Title: The Path to War
1The Path to War
- Hitlers Germany and its path towards World War II
2The Ascension of Hitler
- Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf The army was never
defeated in 1918. Germany was stabbed in the
back by traitors at home and betrayed by the
Allies. Most of the woes of Germany were caused
by the Jews, who had manipulated finances to the
ruin of Germany and who could never be loyal to
Germany or to any other government. Germany had
to become strong again. The country must be
cleansed of traitors, and the Versailles Treaty
must be scrapped!
3The Ascension of Hitler
- Nazi rallies were masterpieces of political
display. - Hitler mesmerized crowds with his frenzied
tirades. - Hitler viewed the masses merely as tools, and he
was actually contemptuous of them. - In Mein Kampf Hitler wrote
- the intelligence of the great masses is small.
As a result, all effective propaganda must be
limited to a few points - Many believe that most political campaigns since
the 1930s have been influenced by this Nazi
style.
4The Ascension of Hitler
- Hitler became German chancellor in January 1933.
With that, the Third Reich was born. (The First
Reich, or empire, was begun by Charlemagne in 800
and abolished by Napoleon in 1806, the Second
Reich began in 1871 with German unification and
ended in 1918). - Hitler claimed the Third Reich would last 1000
years.
5The Ascension of Hitler
- Through the Enabling Act (March, 1933), Hitler
became dictator. He stripped the Reichstag of
any real power. - He dissolved opposition parties outlawed labor
unions censored the press suspended civil
liberties. - He threw out laws not beneficial to Nazism.
6The Ascension of Hitler
- In 1933, the Nazis established labor camps and
concentration camps. - The first camp was at Dachau, near Munich.
- These camps were initially for political enemies
(like Socialists/Communists, and later for Jews
and homosexuals, etc.)
7The Ascension of Hitler
- Hitler proclaimed himself der Fuhrer (the leader)
and immediately required all members of the armed
forces to take an oath of loyalty (the Blood
Oath), not to Germany or the German Constitution,
but to Hitler himself. - The Nazis hired over 100,000 informers to report
anyone (even parents) suspected of disloyalty.
8The Ascension of Hitler
9Hitlers (and Germanys) Anti-Semitism
- According to Hitler, Germans were Aryans (which
means noble in Sanskrit) and were the master
race or super race. All others, particularly
Jews and Slavs, were inferior. Jews were to be
eliminated and Slavs were to be made into slaves.
- Hitler said Nature is cruelso we may be cruel,
tooI have a right to remove millions of an
inferior race that breeds like vermin.
10Hitlers (and Germanys) Anti-Semitism
- Looking for scapegoats to blame for Germanys
problems, Hitler consistently blamed the Jews. - In the mid-1930s, Germanys Jewish population
represented less than 1 of the total population
(about 500,000 people). - In 1935, Hitler began to eliminate Jews from
German national life with the Nuremberg Laws.
11The Nuremberg Race Laws
- Known as the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law
for the Protection of German Blood and Honor. - These deprived Jews of most civil liberties. It
was the beginning of the German tactic of
isolating them from the rest of the population. - There was a national boycott of Jewish
businesses. - Jewish doctors were forbidden to treat non-Jews
and Jewish lawyers were not allowed to advise
clients.
12The Nuremberg Race Laws
- Jewish children were barred from German schools.
- Books written by Jewish authors were banned
and/or burned. - Intermarriage was prohibited.
13Kristallnacht
- In October, 1938 a 17 year-old shot and killed a
German embassy official in Paris. - The teenager was reacting to his parents
harassment and humiliation from the Nuremberg
Laws. - The Nazis retaliated on the night of November 9,
1938, when violence against Jews (a pogrom) broke
out across Germany and Austria. This was called
Kristallnacht, (the night of the broken glass).
14Kristallnacht
- Over 1,000 synagogues were burned or destroyed,
7,000 Jewish business were trashed and looted,
over 350 Jewish people were killed and several
hundred wounded, and Jewish cemeteries,
hospitals, schools, and homes were looted. - The next day, 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and
sent to concentration camps.
