1917

• USA joined- provided Britain & France with equipment & fresh troops
• Russia left Nov 1917 (revolution)
1918
• Germany suffering starvation (due to blockades), mutinies & influenza outbreak
• Germany surrendered 11th Nov (signed Armistice).
• Kaiser abdicates!

The Paris Peace Conference

• Jan 1919-Paris Peace Conference.
• 32 countries sent delegates.
• Defeated countries & Russia (Communist) not invited.
• Major decisions taken by “Big Three”
• This is where they come up with the ideas for the different peace treaties.

Aims of the ‘Big three’

David Lloyd George- Great Britain
• Compromise between America and France.
• Like Wilson, don’t punish G too harshly
• Lost 1 million men from across their empire = British public anger.
• Won an election campaign in Dec 1918 promising to ‘squeeze the
German lemon until the pips squeak’ and to “hang the Kaiser”!
• Probably only said it to win election!

Lloyd George’s Aims at the Paris Peace Conference - Maintain

supremacy of navy - Prevent settlement being too harsh – Germany
may turn to communism and they needed the German economy to
recover as Britain depended on their trade for money

Georges Clemenceau-France
• Make Germany Pay/REVENGE! French public demanded this.
• Had seen Germany invade France twice in his life.
• Get Alsace Lorraine back
• France was severely damaged in WW1 (1.4 million men killed, lost
60% young men, industry and 4,000 sq. mile farmland damaged)

Clemenceau’s Aims at the Paris Peace Conference - Security for France

– prevent another attack on its frontiers Keep Germany weak, make it
difficult to recover -Disarm them - Gain back Alsace and Lorraine -
Reparations – Germany to pay France for the cost of the damage
France had suffered in the war
 Woodrow Wilson-USA
• Idealist
• priority= world peace
• Germany to be punished but not too harshly or will seek revenge
-‘Fourteen Points’ (self-determination; freedom of seas, L of N)
• Lenient because USA hadn’t suffered much in WW1! Only lost 100,000
men
Wilson’s Aims at the Paris Peace Conference - New standards into public
life – trustful and open relations between countries - European borders
reorganised according to self-determination - Faith in the creation of a
peace keeping organisation – the League of Nations

Germany made peace with Russia in 1917 at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Russia had been forced
to give large amount of land and money to Germany. This gave the Allies some idea of how
Germany would treat the defeated nations if it had been victorious

Wilson’s 14 Point Programme

This was his plans for: the creation of a League of Nations to guarantee peace, right to self determination
for all countries, reduction of arms to reduce likelihood of war and attempts to avoid rivalry and secrecy
by ensuring freedom of the seas and no secret treaties

Some key points:

1. End of secret treaties 7. Alsace and Lorraine back to France

2. Freedom of the seas 8. People of Austria-Hungary to be given independence
3. Reductions in armies and weapons 9. Serbia to be restored
4. Future of colonies to be decided fairly 10. An independent Poland to be set up with a port –
5. German troops to leave Russia Danzig
6. Belgium to be restored to independence 11. Formation of an association of nations to guarantee
peace – League of Nations
 Reparations
War Guilt (article 231) Germany forced to accept • £6.6 billion
responsibility for the war – accepting blame for war meant • Set in 1921
you had to accept paying costs of war • To be paid over 42 years

Military Restrictions League of Nations

• Army limited to 100,000 The Treaty Set up to keep
• No conscription allowed
• No tanks, subs or aircraft of Versailles international peace.
Germany banned!
• Navy: 6 battleships, only 28th June Russia not allowed.
15,000 men
One of Wilson’s 14
• Rhineland demilitarised 1919 points

Territorial changes
West Europe:
• Alsace-Lorraine back to France
• Anschluss forbidden (unite with A-H)
• Saar coalfields under protection of League – after 15 years plebiscite would be held
• Eupen & Melmedy given to Belgium
• North Schleswig given to Denmark
East Europe:
Poland became an independent country
• Polish Corridor given to Poland (separating Germany from East Prussia) so they had access to
the Port of Danzig

= Germany lost 10% of its land & 12.5% of its population!

