Tension in Europe

1935-36 – The Abyssinian Crisis

Mussolini wanted an empire like the Romans and wanted colonies in Africa
In December 1934, he took advantage of a dispute over who owned the land around the Wal-Wal Oasis and invaded Abyssinia
In January 1935, Haile Selassie, the emperor of Abyssinia asked the League to get involved
In April, Britain, France and Italy were negotiating the Stresa Pact; a formal statement against the German rearmament and a commitment to stand against Germany
- At this meeting, the invasion of Abyssinia was not mentioned
  - Britain and France wanted to keep good relations with Mussolini as they believed he could be a future ally against Germany
The people of Britain wanted action against Mussolini
- The British Foreign Secretary, Samuel Hoare, made a speech at the League Assembly, stressing their commitment to collective security, arguing that countries should work together to achieve peace
In July, the League banned arms sales to either side
In September, the League concluded that neither side were to blame and proposed giving Italy some Abyssinian territory
- Mussolini rejected the League’s report and invaded Abyssinia in October
The League imposed economic sanctions on Italy
- They were reluctant to ban the sale of fuel to Italy as this would result in a loss of jobs for Brits, and they feared that the USA would not support them
Additionally, Britain and France did not close the Suez Canal to Italy’s supply ships
- The canal was the Italians’ main supply route to Abyssinia and closing it could have brought a swift end to the invasion
- Both Britain and France were afraid that closing the canal may result in war with Italy
In December, the British and French foreign ministers; Samuel Hoare and Pierre Laval were secretly planning on giving Italy two-thirds of Abyssinia in return for Mussolini calling off his invasion – the Hoare-Laval Pact
- Details of the plan were leaked to the press and the people of Britain and France regarded the plan as an act of treachery against the League
- Hoare and Laval were both sacked, but it damaged the reputation of the League
- The US Congress was appalled by the Hoare-Laval Pact and blocked a move by the USA to support the League’s sanctions against Italy
In March 1936, Hitler invaded the Rhineland
- France ditched any efforts to impose sanctions on Italy
- They thought Italy would be a key ally against Germany and they were prepared to sacrifice all of Abyssinia
- In November, Mussolini and Hitler signed the Rome-Berlin Axis, all France’s hopes were false
By May, Italy had taken control of the whole of Abyssinia
The British and French hoped that the invasion would strengthen their position against Hitler, they were soon proved wrong when Mussolini and Hitler signed the Rom-Berlin Axis

1933-37 – The Actions of Adolf Hitler

Hitler was strongly nationalist and wanted to put his own country’s needs first
His aims were set out in his book ‘Mein Kampf’
- Hitler believed that communism was a disease that had to be wiped out, so he persecuted communists in Germany and hated the USSR
- Hitler regarded war as a measure of the health and strength of a nation, so he aimed to increase military resources, preparing Germany for conflict
- Hitler believed that Aryans were the master race and that most of the people of Eastern Europe were inferior; he wanted to create an empire to rule over them and give the Germans the lebensraum they needed
In 1933, Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of Nations claiming that his country was not being treated equally
In 1933-35, Hitler began to rearm Germany, going against the Treaty; he reduced unemployment by drafting thousands of men as soldiers and secretly stockpiling weapons
- In 1933, he walked out of the League’s Disarmament Conference
- By 1935, he no longer bothered to hide his rearmament programme to the extent that he publicly paraded his forces in a ‘Freedom to Rearm’ rally in Berlin
In 1919, the Saar region was run by the League, Hitler then claimed it should be part of Germany
- The League forced him to run a plebiscite in 1935 in which over 90% of the Saar’s population voted to join Germany
The Treaty banned Germany from entering the Rhineland and Germany accepted this restriction in the Locarno Treaties
- However, in February, France and the USSR agreed a Mutual Assistance Treaty to protect one another in case of an attack by Germany
- Hitler claimed that he was being encircled so in March he took the risk of ordering troops into the Rhineland
- He had no counter fight from France or Britain because they were too concerned with the Abyssinian crisis
- The League condemned his actions with no further consequences
In 1936, civil war broke out in Spain between the republicans and nationalists; the war quickly attracted the attention of European countries
- The USSR supporting the republicans with military resources
- Britain, France, Italy and Germany all said they wouldn’t intervene
- Italy and Germany did so by sending troops as ‘volunteers’ and supplying aircraft and other equipment to support the nationalists because Hitler and Mussolini had similar ideologies to General Francisco Franco who led the nationalists
These actions had great impact on international relations because Germany saw that Britain and France didn’t get involved, he thought they would take the same attitude to any war
- The terrible impact of modern weaponry caused Chamberlain to want to avoid war at all cost, and the USSR had suspicions about Britain and France due to their reluctance to oppose Hitler
- Seeing the Spanish Civil War, Hitler was encouraged to reverse the Treaty of Versailles
- Hitler and Mussolini had proved effectiveness of their armed forces
- Meanwhile, Japan had come under control of nationalist commanders, such as General Tojo, who had much in common with Hitler and Mussolini
In 1936 Germany and Japan had signed the Anti-Comintern Pact to pledge their opposition to communism and in 1937, Italy also signed the pact and the three countries became known as the Axis alliance

1933-37 – Hitler’s Ability to Achieve

Many people feared Hitler and were too afraid to oppose him
Britain’s view was naive
- They weren’t in a strong position
  - They tried to recruit Mussolini as an ally who ended up siding with Hitler
  - The USA has isolated itself from Europe, so they won’t help
  - They were weary of France as they had different aims
- They wondered if Hitler was that bad
  - They were more worried about Stalin and communism which Hitler was standing up to
  - They knew he was right about the disarmament as no one else had disarmed
  - They thought he could not be sincere about his extremist views
  - They believed that some of the conditions were too harsh
- As a direct result of their behaviour, Hitler began to believe that Britain might even join him in an alliance against France with the USSR
The viewpoint of the French was that they shared borders with Germany, so they were very afraid of what they could do as the Germans had invaded many times before
- They wanted an alliance with Britain but when they refused, they made a pact with Stalin, giving Hitler an excuse to remilitarise the Rhineland

