HITLER’S FOREIGN POLICY

The Munich Crisis and the question of

appeasement

HITLER’S FOREIGN POLICY WAS BUILT ON THREE A IMS

To reverse the Treaty of Versailles

To create a “Greater Germany” by

uniting all German speaking people

The creation of Lebensraum - living

space for the German people.

LEBENSRAUM

Hitler’s Greater Germany would have a

population of over 85 million people

Germany’s land would be insufficient to feed this

many people

Hitler intended to expand eastward towards

Poland and Russia

Russians and Poles were Slavs-Hitler believed

them to be inferior and so Germany was entitled

to take their land.

CREATION OF A GREATER GERMANY

Hitler wanted a single

homeland for all German

speaking people

After Versailles millions of

Germans were living in Foreign

countries

The Treaty of Versailles had

forbidden the union of Germany

and Austria- The Anschluss

APPEASEMENTA policy aimed to prevent

aggressors from starting wars

by finding out what they want

and agreeing to demands that

seem reasonable

Neville Chamberlain was

the British Prime Minister

that negotiated with Hitler in

1938

THE MUNICH AGREEMENT In September 1938, Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister, met

Adolf Hitler at his home in Berchtesgaden. Hitler threatened to invade

Czechoslovakia unless Britain supported Germany's plans to takeover the

Sudetenland.

After discussing the issue with the In September 1938, Neville

Chamberlain, the British prime minister, met Adolf Hitler at his home in

Berchtesgaden. Hitler threatened to invade Czechoslovakia unless Britain

supported Germany's plans to takeover the Sudetenland.

After discussing the issue with the Edouard Daladier (France) and Eduard

Benes (Czechoslovakia), Chamberlain informed Hitler that his proposals

were unacceptable. (France) and Eduard Benes (Czechoslovakia),

Chamberlain informed Hitler that his proposals were unacceptable.

THE MUNICH AGREEMENTThe meeting took place in Munich on 29th September,

1938. Desperate to avoid war, and anxious to avoid an

alliance with Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, Neville

Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier agreed that Germany

could have the Sudetenland. In return, Hitler promised not

to make any further territorial demands in Europe.

On 29th September, 1938, Adolf Hitler, Neville

Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier and Benito Mussolini signed

the Munich Agreement which transferred the Sudetenland to

Germany.

THE MUNICH AGREEMENTIn March, 1939, the German Army seized the rest of

Czechoslovakia. In taking this action Adolf Hitler had

broken the Munich Agreement. The British prime minister,

Neville Chamberlain, now realized that Hitler could not be

trusted and his appeasement policy now came to an end.

BRITAIN AND APPEASEMENTMost politicians wanted to avoid

war

The people of Britain wanted to

avoid war

Britain had only a small army and

airforce

Many people thought of the

Sudetenland in the same way they

had about Austria

Winston Churchill did not agree

but he was in a minority.

THE RESULTS OF APPEASEMENT

Europe saved from war? Possibly though some historians that if the Czechs,

French, British and Russians had stood up to Hitler he would have been defeated,

and would have faced war on two fronts

Czechoslovakia was abandoned, and weakened by the loss of important military

defences and resources

Germany gained the Sudetenland- another step towards the Greater Germany.

Britain and France gained time to build up their armed forces, but so did Germany

Hitler decided Britain and France were unlikely ever to oppose him by force

Stalin was offended at being excluded from the talks and decided he could not rely

on Britain to help the USSR stand up against Germany

THE SOVIET PACT

Joseph Stalin

BACKGROUNDStalin had been very worried about German threats to

the Soviet Union since Hitler came to power in 1933

Hitler had openly stated that he wanted Soviet land

for his Lebensraum

Stalin tried to create alliances with Britain and France

but to no avail

In 1934 Stalin took the USSR into the League of

Nations as a guarantee against German aggression.

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONSStalin gained no satisfaction from the League.

Instead he saw failures

Abyssinia

Spanish Civil War

German rearmament

BRITAIN AND FRANCE

Britain:

Some welcomed a strong

Germany as a force to fight

Communism.

Communism was seen as a

bigger threat than Hitler

France:

Stalin signed a pact with

France in 1935

He did not trust the French to

keep to it- especially after

Rhineland

THE MUNICH AGREEMENTThis agreement made Stalin even more wary

Stalin was not consulted about the agreement

Stalin concluded that Britain and France were

powerless to stop Hitler

Or that they were happy for Hitler to take over

Eastern Europe and the USSR

THE NEXT MOVESDespite misgivings Stalin was still prepared to talk to

Britain and France about an alliance

The three countries met in March 1939

Chamberlain was reluctant to commit Britain

Stalin believed that Britain and France made things worse

by guaranteeing to defend Poland if it were attacked

Chamberlain saw the guarantee as a warning to Hitler

Stalin saw it as support for a potential enemy.

THE DEED IS DONE!

On 24 August 1939 Stalin made his

decision and signed a pact with Germany

The world was shocked as two arch

enemies promised not to attack each other.

Privately they also agreed to divide

Poland

WHY DID STALIN S IGN THE PACT?

Stalin was not convinced that Britain and France would be

strong and reliable allies against Hitler

He also wanted large parts of eastern Poland

He did not believe that Hitler would keep his word. He

wanted time to build up his forces.

INVASION OF POLAND

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish

army was defeated within weeks of the invasion.

Britain and France, standing by their guarantee of Poland's

border, had declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939.

The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on September 17,

1939.

In October 1939, Germany directly annexed those former Polish

territories along German's eastern border: West Prussia, Poznan,

Upper Silesia, and the former Free City of Danzig.

WORLD WAR TWO

Germany (Hitler) and Russia (Stalin) and Italy

(Mussolini)

VS

Britain (Chamberlain), Daladier (France)

Same old story – remember World War One