It can be remembered as TRAWL:

Territory – East (Polish Corridor), West (Alsace&Lorraine, Eupen&Malmady, Saar), Empire (mandates to
GB/France)
Reparations - £6.6 billion, set 1921
Army – 100,000 men, no conscription, no tanks/subs/aircraft, navy: 6 battleships, 15,000 men. Rhineland
demilitarised.
War Guilt – Clause 231. Total blame for war = have to pay reparations
League of Nations – created 1919. One of Wilson’s 14 points. Germany/Russia not allowed to join at
start.
German reaction
Horrified & humiliated. Wanted revenge in the future e.g. willing to support Hitler
Key objections included:

Objection Wrong Right to object? Wrong to object?

to Against.
Diktat – Peace was dictated to them Not invited to They were given 3 weeks to
Paris Peace Conference to decide peace object. They had treated
terms. “Winners” peace terms Russia the same at Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk 1917
Amount of land Against principles of self-determination. G Polish corridor contained
lost – 10% of land lost 72,500km land and 1.5 million people. mainly Polish people, not
and population East Prussians cut off from Germany and Germans so this was fair.
Amount of land under another country’s rule. Putting Germany did same to Russia
lost – 10% of land Germany’s colonies under mandate of at Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1917
and population other countries seen as unfair and France in 1871
Military Need an army for protection and to stop Demilitarisation was meant to
restrictions too civil war in its own country. All countries protect France who had been
small an army were meant to disarm as mentioned in 14 invaded twice
points yet Germany was only one actually
doing it by 1919.
War Guilt Germans angry at being blamed for New democratic German
Kaiser’s war, not theirs. Germany had a government was only set up
new government, Weimar Government, after the war was lost
was it fair to blame a new government for
the old government’s mistake? Other
countries had been equally involved and
to blame.
Reparations - £6.6 Too much for Germany to pay – war had France had suffered much
billion been costly for Germany too. Lost damaged to agricultural and
industrial land in the treaty so would industrial lands in the north
struggle to make money to pay and needed compensation.
reparations. Longer reparations went on, Germany had done the same
longer it would take G to recover and Br to France after Franco-
needed them to trade with Prussian War in 1871 and
Russia in 1917
Allied Reaction to the Treaty of Versialles

Britain: Reaction of the People

• Britons had little sympathy towards Germans because of wartime propaganda. Civilians had suffered
food shortages too. Britons were ready to make Germany pay!
• During the general election, politicians based their campaigns on their promises to be harsh on
Germany
• When the Treaty was signed the general feeling in Britain was that it was fair, but could have been
much harsher.
• On his return from Versailles Lloyd George was greeted as a hero- the streets outside the railway station
were lined with people waving and cheering.
Reaction of Leader: Lloyd George,
• Lloyd George said that “we will have to fight another war in 25 years’ time, and at three times the cost!”
• Lloyd George was concerned that the loss of German land and people to Poland would cause huge
problems in the future, especially if those people were determined to be part of Germany once again.
• Lloyd George also felt that reparations were too harsh as Britain would lose an important trade partner.
• Lloyd George was pleased that the British Empire gained extra colonies and now covered 1/3 of the
globe. Also, the German navy was restricted so that Britain could ‘rule the waves’ without competition

France: Reaction of the People:

• Most of the fighting took place in France and the country was badly affected by the war >>the French
were determined to make Germany pay!
• French people pleased that there was no longer a German threat in the Rhineland and that they would
be receiving reparations. They were also given control of the Saar area for 15 years, Germany's rich
coalfields helping them financially
• However, many were furious at the Treaty and thought it should have been much tougher
• Shortly after the Treaty was signed there was an election in France in which Clemenceau was voted out
Reaction of the Leader: Clemenceau
• Clemenceau was angry that Germany was allowed to retain an army and felt the Rhineland should have
been completely taken away from Germany
• Felt the Saar should have been given to France permanently
• Thought the reparations total of £6,600 million was too small a sum

USA: Reaction of the People:

• America only joined the war in 1917 and so many people in the US felt that the Treaty was unfair on
Germany. Many thought that Wilson had helped Britain and France become more powerful and rich at
Germany’s expense
• They also favoured isolationism- felt the US should not get involved in affairs in Europe
• Had wanted a fair treaty that guaranteed peace in the future, but felt they had got the opposite
Reaction of the Leader:
• In American politics, Treaty of Versailles was used to criticise Wilson, by his rival party, the
Republicans. The Treaty was ratified (accept or give consent) by the Senate. Republicans argued that
since the Treaty had not been based on the 14 Points it was not in America’s best interests and they
refused to ratify it. This meant that American could not join the League of Nations
• Wilson feared a harsh treaty would result in America being dragged into another war.
• Apart from the creation of the League of Nations most of Wilson’s 14 Points were ignored
• In 1924 Wilson died from a stroke, leaving the Republicans to dominate American politics for the next
decade, based on politics of isolationism

Strengths of the Treaty of Versailles

 Brought peace to Europe
 Set up international organisation, League of Nations to keep peace

