• CAUSES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Why did peace collapse in Europe in 1939?

  • Hitler’s plans :

            -    abolish treaty of Versailles

  • expand German territory
  • defeat communism

  • Hitler’s actions

  • Hitler was seen as a gambler rather than a planner (each time took another logical step to get what he wanted) and it was also allies mistake that they didn’t stop him -> he became more self confident

Rearmament

  • 1933 – Hitler came to power -> aim: increase army forces -> thousands of workers draft to the army ->  less unemployment -> fulfilled promises
  • He rearmed first secretly saying that other countries also refused to disarm
  • 1935 – openly staged a massive military rally
  • 1936 – reintroduce conscription
  • Rearmament was popular to people + Britain who sympathized with Germany because they saw them as possible buffer against communism
  • Britain + Germany – agreement – Germany can have army until it is 35% under B. army

The Saar plebiscite

  • Saar had been ruled by League since 1919 (part of Germany) -> In 1935 plebiscites for people whenever they want be part of Germany or not -> Hitler won

Remilitarization of the Rhineland

  • In March 1936 Hitler moved his troops into Rhineland (even he agreed not to do this in Locarno treaty and Treaty of Versailles) -> huge risk
  • USSR and France signed an agreement to help each other if Germany attacks -> Hitler claimed Germany is under threat and should be allowed to have troops on his own frontier.
  • Hitler’s army wasn’t so equipped as French -> but any leader in France didn’t want to get France into war and in fact they didn’t know how Germanys army was weak.  
  • In the same time League was solving problems in Abyssinia and didn’t have power to stop Hitler -> Hitler’s action paid off
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The Spanish civil war

  • In 1936 a civil war broke out in Spain -> between communists and right wing rebels -> Hitler wanted to try out his new army force
  • In 1937 Hitler made bombing on civilian population in Spanish cities -> huge destruction

Anti-Cominterm Pact 1936-7

  • Mussolini, Hitler and Japan signed an agreement to limit communist influence around the world

Anschluss with Austria 1938

  • After successes in 1936-7 -> Hitler decided to take over Austria because most of them were Germans and were economically weak, he thought they belong together-> ...

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