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Hitler’s Expansion 1938-1940

Hitler’s Expansion 1938-1940. Context. Hitler has eliminated rivals in the military through the Blomberg -Fritsch Affair Now in a position to execute more aggressive foreign policy Working towards revision of Versailles, Lebensraum and Generalplan Ost Order of Attack Austria 1938

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Hitler’s Expansion 1938-1940

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  1. Hitler’s Expansion 1938-1940

  2. Context • Hitler has eliminated rivals in the military through the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair • Now in a position to execute more aggressive foreign policy • Working towards revision of Versailles, Lebensraum and GeneralplanOst • Order of Attack • Austria 1938 • Sudetenland 1938 • Rest of Czechoslovakia 1939 • Poland 1939 • Western Europe 1940 • USSR 1941

  3. Anschluss, 1938 • Had signed an Austro-German agreement in 1936 • Secretly gave pro-Nazi politicians a role in the government • 1938, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschniss alarmed by the activities of the Austrian Nazis and requests a meeting with Hitler • Hitler launches into attack

  4. Anschluss, 1938 • Two hour rant by Hitler, demanding • The release of Nazi agitators • Lifting the formal ban against the Nazi Party • The appointment of Nazi ministers • Assimilation of the two nations • Schuschnigg calls for a plebiscite, but Hitler decides to intervene prior and marches the Wehrmacht into Austria on March 12 • Subsequent April vote confirms the incorporation of Austria into the Reich

  5. Sudeten Crisis, 1938 • Hitler turned his attention to Czechoslovakia, reasons • Hitler considered the Slavs untermenschen • Many Czechs had resisted Austrian rule • Czechoslovakia was an example of successful ethnic blending, which Hitler could not accept • The Sudetenland held a major German demographic • Czechoslovakia was a major supporter of the League and an ally of France and the USSR

  6. Sudeten Crisis, 1938 • Sudetenland was a natural border provided for the Czechs after WWI which had then been fortified with a strong army • Many of the Sudeten people had resented their fall from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire • Grievances rising as a result of the Depression • Sudeten Germans led by KonradHeinland, demanding self-determination • Propped up by Hitler, though the Fuhrer at first did not want to use force

  7. Sudeten Crisis, 1938 • Hitler changed his mind with the May Crisis • Unfounded rumors of German troops massing on the Sudetenland border • Czech, British and French mobilization • Made Hitler seem as if he had backed down • Summer of 1938, began to order further agitation by the Sudeten Germans • Heinland actually granted them self-determination, but Hitler now desired conquest

  8. Sudeten Crisis, 1938 • British PM Neville Chamberlain now organizes an intervention, desperately trying to avoid the war • Three meetings • Berchtesgaden, Sept 15 • Agreed Sudetenland would be transferred to Germany • Godesberg, Sept 22 • Hitler furious, looking for an excuse for war • Now insists that the Hungarians and Poles get their own territory as well • Czechs rejected these terms

  9. Sudeten Crisis, 1938 • Three meetings (cont.) • Munich, Sept 29 • German occupation • Czechs would be allowed to leave and Germans allowed to enter • Poland was to be given Teschen • Hungary was to be given South Slovakia • Germany would guarantee remaining Czechoslovakian independence • Notes on Munich • Benes nor Stalin invited • Mussolini acting as mediator • Brtain and France told the Czechs they would not be supported unless they accepted the terms

  10. Liquidation of Czechoslovakia • Czech Pres. Eduard Benes resigns • Oct. 21, Hitler orders the “liquidation of the remainder of the Czech state” • Czechs had just lost 70% of industry, 66% of population and natural defenses • Hitler urges continued agitation in Czechoslovakia • Czech Pres. Emil Hacha orders troops to suppress uprising • Hitler used this as an excuse to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia on March 15 • Britain no longer works with Germany

  11. Poland, 1939 • Clear that Hitler’s next target is Poland • Part of the TOV that had been greatly resented by the Germans • Particularly West Prussia and the “free city” of Danzig • Germans proposed that the corridor be returned to allow for access to East Prussia • Refused

  12. Poland, 1939 • Early March, Hitler asks Lithuania to turn over Memel • With no support, Lithuania is forced to accept • March 30, Britain creates a new Anglo-Polish Treaty, pledging assistance • Hitler was furious: “I’ll cook them a stew that they’ll choke on.” • Declared the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and his 1934 Non-Aggression Pact with Poland • Began preparations for Operation White, the limited invasion of Poland

  13. Pact of Steel, May 1939 • Affirmed the alliance between Hitler and Mussolini • Italy still wary of full-scale conflict and admits it will not be ready for three-four years • Hitler intent on immediate war with Poland

  14. Nazi-Soviet Pact • Both the West and Hitler approached Stalin for an alliance • Hitler needs temporary protection against two-front war • Stalin had shown desire to work with the West • Joined the League in 1934, pact with France I 1935 • Undone by the Munich Agreement • Now Stalin seeking an alliance with either side for practical reasons • First to an agreement was Hitler in August of 1939 • Pledged to remain neutral in a third-party attack • Included secret protocols for the division of Northern and Eastern Europe

  15. Nazi-Soviet Pact • Why did Hitler sign? • Now had a free hand in Poland • Assured he will not fight a two-front war • Secured valuable raw materials from the USSR • Why did Stalin sign? • Kept the Soviets out of war – facing the Japanese in the East and the effects of 1937 military purges • Hoped that Germany and the West would weaken one another and he would be left standing • Hoped to get territorial gains – half of Poland, Finland, the Baltics • Mechanical goods from Germany

  16. Outbreak of War • Hitler did not believe Britain and France would act • Gave a last minute proposal to Britain to leave the Empire alone and agree to later disarmament if the Poles gave up the corridor • Not accepted by either Britain and Poland • Hitler fabricated an attack by Polish nationalists along the German border • Sept. 1, invasion of Poland had begun • Britain presented an ultimatum • With no response, two days later Britain and France declare war on Germany

  17. Polish Conflict • Hitler using “blitzkrieg’ style, quickly defeats Poland • Divided up between Germans and Poles at Molotov-Ribbentrop Line • Germans now transport forces to the West • Britain and France did very little until the next spring • Was referred to as the Phoney War

  18. Hitler Takes Over Europe • Occupied Denmark and Norwegian ports in April 1940 • Attacked Holland, Belgium and France in May 1940 • British miracle at Dunkirk to continue fighting • Moved south through France, which surrendered six weeks later • Planned the invasion of Britain, Operation Seal Lion, but needed control of the English Channel • Thwarted by the Royal Air Force in the Battle for Britain throughout the summer of 1940 • Switched to the bombing of British cities, which still had limited effect • June 1941, returns to original war aims, invades the Soviet Union

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