The Collapse of International Peace 1919-1939

Causes
1. Appeasement
2. Hitler’s Foreign Policy
3. Great Depression
4. Peace Treaties
5. Fear of Communism
6. Failure of the League of Nations

Appendix
7. Key Events
8. Was appeasement a good idea?

1
1. Appeasement

Appeasement was a British policy with Germany, which allowed Hitler to have most of his
demands in hope that it would prevent war with Hitler, buy them time to rearm or make him
go east. It is usually linked to PM Chamberlain from 1937 but there is evidence for it before.

Reasons it caused Evidence Explanation

WW2
Helped Germany Anglo-German Naval Allowed Germany to get into a
rearm agreement-1935 position of military strength, and
even helped them to do it. Hence
Conscription he could expand, ultimately
invading Poland.
Huge German rearmament

Help expand German Anschluss with Austria- Appeasement therefore gifted

territory 1938 Hitler resources, such as Skoda
factory in Sudetenland to make
Sudetenland- 1938 tanks or the minerals in Austria
and coal in Saar. It also gave him a
Czechoslovakia – 15 March much bigger population to pay tax
1939 and serve in the army or making
munitions. It also made it clear
Invading Poland -1 they would not stop him and so it
September 1939 encouraged him to further expand,
eg Poland 1939.

Encouraged Hitler See above Hitler had been allowed to rearm

and expand. Despite British and
French promises to
Czechoslovakia to defend it, they
did nothing. Hence, when they
guaranteed Poland he possibly did
not believe they would act. They
encouraged him beyond belief and
therefore he continually expanded,
leading to WW2.

2
Missed opportunities The Sudetenland 1938 /The Czechoslovakia was ready to fight
to stop Hitler. Munich agreement under Benes.

Russia was ready to sign an

alliance in March 1939.

By appeasing they lost chances to

fight and defeat Hitler early.

Made Stalin go Nazi soviet pact 1939 In 1935 Stalin signed a treaty with
towards Germany August 23rd France to help the USSR from
Germany. Stalin had concerns
about the British and French when
they allowed Hitler to move his
troops into the Rhineland. Stalin
met with Britain and France in
March 1939 to negotiate about an
alliance, which didn't work. Stalin
realised that Britain and France
wouldn't stand up to Germany so
on August 23rd, 1939, Germany
and Russia signed the Nazi soviet
pact where they agreed not to
attack one another and privately
agreed to divide Poland. Stalin had
realised Appeasement was done to
allow Hitler to attack USSR so
Stalin had no choice but to sign
Nazi Soviet Pact in order to save
USSR.

3
Why did Chamberlin do appeasement?

1. It allowed the British to rearm. They needed time to achieve that, so appeasement
bought them time. The RAF would be ready in 1940

2. Many were horrified by the millions dead of WW1 and did not want a repeat of it.
This was an attempt to avoid war.

3. They thought that building up Germany would later be able to help them defeat the
communists: Stalin was much more worrying than Hitler.

4. It was a cheap policy which was needed after Great Depression.

5. It helped build up the world public opinion against Hitler as it exposed him as being
too demanding and Britain as being very fair and trying to accommodate his demands.
Britain desperately needed US and Empire onside for any future war.

2. Hitler’s Foreign Policy

Reasons for WWII Evidence Explanation

starting

Expansionist -Sudetenland (1938) This gave Hitler the resources, such

-Mountainous areas were good as factories for war machines (Skoda
for defence Factory: tanks), minerals form Austria,
-Skoda factory made tanks coal from Saar and tax payers and
-Had a strong army soldiers with an increased population,
making him much better prepared for
-Anschluss (1938) war and in a good position to invade
-Against TOV Poland on 1st September 1939.
-Against St. Germain Treaty
-More tax payers
-More soldiers
-More resources

-Saar Plebiscite (1935)

-Lebensraum
-Resources

4
Aggression Spanish Civil War (1936)
-Luftwaffe carpet bombed
Guernica
-Tested army and air force
(Luftwaffe)
-Gain experience for the army
-Anschluss (1938)
-Against TOV
-Against St. Germain Treaty
-More tax payers
-More soldiers
-More resources
Militaristic -Rearmament 1932-1939
-Anglo-German naval agreement
-L of N rearmament conference
failed in 1934
-Spanish civil war 1936
-Luftwaffe carpet bombed
Guernica
-Tested army and air force
-Gain experience for the army
Unpredictable Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939
-The Germans got grain from the
Russians to make bread for
soldiers
-Germany also gave war
technology to Russia
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Nobody stopped the aggression.
It geared the German population up
for war.
Hitler kept on pushing it one step
further and as nobody stopped him,
eventually ended up at war by
invading Poland on 1st September
1939.
All this gave him the military
capability to invade countries and put
him in a good position to be able to
invade Poland on 1st September 1939.
Now France and Britain had no choice
but to try to prevent him taking any
further territory as it was clear USSR
could not be relied upon to fight him.
His policies forced them into declaring
war.
3. The Great Depression 1929

I. Countries became self-interested. For example, when Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931
for their resources and when Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935 for its raw materials etc.
France and England were unable to act because they didn’t have enough money to help
out another country in need.

II. Britain and France de-militarised to save money, while Italy Japan and Germany rearmed
to reduce unemployment, also they were invading countries such as Abyssinia and
Manchuria with no consequences as Britain and France could not afford to act, eg no
sanctions on Japan (over Manchuria) and Italy (over Abyssinia).