Weaknesses of the Treaty of Versailles

 Germany intent on revenge and to overturn treaty – genuine
grievances
 US government did not sign the Treaty of Versailles = whole
settlement was less secure. Own creator did not want to sign it!
 Wilson came up with League of Nations idea, but US never joined =
would the organisation created to enforce the treaty even work?
The League of Nations Wilson’s idea (one of his 14 points)
• Vision to bring world peace by working together and solving problems
• Based in Geneva, Switzerland (neutral country during WW1)
Covenant
• 26 laws that all members agreed to follow
• Disarmament – avoid future arms races
• Registration of all treaties to avoid secret alliances
• Collective security (if one state attacked another, all members would join together and act against the
aggressor)
Membership
• 42 founder members. 59 member countries by 1930s, defeated countries & Russia not allowed to join.
• USA failed to join- Most Americans hated the idea and pursued policy of isolationism (wanted no more
involvement in Europe)
• Seen as a ‘League of victors’
Structure:
• Assembly- each member country sent a rep. Met once a year at HQ in Geneva. Decisions had to be
unanimous! Discussed general topics e.g. revision of treaties, admission of new members.
• Council- smaller group of 5 permanent members (Britain, France, Italy, Japan and later Germany). 4
non-permanent members elected for a 3yr period. Met several times a yr & in emergencies Aim was
to resolve disputes be negotiation if possible. Had the power to veto decisions.
• Secretariat- international civil service- record keeping, etc. Not always effective.
• Permanent Court of International Justice- court of 15 judges chosen from LoN countries. Setup in the
Hague in Holland (neutral). Dealt with disputes between countries over international law e.g. terms of
treaties. Aimed to settle disputes peacefully. Hand no means of enforcing its decisions, relied on
goodwill of member countries to enforce decisions.
• Agencies to deal with world’s major problems e.g. health and disease, slavery, refugees, labour. Hope
that if world problems were tackled e.g. slavery then there wouldn’t be conflict.

Powers
If a country ignored the League’s decision, then the League could take action:
1) Moral sanctions turn opinion against the guilty country
2) Economic sanctions league members refuse to trade with guilty country
3) Military force Member countries’ armed forces could unite against the guilty country

Commissions/Agencies
The League set up commissions or agencies to improve working conditions and cure diseases

International Labour Organisation:

Aim: Bring workers, employers and governments together to improve working conditions
Success: 1928- 77 countries agreed to set a minimum wage. In Tanganyika, Africa, slave labour was used
to build a new railway, the conditions led 50% of workers to die, the League challenged this and reduced
the death rate to 4%
Failures: 1919- tried to stop children under 14 from working; was ignored by most member nations
because they thought it would cost too much
The Permanent Central Opium Board
Aim: To stop the creation of and distribution of opium- opium was legally used as a painkiller but some
drug companies also sold it illegally
Success: Blacklisted 4 large companies that were involved in trading illegal drugs
Failures: Some historians claim that key members of the League were not really dedicated to stopping
the sale of opium, as they made large amounts of money from it

Year Success Failure

1920 • In 1920, the Poles captured Vilna (the capital

of Lithuania) and refused to withdraw when
the League ordered it to; the League could
do nothing.
1921 • In Silesia in 1921 it held a plebiscite and
suggested a partition, which stopped a war
between Germany and Poland.
• It arbitrated between Sweden and Finland
over the Aaland Islands in 1921 – its
investigation showed that the islands
belonged to Finland.
• When the League rejected Turkey’s claim to
Mosul, a part of Iraq (a British mandate),
Turkey agreed.
1922 • The League also improved people’s lives. It • The League could not stop wars when
took 400,000 Prisoners of War home. It set powerful nations were involved. Turkey
up refugee camps after the 1922 war drove the Greeks out of Smyrna in 1922 – all
between Turkey and Greece. the League could do was agree.
• The Health Committee worked against
leprosy and malaria. The League closed
down four Swiss companies which were
selling drugs, and attacked slave owners in
Burma and Sierra Leone, setting free 200,000
slaves.
• Finally, its economics experts helped Austria
1923 • France invaded the Ruhr in 1923 when
the Germans did not pay reparations; the
League was not even consulted.
• Again, in 1923, after an Italian general
named Tellini was murdered in Greece,
Italy occupied Corfu. Greece asked the
League for help, which ordered
Mussolini to leave – but the Conference
of Ambassadors overruled the League
and forced Greece to pay compensation
to Italy.
• Lithuania seized Memel, a German port
under League control, the League told
Lithuania to leave, but the Conference of
Ambassadors gave Memel to Lithuania.
• A disarmament conference in 1923 failed
because Britain objected.
1925 Greece invaded Bulgaria in 1925, the League ordered
Greece to withdraw, which it did.
1925 The Locarno Treaties, In early 1920s the relationship
between G and Fr still hostile, France even invaded
Germany when it failed to make reparation payments
in 1923. In 1925, German foreign minister, Gustav
Stresemann, invited France’s foreign minister to
meet and improve relations. Since Germany wasn’t a
member of the League of Nations the meetings were
organised independently . Terms: Germany accepted
the borders set up in the Treaty of Varesailles; also
signed by Britain, Italy, Belgium and Czechoslovakia-
agreed not to go to war with any of the others and if
one of the countries broke the treaty they would
support the country and invade . BUT Failure? Treaty
marked the failure for LoN- should have been at the
forefront of international peace but had nothing to
do with it
1928 The highest point of the League’s work was the
Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, an Act of the League’s
Assembly, supported by 65 nations, which outlawed
war.
The League did solve some small political disputes in the 1920s (e.g. Corfu, Vilna)
but in the 1930s it proved powerless to act against the dictatorships of Japan,
Germany and Italy

