Question: What role did Germany play in the factors that led to World War 2?
This is the second part of the post which will cover the second point on the various incidents Nazi Germany was involved in up to the outbreak of WW2.
Before I delve into the various situations and conflicts Nazi Germany was involved in up to the outbreak of WW2, I must first explain the the concept of appeasement.
So, what is appeasement? It is the diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. This was the attitude France and Britain took towards Germany from 1935 to the outbreak of WW2.
Why did they have this attitude?
Traditionalist historians say it was it was a military tactic by the Western Allies to stall for time, delaying Hitler’s invasions so they could build up their own military reserves. This claim asserts that the Allies saw Germany’s expansionism as an inevitable occurrence, and therefore permitted appeasement to buy time for their own military preparations.
Another likely reason was Britain and France were war weary. World War 1 and the Great Depression had wrecked these countries in so many socioeconomic aspects that the Allied countries were reluctant to pursue anything that could lead to war. Thus they were willing to comply with Hitler’s demands, foolishly thinking it would pacify Hitler.
Finally, the revisionist view suggests that Britain secretly supported Hitler. They felt the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh and thus wanted to help Nazi Germany regain her standing in the world. The Allies also wanted to use Germany as a buffer against the Communist Soviet Union.
So: appeasement is very important because it explains why Hitler was able to get away with what he did during the lead up to the outbreak of WW2.
We can easily recall the various incidents Nazi Germany was involved using the acronym SRAMCUP
S: The Saar was returned back to Nazi Germany in 1935 through a plebiscite
Was a major victory for Hitler as it proved Germans wanted to be reunited with Germany.
R: Hitler re-militarised the Rhineland on 7 March 1936, breaking the Treaty of Versailles. Although the invasion was a bluff (German soldiers were instructed to withdraw quickly should there be any resistance), the Allies permitted this.
A: Emboldened by his success in the Rhineland, Hitler decided to pursue Anschluss (annexation) of Austria. He essentially used coercion to force the Austrian chancellor to resign and replaced him with a pro-Nazi German.
M: Hitler then turned his attention to invading Sudetenland, an area in Czechoslovakia. This led to the signing of the Munich Agreement, one of the clearest signs of appeasement by the Allies. The Munich Agreement permitted the unconditional handover of Sudetenland to Hitler without consulting the Czechoslovakian government.
C: It didn’t take long for Hitler to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia. And the Allies didn’t do a single thing about it!
U: However, the appeasement policy to turn Germany and Russia against each other, fell through with the signing of the USSR-Nazi Pact in 1939. In this pact, USSR and Germany agreed to not attack each other.
P: With the Eastern border safely secured by Russia, Hitler was now free to invade Poland. He did, in 1914.
Author: belll
