Class notes History

Why had international peace
collapse by 1939?
Table of contents:

- What were the long-term consequences of the peace treaties of 1919-23?
- What were the consequences of the failures of the League in the 1930s?
- How far was Hitler’s foreign policy to blame for the outbreak of the war in 1939?
- Was the policy of appeasement justified?
- How important was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
- Why did Britain and France declare was on Germany in September 1939?

Hitler’s foreign policy

 German rearmament
 Remilitarization of the Rhineland
 Anschluss with Austria
 The transfer of Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia
 Reoccupation of Prague
 Seizure of Memel
 Claims made over Danzig and the Polish corridor

Impact of Britain and France opinion

 Britain: satisfied by the harsh, punitive aspect of the Treaty
 In the 30s the British government encircles that the treatment on Germany was too
harsh
o Followed the aspect of the Treaty was unfair
 British duty to assist Germany in anciency the peaceful revision of the Treaty

(The British were partly responsible for the nature of the settlement)

 France: thought that the Treaty was not harsh enough
 Wanted permanently disable Germany in order to guarantee security

A settlement of anomalies

 Separation of East Prussia from the main bulk of German territory by the Polish Corridor
 The placing of Danzig (controlled by the LON), over population by Germans
 Placing of 3 ½ million of Germans under Czech rule of the Sudetenland

The LON meant to be the main way of preserving world peace

Saar plebiscite

 1935 the LON held the promised plebiscite for people to vote on whether their region should
return to German ruling
 Overwhelmingly a huge success for Hitler (persuaded by Joseph Goebbels
propaganda minister




Remilitarization of the Rhineland