Nazi Aggression
Hitler’s Aims
Hitler aimed to make Germany into a great power again and this he hoped to achieve by:
Destroying the hated Versailles settlement
Building up the army
Recovering lost territory such as the Saar (Alsace Lorraine) and the Polish Corridor
Bringing all Germans within the Reich
This last aim included the annexation of Austria and the acquisition of territory from Czechoslovakia and Poland, both which had large German minorities as a result of Versailles.
Define:
Lebensraum – Living space under the single empire. (Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia).
Volksgemeinschaft – People’s community
Fuhrer – Leader
Autarky – Self sufficient
Social Darwinism – The belief of ‘survival of the fittest’, when
Annex – When you take something by force.
Megalomaniac – Power hungry
Road to War Time
1933 League of Nations
Hitler withdrew from the Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations on the grounds that France would not agree to German equality of armaments. Hitler promises to get back all that was lost by the Treaty of Versailles.
1935 – Remilitarisation
Hitler announced expansion of army to 550 000 troops and German air force (secret plans to rebuild military underway since 1933), reintroduces conscription.
1936 – Remilitarise the Rhineland
March: Hitler remilitarises the Rhineland. German troops were moved into the Rhineland, on the borders of France and Belgium. This was a contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, but Britain and France were unwilling to go to war over the matter.
1937 – Germany allies with Italy and Japan
March 1938
Germany invades Austria and achieves Anschluss or union with Austria (This was expressly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles).
It brought 8 million German speaking Australians into the Reich.
It revealed the weaknesses of Britain and France, which again did no more than protest.
It demonstrated the value of the new alliance with Italy.
It dealt a severe strategic blow at Czechoslovakia which
Hitler aimed to make Germany into a great power again and this he hoped to achieve by:
Destroying the hated Versailles settlement
Building up the army
Recovering lost territory such as the Saar (Alsace Lorraine) and the Polish Corridor
Bringing all Germans within the Reich
This last aim included the annexation of Austria and the acquisition of territory from Czechoslovakia and Poland, both which had large German minorities as a result of Versailles.
Define:
Lebensraum – Living space under the single empire. (Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia).
Volksgemeinschaft – People’s community
Fuhrer – Leader
Autarky – Self sufficient
Social Darwinism – The belief of ‘survival of the fittest’, when
Annex – When you take something by force.
Megalomaniac – Power hungry
Road to War Time
1933 League of Nations
Hitler withdrew from the Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations on the grounds that France would not agree to German equality of armaments. Hitler promises to get back all that was lost by the Treaty of Versailles.
1935 – Remilitarisation
Hitler announced expansion of army to 550 000 troops and German air force (secret plans to rebuild military underway since 1933), reintroduces conscription.
1936 – Remilitarise the Rhineland
March: Hitler remilitarises the Rhineland. German troops were moved into the Rhineland, on the borders of France and Belgium. This was a contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, but Britain and France were unwilling to go to war over the matter.
1937 – Germany allies with Italy and Japan
March 1938
Germany invades Austria and achieves Anschluss or union with Austria (This was expressly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles).
It brought 8 million German speaking Australians into the Reich.
It revealed the weaknesses of Britain and France, which again did no more than protest.
It demonstrated the value of the new alliance with Italy.
It dealt a severe strategic blow at Czechoslovakia which