Failure 1
The Manchurian Crisis 1933 Japanese expansion into Manchuria & China
• Manchuria is province of China that had raw materials that Japan lacked. The Wall St Crash meant
Japan was keen to gain resources to trade goods and recover economically.
• Japanese army wanted an empire. China was weak at the time and in chaos since 1911 revolution
• Japan owned the South Manchurian railway and saw this as an ideal opportunity to seize full
control of Manchuria while China was in no position to act!
• Sep 1931 an explosion on the railway lead to the Japanese blaming the Chinese which was an
excuse to take over the area!
• Feb 1932- Japanese set up a puppet government in Manchuria

League of Nations reaction

• China appealed to the League but Japan claimed it was simply restoring order. The League had to
act carefully as Japan was a leading member of the League! The League told Japan to withdraw its
troops but Japan refused!
• The League set up a Commission of Inquiry under Lord Lytton. Took a whole year to issue report!
Lytton said Japan had acted unlawfully & Manchuria should be a self governing state.
• Japan ignored this & renamed Manchuria ‘Manchukuo’. By 1933 they controlled all of Manchuria.
• Later 1933 – League of Nations formally condemned Japan’s actions.
• Japan ignores this and leaves the League!
• In 1937 Japan launched a major invasion of the rest of China!

This showed the League’s weaknesses:

1. Membership limited power of sanctions: Economic sanctions would’ve been useless as Japan’s main
trading partner was the USA who wasn’t a member. USSR could have sent troops to resolve the issue
but they had not been allowed to join.
2. British self interest was worried about taking any further action in case British trade in Asia was
harmed.
3. No formal army made the League weak – Britain and France were not willing to risk war and send
troops.
4. If a country didn’t like a decision, they could ignore it or leave the League

WHEN AN AGGRESSIVE DICTATOR WANTED TO INVADE NEIGHBOURING TERRITORIES, THE LEAGUE OF

NATIONS WAS POWELESS TO PREVENT IT = GERMANY AND ITALY NOTES THIS!
Failure 2
The Abyssinian Crisis
Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia
• Abyssinia= poor country in NE Africa. Near Italian colonies- Italy had tried but failed to conquer it in 1896.
Mussolini now keen to avenge that defeat, get its rich resources, and get glory for Italy.
• Manchurian Crisis gave Mussolini the impression that the League would not stop a country if they did act
aggressively so this gave him confidence to invade Abyssinia.
• League of Nations had to be careful again: Italy was a permanent member of the Council
• The League of Nation was anxious to avoid a clash with Mussolini. Britain and France thought he was
their best ally against the growing threat of Hitler. They were joined together in the Stresa Front which
opposed Hitler’s aims to change the Treaty of Versailles. The French were very keen to keep Italian
support.
• Dec 1934 clash at Wal-Wal between Italy and Abyssinia and the dispute passed to League for a decision.
• Britain showed signs it would oppose this aggression. A Peace Ballot in 1935 was held in Britain: British
public said they believed that support for the League would keep peace (i.e. if Britain were to act against
an aggressor using the League, the British would be okay with this). Samuel Hoare gave a speech saying
Britain would support the idea of collective security if aggressive action did occur!
• However! Italy ignored Britain and the League.
• Oct 1935- Italy attacked Abyssinia causing destruction (modern weapons vs. poor country)
• This was a clear sign of aggression - under League rules actions should be taken.
• Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the League

