The Re-occupation of the Rhineland (1936) Sources Questions

        By agreeing with all of the peace treaties, and going along with any rules that had been laid down, Hitler seemed to be complying with the Treaty of Versailles. In secret, he was building his army up, for example, the Nazi airforce (or "Lufftwaffe") was disguised as a collection of flying schools where military training was done under the cover of commercial or leisure skills learning. The cartoon has a caption underneath saying "Goosey Goosey Gander, Wither Dost Thou Wander!", "Only Through The Rhineland - Play Excuse My Blunder!". This poem is given the title "The Goose-Step" which was how the German army were trained to march. The poem also suggests that going into the Rhineland was an accident or "blunder", but the cartoon shows the goose with a map and therefore it knows where it is going, and that it is doing wrong.

C        Source D is a statement by a Lord during a debate on the issue of Hitler's actions. He says that as the Germans are only occupying their own land or "back garden" that the League of Nations need not be worried and that by making a fuss, would only make them look too 'picky' with their regulations. The fact that Hitler was breaking the Treaty of Versailles annoyed many people, but Britain and France did not want to fight the Germans, especially when they were only reclaiming their own land. Apart from this, France itself was split into several groups which were struggling for power and no united policy was possible.

        Also, Britain would not help France to unite. The French generals had decided to rely on a purely defensive policy for political reasons and to put their trust in the Maginot line (a series of defensive structures designed to be strongholds against any attack). As well as this, several French generals were sympathtic to Fascism and not hostile to Hitler. All of these facts added up to a lack of will to take the initaitive and fight Hitler.

D        Sources C and E show that if France and Britain had showed the slightest resistance to Hitler's advancement into the Rhineland, the German army would have retreated back into militarized Germany. Source E especially shows that Hitler was even worried that the French army would force him to flee from the Rhineland as the military force being sent there was extremely minimal and would not have been able to withstand even a light attack. Even so, no countering measures were taken by any countries in, or out of the League. Hitler was greatly encouraged by this which meant that it was probably the turning point of the war. Hitler's plans would probably been set back months, or even stopped altogether if the League had taken action against him.

        If any joint peace force sets out rules and treaties they must be enforced to work. By letting one misdemeanor go unchallenged, a gateway is opened for others to take advantage of the system.