Why Was The Anschluss Between Germany And Hitler In 1938 Case Study

4. Why was the Anschluss between Germany and Austria such a major achievement for Hitler in 1938? There were several reasons why the Anschluss between Germany and Austria was such a major achievement for Hitler in 1938. One of Hitler’s foreign policy aims was to include all the German-speaking people in the Reich to form a Greater Germany. Austria held the largest concentration of Germany speakers outside of Germany; therefore, Hitler could not accomplish his aim without Austria. However, the Treaty of Versailles forbid the union of Germany and Austria (even if the Treaty of Versailles was essentially nonexistent by this point). At first, this union was far off in the distance, since Hitler faced a major problem – Italy. Italy would
Hitler’s desire for it made itself known in his foreign policy. Hitler was adamant that Germany needed lebensraum to survive. In fact, he preached about it during his speeches during the elections. World Depression only strengthened his idea. Germany had been effected by the Depression the most. Hitler convinced the Germany people that they needed land to return to their former glory. Rallied behind this idea, Germany began to rise from the ashes. To a large extent, Hitler’s desire for lebensraum was responsible for the war. Hitler wanted land, but he knew that he could not get what he wanted with nothing to back himself up. Thus, he began to rebuild the Germany military in secret, improving relationships with other countries in the
The remilitarization of the Rhineland allowed Hitler to protect the industries in the Ruhr – especially since these industries were extremely important in the rebuilding of the Germany army. His next step was to form a union with Austria – another success. With each piece of land gained, Hitler grew more confident and his greed increased. Eventually, with the invasion of Czechoslovakia, Hitler had grown to a major threat. He was not satisfied with what he had, seeking European domination. This desire for land eventually led to Britain and France taking a stand against Germany, which in turn led to war.
6. Describe the policy of appeasement. Appeasement was the name given to the foreign policy adopted towards Hitler and Mussolini by Britain and France during the 1930s. Appeasement was largely about preventing war. It involved the making of pacts and deals with the aggressive nations in order to satisfy their demands without war. Even though it was opposed by a few high profile figures, the majority of politicians supported the idea. An famous example of appeasement was the Munich Agreement of September 1938. In the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was handed to Germany in return for peace.
7. “The Nazi-Soviet Pact made Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 a near certainty.” How far would you agree with this view? Explain your