The League’s response

• This was clearly an unprovoked invasion of the weak by the strong- inexcusable! For sanctions to work,
they would need to be introduced at once.
• Britain and France didn’t want to lose Mussolini as an ally resulting in them taking two months to decide.
• The League agreed on limited sanctions: - banned loans & sale of arms to Italy, & imports from Italy
• League banned members from selling arms to Abyssinia as well as Italy leaving Abyssinia with nothing to
defend itself against Mussolini’s modern army . However, it did not ban iron, coal, steel or oil (all the
things needed for an invasion!) (Mussolini later said that if coal and oil had been banned he would have
stopped his invasion)
Why wasn’t raw materials banned?
• The League didn’t ban oil exports as feared USA would still trade anyway as they weren’t in League
• The League didn’t ban coal exports as feared affect on British mining industry
• France continued to trade iron and steel
• Suez canal (owned by Britain & France) wasn’t closed to Italy’s ships (Italy’s easiest route to
Abyssinia)!
Hoare-Laval Pact: Britain & France’s foreign ministers made a plan to end the fighting. It was a secret
agreement between Britain, France & Italy. The pact would give Italy 2/3rd Abyssinia including the best
areas.
But- plan was leaked resulting in outcry and the failure of pact. This showed Britain & France’s self-
interests were put before the League of Nation’s interests . In May 1936 Italians captured the capital of
Abyssinia. Abyssinian leader Selassie made another appeal to the League for help but the war was over.
Abyssinia became part of the Italian empire.
Impact of Abyssinia
• Mussolini triumphed. Withdraws Italy from League of Nations in 1936
• Signalled the end of the L of N. Nobody took it seriously after this- of the Great Powers only Britain,
France and USSR remained in the League. Other means would have to be found to keep peace.
• Smaller countries knew the League wouldn’t protect them from invasion by aggressive dictators and
realised it was powerless in stopping war.
• Hitler saw this and exploited its weaknesses & was confident he could get away with acts of aggression!
Marches his troops into the Rhineland whilst League is distracted
• Britain and France lost Italy as an ally against Hitler – end of Stresa Front
• Europe begins to split into two sides: Rome-Berlin Axis 1936 (Mussolini and Hitler)
• Anti-Comintern Pact 1937 – Japan joined the Axis Impact:

Reasons for League’s failure

• Poor organisation and slow decision making - decisions had to be unanimous; infrequent meetings;
delays in decisions, power of veto. Took a year to report in Manchuria, two months to act in Abyssinia.
• Important nations absent- USA never joined; Germany 1926-33. USSR late to join. Japan left 1933;
Italy 1936
• Sanctions ineffective (especially without USA as a member) e.g. Abyssinia could have been resolved if
US were involved, weakness of moral persuasion, economic sanctions limited, lack of army
• No army- relied on member countries- reluctant to commit troops! E.g. Manchuria
• Had to uphold peace treaties of 1919-20 which were increasingly seen as unfair
• Self-interests of member countries prevailed (e.g. Britain & France were preparing to carve up Abyssinia
rather than impose sanctions on Mussolini)! Lack of support during crises such as Manchuria.
• Wall Street Crash 1929. Depression afterwards made countries look after themselves and not put
League’s needs first
• Manchurian Crisis
• Abyssinian Crisis

Implications of League’s failure

 Violence & aggression shown to pay: Mussolini & Hitler learned from Japan’s example (aggressors kept
land gained with no penalties)
 Victims suffer- Manchuria & Abyssinia occupied by foreign powers, abandoned by League
 Britain & France saw the League’s weaknesses so chose to pacify Hitler instead (appeasement)
Hitler’s foreign policy
Hitler exploited Germans’ hatred of the Treaty of Versailles to gain support for his aggressive foreign policy
Hitler’s aims: GASSED!

G - GLORIOUS COUNTRY AND ARMY: Be a Great Power again. Use a rearmed army, navy + air force
A - ANSCHLUSS: Unite all German speaking people under his rule
S - SPACE: LEBENSRAUM: Gain territory in the East to provide ‘living space’ for German people
S - SECURE FRIENDSHIP: ideally with Italy and Britain
ED - END/DESTROY: the Treaty of Versailles. Blame the politicians involved (Hitler gained much support from
the Germans by doing this)

German Rearmament and the Road to War

1933 Rearmament Withdrew Germany from the World Disarmament Conference on the grounds
that no other power was disarming. Claimed Germany wanted peace & would disarm
completely if other powers did so.
• Hitler withdrew Germany from L of N 1933
• Introduced conscription 1935 (claimed army was needed for defence). France
GB supported Germany’s right to rearm by signing a naval agreement with Hitler in 1935,
allowing G to build a fleet as long as it was no more than 35% of theirs.

Why did he get away with it?

• Wilson’s 14 points said for all countries to reduce arms, only Germany had. France had in
fact increased conscription to 18 months. It was only fair Germany should have an army
and navy too. Claimed they needed an army for self defence. Britain didn’t act as it felt key
parts of the treaty were unfair.
• France didn’t act as it could not act on its own – Invasion of Ruhr 1923 proved this and divide
between Britain and France grew.
• Hitler exploited this making sure whenever he did something that could cause a reaction, he
followed up with an action suggesting peace.