15Kristallnacht
- Jewish businesses could not reopen unless they
were managed by non-Jews. - New curfews were placed on Jews.
- Any person identified as being Jewish now had to
wear the yellow Star of David.
16Kristallnacht
17Kristallnacht
18The Third Reich was organizing for War
- The Nazis molded the minds of German citizens
through a program that glorified war. Textbooks
were rewritten. - Hitler began massive preparations for the
expansion of Germany (lebensraum), which
included food rationing laws (designed to make
Germany self-sufficient in the event of war). - These laws regulated the amount of food each
person could have and where they could buy it.
19The Third Reich was organizing for War
- Germany was also short of raw materials so laws
were set up so nothing was wasted. - Shopkeepers were allowed a specified amount of
wrapping paper households were to save empty
toothpaste tubes, waste animal fats, and paper
(to be recycled into useful items for warfare).
20The Third Reich was organizing for War
- Economic revival through pump priming
(stimulating the economy through public works
programs) built popular support for the Nazis. - From building tanks and airplanes (thus violating
the ToV) to farm production and the Autobahn,
unemployment went from over 6M in 1932 to 1.6M in
1936 (nearly a 75 decrease).
21The Third Reich was organizing for War
- The Autobahn highway system was built to permit
the rapid movement of troops around the country
(but built under the guise of getting thousands
of unemployed men working).
22The Third Reich was organizing for War
23Germany and Geopolitics
- Geopolitics is the study of government and its
policies as affected by physical geography. - Created in Germany in the 1920s, geopolitics
initially stated that the country that controlled
eastern Europe would be able to control the
Heartland, the area extending from southwestern
Russia to Mongolia. Command of the Heartland
would lead to control of the World-Island,
consisting of Europe, Africa, and Asia (roughly
2/3s of Earth).
24Germany and Geopolitics
25Germany and Geopolitics
- Hitler believed that under German control,
eastern Europe, with its vast mineral and
agricultural resources, would become a great
industrial region. - This would enable Germany to control the
Heartland. By controlling the Heartland, vital
industries could be moved to remote regions,
beyond the range of attack. The result would be
world domination by Germany. - Geopolitics was a major factor leading Hitler
into Eastern Europe and then Russia.
26Germany Defied the Democracies
- Hitler had Germany withdraw from the League of
Nations in 1933. - In March 1935, Hitler denounced the Treaty of
Versailles and announced he was rearming Germany
(on the grounds that other nations had failed to
disarm in accordance with the Treaty). He
quickly took the army from 100,000 troops to
nearly 600,000.
27Germany Defied the Democracies
- Having correctly assessed the spinelessness of
Britain and France, in March 1936 Hitler sent
German troops into the demilitarized Rhineland,
totally violating the Treaty of Versailles.
28Germany Defied the Democracies
- Only a token force of three German battalions (a
battalion is between 300-1200 soldiers) actually
entered the Rhineland, and they were under strict
orders from their nervous generals to withdraw at
once if the French responded to this breach of
the treaty with military force. - The German generals knew that the much larger
French army could crush their army at this time,
and believed that Hitler was taking a dangerous
gamble.
29Germany Defied the Democracies
- The British were obliged under the Treaty of
Locarno (1925) to provide France with military
support in such a situation, but when asked by
France for that support, the British government
refused to honor its treaty obligation. - Despite having thirty army divisions at the
border in readiness to cross and disperse the
three German battalions, the French lost their
nerve in the absence of support from Britain.
30Germany Defied the Democracies
- Hitlers successful challenge of the hated Treaty
of Versailles increased his popularity in
Germany. - The western democracies denounced his moves but
took no real action. - France and Britain did not want a war with
Hitler.
