1. Appeasement and the Road to War
Issue 2:
An assessment of the methods used by Germany and Italy to pursue their foreign policies from 1933

2. Rearmament Aim of LoN was disarmament
He had been rearming in secret since he took power, but March 1935, he announced it publicly(Abyssinian Crisis going on at same time!)
LoN could do nothing-because Hitler announced that it was self-defence, he wasn’t attacking anybody
After all, France refusing to disarm therefore a threat.
Hitler said it would help keep Europe peaceful
He said that he didn’t want anything else
Did he have a point?

3. Remilitarisation of Rhineland a gamble?
ToV-demilitarisation of Rhineland so Germany not a threat to France, but Ruhr was exposed to French attack (1923)
7th March 1936 – 22,000 German soldiers marched into Rhineland
Britain and France did nothing
Hitler later said that if they had threatened him he would have withdrawn

4. Why did he really do it?
Ostensibly wanted to protect Germany’s east and west fronts
France had made a series of alliances in order to encircle Germany
Feb 1936 Franco – Russian alliance=gave Germany cause ie direct threat
Germany had promised to abide by western front agreed at Locarno
He was planning eastern expansion (Lebensraum) – needed secure western front- started construction Siegfreid Line

5. How did he get away with it?
Attacked at weekend, took Britain and France a while to respond
France government in crisis, Britain could not afford to fight
He wasn’t attacking anyone, it was German soil anyway, and France had been threatening Germany.
Just before remilitarisation he had offered hope of peace by saying in a speech that he would resume disarmament negotiations, possibility of 25 year peace agreement, perhaps a new DMZ involving French, Belgian and German territory
AND a new deal over use of aircraft – all sounds like music to those who look for disarmament.
So 2 of the ToV promises were broken, nothing happened, and Hitler didn’t want anything else.