1934 The Dollfuss Affair

Hitler wanted to unite Germany with Austria (Anschluss) - banned by Treaty of Versailles.
Aware of Hitler’s intentions, the Austrian chancellor, Dollfuss, banned the Nazi Party in Austria.
In 1934, Hitler responded by telling the Austrian Nazis to create havoc in the country. They
murdered Dollfuss.
However, his plot failed because the Austrian army supported the government and because
Mussolini moved his troops to the Austrian border, promising to stop the Anschluss. Hitler
realised that Germany wasn’t ready for war and backed down, arguing the Austrian Nazis acted
alone.
1934 10 year non-aggression pact 1934 with Poland
This guaranteed the boundaries of Poland (satisfied Poles) this pleased Britain because they saw it
as further proof Hitler’s aims were peaceful (accepted Polish border set up at Versailles) The Pact
was probably designed by Hitler to keep up appearance of non-aggression and buy Germany time
for rearmament
1935 Rearmament
At the ‘Freedom to Rearm Rally’ Hitler showed off his weapons and troops that he’d secretly been
building. He also announced the reintroduction of conscription (which he did in 1936) to the army
expanding it to 1 million men and building the Luftwaffe (air force)
1935 Anglo-German Naval agreement and rearmament
This limited German navy to 35% of strength of British fleet (not incl. submarines) By signing,
Britain had agreed to Germany rearming, Britain felt if countries could not agree on rearmament
as shown at the Disarmament Conference, then it was better for Britain to limit the size of the
German navy . By doing this, Britain also weakened the Stresa Front which was a British, French
and Italian protest against German disarmament (Britain had not consulted France or Italy) NB -
1938 – Germany army was 800,000, navy had 47 U-boats and air force of 2,000
1935 Saar Plebiscite
The German speaking Saar industrial area was taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles and
put under the control of the League o f Nations. France had special access to coal there. A
plebiscite (vote) among Germans was to be held after 15yrs to decide whether it should be
returned to Germany- principle of self determination. Plebiscite was held 1935: 90% voted in
favour! 8% wanted to be under League of Nations and 2% under control of France. Hitler had
legally overturned part of the Treaty of Versailles so no country could stop this especially as
crowds cheered as the Nazi’s entered the Saar. Hitler’s confidence grew.
Remilitarisation of the Rhineland - 1936
Events:
• Under the terms of Treaty of Versailles, the Rhineland remained in Germany but troops, weapons or
fortifications were not allowed in the area
• In 1935, France and the USSR signed the Franco-Soviet pact agreeing to support each other if either was
attacked by Germany. Hitler argued that Germany was under threat from the western and eastern fronts
• Hitler ordered his troops to march into the Rhineland- an act clearly in defiance of the Treaty of
Versailles and Locarno Pact! Hitler had confidence to do this after no one opposed rearmament and due
to success in Saar.
• His troops were greeted by civilians who gave them flowers
• Hitler had been relying on such a welcome, his army was still small and he instructed his generals that
they were to retreat if they faced resistance .

Reaction of other countries:

• Great Britain felt that Germany had the right to protect their own borders, so shouldn’t intervene. British
troops were already busy dealing with the Italian invasion of Abyssinia. Great Britain didn’t act as they
believed Hitler was merely ‘marching into his own backyard’
• France wouldn’t act without support of Great Britain
• League of Nations - condemned Hitler’s action but did nothing! Only USSR voted to stop him.

A missed opportunity?
• Last chance to oppose Hitler without going to war as Germany was too weak to go to war in 1936
• Hitler’s financial ministers advised him that, if he failed, G would have to pay crippling fines
Consequences:
• Hitler noticed the failure of the League of Nation to act against
Mussolini - he correctly calculated that he too could get away
with aggressive action!
• Hitler followed this up with another promise of peace: 25 year
non-aggression pact. Lulling countries into a false sense of
security whilst he carries out his plans to overturn the Treaty
of Versailles!
• For Hitler the message was clear: Britain & France both lacked
nerve to fight. When time was right he would act again.
• Mussolini signed a pact with Hitler, the Rome-Berlin Axis
(Hitler & Mussolini supported the Spanish fascist General
Franco in the Spanish Civil War- brought Italy & Germany
together) this also allowed Hitler to test his weapons and allow
his men to gain experience of war
• Hitler now knew Mussolini wouldn’t stop Anschluss in future!
Anschluss (Annexation of Austria), 1938
Events:
• Why? Shared history, culture and language also where Hitler was born
• 1938: now he has Rome-Berlin Axis and has remilitarised Rhineland and grown army, Hitler feels strong
and confident enough to try again.
• Austrian Nazis campaigned in Austria for union with Germany >riots, fires, bombs!
• When the Austrian government banned the party and asked Hitler for help to stop the plotting, Hitler
held a meeting with the Austrian leader Schuschnigg.
• Hitler put pressure on Schuschnigg to give all important jobs in his government to Nazis. He arranged
riots and demonstrations to add to the pressure.
• Schuschnigg compromised by appointing the Nazi Seyss-Inquart as Minister of the Interior (in charge of
police)
• France, and Britain both refused to help Austria
• March 1938 Schuschnigg announced his intention to hold a plebiscite to allow the Austrian people to
decide for themselves. Hitler not prepared to take the risk of losing = moved troops to the Austrian
border and demanded that Schuschnigg call off the plebiscite.
• Schuschnigg resigned> replaced by leading Nazi Seyss-Inquart, who invited the Germans into Austria to
restore order (imprisoned 80,000 of Hitler’s opponents)!
• Hitler entered Austria in triumph- union established 14 March 1938
• A plebiscite was held> 99.75% agreed with Anschluss!
• Most Austrians wanted the union as keen to be part of glory of Hitler’s Reich

