When Hitler took power in Germany in 1933 he was pledged to reverse the Treaty of Versailles and to increase German territory, which he had already laid out in his book, Mein Kampf in 1924. Hitler was pledged to reverse the Treaty of Versailles because he had promised to do so if he became leader of Germany, as to him and to all Germans, it was a constant reminder of their defeat in World War One and of their humiliation by the Allies[1]. By the time Hitler came to power, some terms had already been changed; Germany had stopped paying reparations, as an example.The Treaty of Versailles had also taken territory from Germany, that Hitler now wanted back.
Mostly, he said that he wanted Self-determination, allowing German ‘minorities’, such as in the Sudetenland, in Czechoslovakia, to join Germany. [2] Self-determination had been one of Woodrow Wilsons 14 point included in the Treaty of Versailles, which had been denied to Germany. Hitler also wanted to unite with Austria, known as the Anschluss, which was also forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles and he wanted to carve out Lebensraum or ‘living space’ in the east of Europe[3].These aims would eventually lead to another war. In the 1930s there were two incidents, Manchuria and Abyssinia, which really tested the League of Nations and that, made it easier for Hitler to achieve his objectives. If Japan had been able to invade Manchuria, and get away with it, and if Mussolini had been able to take Abyssinia and its capital, Addis Ababa without getting punished, why should Germany not be able to have self-determination.
If Italians were ‘allowed’ to invade Abyssinia, one of the last free countries in Africa[4], why couldn’t Germans living outside of the German boarders belong to Germany. No one could argue that the rough three million Germans living in Czechoslovakia[5], could not be allowed to move to Germany, or that the Sudetenland, were they were mostly living, could not be given to Germany as it was an act of self-determination. Britain and France could not argue against this, as both believed in self- determination, and as according to the Treaty of Versailles all countries had a right to self- determination.Hitler could now say that Germans and Austrians were similar, that the Austrian people were mainly German; they belonged together in one country. [6] Also many Austrians supported this idea of a union with Germany, as their country was economically weak, while Germany was strong.
[7] In 1936 Hitler began his policy of reclaiming lost German territory, this policy became known as Appeasement. Hitler tried convincing the Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg to agree to Anschluss, he however did not and went to Britain and France for help, who refused.So Schuschnigg called a plebiscite, so that the Austrians could vote. In March 1938 Hitler marched into Austria, to ‘guarantee’ a trouble-free plebiscite. There, under the watchful eyes of Nazi troops, 99.
75 per cent of Austrians voted to join Hitler, thus Anchluss was declared. [8] In May 1938 Hitler made it clear that he now wanted the Sudetenland to become part of Germany and in September 1938 the problems reached crisis point; Hitler was ready to fight over Czechoslovakia[9]. Hitler demanded the whole of Sudetenland to go to Germany.His argument was that the Czech government was mistreating Germans in the Sudetenland, and that they had to be rescued.
He also said that it was his last “territorial demand”. Chamberlin said that the demand was unreasonable and war seemed near, however in a final meeting in Munich, on September 29th 1938, Britain, France and Italy decided that the Sudetenland should be given to Germany[10]. Neither the Czechs not the Soviet Union were consulted[11]. Britain and France followed the policy of Appeasement for a couple of reasons.They were not yet ready to fight, Brits and French did not want to fight another war after roughly twenty years of peace, as Stalin was their main worry and they saw Hitler as the buffer to the threat of communism, also may thought that the Treaty of Versailles had been unfair and that once these wrong were put right, Germany would become peaceful and both Britain and France were still suffering from the Great Depression, they had no money, large debs and high unemployment[12].On August 23rd, 1939 the Nazis and the Soviets signed the Nazi-Soviet Non Aggression Pact.
This didn’t mean that they were allies who would fight together, instead it meant that they were on friendly bases with each other; however, they did not really trust each other. This pact helped both Stalin and Hitler as they no longer had to worry about the other attacking, at least for a while, and this while was used by Stalin to build up his arms.Also, through this pact Hitler and Stalin secretly agreed on attacking Poland and splitting it in half, this enlarged both of their countries and allowed Stalin to have a base for annexing the Baltic States which had belonged to Russia in the Tsar’s days[13]. Also Germany now had little fear as Stalin would not attack on his own, and because Hitler thought that the UK and France would do nothing.
German troops invaded Poland from the west on September 1st, 1939 and on September 17th, 1939 Soviet forces invaded from the east; Poland falling soon after[14].Hitler most likely believed that France and Britain would not go to war over Poland, however he was wrong. France declared war on Germany on the 2ed and Britain on the 3rd of September[15] due to the mutual protection agreement that they had signed with Poland[16]. However, neither of them really fought; instead their fights were called ‘Phony War’ or ‘Sitzkrieg’ as they lacked major military operations. Hitler had now started a war, but it was not a small war against Poland only, but a big one against France and Britain, and he was not yet fully ready.
Although it was Hitler’s actions, which lead to war, many other factors were important in making the war happen. Some where due to the Treaty of Versailles as Germany was forced to minimize its army to 100,000 men, forced to give up territory and had to pay 6. 6 million pounds sterling due to war damage; eventually leading to massive unemployment through out Germany after the war and meagerly during the Great Depression[17]. This did not only weaken Germany but also enabled Hitler to rise to power as he rebuilt Germany as a country and restored the German pride.
Also the League of Nations failing to do anything against Italy invading and taking Abyssinia and against Japan invading and taking Manchuria led to World War Two, as this allowed Hitler to take Austria and Sudetenland ‘legally’ with the excuse of self-determination and with the argument that the league of nations hardly did anything against Japan and Italy. All of the above points, and of course more, led to the collapse of peace in 1939, and to the begin of World War Two.Referencehttp://www.johndclare.net/EII3.htm
