History 332:  German History

History 332 – German History – November 10, 2008  

Hitler’s Foreign Policy  

I.                   Hitler’s agenda was (a) to create racially-pure Volksgemeinschaft at home, and (b) to establish Germany as a super-power.  

II.                PHASE ONE (1933-34) – AH cautiously enters European politics

1. 1933: AH vows that Germany only “wants peace”
2. 1933: Germany resigns from the League of Nations

1933: So – who is he? Yes, he’s a dictator at home, but he seems popular.  He insists that he wants peace, yet quitting the League seems to reject the idea of peaceful international relations … of course, the League is unpopular in Germany since it was connected to the Versailles Treaty …

 

3. Gamble – AH intrudes in Austrian affairs – the DOLLFUSS Affair
   1. Austria is German-speaking, but an independent nation
   2. AH is himself Austrian
   3. The Versailles Treaty forbade Austria from merging with Germany
   4. Austrians themselves are divided about Hitler; some admire him; some dislike him as a “German” who wants to take over Austria
   5. Feb 1934 – depression-sparked strikes & riots in Austria; to “restore order,” conservatives declare a “State of Emergency;”

The conservatives ban the Austrian Nazi Party

6. July 1934 – an Austrian Nazi assassinates Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss
7. CRISIS: Italy (led by fellow fascist Mussolini), vows to prevent Germany from intervening in Austria
8. AH backs off; abandons the Austrian Nazis

 

III.             PHASE TWO (1935-1937) – AH boldly works to destroy the Versailles settlement

1. Violations of Versailles
   1. 1935: REARMAMENT – AH announces that Germany – for self-protection – needs a bigger army and will no longer abide by the Versailles limits on the German army
   2. 1935: SAAR PLEBISCITE – the little Saar region had been under the control of the League of Nations; AH demands a vote in the Saar on returning to Germany; the League agrees to the vote; the Saar returns to Germany
   3. 1936: REMILITARIZATION OF THE RHINELAND – Versailles had prohibited Germany from stationing troops in western Germany, the “Rhineland” (German territory west of the Rhine River); AH says he’s going to station troops there anyway!
   4. 1936: AID TO FRANCO’S REBELS IN SPAIN – AH ships guns and “volunteers” to Spain to help Franco’s Fascists – a bold effort to help create another Fascist State in Europe
   5. 1936 – ROME-BERLIN “AXIS” – Hitler & Mussolini vow to support each other
   6. 1936 – ANTI-COMINTERN (Anti-Communist) PACT WITH JAPAN

 

AH has seized the initiative in European politics.  He’s explicitly broken Versailles (rearmament; remilitarization of the Rhineland); he’s broken the spirit of Versailles (quitting the League; guns to Franco).   How should Britain, France, others, respond?

 

2. Confrontation v. Appeasement

Confrontation	Appeasement
Churchill   AH has broken Versailles He’s rearmed He’s building a new coalition of Fascist powers with Spain & Italy Britain, France (maybe the US) must take action!	Neville Chamberlain   Who exactly wants another war? No one. Britain hasn’t the military force to do anything anyway. AH is popular in Germany; he’d be very difficult to overthrow. If we manage him carefully, we can prevent war.

  

IV.             PHASE THREE (1938-1939) – AH becomes increasingly radical, ambitious, and violent

1. Nov 1937 – “Hossbach Memorandum” – secret meeting (Col. Hossbach kept the minutes); AH says that war is “inevitable”

Resistance: Some generals begin secretly planning a coup to prevent war

Fritsch Crisis: AH fires his top generals; disrupts the coup planning

2. March 1938: AUSTRIAN CRISIS (“ANSCHLUSS”)
   1. On-going tension with Austria & Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg
   2. AH says that Austrian is on the verge of “civil war” & that Germany must intervene to “restore law & order”
   3. 11-12 March – German troops occupy Austria
   4. ANSCHLUSS – after referendum, Austria merges with Germany
   5. Another explicit violation of Versailles
3. September 1938: SUDETENLAND CRISIS
   1. the “Sudetenland” belongs to Czechoslovakia
   2. The Sudetenland is ethnically German
   3. AH insists that the Sudetenland be give to Germany, or else!
   4. THE MUNICH CONFERENCE – Chamberlain; Daladier; Mussolini; Hitler
   5. AH promises: “this is my last territorial claim in Europe”
   6. Chamberlain: “peace in our time!”
   7. German troops occupy the Sudetenland