Hitler's Foreign Policy

Question	Answer
What was the First Reich?	The Holy Roman Empire of Charlemagne 800-1806.
What was the Second Reich?	Founded 1871 by Otto Von Bismark when Prussia defeated France. Bismark was the PM of Russia and the first chancellor of the empire. Died 1898 and by 1914 the empire was falling apart.
What political party did Hitler join when he returned to Germany?	Deutsche Arbeitserpartei. (DAP)
When did the party change its name?	April 1920.
What was the DAP's name changed to?	The National Socialist German Workers' Party. (NSDAP)
How many political murders were there 1919-1923?	376.
What part of the land restrictions of the TOV were resented most? Why?	The loss of Danzig and the creation of the Polish Corridor. This was because it cut East Prussia off from the rest of Germany.
How many Germans found themselves outside of new borders?	6.4 million.
Detail the different aims of the 'Big Three' in the TOV negotiations.	Started out with different aims. France suffered the most damage and had most to fear from the outbreak of another war. (proximity to Germany.) Pushed for the severest measures. British government said they would push for severe measures but did not want to force a treaty that would likely cause resentment. President Woodrow Wilson of USA= entered the war late and lost the least. Pressed for the most reasonable treaty and setting up of a system of international negotiation to prevent further wars.
What did Woodrow Wilson's insistence lead to?	All those who signed the treaties that ended the war had to join the LON.
How did the German government feel about the treaty and what did they agree?	Resented the treaty/viewed it as unfair. Members of the Reichstag agreed that it didn't need to be obeyed. Turned a 'blind eye' to signs of rearmament.
Explain Germany's secret rearmament.	It was known to the government. Funded through a series of government projects. e.g. Phoebus Film Company, 1927, had secret fund of several billion marks which was used to support rearmament. Story came out eventually and the defence minister was forced to resign.
What did politicians do about the TOV?	They protested openly about the treaty. Foreign ministers worked for change diplomatically e.g. Gustav Stresemann.
How did the army feel about rearmament?	Felt that they had not been defeated but undermined therefore they could rearm.
Who were secret rearmament agreements made? Give an example of an agreement.	USSR. Allowed for German armaments to be made on Soviet soil by Soviet countries. 1926, Russian tank training school (near Kazan) began to train German soldiers and by 1928 tanks for Germany were being built and tested in Russia. Some believed that the army was all that remained of a legitimate government so it could make its own decisions.
How did the TOV help the Nazis?	Opposing the treaty made the party popular (like many others.) War had created problems that could be blamed on the treaty and not the war.
Give an example of something the TOV was blamed for.	Economic disruption. Reparations did not help this and all countries were finding it hard to trade. Without trade the German recovery could not recover.
Give a statistic that shows the political disruption in Eastern Europe following the war/TOV	No part of central and Eastern Europe in 1918 had the same government as in 1914.
What was the policy of self-determinism? What was the problem? Why were these states made vulnerable?	The policy by which the newly created states in Eastern Europe were supposed to peacefully agree their borders and government? Small self-determining states created by the treaty were weak and had ethnic divisions that made governing them hard. They were weak- made them targets for Germany, USSR, Poland and Italy.
How did the British PM Lloyd George make it clear he thought the TOV was unfair? Who said similar things?	Predicted that there would be another war in 25 years time. France said similar things despite the fact that France had suffered the worst damage and had the worst to fear from another outbreak of war.
When was the Anglo-German Naval Agreement? What did it break? What does it show?	1935. Set naval sizes for both countries that broke the TOV's limitations on the German navy. Nations did fight to enforce the treaty, seemed to accept reversal of 'unfair' terms. Hoped that Germany would be satisfied and not try to expand further. ENCOURAGED EXPANSION AND DESIRE TO BUILD A STRONG MILITARY FORCE.
