Abolish The Treaty Of Versailles

The Causes Of WW2
Abolish the treaty of Versailles * Hitler believed that treaty was unfair. He called the German leaders who signed it the “November Criminals” * Hitler promised that if he became the leader of Germany that he would reverse it. * By the time Hitler came into power Germany did not have to pay any reparations.
Expand German Territory * The treaty had taken away territory from Germany. Hitler wanted this back and to unite with Austria. * He also wanted German minorities in other countries to re-join Germany and to gain an empire in eastern Europe to create more “lebensraum” , “living space” for the German people.
Destroy Communism * To gain empire in the soviet union would help Hitler to defeat communism or Bolshevism.
* He believed that the Bolsheviks helped bring about the defeat of Germany in WW1. * He also believed that they wanted to take over Germany. Date | Action taken by Hitler | 1993 | 1. Took Germany out of League. 2. Began rearming Germany. | 1934 | 1. Tried to take over Austria but prevented by Mussolini. | 1935 | 1. Held rearmament rally in Germany. | 1936 | 1. Reintroduced conscription in Germany. 2. Sent German troops into the Rhineland. 3. Made an anti-communist alliance with Japan. | 1937 | 1. Tried out Germanys new weapons in the Spanish Civil War. 2. Made anti-Communist alliance with Italy. | 1938 | 1. Took over Austria. 2. Took over the Sudetenland. | 1939 | 1. Invaded rest of Czechoslovakia. | WAR | 1. Invaded Poland |
Rearmament
* One of Hitler's first steps was to increase the size of Germanys armed forces. Many unemployed workers were put in the army. This reduced unemployment which was a massive problem. * German people supported rearmament. He knew would cause alarm in other countries. He began to rearm in secret and said publically that he would not rearm. He then left the league. * 1935 Hitler staged a massive military rally showing off the German army. Hitler got away with this. The collapse of the leagues disarmament conference showed that other nations were not going to disarm. * Rearmament boosted Nazi support. Hitler knew Britain has sympathy for Germany on this issue as they believed that the restrictions were too tight. Britain also thought that Having a strong Germany would be good against Communism. * In 1935 Britain signed a naval agreement with Hitler allowing Germany to increase its navy to 35% of the size of The British navy.
The Saar plebiscite * The saar region of Germany was run by the league since 1919. The league held a vote to see if the people wanted to join Germany rule. * Around 90% of the population Voted “YES!” and this made Hitler happy.
Remilitarisation of the Rhineland * In March 1936, Hitler took a huge gamble - he ordered his troops should enter the Rhineland, breaking the terms of Versailles once again. * He did order his generals that the military should retreat out of the Rhineland if the French showed the slightest hint of making a military stand against him. This did not occur. Over 32,000 soldiers and armed policemen crossed into the Rhineland.
This cartoon shows that the remilitarisation of Rhineland was the first step Hitler took towards abolishing the Treaty of Versailles. At the beginning Hitler claimed that he was going only for Rhineland but step by step he started conquering more land and demanded more. The weapons strapped to the Goose represent the rearmament rally which rapidly increased Germany's armed forces and there is a map of Europe strapped to his waist, showing his territorial ambitions. The torn "Locarno" paper which the goose stands on is representing the Locarno Treaty which was made to respect borders and stay within your own, by stepping all over it the cartoonist is saying that Germany are not respecting it, also it shows his desire for greater land for Germany.

The Spanish Civil War * These early successes gave Hitler confidence. In 1936 a civil war broke out in Spain between Communists, who were supporters of the Republican government, and right- rebels under General Franco. * Hitler saw this as an opportunity to fight against Communism and at the same time to try out his new Armed forces.
In 1937, as the league of Nations looked on helplessly, * German aircraft made devastating bombing raids on civilian populations in various Spanish cities.
The Anti-Comintern Pact, 1936-7 * Italian leader Mussolini was heavily involved in the Spanish Civil War too. * Hitler and Mussolini saw that they had a lot in common. * In 1936, Germany and Japan signed an Anti-Communist Pact. * In 1937, Italy also signed it. Anti-Comintern means ‘Anti-communist International’. * Aim of pact was to limit Communist influence around the world.
Anschluss with Austria 1938 * With successes of 1936 and 1937 to boost him, Hitler turned attention to his homeland of Austria. * The Austrian people were mainly German, and in Mein Kampf Hitler made it clear that he felt that the two states belonged together as one. * Many in Austria supported idea of union with Germany, since their country was so economically weak. Hitler was confident that he could bring them into a ‘greater Germany’. * He tried to take over Austria in 1934, but on that occasion Mussolini had stopped
him. * There was a strong Nazi Party in Austria. Hitler encouraged Nazis to stir up trouble for government. * They caused riots. Hitler told Austrian Chancler Schusching that only Anschluss (political union) could sort out these problems.