International Relations in WWII
Chantel Pomerville
International Relations in WWII
After World War I, Europe wanted to remain at peace. The economies of Europe in the 1930's had fallen into a depression, with stripped Germany feeling the strongest blow. This diminution of German liberties issued in the Treaty of Versailles lead to a strong urge for nationalistic unity among Germans alike. Hitler took on this role as a strong leader, willing to unify all German-speaking people and rebuild Germany to his former glory. In Hitler's plan, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland were to be unified in Anschluss with the Reich. The idea of an incursion of these independent countries was cause for alarm to pacifists France and Britain. International relations began to materialize as treaties, pacts and agreements among European countries - once again dividing the continent. The prime objective of Britain and France's diplomacy was to evade another war with Germany - a war that could not be paid for in their current economic status. This attempt at circumventing warfare developed into a policy of appeasement, essentially giving the Füher everything he desired.
Hitler's assent to power struck fear into the Soviets, Italians, French and British people. The USSR dreaded a threat to destroy Bolshevism with a German invasion. Mussolini knew that a powerful Reich could be advantageous in disbanding the Paris Peace Settlement. But a powerful Reich could also invade southern lands such as Austria, which the Duce considered in his own sphere of influence. France, as always, was conscious of an attack on the Rhineland, especially since the Maginot Line was still under construction. Britain did not want to meddle with 'European' affairs again, but did want to play and active role in international war prevention. The problem was how to avert war with Germany.
A first alternative was to stage their own war on Germany. France and Poland would attack the Fatherland on each side. The only setback is that they did not have a legitimate reason to attack - Hitler came to power legally, the government was reasonable, and another attack would leave Germany infuriated once more. Another option was an immense rearmament of threatened nations. However, the cost of this would be substantial and difficult to maintain. The third choice was to disarm, making war less probable with fewer machines and soldiers. Lastly, problems could be settled through the League ...
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A first alternative was to stage their own war on Germany. France and Poland would attack the Fatherland on each side. The only setback is that they did not have a legitimate reason to attack - Hitler came to power legally, the government was reasonable, and another attack would leave Germany infuriated once more. Another option was an immense rearmament of threatened nations. However, the cost of this would be substantial and difficult to maintain. The third choice was to disarm, making war less probable with fewer machines and soldiers. Lastly, problems could be settled through the League of Nations, but the league was weak, and held no political pull, as shown by the Manchuria invasion. Since all these options were futile, the nations turned to pacts and agreements of defense and peace.
The existing Locarno Pact of the 1920's between Germany, France and Britain should have ensured protection of the French eastern boarder. Hitler found a way around this by creating a non-aggression pact with Poland. Poland, who had made former alliances with France, now feared too close of a relationship with them. Germany also increased its influence in Eastern Europe by established trade agreements with nations that were hard hit by the depression. Hitler continued rearmament of Germany, and announced the Luftwaffe in March 1935, along with his mandatory military enlistment plan. These were flagrant violations of the Treaty of Versailles, and France and Britain stood back and watched Germany rearm, for fear of aggravating the Füher. What France and Britain, along with Italy did agree upon was the fact that Germany should not occupy Austria. They created a Stresa Front that would uphold Austrian sovereignty. Russia also formed alliances of mutual agreement with France and Czechoslovakia. Britain secretly negotiated the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, allowing Germany to breach the Treaty of Versailles and form a Navy thirty-five per cent of Britain's, in an attempt at appeasing Hitler, who claimed he only wanted to unify German people, and nothing more. This would enable Hitler to build up his empire.
Mussolini also wanted an empire. In October 1935, his troops attacked Ethiopia, whose Emperor quickly pleaded to the League for assistance. France and Britain did not want to offend the Duce, but were obliged to assist Ethiopia. They eventually adopted a two-faced approach - privately appeasing Mussolini and publicly supporting sanctions against Italy. In 1936 Italy and Germany's relationship developed into an 'axis' understanding. Germany and Japan created an Anti-Comintern Pact, which pledged to keep the USSR from attacking each other. Italy also joined this pact in November of 1937, firming the alliance between the axis powers. Japan then assaulted China again in 1937. The only country that could sway Japanese invasion in China was the United States, which maintained her policy of isolation. Chamberlain was fearful of this alliance, and decided that in order to maintain peace, Britain had to uncover what Hitler wanted, and give it to him. He thought that Germany's unification plan could be carried out with out war. This was only the beginning of German aggression.
In February 1938, Hitler pressured Schuschnigg of Austria to 'allow' German influence. Germany invaded in March, and announced the Anschluss of the two nations now one. Hitler then went after Czechoslovakia in April, and since the French and British could not save Czech, they suggested a settlement between the two - which finalized as German occupation on October 1st. By March of 1939, after conferences and documents, Hitler created a German Bohemia and Moravia, finally making Chamberlain realize that his plan of appeasement was failing miserably. Hitler would not be satisfied with unifying Germans, he wanted a full conquering of Europe, and Poland was to be his next victim. On March 31st, Chamberlain reversed his policy, stating that if Poland were to be attacked, Britain and France would "lend the Polish Government all support in their power". Soon thereafter Britain and France allied with Romania and Greece. Shockingly, after negotiations with Britain, the Soviets signed a non-aggression pact with Germany in August 1939, and secretly agreed how they would distribute Poland once it was conquered! Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, and Britain and France declared war on the Reich on the 3rd.
International relations in Europe before WWII can be classified as a policy of appeasement. Chamberlain wanted to prevent war without war, and by doing so, he gave Hitler and Mussolini everything they desired. France tagged along with Britain and maintained this policy, while the United States maintained isolation. Pacts between nations were frequently formed, and many secret agreements lead to sparks between other nations. Preventing the war could have been substantially easier if the European powers had unified to crush Hitler faster, and placed another leader into power.