We tell you how was the expansion of Nazi Germany before the burst of World War II.
How was the German expansion before World War II?
In 1933, with the appointment as Chancellor of Germany of Adolf Hitler, leader of the German National Workers’ Party (better known as the Nazi party), Germany began to challenge Versailles’s treaty That, after the First World War (1914-1918), he had imposed a policy of disarmament to the German State. Thus the third German Reich began to be configured.
That year, Hitler abandoned the disarmament conference and the society of nations and began the secret rearma. Shortly after, in 1935, he recovered, thanks to a plebiscite, the control of the Sarre region, which had been under the control of France, and restored mandatory military service in Germany.
In 1936, Hitler’s Germany militarily reoccupied the Renania regionthat due to the provisions of the peace treaties, he had to remain demilitarized, and provided military aid to the rebel or “national” side in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). In addition, he formed alliances with fascist Italy (the Roma-Berlin axis) and with the Empire of Japan (the Antikomintern Pact).
The next step was the German expansion to eastern Europethat Hitler justified how the search for Lebensraum: vital space for German population to be installed and allowed to deal with the economic problems of Germany. In the face of the passivity of the western powers, Germany annexed Austria in 1938 and occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939. Finally, when the German troops invaded Poland in September 1939, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany and began World War II (1939-1945).
See also: PERIOD OF DELIVERY (SECOND STAGE)
The beginnings of German expansion
After promoting German rearmament, recovering the region of Sarre (in western Germany) through a plebiscite, restoring mandatory military service and militarily occupying the Renania region, Hitler initiated an expansive policy with the aim of extending the domination of the third Reich to most central and eastern Europe.
As of 1936, two opposing trends were observed in the foreign policy of European powers. While Western democracies hesitated and sought to appease Hitler To guarantee peace, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy began an expansionist policy.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), far from compromising Western governments in the fight against fascism, stimulated its non-intervention policy, as opposed to military support provided by Germany and Italy to the rebel side.
The Hossbach Memorandum
The best example of the German expansionist attitude was the meeting held by Hitler on November 5, 1937 with his Foreign Minister, Konstantin von Neurathhis war minister, Werner von Blomberg, and the military chiefs of the Wehrmacht (German armed forces). From this meeting, Colonel Friedrich Hossbach took act, from whom this document took his name: the Hossbach memorandum.
At the meeting, the Führer He attacked both Bolshevism and France and the United Kingdom, considered “antagonists moved by hatred.” Hitler said it was necessary get a vital space (Lebensraum) For the German community Before 1943-1945, so that the pressures on the economy of Germany did not increase, the material of the German army would not be obsolete and the Nazi movement did not lose its vitality. In the short term, Hitler He considered that the immediate objectives were Austria and Czechoslovakia.
The position of Hitler caused alarm in Von Neurathwho warned of the risks that this aggressive policy supposed for Germany. Hitler decided German foreign policy was aimed at expansionist objectives.
The Anschluss (the German annexation of Austria)
The problem that Hitler faced when trying the annexation of Austria (the Anschluss) was the possible reaction of Benito Mussolini (Leader of fascist Italy who aspired to maintain its influence on the Austrian territory). Since 1934, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Von Chuschnigg had supported Italy to stop the agitation of the National Socialist movement of Austria and the ambitions of the German government.
However, the Italian conquest of Ethiopia (Abisinia), which moved Italy from the Western powers and brought her closer to Hitler’s Germany, left the government of Austria without protection. In an interview that took place in April 1936, Mussolini advised the Austrian Chancellor to negotiate with Hitler.
February 12, 1938, Hitler and Schuschnigg They met at the Führer mansion in the Alps Bavarian, a few kilometers from the border with Austria. The Austrian Chancellor understood that Hitler Austria’s invasion was proposed. He ceded to Führer’s pressures and appointed Arthur Seys-Inquart, Austrian Nazi leader, Interior Minister. Even so, he made a last attempted resistance and convened a referendum about the independence of Austria that should be held on March 13.
However, Hitler’s pressures forced the resignation of Schuschnigg, who was replaced by Seys-Inquart as Chancellor, and this new leader called German troops, which on March 12, 1938 invaded Austria. On March 13, the Anschluss.
France and the United Kingdom did not react, as they had adopted the appeasement policy made by the British Prime Minister.
British appeasement policy
The appeasement policy (Appeasement) It was the British foreign policy applied by conservative leader Neville Chamberlain, who agreed to the position of Prime Minister in May 1937.
The appeasement policy It was based on a series of ideas shared by many British of the time:
- that Versailles’s treaty had been too hard with Germany And it was necessary to review it
- that Hitler It was a useful barrier that prevented the expansion of Bolshevism to central Europe
- that, if negotiated and yielded to some demands of Hitler (such as the integration into the Reich of German populations that had been left out by the territorial provisions of the Versailles Treaty), It would be able to appease the Führer and thus avoid a new war in Europe.
