Probably the most convincing argument is that Hitler had consistency of aims, but was also an opportunist that was flexible in his strategy. There were three stages to his foreign policy. Rearmament created jobs in the armaments industry pushing the idea of 'guns before butter'.
Rearmament started almost as soon as Hitler came to power but was announced publicly in British and French politicians feared a European war - and tried to avoid one through politics of appeasement. By giving Hitler what he understood to be his nation's right, he would calm down - that was the hope. In the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland, the German-speaking border regions of Czechoslovakia, were ceded to Germany.
As for the what would have happened had an anti-appeasement Winston Churchill already been prime minister at the time, the historian can't say.
We will never know. Hesse says the fear of war was palpable in Germany in The Munich Agreement was packaged by Nazi propaganda and sold to the German public as one of Hitler's successful peace policies.
But in reality, Hitler was upset about the agreement because he would have preferred to go to war then. What is tragic about the events around this time in history was that, as of September , Hitler was very alone with his plans for war.
His generals wanted to avoid a war at any cost. Chief of the German General Staff Franz Halder, who was a top commander in and around Berlin, along with Berlin's chief of police had already formed a new government with civil service workers critical of the NS and former Social Democrat politicians. A secret brigade of assault troops was prepared to overrun the Reich Chancellery as soon as Hitler declared war.
But a year later, a coup was no longer on the agenda. Though no one cheered on September 1, , most Germans stood behind Hitler nonetheless. Sixty million people lost their lives in the Second World War. The National Socialists killed six million Jews. Subjects Shop Courses Live Jobs board. View shopping cart. View mytutor2u.
Account Shopping cart Logout. Explore History History Search. Explore Blog Reference library Collections Shop. Britain especially had began preparing for war following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March On 3 September , having received no reply and unwilling to accept further German expansion, Britain and France declared war on Germany.
The Soviets demanded free passage for their troops through Poland. However, Poland refused to agree to this clause. Britain was also hostile to agreeing to share intelligence with the Soviet Union. As a result of these hostilities, the talks with Britain, France and Poland broke down and the Soviet Union turned back towards Germany.
Despite their ideological opposition, a pact between Germany and the Soviet Union suited both of their territorial aims. This became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. The exhibition promoted antisemitic stereotypes. On 9 November , Kristallnacht took place. Throughout Germany, synagogues were burned and Jewish businesses were looted by the Nazis.
On 8 November , labourer Georg Elser attempted to assassinate Hitler. Elser was later murdered in Dachau concentration camp. On 20 November , the Nuremberg trials began. Twenty one top level Nazis were tried for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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The war, when it came, had an unimaginable impact on the Jews of Europe. When the Nazis came to power in , Germany was economically and militarily weak. Withdrawal from the League of Nations One of the key priorities of early Nazi foreign policy was overturning aspects of the Treaty of Versailles. The relative caution of early Nazi foreign policy did not last very long.
Conscription and Rearmament On 26 February , the German air force the Luftwaffe was officially established. This pact again broke the limitations on armaments set out in the Treaty of Versailles. Remilitarisation of the Rhineland The Rhineland was a strip of German territory bordering France, which had first become occupied and following the end of the First World War and the resulting Treaty of Versailles. The Sudetenland was a province in northern Czechoslovakia, bordering Germany.
By the end of , Czechoslovakia had completely disappeared from the map. The Second World War had begun.
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