31Entering the Rhineland
32Germany Defied the Democracies
- Many in Britain thought Hitlers moves were
justified since they thought Versailles was too
harsh on Germany. Why should not Hitler have the
right to fortify his own territory? If this
demand can be satisfied, Germany will likely
become a good neighbor. - What do think might have happened if Britain
honored its obligation to France and France
forced the Germans out of the Rhineland?
33Germany Defied the Democracies
- If France had acted firmly in what would have
been little more than a police action, and
Britain had fulfilled its treaty obligations to
France, the German troops would certainly have
been instantly withdrawn, and Hitler's prestige
would have been dealt a deadly blow from which it
might never have recovered. - The last opportunity to bring Hitler into
compliance, and halt the rise of a militarized,
aggressive Germany without risk of a serious war,
had been thrown away by weak politicians.
34Germany Defied the Democracies
- The western democracies adopted the policy of
appeasement, giving into the demands of an
aggressor in order to keep the peace. - In both Britain and France, many saw Hitler as a
defense against a more insidious evil--the spread
of Soviet Communism.
35Germany Defied the Democracies
- The Great Depression also sapped the energies of
the democracies. - Finally, widespread pacifism and lasting disgust
from World War I pushed many governments to seek
peace at any price.
36Germany Defied the Democracies
- In 1936, Hitler and Mussolini sent in troops and
supplies to help the Fascists take over Spain. - This brought Mussolini and Hitler closer together
and in October 1936, the Rome-Berlin Axis was
announced.
37Germany Defied the Democracies
- One month later, Japan was added to the Axis as
the three signed the Anti-Comintern Pact
(promising to unite against Communism). - By the end of 1936, Hitler was convinced that no
one would stand up to his aggression.
38Germany Defied the Democracies
- In 1938, Hitler annexed Austria (the Anschluss)
creating a union between the two largest German
speaking countries. - Hitler forced the Austrian chancellor to appoint
Nazis to key government posts and when the
chancellor refused other demands, Hitler sent in
the German army to preserve order, essentially
taking over the country. - The western democracies again took no action.
39German Troops enter Austria
40Germany Defied the Democracies
- Hitlers next victim was Czechoslovakia. In
1938, Czechoslovakia was one of the two remaining
democracies in eastern Europe (the other was
Finland). About three million Germans lived in
the western Czechoslovakian region known as
Sudetenland, and Hitler claimed that area.
41Germany Defied the Democracies
- In September 1938 at the Munich Conference,
Britain and France again chose appeasement.
Hitler assured Britain and France that if the
Sudetenland was given to him without a fight, he
had no future plans for expansion.
42Germany Defied the Democracies
- Returning from the Munich Conference, the British
PM, Neville Chamberlain, told the crowd in London
he had achieved peace for our time. In the
House of Commons, he declared that the Munich
Pact had saved Czechoslovakia from destruction
and Europe from Armageddon.
43Germany Defied the Democracies
- In response to Chamberlain, Winston Churchill
said They had to choose between war and
dishonor. They chose dishonor they will have
war.
44Germany Defied the Democracies
- As Churchill predicted, Munich did not bring
peace. Less than six months later (March 1939),
Hitler had gobbled up the rest of Czechoslovakia.
The western democracies finally realized that
appeasement failed. - Britain and France now promised to protect
Poland, the next likely target of Hitlers
expansion. - Britain and France also finally began programs of
preparedness, but it was too little too late.
45Hitler and Stalin
- In August 1939, Hitler stunned the world by
announcing a non-aggression pact with his great
enemyJosef Stalin. - Publicly the Nazi-Soviet Pact bound Hitler and
Stalin to peaceful relations.
46Hitler and Stalin
- Secretly the two agreed 1) not to fight if the
other went to war, and 2) to divide up Poland and
other parts of Eastern Europe between them. - The Pact was not based on friendship or respect
but need. Hitler wanted to protect his eastern
flank from a Russian attack when Germany would be
at war with Poland. It gave Stalin some time to
build up Soviet military strength. - Soon Germany would betray the agreement.
47Hitler and Stalin