Why wasn’t Hitler stopped?:

• He had been invited into Austria, he did not invade.
• Britain and France were not willing to get involved (shared language of Germany & Austria, plebiscite
showed 99.75% wanted this in Austria, too distracted with USSR)

Reactions:
• Most people in Britain felt that Austria and Germany were essentially the same country and therefore
should be allowed to unite
• France was facing economic issues which caused problems in their own government

Consequences:
• Hitler had demonstrated how he aimed to dismantle the Treaty of Versailles which heightened his
popularity
• Austria was rich in natural resources such as steel and iron ore, which was used to fuel Nazi
rearmament.
• Austrian army of 100,000 men added strength to German forces
• Germany now bordered western Czechoslovakia on 3 sides
 Appeasement (policy of pacifying/giving in to Hitler in hope that he would not
go too far)
• NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN - British Prime Minister 1937- supported appeasement
• Believed Germany had genuine, understandable grievances under the Treaty of Versailles
• Believed Germany’s grievances could be solved by negotiation
• Failure of League of Nations meant Chamberlain wanted to try ‘personal diplomacy’ to solve issues
• France supported appeasement- felt safe behind their Maginot Line (fortified border)
• People keen to avoid another war- WW1’s loss of life meant no one wanted a repeat
• Britain had not sufficiently rearmed so was in no position to resist Hitler

Reasons for appeasement Reasons against appeasement

Fear of Communism. It was felt better to support Hitler couldn’t be trusted! 1933 onwards he had
a strong leader of Germany rather than risk broken promises and the Treaty of Versailles e.g.
Communist takeover. Anschluss .
Britain needed time. Britain had more time to Germany was growing stronger Allowed Germany
build up her armed forces . to grow stronger meant it would be far more
difficult to defeat.
Germany deserved a fair deal Germany was Hitler was determined to conquer Eastern Europe.
treated too harshly at Versailles, so were only Plans clear in Mein Kampf - the policy of
being given their rightful land and their grievances appeasement was clearly doomed from the start -
could be solved which would avoid war. Hitler just lied.
Economic costs of war Britain was still suffering Betrayal Lands protected by the Treaty of Versailles
from 1929 economic depression and could not could argue they were being betrayed .
afford a rearmament programme.
The British people had to want war In 1938, public It encouraged Hitler Giving into Hitler only made
opinion was against war – WW1 loss of life him feel he could do what he wanted - without fear
haunted Britain. The policy of appeasement was of being stopped and Britain looked weak.
sensible.
Collapse of League of Nations Chamberlain felt Appeasement scared the USSR When Britain and
‘personal diplomacy’ would be the future way to France did not stand up to Hitler, the USSR became
keep peace. worried about German power - and began thinking
about deals with Hitler.
Sudeten Crisis – Sudetenland – the border region around Czechoslovakia
• Lebensraum – the Sudetenland was home to around 3 million German speaking-people
• As a minority group (20% of the population) the German speaking Sudetens claimed that they had been
persecuted by the Czechs. Hitler used this as an excuse; he needed to ‘save’ the German speakers
• Sudetenland was a good base from which to launch an attack on Czechoslovakia
• Leader of Czech Nazi Party, Konrad Henlein was urged by Hitler to demand that the Czech government
make concessions to the Sudeten Germans.
• April 1938- German troops began massing on Czech border
• Czech president Benes mobilised his troops to resist Hitler
• Britain & France were keen to avoid war so persuaded Benes to make further concessions to Sudetens
• Hitler says plebiscites would be held.
• It became clear that Hitler wanted to make the Sudetenland part of Germany

Appeasement in action!
• 15 Sep 1938- Chamberlain met Hitler at Berchtesgaden to discuss his demands then persuaded Czechs
to transfer parts of the Sudetenland to Germany
• Benes realised he couldn’t rely on Britain and France for help
• 22 Sep- met again at Godesberg- this time Hitler wants all of Sudetenland, no plebiscites & threatens
war if he doesn’t get his way.
• Chamberlain returned to Britain and prepared for war
• War was avoided when Mussolini persuaded Hitler to attend a conference

