International Relations 1900 1939 Appeasement and the Outbreak

International Relations 1900– 1939 Appeasement and the Outbreak of the Second World War Icons key: For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation Flash activity. These activities are not editable. Web addresses 1 of 25 Teacher’s notes included in the Notes Page Accompanying worksheet Sound © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Learning objectives What we will learn in this presentation: Hitler’s ideas about race and how this affected his foreign policy. The reasons why Neville Chamberlain followed the policy of appeasement. The Sudeten Crisis and what happened at the Munich conference. What happened to Czechoslovakia and Poland. Causes and consequences of the Nazi. Soviet Pact. Why appeasement was abandoned. 2 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Lebensraum All human culture, art, science, and technology that we see before us today, are almost exclusively the creative product of the Aryan race. Hitler Photograph courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London. 3 of 25 The pure Aryan Germans need more Lebensraum (living space) – this is their right and their destiny! We will look east to our neighbours and to Communist Russia for this new land. © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Lebensraum and race Hitler believed in a concept of racial purity. He believed the pure Germanic people (or Aryans) were superior and should not mix with other races. He was worried that the ‘inferior’ Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe might outnumber and overwhelm the Germanic ‘Aryans’ were typically blondepeople if the Aryans did not gain haired and blue-eyed. Photograph courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London. more ‘living space’. Hitler therefore aimed to expand Germany’s borders to allow the Germanic race to multiply and spread. 4 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The ‘Greater Germany’ 5 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Hitler’s foreign policy Hitler had already started to move towards a ‘Greater Germany’. In 1935 the Saar became German again and in 1936, German troops reoccupied the Rhineland. Unification with Austria was achieved in 1938. In addition, Hitler had also instigated a massive re-armament programme. Conscription was reintroduced in 1935 and industry was geared towards producing tanks, planes, ships and guns. The British and French did nothing – this policy became known as appeasement. 6 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Appeasement To appease means to give in or allow someone to do something in order to satisfy them. The policy of appeasement is closely associated with Neville Chamberlain who was Prime Minister of Britain 1937– 40. His policies towards Hitler’s actions in Europe are often seen as an important cause of the Second World War. 7 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Appeasement was based on a number of arguments. There are many reasons why I believe in the policy of appeasement. I remember the First World War – we cannot go through such slaughter again. War must be avoided if possible. Neville Chamberlain 8 of 25 However, if there is to be war, we need to buy ourselves time to re-arm. Britain is weak at present. © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Appeasement was based on a number of arguments. The Treaty of Versailles was very harsh. The Germans have every reason to feel aggrieved – their demands for some changes to be made are not unreasonable. Neville Chamberlain 9 of 25 After all, if a person speaks German, thinks German and wants to be German, why shouldn’t they be? The Germans might settle for a few concessions. © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Chamberlain’s decision 10 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The Sudetenland After the feeble British and French response to the Anschluss, Hitler decided that it was safe to press on with his expansionist foreign policy. There were 3. 5 million Germanspeakers living in the Sudetenland – the area of Czechoslovakia bordering Germany and Austria. In April 1938, Hitler started to stir up the Sudeten Germans, who he claimed were being oppressed by the Czech government. 11 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The Sudetenland Rumours began to spread that the Czech people were mistreating the German speaking people in the Sudetenland. This was the pretext Hitler needed to threaten Czechoslovakia with invasion. He demanded control of the Sudetenland. The Czech President (Beneš ) refused. Czechoslovakia had an alliance with France and in May, Britain and Russia also promised support. Could the Czechs rely on these alliances to protect them given British and French foreign policy at this time? 12 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The Sudetenland For a time, Hitler backed down while the British tried to negotiate a settlement between the Czech government and the Sudeten Germans. The Czechs made many concessions, but Hitler encouraged the Sudeten leaders to continually up their demands. By September 1938 the situation had escalated into an international crisis. 13 of 25 Eduard Beneš President of Czechoslovakia © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The Munich Agreement 14 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Chamberlain was greeted as a hero when he returned from Munich with Hitler’s promise. He said: …for the second time in our history, a British prime minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. Chamberlain was nominated for the 1938 Nobel Peace Prize. Had the issues in Europe really been solved? Many people later saw Chamberlain as spineless. Is this fair? 15 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The invasion of Czechoslovakia What do you think Hitler did next? In March 1939, Hitler broke the promises he had made at Munich and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. Public opinion in Britain was turning rapidly against appeasement. Hitler was clearly not to be trusted. News of Nazi attacks on German Jews also made many people feel that it was wrong to negotiate with such a brutal government. What do you think will be Hitler’s next move? 16 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The Nazi-Soviet Pact Hitler’s next move was towards Poland. There were large numbers of German-speakers living in the areas of Poland that had been German before the peace settlement. However, Hitler was concerned that invading Poland could spark a war with Soviet Russia. Stalin (the Soviet leader) was worried about German intentions in Eastern Europe. He had sought an alliance with Britain and France but they had refused. 17 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The Nazi-Soviet Pact Stalin decided to sign a pact with Germany to buy himself time. In August 1939, Molotov (the Soviet Foreign Minister) and Ribbentrop (the German Foreign Minister) signed a ‘non-aggression’ pact. They agreed that Poland would be shared between the U. S. S. R. and Germany. The Nazi-Soviet pact was surprising as the German Nazis and Russian Communists were sworn enemies. Why did Hitler agree to the pact? Why did Stalin agree? 18 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The Nazi-Soviet Pact It can be argued that the Soviet Union was driven into an alliance with the Nazis by Britain and France’s fear of Communism. This led the western European powers to reject the idea of an alliance with the Soviet Union. Stalin was left with a stark choice between facing Nazi Germany alone or signing an alliance with Hitler to buy time for the U. S. S. R. to build up its forces. Both nations knew that the alliance was unlikely to last. Unfortunately, it gave Hitler the green light to invade Poland. How is the U. S. S. R signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact similar to Chamberlain’s actions at Munich? 19 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The invasion of Poland The Nazi-Soviet Pact meant that Hitler was now free to invade Poland without fear of Russia. On the 1 st September 1939, German troops invaded Poland. Hitler gambled that, as with Czechoslovakia, Britain and France would not go to war to defend Poland. However, he was wrong – Britain and France demanded that Germany withdraw. When Hitler refused, they declared war on Germany. 20 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Why did Britain and France go to war? 21 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd

Exam question 1. What were the consequences of appeasement for: - Neville Chamberlain - Czechoslovakia - Russia - Hitler To answer this question well you need to think about not just the short-term effects, but also the longer-term issues raised by the policy of appeasement for each country or individual. For example, in the short-term, appeasement was good for Chamberlain – the policy was popular and Chamberlain was seen as a hero. In the long-term, he had to admit that he had been wrong, leading to a loss of credibility. 23 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Exam question 2. How effective was the policy of appeasement in keeping the peace in Europe? [10] This question is asking you to look at both sides of the argument before making a decision. You would need to argue both for and against appeasement to get high marks in a GCSE exam. Also think about both the short-term and long-term effectiveness of the policy – in the short-term appeasement did prevent war. Remember to come to a reasoned conclusion. 24 of 25 © Boardworks Ltd 2006