Sharks can live up to 100 years.

1. “Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war is senseless and useless.”- Adolf Hitler Sharks can live up to 100 years.

2. World War II The Outbreak: Germany

3. Foreign Policy of the Nazis: 1930s • Hitler wanted to change the status quo: reverse T of V, Nazi ideology, etc. • Hitler wanted Germ. to return to the way it was in 1914. • However, Hitler knew Germ. was not ready for war, in the early 1930s and decides to play it safe at first.

4. Foreign Policy of the Nazis: Early 1930s • After Hitler comes to power in 1933, he needs to calm the fears of the other Euro. countries: fear of Mien Kampf platform. • March 21. 1933: Day of Potsdam – while reassuring the Germ. people, Hitler also tries to portray himself as a man of peace internationally. • Jan. 1934: Hit concludes non-aggression pact with Poland • Affected Fr.: they hoped they could contain Germ. through treaties with Czech., Poland, etc.

5. www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_nm.php?lang=en&Module...

6. Hitler Takes His First Steps • March 1935: Hitler creates a draft to increase size of military (T of V: 100,000). • 1935: Britain negotiates a naval treaty with Germ. – Germ. navy can be 35% of Brit. Navy (T of V: small navy). • March 1936: Hitler stations troops and remilitarizes the Rhine (T of V: violation of buffer states). • These actions are popular domestically (1935-36): rolling back T of V. • Brit. and Fr. only grumble.

8. Hitler Takes His First Steps • Oct. 1936: Italy and Germ. enter into an alliance (Axis Powers) – Anti-Communism. • 1937: Hitler began demanding the cession of the territories of the Rhineland and Gdańsk (Danzig). • Early 1938: Germ. out of Depression, Hitler feels Germ. is ready for more aggressive policies.

11. Hitler Makes Strides • March 1938: Anschluss – Germ. joins (annexes) with Austria to form one country (strictly forbidden by T of V). • Brit. and Fr. do nothing; emboldens Hitler further. • Summer of 1938: Sudetenland Crisis – Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, 3 million Germans living there, and Hitler demands cession.

12. March 13, 1938: Hitler Defies Versailles Treaty and Marches into Austria [00:54]

13. www.historyonthenet.com

14. The Sudetenland Crisis • Czechoslovakia was the only functioning democratic nation in central Europe. • It had a strong army and alliances with Fr. and the S.U. • The nation of Czech. was created by treaty at the end of WWI. • In addition to Czechs and Slovaks: 1 million Hungarians, ½ million Ruthenians, and more than 3 million Germs.; all of these groups were demanding more freedoms which created problems for the gov. • Hitler took advantage of Czech’s ethnic problems to destroy the country.

15. The Sudetenland Crisis • Sept. 12, 1938: Hitler demands that the Germans of the Sudetenland (heavily fortified region in NW Czech.), be given the right of self-determination. • Czech. declares martial law. • Brit. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (with Fr. support – Premier Édouard Daladier) requests Hitler to meet with him to discuss the matter.

16. Chamberlain and Daladier

17. The Munich Conference:September 29, 1938 • On Sept. 29, Brit. (Chamberlain), Germ. (Hitler), Fr. (Daladier), and Italy (Mussolini) meet in Munich to discuss the Sudetenland issue. • Czech. and the S.U. were not invited (Stalin grows more suspicious of the West). • Mussolini proposed a “compromise” that gave Germ. control over the Sudetenland.

18. The Munich Conference:September 29, 1938 • Hitler would get control of the Sudetenland if: • 1) Hitler promised to respect Czech. sovereignty. • 2) Hitler promised not to take any more European territory. • 3) Hitler promised to settle future disputes by peaceful negotiation. • Hoping to avoid war, Brit. and Fr. accept the terms – policy of appeasement. • On Sept. 30, Czech. reluctantly accepted the Munich Agreement.

20. www.skylighters.org/graden/maps.html

21. Germany, France, England, and Italy Sign a Treaty that Clears the Way for Hitler's Armies [02:00]

22. Policy of Appeasement: Why? • WWI still fresh in Brit. and Fr. minds – no one wanted war and they did things to try to prevent it. • Politicians in Fr. and Brit. didn’t understand Hitler had radical, long range goals; small concessions made sense to them. • Growing feeling in Fr. and Brit. that T of V had been harsh and unfair.

23. “Peace in our time?”

24. “Peace in our time?” • Chamberlain returned home to cheering crowds, proclaiming that he had ensured “peace in our time.” • Chamberlain trusted Hitler and believed that the Nazis would cause no more trouble. • March 15, 1939: Hitler’s armies invaded Prague, Slovaks declare independence and become a puppet state for Germ., Czech. disappears, and Hitler sets his sights on Poland. • The illusion is now gone for the Western powers, preparations for war begin.

25. The West and the Soviets • During the late 1930s, Stalin had urged the Western powers to do something about Hitler. • Stalin suspected that the Munich Agreement was Brit. and Fr.’s attempt to turn Germs. attention toward the S.U.; Chamberlain, on the other hand, did not trust Stalin (expansionism in eastern Euro.).

26. The West and the Soviets • Despite Chamberlain’s suspicions and his lack of faith in the fighting ability of the Soviet army, he asked the Soviets to join Brit. and Fr. in an alliance to contain Nazism. • Stalin agreed on one condition: the West recognize the Soviet right to occupy a broad zone stretching from Finland to Bulgaria. • Chamberlain refused; Stalin’s suspicions increase.

27. Stalin Takes Matters into His Own Hands • Stalin and the Soviets viewed the Munich Agreement as serving Czech. to Hitler on a dish. • Stalin believed Hitler’s desire for “living space” would result in Hitler seizing the rich agri. lands of eastern Euro. • Because he doubted that the West would come to his country’s aid if Germ. threatened it, Stalin began secret talks with Germ.

28. Stalin Takes Matters into His Own Hands • August 23, 1939: Germ. and the S.U. signed the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (a.k.a.: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). • This Pact included: • Germ. and the S.U. pledged that they would never attack each other. • Each would remain neutral if the other became involved in a war. • Included a secret agreement in which Germ. and the S.U. would have spheres of influence in eastern Europe: • Germ: W. Poland. • S.U.: E. Poland, Finland, part of Romania, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

32. Stalin Takes Matters into His Own Hands • Neither Hitler nor Stalin had any illusions about their agreement: long-term enemies with a short-term arrangement. • Stalin believed that war with Germ. was inevitable, however, he thought the pact might improve Soviet security or at least buy time for the S.U. to prepare for war. • Hitler saw the pact as a means of securing Germ’s eastern border (NO SCHLIEFFEN PLAN).

33. After the Pact • The West lost both their last barrier for war and a potential ally. • Hitler won a pledge of neutrality that freed him to pursue his military objective in Poland; Hitler was convinced that the Western powers would do nothing to stop him. • Sept. 1, 1939: Germ. invades Poland. • Sept. 3. 1939: Brit. and Fr. declare war on Germ. • World War II has begun.