On 26 January 1934 Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with Poland. This was surely a diplomatic move that enabled Hitler to appear the cautious statesman in public. However Hitler’s true motives were simply to buy time with the pact as he had ‘no serious intention of maintaining a friendship with Poland.’ This political agreement contradicts his plans for lebensraum in the east, yet Hitler knew that if his foreign policy was to succeed he would first have to play cautious so as not to be stopped too soon. He followed up the pact with another diplomatic agreement that was slightly more useful to Hitler than the non-aggression pact. The Anglo-German Naval agreement, signed 8th of June 1935, restricted Germany’s naval strength to a third the size of Britain’s. This was clearly another diplomatic move that cleverly disguised any aggressive intentions that Hitler had. By publicly agreeing to limit part of his military strength he was giving the impression that he was not interested in expanding his empire overseas. Both pacts act to back up the idea that Hitler was playing cautious with intentions to portray himself as a non-aggressive, diplomatic and fair statesman.
At the end of 1934 one of Hitler’s main priorities was gaining back the Saarlands which had practically been placed under French control under the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler wanted to reunite the German-speaking people still living there with Germany. In retrospect one might assume that Hitler just invaded and took the land he wanted however in January 1935 he obtained the land through democratic-like actions. By holding a plebiscite the reunion of the land to the third Reich was legal, and Hitler did not appear aggressive in any way. I think this is further evidence to suggest that Hitler was restraining his aggression to begin with and following a foreign policy with a high degree of caution before 1937.
In order to show further agree with the statement it is important to prove that Hitler’s actions after 1937 were noticeably more aggressive than before 1937. Hitler had labelled the year 1937 as ‘a year of awareness’ as suddenly Hitler realises various tactical changes that must be made in his actions. He decides that if he is preparing for a war, according to the four0year plan, he must step up his preparation due to lack of time. By the end of 1937 Germany had become the strongest military power n Europe.
I think the first thing that proves a step up in aggression in 1937 was Hitler’s decisions made at the Hossbach memorandum in November. After playing ambiguously as to who his allies were before 37’ (not siding officially with Italy or Britain) he suddenly calls Britain and France as his enemy’s going on to exclaim that ‘Germanys problem can only be solved by the use of force’. This is a highly aggressive statement, as there seems to be no room for compromise. I think this is a clue that Hitler was now looking for a war.
In March 1938 Hitler executes one of the aims he had been planning for years; Anschluss with Austria. There was a plebiscite but it was ‘helpfully’ aided by the German military and Austrian Nazis. There is no doubt that Austria was taken by through brute force. By achieving Anschluss Hitler was in breach of the Treaty of Versailles and publicly expanding his empire. Suddenly he was showing himself to be the aggressive dictator we remember him as.
Although Hitler clearly shows aggression after 1937 and caution before, I cannot fully agree with this statement as I believe there is a lot of evidence to suggest that Hitler’s aggression built up progressively as soon as he was in power. Although he first began to re-arm in secret by 1935 it was virtually impossible to disguise his expanding supplies and a budget quite clearly designed for rearmament. The introduction of conscription was also an aggressive action as this was in breach of a main clause of the Treaty of Versailles disallowing any such conscription. At the same time he publicly announced the existence of the Luftwaffe, the German equivalent to the RAF. This is highly unsubtle behaviour and I think shows the existence of aggressive actions before 1937.
Perhaps the most obvious expression of aggression before 1937 was Hitler’s remilitarisation of the Rhineland. In 7 March 1936 Hitler marched his troops into the Rhineland and occupied the space with the German forces. I think this is a substantial evidence alone to suggest that Hitler was acting aggressively before the year 1937. Again he shows a lack of interest in what the Treaty of Versailles says making his actions irreparably illegal. This is evidence that can’t be ignored making it virtually impossible to agree that Hitler’s actions only gave way to aggression and provocation after 1937 when clearly he displays aggression before.
Also Hitler displays a degree of caution after 1937 which, if proven, further disagrees with the statement. The Munich Agreement of 1938 shows that Hitler is still has the desire to make Europe believe he is not aggressive. In Munich on September 29th Hitler promises to Neville Chamberlain that he is only interested in the Sudentenland and will not invade the rest of Czechoslovakia when we know that he had every desire to smash the state. Where as he could have ignored the British concern and straightaway announced his invasion into the whole of Czechoslovakia he signs an agreement that supposedly proves his non-aggressive intentions. This is undoubtedly an action of caution which proves that Hitler was not purely aggressive after 37’. Also it is relevant to add that if there was not some degree of caution after 1937 would the second world war not have started in 1937? Perhaps this is evidence in itself.
After viewing all the evidence it would be wrong to wholly agree with this statement, as there is too much evidence to suggest that Hitler was progressively aggressive and not just after 1937. I think it is also relevant to conclude that with every aggressive move he made he couples with an action of peace and caution. While he gets progressively aggressive he manages to mask it with various public actions of caution. I think it is this bond between his cautious action and aggressive actions that enables him to get away with so much by 1939. I do not completely agree with this statement however I can understand that the aggression is more concentrated and more substantial (with Anschluss, and the invasions of the Sudentanland, Czechoslovakia and then Poland) after 1937.
