anschluss with Austria in
1934.
In 1936 Hitler took a major risk by moving German troops into the Rhineland. This remilitarisation was a clear contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, but it was unopposed. The Abyssinian Crisis and the shift of Mussolini towards an alliance with
Hitler distracted Britain and France. In Britain, many felt that it was only fair that
Germany should be able to protect her borders, after all the Rhineland was Germany’s
‘own backyard’. The success of the remilitarisation emboldened Hitler to attempt a series of foreign policy adventures in the certain