Remilitarization of the Rhineland Done by Maysa Jaman

Remilitarization of the Rhineland Done by Maysa Jaman Hema

What is the Remilitarization of the Rhineland It was when the German army entered the Rhineland. The German forces had entered the Rhineland on the 7 th of March 1936. Hitler denounced the Locarno Pact and German troops infiltrated the area. First time entering Rhineland after World War 1. Twenty German infantry battalions, a small number of planes and about 32, 000 armed policemen and soldiers occupied the Rhineland.

The Elaborate Decision Hitler was smart with his moves. Major Powers of League of Nations were busy with Abyssinia crisis at that point. Hitler knew that they Britain or France would not be able to interfere in their plans. Risky move since they broke Locarno Treaty/ Treaty of Versailles. Hitler’s army lacked essential equipment and the army would have had to have leave if France or Britain intervened. This would have been embarrassing.

Bloomberg VS Hitler In March 1933, Werner von Bloomberg, Germany’s Defense Minister, had plans drafted for the remilitarization of the Rhineland. In 1935, Germany’s Chancellor Adolf Hitler, canceled the armed forces conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. On February 12, 1936, Hitler told his Marshal Werner von Bloomberg (his Field Marshall), of his intentions.

The Actual Occupation By 11: 00 a. m. , they had reached the Rhine River, after which three battalions crossed over to the Rhine’s west bank area. At this point, General Bloomberg pleaded with Hitler to evacuate all of their armed German forces from the Rhineland territory. General Bloomberg strongly disagreed that German troops would be able to conquer the Rhineland. Hitler asked if the French military forces had crossed the border area, he was told they had not. He informed Bloomberg that they should stay the course unless the French Army crossed the border. Even though Bloomberg was extremely nervous, Baron Konstantin von Neurath (Hitler’s foreign minister) remained calm and told Hitler not to withdraw the Germany Army.

After the Remilitarization of the Rhineland German military group was too small and was out soon outnumbered by the French military group, near by the border. The Remilitarization exercise was nerve-wrecking for Hitler, but the success gained him POPULARITY amongst army generals and German people. Britain and France were experiencing political crisis. Unable to focus on the Remilitarization of the Rhineland due to lack of a political leader. British leadership thought Nazi Germany was just entering their own backyard and that there was no need to enforce this part of the Treaty of Versailles.

Sly Trickery After the Remilitarization, Hitler shared his plans about peace throughout Europe. Hitler wanted to negotiate about non-aggression pacts with France and Belgium. While doing all this, Germany rapidly constructed fortifications along it’s borders near France and Belgium. Bought them defense and time to prepare for World War 2.

Why Remilitarize? Hitler's aims were aggressive, and he openly stated them in his book "Mein Kampf" in 1924. Destroy the Treaty of Versailles. Create a Greater Germany (a country of all the German people). Lebensraum (living space) to conquer land for Germany in Eastern Europe.

The believed aim of Remilitarization Date Event What happened 1933 1934 League of Nations Austria 1935 Saar 1935 Rearmament Hitler leaves the League of Nations. Hitler tries to take power in Austrian Nazis murder the chancellor, Dolfuss. Italy moves its army to the border and Hitler backs down. As planned in the Treaty of Versailles, the people of Saar (which had been given to France for 15 years) vote to return to Germany. Hitler increases the size of the German army to half a million members. Britain, France and Italy do nothing. 1935 Anglo-German Naval Treaty 1936 Rhineland 1936 Guernica 1937 1938 Anti-Comintern Pact Anschluss 1938 Sudetenland 1939 Czechoslovakia Poland Britain helps Germany break the Treaty of Versailles by signing an agreement to allow Germany a navy one-third of the size of Britain's. German troops re-occupy the Rhineland. They are given orders to retreat if France offers any resistance. France does nothing. Hitler tests his armed forces when German bombers, which are helping the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War, bomb the Spanish town of Guernica. Civilians in Britain and France are frightened. Alliance of Germany, Japan and Italy against communism Hitler occupies Austria. First, Hitler encourages the Austrian Nazis to demand a union with Germany. Then he invades when the Austrian chancellor announces a vote to see what Austrians want. After the German invasion, 99 per cent of Austrians vote "Ja". Britain and France do nothing. Hitler bullies France and Britain into giving him the Sudetenland. Hitler invades Czechoslovakia and takes control. Hitler invades Poland provokes the Second World War.

Believed aim of Remilitarization [2] As seen in the table, all these actions were planned very carefully by Hitler. He only decided to remilitarize Rhineland after the Abyssinia crisis. He knew Britain and France would not be able to help as they needed to sort out the crisis. Nobody would stop him and the remilitarization exercise would be a success. This aided his aggression for the second world war. The League of Nations would soon fall victim and collapse due to the weak forces.

Thank you for listening, hope you enjoyed it ; ) P. S. Hitler is awesome.