#summary sheets

after a few days of little motivation, I was surprisingly productive today.  

psychology lesson: I got a great grade on my common assessment test!

took psychology notes

made maths revision sheets 

200120

This source is simple, yet it has 2 interesting points to take note of:

“‘Remember… One More Lollypop, and Then You All Go Home!’” shows exactly how the British Prime Minister at that time, Neville Chamberlain, misjudged Hitler. Chamberlain believed that Hitler could be reasoned with and satisfied with negotiations and agreements. Instead, Hitler repeatedly made promises to Chamberlain and then broke them.

The large group of monsters with Nazi symbol surrounding the tiny appeaser standing on a small island, shows that the policy of appeasement had allowed Germany to become an overly powerful force. By refusing to stand up to Hitler and act against Hitler’s aggression for power, Hitler was able to rebuild his army, despite breaching the terms in the Treaty of Versailles, and he became more aggressive and daring in his demands. On the other hand, Britain and France, who initially adopted the policy of appeasement to buy time for themselves to rearm, did not manage to rebuild their army to combat Germany, and they were almost annihilated in WWII.

Summary:

The policy of appeasement played a major role in contributing towards the outbreak of WWII in Europe, and also allowing Germany to become overly powerful. Germany repeatedly violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, yet no one stood up to Hitler and stop him.

Reasons for the Policy of Appeasement:

Fear of another major war - Britain and France suffered tremendous losses in WWI, and there was lack of public interest in war. Both nations were not ready for another war, and they desperately hoped to avoid one.

Weakness of the League of Nations (LoN) - The LoN was ineffective in resolve international disputes peacefully while dealing with strong powerful countries. British adopted the policy of appeasement in hope to satisfy Hitler and prevent the outbreak of another major war.

Genuine Sympathy for Germany over the Treaty of Versailles - Many British politicians though that the treaty was too harsh on Germany. Chamberlain believed that by giving in too Hitler, he could help prevent another war.

Chamberlain’s Misjudgement of Hitler - Chamberlain believed that Hitler could be reasoned with and Hitler’s word could be relied upon. Chamberlain mistook Hitler’s aims to be limited to only revising the Treaty of Versailles instead of abolishing it, and could therefore be satisfied with negotiations and agreements. However, Hitler repeatedly made promises to Chamberlain and then broke them

Fear of Communism - Many British and French leaders hated and feared communism, seeing it as a bigger threat than Hitler and Mussolini’s fascism. They saw Hitler as a potential ally against communism, and believed that a stronger Germany could act as a shield against the Soviet Union from spreading communism to the West.

Examples of Appeasement:

Anglo-German Naval Agreement - In June 1935, the British signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, allowing Germany to have a navy which had ⅓ the tonnage of Britain’s surface fleet and an equal tonnage of submarines, instead of only 6 warships that over 10 000 tons and no submarines in accordance with the terms in Treaty of Versailles. It was hoped to reduce German anger at the treaty and stabilise Europe.

Lack of Action against Hitler’s Act of Aggression - Hitler was not kept in check while pursuing his goal of German expansion. As a result, Hitler became more ambitious and daring.

Remilitarization of Rhineland - British sympathized for Germany and saw it as Hitler merely returning ‘to his own backyard’. France was unwilling to fight Germany without British backing.

Involvement in Spanish Civil War - Hitler portrayed himself as a defender of civilization. He pointed out that he was combating communists in the war, and he was thought to be a potential ally against communism.

Anschluss with Austria - Chamberlain did not want to go to war to defend the Treaty of Versailles, which was thought to have serious flaws. Hitler also “promised” to stop demanding after the union with Austria.

Munich Agreement - Hitler declared that he would go to war for Sudetenland if necessary. The Czechs were willing to fight. Britain, France and the Soviet Union had promised to support Czechoslovakia. It seemed that war was imminent. To defuse the threat of war, Chamberlain met with Hitler and gave in to his demands to take over the Sudetenland.

“No man can say that the Government could have done more to try to keep open the way for an honorable and equitable settlement of the dispute between Germany and Poland. Nor have we neglected any means of making it crystal clear to the German Government that if they insisted on using force again in the manner in which they had used it in the past we were resolved to oppose them by force.

Now that all the relevant documents are being made public we shall stand at the bar of history knowing that the responsibility for this terrible catastrophe lies on the shoulders of one man, the German Chancellor, who has not hesitated to plunge the world into misery in order to serve his own senseless ambitions…”

--Neville Chamberlain’s Speech on the Invasion of Poland

The Invasion of Poland was the turning point for World War 2. This source shows us British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s sentiments towards Hitler’s actions, and gives us an interesting insight into Chamberlain’s point of view.

To Chamberlain, the main cause of the war was not himself, evident in “No man can say that the Government could have done more to try to keep open the way for an honorable and equitable settlement of the dispute between Germany and Poland.” Instead, he felt that Hitler’s aggressiveness at expansion was to blame. He uses the words “the responsibility for this terrible catastrophe lies on the shoulders of one man, the German Chancellor, who has not hesitated to plunge the world into misery in order to serve his own senseless ambitions…”, which suggest that he felt that World War 2 was caused by Hitler’s merciless expansionist policy alone.

He did not take into much consideration the lack of his own actions, but rather felt that Hitler was entirely at fault, which is interesting to note as it was not actually the case.

