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78 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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When was the Polish Non-Aggression Pact signed? |
January 1934 |
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What western alliance in Eastern Europe did the Polish Non-Aggression Pact directly counter? |
Franco-Polish alliance 1925 |
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What were the two main implications of the Polish Non-Aggression Pact? |
1. Safeguarded Germany's eastern frontier 2. Suggested to the outside world that Hitler's intentions were essentially peaceful |
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Which country had Hitler hoped to incorporate into a unified German State in the early 1930s? |
Austria |
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Why did Hitler fail to incorporate Austria into a unified German state? |
1. The Government cracked down brutally on opposition following the assassination of Chancellor Dolfuss 2. Mussolini moved Italian forces to the Austrian border in support of the regime |
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What took place in 1935? |
A Plebiscite in the Saar |
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What was the outcome of the 1935 Plebiscite in the Saar? |
Inhabitants voted nine-to-one to be reunited with Germany |
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What was the implication for Hitler of the 1935 Plebiscite in the Saar? |
It greatly increased his prestige as there was such great support for him and Germany |
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What did Hitler do following the 1935 Plebiscite in the Saar? |
1. Announced compulsory military service 2. An extended armaments programme 3. Proposed a peacetime army of over 500,000 4. Openly acknowledged that Germany had an airforce |
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What did the allies form in reaction to Hitler's increasing boldness in Foreign Policy? |
The Stresa Front |
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What agreement was signed in 1935 following the ineptitude of the Stresa Front? |
The Anglo-German naval agreement |
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What did Italy do in October 1935? |
Invaded the territory of Abyssinia |
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What were the implications of Italy's actions in late 1935? |
Estranged Italy from Britain and France and opened up a series of new opportunities for German diplomacy |
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What did Hitler do in 1936? |
Remilitarised the Rhineland |
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Why did Hitler want to remilitarise the Rhineland? |
It was a matter of national pride for the Rhineland was a part of German territory that had been taken following the Treaty of Versailles 1919 |
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What was the response to the German occupation of the Rhineland? |
Nothing, Britain and France did not respond |
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Why had France failed to respond to German actions in the Rhineland? |
Politicians and the Army were divided over the correct course of action |
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Why did Britain not react to German actions in the Rhineland? |
They were unconvinced that opposition to the Germans 'occupying their own backyard' was justified |
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What were the implications, for the western powers, of the Italian invasion of Abyssinia? |
Undermined the prospect of reviving the Stresa front as Britain and France had done too little to help Abyssinia whilst doing enough to antagonise Italy and make Mussolini reassess the basis of Italian foreign policy |
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What civil war did the Germans get involved with? |
The Spanish Civil War |
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Who's side were the Germans fighting on in the Spanish Civil War? |
Franco's |
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How many German and Italian troops were committed to Spain during the civil war? |
Fewer than 10,000 German, more that 70,000 Italian |
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Why did Hitler only involve Germany to a very limited extent in the Spanish Civil War? |
1. To prolong the war thus stretching Italian military resources and so keeping it more dependent on its German alliance 2. The war added to the diplomatic uncertainties of Britain and France 3. It offered the opportunity to test Germany's expanded army and airforce |
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In November 1936, who did Germany sign a pact with? |
Japan |
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What was the name of the pact Germany signed with Japan in 1936? |
The Anti-Comintern Pact |
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Who joined the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1937? |
Italy |
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Why did Hitler ally with Japan? |
To create problems for potential enemies as Japan had territorial desires in the Far East which would pre-occupy the likes of the USA |
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How did Hitler view Britain in 'Mein Kampf'? |
A natural ally |
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How did Hitler misinterpret British foreign policy? |
He neglected the fact that Britain was committed to preventing any one strong power from dominating the continent |
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When did the possibility of a British alliance disappear? |
1937 following the formation of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis |
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What role did Hitler take on in 1938? |
The Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces |
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Who became Foreign Minister in 1938? |
Ribbentrop |
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In 1938-1939 how strong was Hitler's ability to execute foreign policy decisions? |
Very strong. There was no one of importance to query Hitler's conduct of foreign policy |
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What was 'Anschluss'? |
Union between Germany and Austria |
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Why had the obstacles to Anschluss been weakened by 1938? |
1. France had failed to act over the re-militarisation of the Rhineland 2. Britain had no opposition as long as it happened legally and gradually 3. Italy, which had prevented Hitler exploiting the Austrian crisis in 1934, was occupied with the Spanish Civil War and was now an ally |
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Who was the Chancellor of Austria in 1938? |
Schuschnigg |
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Who was leader of the Austrian Nazis in 1938? |
Seyss-Inquart |
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What did Hitler hope to do, meeting Schuschnigg at Berchtesgaden? |
Bully him into accepting the Austrian Nazis into the government and and releasing Nazi prisoners currently being held in Austrian prisons |
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What was Schuschnigg's reaction to Hitler's demands at Berchtesgaden? |
He called their bluff by holding a referendum on Austria's continuing independence |
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After Schuschnigg called a referendum, what did Hitler do? |
He closed the German border with Austria and began to exert pressure through the right-wing members of the Austrian parliament |
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After Schuschnigg agreed to Hitler's terms what happened? |