1937-38 – Appeasement

Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister officially in 1937, however he had effectively been PM for two years prior as Stanley Baldwin was ill
He had already begun a rearmament programme to prepare Britain for war
- This suggests he was realistic about the international relations
Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier, the French leader, discussed their common concerns about Hitler
- The pair did not ‘get tough’ – they adopted the policy of Appeasement

1938 – The Anschluss

The Treaties of Versailles and St Germain specifically forbade the union of Austria with Germany, but Hitler didn’t care
Hitler had a strong Nazi Party in Austria whom he instructed to campaign for the Anschluss
- This caused unrest and Hitler threatened to bring in troops to restore order
Kurt Schussing, the Austrian chancellor, was worried and asked Britain and France to pressurise Hitler to back out, but they did nothing
In March 1938, Hitler marched troops into Austria, a plebiscite was organised in which 99.75% of the population agreed to the Anschluss
- This was a significant success for Hitler
  - He increased Germany’s population
  - He added Austria’s reserves of gold and iron ore to German industry
Britain and France did not act because they may have thought the Treaties were unfair anyway, this gave Hitler the message that they didn’t care to fight for the Treaty of Versailles

1938 – The Munich Agreement

After the Anschluss, it seemed Czechoslovakia was waiting to be consumed by Germany
Edvard Benes, the Czech leader, was appalled by the union of Austria and Germany
- He asked Britain and France to promise that they would help defend Czechoslovakia if Hitler invaded, they promised
Hitler was interested in Czechoslovakia as a region – the Sudetenland – was mostly populated by Germans
- As in Austria, Hitler got the Nazis in the Sudetenland to make trouble and demand to join with Germany
In May 1938, Hitler expressed his support for the Sudeten Germans and threatened to invade Czechoslovakia if they didn’t hand over control
- Benes prepared his modern army and was supported by Britain and France
- There was a tense summer and many countries prepared for a European war
By mid-September, the situation was dire, and Chamberlain made a last attempt to prevent war
- On 15 September, Chamberlain met Hitler and their meeting seemed to go well
  - Hitler compromised saying he only wanted parts of the Sudetenland and would only take it if a plebiscite was held
  - Chamberlain believed he was being fair and reasonable so thought it was best to give him what he wanted
- On 19 September, France and Britain put their plan of giving Hitler parts of the Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia
- On 22 September, Hitler demanded all the Sudetenland, but Chamberlain told him his demands were unreasonable and the prospect of war was imminent
- On 29 September, Mussolini agreed to join Hitler, Chamberlain and Daladier at the Four Power Summit in Munich
  - The leaders decided to give Hitler the Sudetenland
    - This became known as the Munich Agreement
  - The Czechs were not consulted
  - The next morning Hitler and Chamberlain published a joint declaration saying it would bring ‘peace for our time’
Internationally, the Munich Agreement was hailed however people had concerns that Appeasement was not the answer

1938-39 – The Nazi-Soviet Pact

Hitler moved his forces into the Sudetenland in October 1938, stating this was the end of his ambitions
On 15 March 1939, German troops invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia
- For Chamberlain, this was a step too far as unlike the Sudetenland which was taken from Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, Czechoslovakia was its own land
- Britain and France told Hitler that if he invaded Poland, which appeared to be his next target, that they would declare war – the policy of Appeasement had ended
- However, Hitler still did not believe that Britain and France would risk war by resisting him
In the short term, Hitler wanted to reclaim the Polish Corridor and the city of Danzig
- He was confident that Poland wasn’t strong enough to defend themselves
- He was sure that Britain and France wouldn’t act
- He was worried Stalin would oppose him as Poland bordered the USSR
Stalin was concerned even after agreeing to the Mutual Assistance Pact with France in 1936 because he saw Britain, France and the League had done nothing to stop Hitler
In March 1939, Stalin held discussions with Chamberlain and Daladier to try and arrange an alliance against Hitler, the negotiations continued through spring and summer
- Stalin was simultaneously meeting with Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi foreign minister, about a different alliance
In August, Stalin opted for an alliance with Nazi Germany, he announced it on 24 August and the world was stunned
The USSR and Germany said they wouldn’t attack each other as part of the pact and they privately agreed to divide Poland between them, and Hitler allowed Stalin to take the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Neither Hitler nor Stalin had faith in the agreement
- Stalin was getting his forces ready for when Hitler turned on him
  - This happened in 1941
- Stalin decided Britain and France wouldn’t stand up to Hitler

1939 – The Second World War

Hitler invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 and German forces swept through the land
- This time, Hitler miscalculated – Britain and France had pledged to come to Poland’s aid in the event of an invasion, this time they honoured their promise
- They declared war on Germany
The Second World War began on 2 September 1939
It is believed that Hitler was responsible for the war but other factors such as the Failure of the League and the Depression helped

Outline the main events of the Abyssinian crisis. [5]

Outline the actions of Adolf Hitler in the period 1933-37. [5]

Describe the policy of Appeasement followed by Britain and France in the 1930s. [5]

Outline Hitler’s foreign policy in the period 1938-39. [5]

Explain why international relations became worse in the period 1933-38. [10]

Explain why Hitler was able to achieve so much in the period 1933-37. [10]

Explain why Appeasement is considered one of the main causes of the Second World War. [10]

‘Adolf Hitler’s actions were responsible for the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939.’ Explain how far you agree. [10]