Road to War

Name: ______Date: ______Period: ______#: ____

ROAD TO WAR 1936

Hitler makes his move (cautiously):
·  Re-militarization
o  Hitler starts re-building air & armed forces
·  Occupies the Rhineland
o  Both were in violation of Treaty of Versailles
The ANSCHLUSS of Austria- 1938:
·  Hitler moved to include Austria as a part of Germany
o  Intimidated the Austrian chancellor into resigning
o  Was replaced by a Ausrian Nazi
o  German military moved into Austria
·  Were greeted with a huge welcome
Reaction of Western powers:
·  Nervous, hesitant to take action
o  Memory of WWI destruction still fresh
o  Guilt at the harshness of the treaty
·  So they watched—nervously
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
·  Focus: Sudetenland: western border region of Czechoslovakia
o  3 million Germans lived there
o  formerly a part of Germany before Treaty of Versailles
·  Nazis began propaganda campaign portraying Czechs as living in unbearable conditions
o  Hitler threatened invasion – to “free” the occupied Germans
Reaction of Western Powers:
·  Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minster
o  Felt resisting Hilter would spark another war
o  Favored appeasement: making concessions to preserve peace
MUNICH CONFERENCE (September 28, 1938)
·  Chamberlain, Hitler, & Mussolini met in Munich
o  Focus: what to do about Czechoslovakia
·  Chamberlain adopted strategy of appeasement
·  Agreement:
o  Germany gets Sudetenland
o  Germany guarentees independence for the rest of Czechoslovakia
o  Germany promises no further expansion
POLAND
·  Hitler realizes that no one will oppose him
·  Simply invades the rest of Czech after the Conference
o  Then demanded the “return” of Danzig
o  Danzig: a seaport based in Northern Poland
o  Formerly German territory
Reaction of Western Powers:
·  Offer protection to Poland in case of war
NON-AGGRESSION PACT
·  Hitler believes Britain & France will not fight
·  Negotiates a “non-aggression pact” with Russia
o  Divides up Eastern Europe between Germany & Russia
§  Russia gets: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, E. Poland
§  Germany gets: W. Poland
·  This gives Hitler the freedom to attack
WAR BEGINS
·  September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland
·  September 3, 1939: Britain & France declare war on Germany
·  September 17, 1939 (2 weeks later): Russia invades E. Poland
·  WORLD WAR II HAS BEGUN
Conclusion: