PERIOD OF DELIVERY (THIRD STAGE)

We explain what the interwar period was and how were the 1933 to 1939.

What was the interwar period?

The interwar period was the stage that began after the end of World War I (1914-1918) and ended with the beginning of World War II (1939-1945). The final years of this stage, Between 1933 and 1939, they witnessed the rise to Adolf Hitler’s power in Germany and of the beginning of rearmament and Nazi expansion in Europe, as well as the formation of the alliance between Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and the empire of Japan.

This alliance, known as Roma-Berlin-Tokyo axis, faced in World War II with allied powers (led by the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, the United States and China).

Some critical facts that took place in the final years of the interwar period were: The Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the remilitarization of the German region of Renania, The Spanish Civil War, The beginning of the Chinese-Japanese war and the German annexation of Austria (known as Anschluss).

German politics (1931-1935)

As of 1929, The impact of the great depression and death of Gustav Stresemann (German Foreign Minister, who had promoted an approach between Germany and France) caused in Germany a hardening of their external policyperceptible even before the arrival of Nazism.

The policy initiated by Foreign Minister Heinrich Brüning in 1930 was marked by three purposes:

• To end the payment of war repairs that Germany owed to the allies since the end of World War I (this purpose was reached with the 1931 Hoover moratorium and the 1932 Lausan conference).
• Establish a customs union with Austria (this project was slowed by the joint action of France and the United Kingdom).
• Achieve equal rights with the other powers in the arms field (in the face of the limitations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles of 1919).

However, Adolf Hitler’s appointment as German Chancellor in 1933 opened a new foreign policy that reflected the expansionist and militaristic ideas expressed by the Nazi leader in his book Mein Kampf (My fight). Hitler’s central objective was to destroy the order created in Versailles, and for this two immediate goals were raised: create powerful armed forces and annex the Reich (German State) the territories outside their limits, which were inhabited by German population.

In 1933, Germany abandoned the disarmament conference and the society of nations, and began the clandestine rearme. However, Hitler needed to consolidate his power in Germany, so his first diplomatic policies were moderate.

In January 1934, Germany and Poland signed a non -aggression pact for which both countries agreed to exclusion for force measures to resolve their territorial conflicts. In this way, Hitler He managed to weaken the ties of France with Poland.

The most serious moment of this phase took place in Austria when The Austrian Chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuss, was killed in an attempted coup d’etat of the Nazis of Austria (supported by German Nazism) in July 1934.

Benito Mussolini, leader of fascist Italy, aspired to that Austria was under the Italian influence, so he sent troops to the italo-anustrian border. The Nazi coup failed and Hitler understood the difficulties he had to try to carry out the Anschluss (The German annexation of Austria) without the Mussolini agreement.

In 1935 there were two important facts:

• First, in compliance with what is stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles, A plebiscite was celebrated in the territory of Sarreuntil that moment administered by France. The victory of the supportive position of the Return to the German Reich and the consequent German recovery of SARRE reinforced Hitler’s nationalist policy.
• In second place, Hitler announced the restoration of compulsory military service In Germany.

The French diplomatic reaction (1934-1935)

France was the country most threatened by the revisionist policy of Hitler (that is, the policy that sought to review and challenge Versailles’s treaty). On April 17, 1934, the French government published a diplomatic note in which the German Rearmen and proclaimed the French determination of defending itself.

France began vigorous diplomatic activity throughout Europethrough the new French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou, who since February 1934 tried to ensure that Germany guaranteed respect for its eastern borders. Fruit of this diplomatic activity was the approach of the French government to the Soviet Union (USSR) and Mussolini’s Italy.

Louis Barthou (1862-1934). Louis Barthou was a French conservative politician who exercised different government functions at the beginning of the 20th century, including Prime Minister, Senator and Minister of Justice. In the interwar period, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and worked for the recognition of French borders within Europe. Thanks to his diplomatic work, he made the Nations Society accept the Soviet Union.
Louis Barthou died in October 1934, because of an attack against King Alejandro I of Yugoslavia. Both were at a diplomatic meeting, when a militant of the extreme right entered the enclosure, shot at the monarch and both were dead.

The re-entry of the Soviet Union at the International Concert (1933-1935)

The antibolchevism of the Nazi government and the German rearma. As of 1933, the Soviet government proclaimed that it did not aspire to review the 1919 treaties and signed bilateral non -aggression agreements with almost all its neighbors. The culmination of this process came in September 1934 with The entry of the Soviet Union into the Nations Society.