Among the few British leaders who opposed this appeasement policy was another conservative leader: Winston Churchill.
The British government initiatives were followed by the French government, which needed to ensure the support of the United Kingdom. The appeasement policy had as a background the inaction before the German remilitarization of Renania and the formation of the non -intervention committee in the Spanish Civil War in 1936.
The Sudetes and the Munich Pact
By disposition of the peace treaties of 1919, The Sudete region, populated mostly by German population, had been included in Czechoslovakia. Hitler’s rise in Germany, its foreign policy and the economic crisis of the thirties encouraged the development of an important national socialist movement in the region. Its leader, Konrad Henlein, proclaimed his intention to separate the souths of Czechoslovakia and join them to the German Reich.
After the Anschluss of March 1938, Henlein intensified his demands. The response of the Czechoslovaco government was the mobilization of its troops and Hitler threatened to annex the sudetes to the Reich.
France had the commitment to intervene militarily in Czechoslovakia in case of German attack. However, the German remilitarization of Renania had weakened its military position and, from now on, The French government was more likely to preserve peace than to defend the Czechoslovaco government.
For its part, The United Kingdom was committed to its appeasement policy.
Finally, the Soviet Union since 1935 the alliance with the Western powers to stop the Nazi expansion. The Soviet government, directly threatened by Hitler’s policy, He was willing to intervene in defense of Czechoslovakia. Howeverfor this the Red Army He had to cross countries like Poland or Romania, whose governments were anti -communists and contrary to collaborate.
Chamberlain met Hitler and, before his inflexible position, convinced the French Prime Minister, Édouard Daladierto press the Czechoslovak government to cedle to the German demands.
Mussolini intervened and proposed The celebration of a conference of the four powers (the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy) to give a solution to the sudete problem. The result of the Munich Conference of September 28, 1938 It was the Munich Pactthe maximum expression of the appeasement policy.
The Munich Pact determined that Czechoslovakia should immediately yield to Reich the areas where more than 50 % of the population was German. Hitler He promised In return to respect the rest of the Czechoslovak territory.
The Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia
After the signature of the Munich Pact, the ambitions of the bordering countries on the Czechoslovak territory grew, animated by the German promises. On October 1, 1938, Poland annexed Teschen, and on November 12 Hungary annexed more than 12,000 square kilometers of Slovakia and Ruthenia. In what remained of Czechoslovakia, the Sloval independence, led by Josef TisoThey increased their nationalist demands.
Very soon, Hitler breached the Munich pact. On March 15, 1939, German troops entered Prague and established the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Immediately, Slovakia declared independent, under the German patronage. In addition, on March 22 the German army forced Lithuania to give him the Baltic Port of Memel.
The dissolution of Czechoslovakia led French and British governments to proclaim their commitment to intervention in case Germany attacked Poland, its next objective.
While the Soviet Union (led by Iosif Stalin) and the United States (governed by Franklin D. Roosevelt) remained unlinked to the events that occurred in Central Europe, Italy and Germany signed on May 22, 1939 the steel pacta military agreement.
The Polish crisis and the Pact of German-Soviet aggression
On April 28, 1939, Hitler delivered a speech at the Reichstag (German Parliament) in which demanded the restitution of the Baltic city of Danzig to Germany and the construction of a railroad and an extraterritorial road (that is, of German sovereignty but crossing Polish territory). This extraterritorial route had to cross the “Polish runner” to connect Danzig with the territory of Germany. Poland accepted the construction of the road, but refused to assign Danzig and the extraterritoriality clause.
Thus, tensions between German threats and Polish resistance, encouraged by French and British began. However, on August 23, 1939 the situation took an unexpected turn when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non -aggression pact (known as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact by the names of the Foreign Ministers of both countries).
In May 1939, Viacheslav Molotov had assumed as Foreign Affairs of the Stalin government. Molotov continued the policy of his predecessor in the attempt to negotiate with Western countries to stop the German advance, but Poland refused to allow the passage of Soviet troops through its territory. This led to the suspension of conversations on August 21. At that time, Stalin agreed to sign a non -aggression pact with the German government.
This pact had its advantages for the two governments. On the one hand, Hitler was guaranteed Soviet passivity to a German attack on Poland. On the other hand, Stalin got important territorial profits because the pact included a secret agreement that implied a distribution of the Polish territory between Germany and the Soviet Union and the return of the Russian troops to the territories lost by the Soviet Union in 1918 (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Besarabia).
Once Soviet neutrality was assured, and after the failure of the latest British negotiations, The German army invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. On September 3, France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany.
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References
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). Anschluss. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). German-Soviet Nonaggresion Pact. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). Munich Agreement. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Third Reich. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Cabrera, M., Juliá, S. & Martín Aceña, P. (comps.) (1991). Europe in crisis. 1919-1939. Editorial Pablo Iglesias.
- Sevillano Calero, F. (2020). The Europe of award. The disrupted order. Synthesis.