The Munich Conference & Agreement, Sep 1938

• 4 leaders: Hitler (Ger), Mussolini (It), Chamberlain (Br), Daladier (Fr)
• No representatives from Czechoslovakia or USSR
Agreed:
 Hitler could have the Sudetenland
 Britain and France guaranteed rest of Czechoslovakia would not be affected
Czechoslovakia forced to accept
Also....
• Chamberlain & Hitler met privately. Also promised never to go to war against each other Consultation
not war!
• Chamberlain returned to Britain a HERO “peace in our time” as he had kept peace in Europe
Outcome of Munich Conference:
1. Peace had been maintained by Chamberlain
2. Britain speeded up rearmament
3. Czechoslovakia had been betrayed.
4. Hitler had gained the Sudetenland without fighting
5. Czechoslovakia had lost its defensive frontier and become
vulnerable to invasion
6. Germany had gained the armaments and mineral resources of
the Sudetenland
7. The USSR had been left out and felt betrayed – reason why
they later sign Nazi-Soviet Pact

The occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia, March 1939

• Czech lost 70% industrial lands, Munich border, and mountain defences.
• The loss of the Sudeten Germans stirred other nationalities in Czech to demand a return to their nation
states. Loss of the Sudetenland also meant a loss of Czech’s strong defensive system = Poland and
Hungary took land from Czech.
• Slovaks now felt it was their chance – Hitler was only too happy to stir up this trouble.
• The Czech president appealed to Hitler for help & in the end had no choice but to invite the Germans
into Czech. 15 March- Hitler took the rest of Czech claiming he was “restoring order”.
• Why wasn’t he stopped?: Hitler had been invited in.

END OF APPEASEMENT!

Hitler couldn’t justify the takeover by claiming that the people were German speakers or that he was
righting a wrong of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler had broken the promise he’d made to Chamberlain at
Munich and was now seen as an aggressor whose aims were not limited, and needed to be stopped.
Nazi-Soviet Pact, Aug 1939
• Shocked the world as Hitler hated Communism!
• Germany and Russia agree not to attack each other (non-aggression pact) and to divide Poland
between them
• Hitler felt confident Britain and France wouldn’t help Poland (they’d backed down over Czech)!
• Stalin signed because he grew impatient with Britain’s delays and failure to sign a pact with him and
was angry that he wasn’t invited to Munich. Stalin believed he needed to protect himself!

Why did the pact happen?

1. Time to prepare for war; Stalin said: ‘We secured peace for our country for eighteen months, which
enabled us to make military preparations’.
2. Stalin was sure that Russia could only gain from a long war in which Britain, France and Germany
exhausted themselves.
3. Unhappy with Britain Stalin was insulted by Britain’s slowness to negotiate, and did not trust Britain.
When the Anglo-Soviet alliance failed, he turned to Germany.
4. Hitler wanted the alliance because only Russia could keep Britain’s promise to defend Poland. He
believed that, if he got a promise of peace with Russia, Britain would be forced to back down over
Poland and Danzig.
5. Poland was created at the end of WW1- it was made up of former German and Russian territories.
Both countries despised the new state
6. Mutual Distrust - Stalin suspected Hitler would turn against him (which he did in 1941 when he
invaded Russia). Signing the pact bought time for USSR to build up its army ready for war

Impact of the pact

1. Hitler could now attack Poland as he

would avoid a war on two fronts
2. Hitler thought Britain wouldn’t dare
oppose the attack on Poland – Munich
had proven that and there were
Germans in Danzig.
3. If Britain did attack, war would be
inevitable, would Britain risk that for
Poland?
4. Britain and France had lost an ally –
the USSR – they would now be a lesser
threat to Hitler if war did break out.
Attack on Poland, 1 Sep 1939
Why Poland?
• Danzig had 90% German population
• Danzig was an independent state controlled by Poland
• Hitler wanted to overturn Treaty of Versailles
• Lebensraum
• Hitler gained confidence thanks to appeasement and success during Sudetenland crisis/Munich
conference and Czechoslovakia. He thought Britain and France would back down, because they were
scared of war.
• Nazi Soviet Pact – could act without a worry of war with the USSR

Events:
1. Poland refused to give in to Hitler’s demands that they hand over Danzig
2. Britain and France had guaranteed Polish independence after Czechoslovakia and so warned Hitler
they would go to war with Germany if they invaded Poland – no more appeasement!
3. Collapse of Czechoslovakia had been the last straw for appeasers
4. Public opinion now favoured opposing Hitler
5. 1st September 1939 – Germany invaded Poland, Chamberlain asked Hitler to withdraw but this failed.
6. 3 September Britain declared war on Germany