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I. The Path to War in Europe (1937-1939)
- a. Novemeber 5, 1937: secret conference in Berlin revealed future aims
- i. Germany’s ultimate goal was to conquer living space in east, but first, deal with Austria and Czechoslovakia
- b. Ongoing Rearmament
- i. increased rearmament; expenditures on it rose from (1933) 1 billionà30 billion (1939)
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Rearmament
- i. new type of warfare: Blitzkrieg or “lightning war”
- 1. didn’t want trench warfare and saw that lightning warfare depended on mechanized columns and massive air power to cut across battle lines and kill entire armies
- 2. meant quick defeat of enemy
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Air force
i. large air force (the Luftwaffe) and tanks and trucksà panzer divisiosn that would lead the Blitzkrieg attack with men numbering 4.5 million
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Union with Austria
- i. France and Brits were passive
- 1. Neville chamberlain (Brit prime minister), was a strong advocate of appeasement and believed British survival rested on peace with Germany and told them he wouldn’t oppose their changes as long as they were done peacefully
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Hitler movd
- i. Hitler moved on Austria, threatening with invasion
- 1. he coerced Austrian chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, into putting Austrian Nazi in charge of government
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Marched into Austria
- a. they marched unopposed into Ausria on basis of Austrian chancellor’s request for german troops to get law and order
- i. next day, Hitler annexed Austria
- Brits and French did nothingàdisgrace
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Czech
i. At first, germans wanted autonomy for the sudentenland, mountainous border of Czechoslovakia home to 3 million ethnic Germans and contained Czechoslovakia’s most important frontier defenses and industrial resources
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Seot 15, 1938
- i. Sept 15, 1938: Hitler demanded cessation of Sudentenland to Germany and threatened world war
- 1. on paper, Czechs were protected by France; in reality, French would not if British wouldn’t
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Brits refused
- a. rits refused to do so, and at the Munich Conference, the Brits, French, Germans, and Italians reached agreement that met all of Hitler’s demands
- i. German troops could occupy Sudentenland as Czechs did nothing
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Munich Conference
- i. Munich Conferecne was Hitler’s high points
- 1. when Chamberlain returned to England from Munich, he thought it meant peace since Hitler promised it was his last demand; Chamberlain believed him
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Munich confirmed
- i. Munich confirmed Hiterl’s perception that Western democracies were weak and wouldn’t fight as well as his own infallibility; unsatisfied
- 1. told his generals to prepare for final liquidation of Czech state
- a. occupied Czech lands, while Slovaks declared indepence of Czechs and became Nazi puppetsà Hitler: greatest German of them all
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Poland
- i. West finally reacts since Czechs didn’t want union
- ii. Hitler’s aggression showed his promises were worthless
- 1. when Hitler demanded return to Germany of Danzig, which was made free by treaty to serve as seaport for Poland, Birts saw danger and offered protection for Poland
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At the same time
- 1. at the same time, Brits and French, began to negotiate with Soviets, seeing them as only match to Russia (Stalin)
- a. alliance wasn’t possible due to distrust of Soviets
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Hitler ordered
- i. Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland and negotiated a nonaggression pact with Stalin to prevent alliance against him
- 1. secret protocol to treaty created German ad Soviet spheres of influence in e. Europe: Soviets would get some portions like Finalnd, etc. and Germany would get w. Poland and would allow Germany ot attack Poland
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SEpt 1
- a. Sept 1: German forces invaded Poland;
- i. two days later, Brits and French declared war on Germany
- ii. two weeks later, Germany’s ally, Soviets, sent troops into Poland
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