The Nazi threat also motivated a change in the political orientation of the Komintern or International Communist (the organization that grouped communist parties from various parts of the world). IoSIF Stalinleader of the Soviet Union, ordered the abandonment of class tactics against class and, in August 1935, The VII Komintern Congress declared that fascism constituted a serious threat to the Soviet Union and for World Peace.

In this way, the search for alliances with other sectors of the left and the progressive bourgeoisie to build anti -fascist alliances were authorized. The clearest examples of this orientation were the popular fronts formed in France and Spain.

The Stresa Front and the Franco-Soviet Pact (1935)

In October 1934, France’s Foreign Minister Louis Barthou was killed by a Croatian nationalist and was succeeded by Pierre Laval. The new minister changed priorities: the alliance with Italy acquired more importance than the Pact with the Soviet Union. In addition, Laval adopted a more conciliatory policy with Germany.

The approach between France and Italy began in January 1935when differences in colonial affairs were ended and around the Danube region. This Franco-Toyan agreement was rapidly expanded to the United Kingdom.

The implementation of mandatory military service in Germany precipitated a meeting on April 11, 1935, called Stresa conference. The three powers declared their support for the independence of Austria, their criticism of Hitler’s arms policy and its opposition to any abandonment of the 1919 treaties that could endanger peace in Europe. This agreement was called Stresa.

In May 1935, the Franco-Soviet Pact, which established mutual aid in case of unprovoked aggression. However, Laval refused to add a military convention that defined the way of coordinating the actions of his armies, which took vigor to the pact.

The British attitude also did not help project a firmness image against Hitler. Also in May 1935, it was signed The German-British Naval Agreement for which the United Kingdom gave its recognition to German naval developmenteven when the agreement limited it to a fleet that should not exceed 35 % of the British Navy.

In spite of everything, the pact between France and the Soviet Union was an important step when building the great antihitlerian coalition that had been devised by Barthou. The signing of a mutual aid pact between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia reinforced the network of alliances promoted by France.

The three crisis of 1935-1936

The crisis of Ethiopia (1935-1936)

Between 1935 and 1936 there were three major crises that determined the rupture of the Stresa Front (between France, the United Kingdom and Italy) and triggered the configuration of the German-Iallian block that prefigured the side of the axis of the Second World War.

The first crisis began in 1935 in Ethiopia (Also called at that time Abyssinia), which together with Liberia was the only African territory free of European domination and was part of the Nations Society.

Mussolini aspired to the annexation of the territory and, despite the British threats (which were made with the deployment of the British Navy in the port of Alexandria), Italy began the attack in October 1935. On October 7, the Society of Nations condemned the Italian attack and agreed to economic sanctions against Italy.

However, the measures had no greater effect since the oil embargo was not adopted (a measure that could have affected the Italian industry) due to the refusal of the United States.

In December 1935, as a reaction to the Franco-British attitude, Mussolini denounced the Stresa front. In May 1936, The fascist troops conquered the capital Addis-Abeba and the Italian government proclaimed the annexation of Ethiopia. The nations society was impotent while Italy moved away from France and the United Kingdom and began to approach Hitler’s Germany.

Rhinestone remilitarization (1936)

The second crisis of this period began on March 7, 1936 with the German military reoccupation of the demilitarized territory of Rhineland (the region next to the Rin River). It was A flagrant breakdown of the Versailles Treaty (1919) and the Treaty of Locarno (1925).

Several historians agreed that if the allied countries had stopped Hitler at that time, the subsequent international situation had been very different. However, the French government, chaired by Prime Minister Albert Sarraut, hesitated and limited himself to accepting the consummate. For its part, the British government protested but did not react.

In 1936, Mussolini decided to concentrate its expansionist policy in the Mediterranean and avoid clashes with Germany by the Danube region in Europe (given Hitler’s aspirations about Austria). From now on, Mussolini and Hitler would be allies. The war that was about to explode in Spain was the first demonstration of this new situation.

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

The third major crisis of this period was the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War on July 17, 1936. In this conflict, the strategic interests of the powers with the ideological commitments of the moment were interfered.

Nazi Germany and fascist Italy decided from the beginning offer their military aid to rebels or “national”, led by Francisco Franco. In this way, they achieved strategic advantages (Italy continued its Mediterranean expansion policy and Germany achieved an ally that threatened the French rear). In addition, they collaborated with an ideological ally in their fight against democratic systems and socialist and workers’ ideologies. The Portugal government also lent its help to Franco.

