The Road To World War II

							The Road To World War II
The Third Reich
The Early Moves
A Policy of Appeasement
The Third Reich
   Hitler had promised the
    German people a return to glory
    through the “Third Reich”
   He promised to “rip up the
    Treaty of Versailles” which
       Blamed Germany for WWI
       Reduced the German military
       Forced Germany to give up land
       Forced Germany to pay
        reparations for cost of war
The Third Reich
   The Third Reich was a way to
    connect to Germany’s past
    glories and empires
   Hitler alluded that Nazi
    Germany, would usher in the a
    new age for Germany one of
    prosperity and military
    dominance
   Through grandiose ceremony
    and constant use of propaganda
    the German population
    followed
The Third Reich
The Third Reich
   1934 the German military
    begins it’s build up of the
    Heer, Kreigsmarine and
    Luftwaffe
   Research and development
    of German weapons will
    be done under many
    guises
   Volkswagen, BMW,
    Krupps, Mercedes Benz
    and many corporations
    will construct German
    machines of war
The Early Moves
   Spanish Civil War, 1931-
    1939, was a struggle for
    control of Spain based on
    different ideas about
    government
   Nationalist Francisco
    Franco will take advantage
    of the incompetence of his
    opponents the Spanish
    Republicans
   Germany and Italy will
    supply Franco with
    weapons, supplies, men
    (Italians) and aircraft
    (Germans)
The Early Moves
   Plagued with
    disillusionment, poor
    leadership and infighting
    the Republicans are
    defeated by Franco
   Britain and France avoid
    entering the conflict.
    Russia supports the
    Republicans with tanks
   Germany’s role in the Civil
    War will provide her
    Luftwaffe with experience
The Early Moves
   In 1936 Hitler moves troops
    on bicycles into the
    Rhineland a buffer zone
    between Germany and
    France
   Britian and France failed to
    remove Germany from the
    region for fear of starting a
    war
   Hitler forms an alliance
    with Italy in the 1936
    Rome-Berlin Axis Pact
Europe 1933
The Early Moves
   March 1938, German troops
    are sent into Austria and
    force the Austrians to have
    an election deciding the
    country’s fate
   99% of the Austrians want
    Anschluss (be a part of
    Germany)
   Austrian Chancellor Kurt
    Schuschnigg seeks aid from
    Britian and France but…
   Hitler has promised that this
    will be the last time German
    moves into another country
The Early Moves
   March 1938 Germany demands
    that the Sudetenland be returned
    to Germany because German
    nationals are being abused by the
    Czech government
   Sept 1938, Prime Minster Neville
    Chamberlain and Hitler agree on
    the Munich Agreement which
    gives the land to Germany
   Czechoslovakia was not invited to
    the Munich Agreement. March
    1939 Germany annexes the rest of
    Czechoslovakia
A Policy of Appeasement
   British Prime Minster
    Neville Chamberlain felt
    that Treaty of Versailles was
    to harsh to the German
    people
   He believed that Hitler was
    acting to right the wrongs of
    the treaty
   Chamberlain adopts a Policy
    of Appeasement, giving into
    demands so long as they are
    reasonable and fair
A Policy of Appeasement
   Chamberlain also believed that a strong Germany would
    counter the growing influence of communist Russia in
    Europe
   Chamberlain considered the Munich Agreement a high
    point in diplomacy declaring it a “Peace in our time”
   When Hitler annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939,
    Chamberlain responded that it was,"..a quarrel in a far-
    away country between people of whom we know nothing
    about"
Europe 1939
A Policy of Appeasement
   The League of Nations
    formed in 1919 purpose to
    prevent war, in event of
    possible hostilities member
    nations were to end trade
    with the aggressor and if
    that failed all nations would
    deal with the aggressor
    nation
   It failed to stop Japanese
    aggression in Manchuria
    and a Italian invasion in
    Abyssinia
A Policy of Appeasement
   The League of Nations
    lacked the following
       A standing army to
        enforce rulings
       The League meet four
        times a year to address
        problems
       Not all nation members
        followed the League’s
        rulings
The September Campaign
   Facing no military resistance
    Hitler next invades Poland in
    1939
   Germany claims that Poland
    had launched an attack and
    Germany was only responding
    to their aggression
   To avoid Russian intervention,
    Germany had signed the
    German-Soviet Pact,1939
    which stated that Poland would
    be split between the two nations
The September Campaign
Europe 1942