IGCSE History: War Kindless

I/GCSE History: War Kindles

The risk of war:

Reoccupation of the Rhineland occurred in 1936 and was a clear breach of the Treaty of Versailles.
Hitler took considerable risks:
He could expect resistance from the French as he moved his army 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.

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.
He 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 League of Nations.
His offers made Hitler seem like a reasonable person:
Many were taken in.
British Labour 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:
His intention 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:

Generals and the French minister agreed to protest but refrain from engaging in combat.
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 League of Nations 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.
In 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 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.
He demanded that Nazis be made a part of the Austrian government.
He 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 Hitler's threat of force seriously 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:

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