The Soviet Union, on the other hand, decided to support the government of the Second Republic. In this way, he not only faced the expansion of fascism, but also away the conflict towards the other end of Europe.

The great democratic powers had a very different attitude. The United Kingdom was determined to stay neutral. The fascist influence on the Iberian Peninsula endangered the British base in Gibraltar and that generated concern in the conservative government. The British saw with concern the fascist influence in Spain but decided not to support the Second Republic for fear of the revolutionary orientation of the Republican side. On the other hand, the French government, despite being chaired by the Popular Front, followed the decision of the British Government.

The so -called Non -intervention committee, which had the mission of supervising compliance with the non -intervention pact in the Spanish conflict by democratic powers.

The Roma-Berlin Axis and the Antikomintern Pact (1936)

The joint intervention in the Spanish Civil War strengthened the approach between the German and Italian governments. In October 1936 a declaration of Friendship and community of views in the international field between Germany and Italy. Mussolini referred to this understanding as the “vertical Rome-Berlin”, which became known as The Roma-Berlin axis.

In November 1936, Germany and the Empire of Japan signed the Antikomintern Pact, an agreement contrary to the communist international (although, in principle, it was not proclaimed antisovavietic). Italy joined the pact in 1937 and Franco’s Spain did so in 1939, a few days before beating in the Spanish Civil War.

The 1936 events had strengthened the fascist and totalitarian powers. The Western powers had seriously weakened their position, while the Soviet Union continued isolated.

The Chinese-Japanese war (1937-1945)

The aggressive policy of the totalitarian powers took a decisive step in 1937. strengthened by its new ties with Hitler’s Germany, the Empire of Japan (which had adopted a militaristic and expansionist policy in East Asia) China’s invasion began in July 1937 From Manchukuo. Thus began the Chinese-Japanese war.

The reaction of the Western powers was passive. The United States issued protests but the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, did not want to compromise his country in an outer adventure. The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, which were the most involved European powers in Oriental Asia, had too many concerns in Europe with the growing German expansionism.

The expansion of Nazi Germany (1936-1939)

Hitler’s argument for German expansion was to achieve a vital space (Lebensraum) in the East for the German community, with the aim of dealing with economic difficulties in Germany. The immediate objectives were Austria and Czechoslovakia.

• The Anschluss. Thanks to the approach between Hitler and Mussolini, the German annexation of Austria (the Anschluss) became possible, since the Austrian government no longer had Italian protection against German expansionism. On March 12, 1938, the Nazi troops invaded Austria and the next day the Anschluss. France and the United Kingdom did not react, as they applied the appeasement policy (Appeasement), defended by British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. This policy argued that you had to give in to some demands of Hitler To avoid a new war in Europe.
• The Munich Pact and the Invasion of Czechoslovakia. The Los Sudetes region, mostly populated by German population, had been included in Czechoslovakia after the 1919 peace treaties. After Anschluss, Hitler threatened with his annexation to the German Reich. The Munich Pact, signed in September 1938 between France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, decided that Czechoslovakia would give up the areas with German majority and Hitler would not invade the rest of the Czechoslovak territory. On March 15, 1939, Hitler breached the pact, occupied Czechoslovakia and established the Bohemian and Moravia protectorate. Slovakia declared independent but was under the German patronage. Germany also attached the Baltic port of Memel and, in May, signed the steel pact (a military agreement) with Italy.

The Polish crisis and the Pact of German-Soviet aggression

In April 1939, Hitler demanded the restitution to Germany of the Baltic city of Danzig (which in the Versailles treaty had been declared a free city) and the construction of a railroad and an extraterritorial road that crossed the “Polish runner” to contact that city with the territory of the Reich.

The tension that arose between the German threat and the Polish resistance continued until, on August 23, 1939, in an unexpected turn, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non -aggression pact.

Thus, Hitler was guaranteed Soviet passivity to a German attack on Poland, and Stalin obtained important territorial profits., The agreement included a secret arrangement that implied the distribution of the Polish territory and the acceptance of the Russian recovery of the lost territories in 1918 (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Besarabia).

Guaranteed Soviet neutrality, 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). German-Soviet Nonaggresion Pact. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). Nazism. 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.
• Stone, N. (2013). Brief history of World War II. Ariel.