Summary:

German Unification With Austria

Hitler wanted an ‘Anschluss’ with Austria

Hitler used Austria’s German majority as a reason

Hitler forces Kurt Schuschnigg (Austrian Chancellor) into agreeing to a unification with Germany by rousing up sentiments of nationalism in Austrian-Germans

Plebiscite was drawn by Kurt, Hitler sends troops into Austria to threaten

Public voted for unification

Austria annexed into Germany, Hitler could now utilise their resources

Czechoslovakia

-Munich Agreement

Hitler demanded for Sudetenland

Hitler used Sudetenland German majority as a reason

Edvard Benes (leader of Czechoslovakia) and Hitler both threatened to go to war for Sudetenland

In attempt to avoid violence, Britain and France followed the policy of appeasement

Gave Hitler Sudetenland on the condition that Hitler would stop making territorial demands

-Invasion of Czechoslovakia

Hitler breaks his promise and invades Czechoslovakia

Chamberlain no longer trusts Hitler

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

Hitler signs a pact with Stalin in an attempt to avoid a war on two fronts, and to gain a portion of Poland.

Britain and Poland sign a mutual defence treaty

Invasion Of Poland

Hitler demanded for the city of Danzig

Wanted to build railway to connect East Prussia to Germany; wanted to further expand Germany

Negotiations between Poland and Germany failed

Final negotiation with France and Britain failed

Hitler invades Poland

Last straw that triggered WW2, Britain and France declare war on Germany

Actions of the major powers against Hitler up til the Invasion Of Poland: none

Here is a hand-drawn timeline: 

This source clearly shows the weakness of the League of Nations. It shows their failure to act upon every instance at which Hitler had Violated the terms of the treaty of versailles or any other treaty. This is evident in the source as Hitler is strolling happily after every incident which includes the taking over of Danzig , Rearmament.

Summary:

Withdrawal from the League of Nations

The Nazis soon after rising to power started taking measures to abolish the Treaty of Versailles

They left the League of Nations and the Geneva disarmament conference and used the refusal of the French to disarm to the same level as the Germans as an excuse to leave

Conscription and Rearmament

Hitler had plans ever since losing the first World War to restore German pride and avenge the humiliation it went through during the Treaty of versailles. He planned to take back all the territories it lost and even more.

To this he had to rearm , however he had to do it in total secrecy as the terms of the Treaty of Versailles forbade him from doing so. He had built a massive air force and had introduced mandatory conscription for all young males.

In 1935 , the Fuhrer announced to the world the level to which he had rearmed Germany’s military. Although this provoked outrage among the allied nations , they did not go to war with Germany as they were in a pacifist mood.

Britain even went to the extent to sign the Anglo-German Naval agreement to allow a limited build-up of the German Navy.

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

Hitler had hated the fact that the Rhineland was demilitarised and wanted total control of the Rhineland. The demilitarisation had been accepted as part of the terms of the Locarno treaties by the Weimar Government.

He used the Franco-soviet alliance as an excuse to send his troops and reclaim the Rhineland.

He was positive that Britain would be sympathetic but he was unsure about the French Reaction. Therefore , Hitler did not send in a well-prepared army as he was worried about the reaction it would provoke. However the French were undergoing an election at that point of time and they did not want to go to war. Apart from that , they were also in a pacifist mood and did not go to war with Germany.

German Involvement in the Spanish Civil War

Hitler realised that Britain and France wanted to avoid war and would not attack

Hence he sent in troops to fight the alleged communists in the Spanish Civil War. This was to divert the Brits and the French away from his plans for eastern Europe.

‘Manchuria demonstrated that the League was toothless.However, the blow to the League was not a mortal one and the decisive test came two years later in the Abyssinian crisis... The Abyssinian crisis delivered a death blow to the League. It was already weakened by the departure of Japan in March 1933 and Germany in October. Italy left in 1937.While Britain and France were distracted, Hitler made his first major territorial move, sending a force of 22,000 men into the demilitarised Rhineland.’

--Historian AP Adamthwaite (1977) 

This source tells me that because of the League’s weaknesses, therefore Hitler was able to make his first territorial move. Hitler was able to remilitarise Rhineland as the League, Britain and France were distracted by the Abyssinian Crisis at that time. Not only did Hitler militarised Rhineland, he became even bolder in his demands. However, this could all been prevented if the League was more useful in resolving problems.

Summary:

-The League Of Nations was established by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920.

-Although the League had some successes in its early years, its inherent weakness and poor decisions made by the major European powers led the establishment to gradually lose its authority and trustworthiness.

Disarmament

The League’s disarmament efforts in the 1920s and 1930s failed miserably as some major powers refused to cooperate with the League. Very often, these major powers attempted disarmament on their own initiative and not through the League, which hence undermined its credibility.

The two countries who could have made disarmament possible were Britain and France. However, both countries prioritised their own national interests above international peace. This led to other countries having no choice but to also protect their own national interests.

The failure of the League to get countries to disarm played an important role in the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939.

The 1935 Abyssinian Crisis

By 1935, the League of Nations had already lost much of its credibility for its inability to prevent Japanese aggression in Manchuria and the failure of its disarmament conferences.

In addition, the Italian invasion of Abyssinia did not bring about any strong response from the League. Britain and France were allies with Italy and the League did not want to make Mussolini their enemy for fear of him forging good relations with Hitler.

British Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare and French Prime Minister Pierre Laval attempted to solve the crisis on their own, without the League’s involvement, They proposed to Mussolini that if he stopped the invasion, he would be given certain parts of Abyssinia. These supposedly secret negotiations were leaked.

The reputation of the League was severely damaged in the Abyssinian Crisis because the leaders of the League were seem to be more interested in their own national interests than the interests of the League.

Mussolini went ahead to completely subdue Abyssinia and make it an Italian colony. He was very angry with Britain and France for trying to stop the invasion and thus moved closer to Hitler, who supported his actions. Mussolini and Hitler then signed the Rome-Berlin Axis to show their solidarity.