IGCSE History: War Kindles

IGCSE History: War Kindles

The risk of war:

• Reoccupation of the Rhineland occurred in 1936 and was a clear breach of the ToV.
• Hitler took considerable risks:
• The French were likely to resist his moving troops into the Rhineland.
• If they did resist by sending troops their army could potentially outnumber the German army.
• The German troops were not ready for a war with France.
• The first troops sent into the Rhineland were ordered to retreat if they met with French resistance.
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• Many German generals were unhappy with Hitler’s plan:
• They called upon him to retreat days after the invasion.
• Hitler refused.

Hitler the peacemaker?

• Hitler tried to show the world that his actions were reasonable.
• Ambassadors of Britain, France and Italy were told that the reoccupation was the beginning of a long-term peace in Europe.
• Proposed a 25-year agreement between France, Belgium and Germany:
• Not to attack each other.
• He suggested:
• That there might be a demilitarized zone on either side of the French-German border.

• That Germany might return to the LoN.
• His offers made Hitler seem like a reasonable person:
• Many were taken in.
• British Labor politician Arthur Henderson said that Hitler’s offer of the ‘olive branch…ought to be taken at face value’.
• On the day of the reoccupation Hitler spoke with the Reichstag:
• Intension was to convince the world that the action in the Rhineland was not worth fighting for.
• He suggested that he was attempting to build a peaceful Europe.
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The reaction of the French and British:

• French minister and generals met and decided to protest but not fight.
• Britain:
• No one wanted to go to war over the Rhineland:
• France allowed the remilitarization of the Rhineland because they were too weak to stop Germany without Britain.
• Many sympathized with the Germans after all the Rhineland is German territory and their army had the right to be there.
• One British politician said that they did not care ‘two hoots’ about the reoccupation.
• Britain took no action.
• Originally Hitler had intended to wait until 1937 when the German army would have rearmed sufficiently to take on France:
• The Abyssinian crisis had made Britain, France and the LoN unwilling to get involved in other conflicts:
• This opportunity was seized by Hitler for his reoccupation.
• His prompt action showed that he could grab an opportunity on the spur of the moment.

The ‘Anschluss’: the German Takeover of Austria:

• Many Austrians saw themselves as German at heart.
• Hitler wanted to unite all the German speakers into one Greater German Reich.
• Austria had a strong Nazi Party.
• Early 1938:
• Austria was in a state of chaos.
• Austrian Nazis were active and making life difficult for the government of Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg.
• Austrian Nazis were not completely under Hitler’s control.
• They sometimes acted without instruction from Berlin.
• They plotted to kill the German ambassador and so create chaos which would allow Germany to invade.
• Schuschnigg went to Hitler for crisis talks in February 1938:
• Hitler raved and shouted at him for two hours.
• Demanded that Nazis be made a part of the Austrian government.
• Demanded that the Nazis be given control of law and order.
• Schuschnigg felt that he had no choice and so obeyed.
• When Schuschnigg returned to Austria he was in a dilemma:
• He took seriously Hitler’s threat of force unless the Nazis were given more power.
• He could not look to other states for help:
• Britain had made it clear that they would not stop a German takeover.

The Plebiscite:

• 9th March Schuschnigg made one last attempt to keep Austria independent.
• Arranged a plebiscite or referendum to see whether or not the Austrian populace wished that Austria remained independent.
• He set the lowest voting age at 24 to stop younger Nazis voting.
• Even so 98.8% of Austria voted for Anschluss:
• This suggests that the plebiscite was rigged.
• Hitler:
• Was enraged.
• And afraid that Schuschnigg would win the plebiscite:
• He ordered the German army to invade on 11th March, 1938.
• The arrests came immediately afterwards; the army arrested the enemies of the Nazis:
• In Vienna alone there were 76 000 arrests.
• 12th March, Hitler went to his Austrian home town of Linz where he was greeted by cheering crowds.