Seyss-Inquart became Chancellor and he invited the German Army to enter the country to protect law and order |
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When did the German Army enter Austria? |
12 March |
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What were the consequence for Europe of Anschluss? |
1. Hitler's personal prestige soared following his success 2. The easy acceptance of Anschluss strengthened Hitler's self-confidence in his own ability to assess foreign policy issues 3. Germany's economic dominance of Southern Germany had been greatly expanded 4. Czechoslovakia was now outflanked |
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What region of Czechoslovakia did Hitler hope to incorporate into Germany? |
The Sudetenland |
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Who was the Nazi leader in Sudetenland? |
Henlein |
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What was the Little Entente? |
A group of smaller east European states formed in the 1920s to resist any German expansion in the region |
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What countries were members of the Little Entente? |
Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia |
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What had happened to the Little Entente by the late 1930s? |
It had disintegrated, Romania and Yugoslavia had been unwilling to pledge military aid to the Czechs to fight off any German invasion |
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Why did France not pose a problem for Germany in terms of future occupation of Czechoslovakia? |
French alliance with members of the Little Entente had been undermined and France had already twice accepted German expansionism without making a move |
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Did Britain and the Soviets pose a barrier to German occupation of the Sudetenland? |
No, Britain had no military commitments and te Soviets' defence pact only came into effect if France honoured her military commitment |
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What was Chamberlain's stance on the issue of the Sudetenland? |
He convinced himself that if all-out war was to be avoided then the Czechs had to make concessions on the matter of the Sudetenland |
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What did Chamberlain agree to at a meeting with Hitler at Berchtesgaden on 15 September 1938? |
The principle of self-determination by the inhabitants of the Sudetenland and all areas where more than 50% of the population was German would immediately be handed over to Germany? |
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How did Hitler react to the proposals put to him on 22 September 1938? |
He rejected them and demanded that the German Army be allowed to take over the Sudetenland within 2 days and that the Czechs meet the territorial demands of the Poles and the Hungarians |
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How did Benes react to Hitler's new proposals for Czechoslovakian territory? |
He virulently rejected them and ordered military mobilisation |
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Why did Hitler agree to a third meeting on the Czech issue in 1938? |
He was concerned as the French had called up reserve troops and sections of the British fleet had been put to sea |
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What agreement was signed in September 1938? |
The Munich Agreement |
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What were the terms of the Munich Agreement? |
German occupation of the Sudetenland and Hungary and Poland would have their territorial demands met. The Czechs were told to meet these demands or they fought alone |
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What happened on 16 March 1939? |
Hitler incorporated the remaining Czech provinces into Nazi Germany, with Slovakia becoming a Nazi puppet state |
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What were the consequences of Germany's flagrant dismissal of the Munich Agreement? |
In Britain the policy of appeasement was discredited overnight and it became a common belief that the Germans could not be trusted |
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What happened in Memel? |
The Nazis gained control of the city council and , in March 1939, they invited Hitler to take control of the city |
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What did Britain guarantee in April 1939? |
Support for Poland if she were attacked, extended jointly by France and Britain to both Greece and Romania |
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What port did Hitler hope to incorporate into the Nazi State in 1939? |
Danzig |
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How did Hitler hope to secure the Polish Corridor and Danzig? |
By negotiating a deal with the Poles by offering them the possibility of compensating gains in the Soviet Ukraine |
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What were the consequences of Britain's agreement with Poland? |
The Polish government would not bow to pressures from Germany and was determined to make no concessions on Danzig or the Polish Corridor |
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Why did negotiations between the West and the Soviets fail? |
The British and the French could not guarantee uninterrupted passage through Poland and Romania to the Soviets |
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What pact did Germany enter into with Italy in May 1939? |
The Pact of Steel |
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Who did Germany sign Non-Agression pacts with in the spring of 1939? |
The three baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania |
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When was the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed? |
23 August 1939 |
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Who travelled to Moscow to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact? |
Ribbentrop |
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Who replaced the fiercely anti-Nazi jewish Litvinov as foreign minister on 3 May 1939? |
Molotov |
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Why did the Soviets sign the Non-Agression Pact in 1939? |
They were promised territory they lost after the Treaty of Versailles in Poland would be returned and the Germans also gave the Soviets a free hand to regain the province of Bessarabia from Romania |
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What did Hitler think the the Nazi-Soviet Pact meant? |
The western powers would now recognise that they could not honour their commitments to Poland |
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When had Hitler originally planned to invade Poland? |
26 August 1939 |
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When did Germany ultimately invade Poland? |
1 September 1939 |
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When did Britain and France declare war on Germany? |
3 September 1939 |
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Which historian champions the view that Hitler's foreign policy merely exploited opportunities as they presented themselves? |
A.J.P. Taylor |
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What examples support the structuralist view of Nazi foreign policy? |
1. Hitler's using the Italian advance across Abyssinia as the time to remilitarise the Rhineland 2. The exploitation of Czechoslovakia following its disintegration in 1939 3. Hitler's taking advantage of unrest amongst German inhabitants of Memel in 1939 |
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What supports the internationalist view of Nazi foreign policy? |
1. Hitler had written of the need for Lebensraum in 'Mein Kampf' 2. Hitler had been systematically gearing the economy to war from 1933 onwards 3. Hitler's introduction of conscription and increasing militarisation of society |