List the ideology behind Hitler's foreign policy.	Overturning the TOV Nazi Third Reich should be large and powerful. Lebensraum Under threat from Jewry and Bolshevism.
How was the TOV going to be overturned?	Rearmament, lost land regained, Rhineland reoccupied and leaving reparations unpaid.
How can the Weimar government be described?	Revisionist. Overturn the treaty and return to how things were 1914. Including colonies that it had lost.
How did Hitler differ from the Weimar?	Third Reich needed to expand further. Didn't want the problem of managing colonies before Germany was fully established in Europe.
Who did Hitler want to make alliances with? How does this differ from the Kaiser? Any exceptions to who he wanted to make alliances with?	Racially acceptable countries. For example, Britain. The Kaiser did not care about this. Hitler prepared to make short-term alliances with any country if it would benefit Germany, even Russia. (often condemned for the racial inferiority of its people and communism.
What was Lebensraum?	=German word for 'living space.' The idea that Germany needed to expand to meet the needs of the people as well as be a powerful empire. Believed that Germany had a shortage of raw material and farm land. Lebensraum- countries in the East with a high Slavic population and a significant German-speaking population= could provide this land.
Who was allowed in the land that Germany took over?	only 'pure Germans.' Allowed Germans to breed and flourish.
What did Hitler believed about Jews? HINT- conspiracy.	Believed that there was a world-wide conspiracy of Jews to control governments. Needed to be stopped. Believed that a definite strategy= stir-up anti-German feeling in other countries. e.g. USA and Britain.
Which other group did Hitler oppose? What did Hitler believe about them?	Communists. Saw Jews and Communists as being in the same league as each other. Believed that sooner or later Germany would have to go to war with Eastern Europe to defeat communism and take land.
What was the drive behind Hitler's early foreign policy?	Convincing Western Powers that Germany desired peace and return of land and people that were rightfully German. Wanted to delay a war for as long as possible so that Germany could rearm and make useful alliances.
How closely did Germany's foreign policy follow Hitler's ideology?	Followed very closely. Often asked for party members advice. But often went against this advice.
Why did Hitler face opposition over an alliance with Italy? What did he do?	Hitler faced opposition about an alliance with Italy because it meant not trying to occupy parts of the Tyrol area which had a significant German-speaking population. Pushed through the alliance because he thought it was more important at the time than the polices of overturning the TOV and Lebensraum- Both of which would suggest the reoccupation of South Tyrol.
What were the main features of Nazi FP?	Overturning Versailles. Strategic alliances. Expansion. Germanisation/Pan-Germanism.
When did Germany sign a non-aggression act with Poland? How was this alliance a 'cynical' move?	26th January 1934. Used to cut off France from its European allies. Poland was land that would be party of the expansion eastwards. Alliance=bound to be temporary.
Until when did Hitler keep many foreign ministry officials from before he came to power?	1936. Could show that he didn't interfere/ have a plan. BUT, could show that he was a long-term planner. He wanted full control of Germany and greater military strength before going to war. Continuity with a liberal government policy could make him seem more moderate.
From when did Hitler openly defy the TOV and what did this include?	From 1935. From when he came to power he started to do this but it was openly from 1935. Conscription reintroduced. Tanks/ armoured vehicles also built.
What did Hitler's Four Year Plan of 1939-1939 stress?	Stressed Germany's need to put militarisation first and develop synthetic oil and other war materials so Germany would not have to rely on other countries during wartime.
What can be used as evidence for Hitler stressing his hopes of reversing Versailles by diplomacy?	Speech made to the Reichstag in 1933. Stressed hopes for reversing Versailles by diplomacy. Told generals it would be a disaster to provoke a military attack until they had built up their armed forces to defeat such an attack. Expansion not defence.
Could Hitler achieve his aims without war?	He could not achieve Lebensraum and expansion eastward without without war. Might have hoped to avoid Britain.
Where did Hitler want to invade in Czechoslovakia?	Sudetenland

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