III. The British felt sympathetic towards Germany regarding the Treaty of Versailles
economic elements such as reparations (6.6 billion GBP) so Hitler saw this as a chance to
stop paying reparations, to abolish the Treaty which wasn’t popular in Germany, and
through this Hitler fuelled his election campaign as most Germans hated the Treaty.

IV. It increased the popularity of Communism in Western Europe as unemployed workers got
interested in communism. So, there was an increased fear of Communism all over
Europe, this fuelled Hitler’s election campaign and this lead to Appeasement in Britain.

V. The Great Depression also meant that America would call back all the loans they had
given to Germany through Dawes plan and young Plan. This meant that their economy
was destroyed and this fuelled Hitler’s election campaign.

VI. It ensured the isolationism of USA in the 1930s. Without US support, Britain and France
were left alone to deal with Germany, Italy and Japan, hence the appeasement policy.

VII. The Depression caused trouble with the German economy. Germany was a major
trading partner of Britain and so Britain needed a strong Germany. Hence their support of
Hitler through Appeasement as he was instrumental in fixing the German economy.

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4. Peace Treaties

I. Treaty of Versailles helped Hitler into power.

Hitler gained votes on a revenge platform against the Treaty of Versailles

(A231: reparations: land loss: military restrictions etc) Hitler was voted in to
destroy the work of the “November criminals”.

II. The Peace Treaties created unstable countries

The treaties left a legacy of bitterness and anger behind, altering the geography of
Europe. This angered countries due to the fact that self-determination was one of
Wilsons 14 points yet people were being forced to live in other countries.
Poland - West Prussia, Upper Silesia were both given to Poland and thus 3.8 percent
of Poland was ethnically German. This eventually lead to Germany invading Poland
from the west on September 1st, 1939 in order to get back Danzing (Gdansk) which
inevitably lead to Britain and France declaring war on Germany on September 3rd
Czechoslovakia – The Sudetenland, a new state created by the Treaty of Versailles,
included about 3 million of Germans and former subjects of Austria- Hungary’s
empire. This angered many people as they believed that an area occupied by ethnic
German should be a part of Germany, this led to Germany being given the
Sudetenland on September 29th 1938 (Munich Agreement), against the Treaty of
Versailles.

III. Treaties led to people wanting revenge

Austria, Hungary and Germany all wanted revenge as they felt the Treaties were too
harsh on them:
War Guilt: eg TofV A231
Reparations: eg 6.6 billion pounds TofV
Limited Military: eg 100000 men in German army max
Land lost: eg 2/3 of Hungarian Empire in Trianon

IV. Created sympathy for Germany

By the 1930s Britain felt sympathy for Germany, that resulted in them going
through with appeasement. Because the British thought that the Treaty of
Versailles was a flawed treaty, they allowed Germany to rearm (Anglo German
Naval Agreement 18 June 1935: conscription 1936 etc) and to expand (Anschluss:
Sudetenland: Czechoslovakia etc)

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5. Fear of Communism
1. The fear of communism was the basis for the British policy of appeasement.
The West was afraid of the USSR and the spread of communism (Comintern, 1919) and so
appeased Hitler in hope that a strong Germany will fight against the communists.
Let him rearm (Anglo-German Naval Agreement, 1935 - let Germany
rebuild their navy to 35% of Britain’s).
Sudetenland – let Hitler get closer to the east.
Let him remilitarise the Rhineland.
Hitler gambled his way through territorial claims and rearmament whilst
the British were carrying out the policy.
The Saar, 1935
Sudetenland, 1938

2. Stalin seen as a bigger threat.

Stalin killed many of his own people (Millions dead through collectivization, many people
executed in the Communist Party) Led to the West fearing communism. If this form of
government was implemented in their countries, it could lead to mass killing. Seeing Stalin
kill millions of his own people resulted in people fearing how many opponents he would be
willing to kill.

3. Britain and France missed an opportunity to make a deal with the Russians

due to their fear of communism. Russia wanted alliance with Britain and France for
protection against Germany. Did not happen – British feared Russian communism and
believed the Russian army was too weak to fight against Germany.
France made 1935 Mutual Assistance Pact but Britain was so scared of communism it would
not join. The 1939 negotiations for a Russian alliance also failed and so Russia decided to
sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in 1939.

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6. Failure of the League of Nations

 Loss in International trust:

E.G.
As the League began showing more signs of failure, countries began to realise if they
needed support they would need to make alliances with other countries. The Franco-
Soviet treaty of Mutual Assistance of August 1935, between France and Russia, was
there to control the Nazis and protect each other in case of an attack. However, this
back fired slightly when the Germans took it as a threat against them and gave them
and even stronger reason to rearm, and go on to sign their own anti-comintern pact
with Japan in November 1936, and with Italy in November 1937. This loss also led to
America continuing to be isolationist, and one of the main reasons that Britain did
appeasement.

 Unable to deal with multiple problems at once/ prevent wars:

E.G.
In 1936 when the League Failed to stop Italy, in their invasion of Abyssinia, it broke
down the international peace which they were supposed to keep. This then helped
Hitler remilitarise the Rhineland in March 1936, since France (and other LON
members) were too busy to deal with Germany due to the Abyssinian Crisis. Their
weakness encouraged Hitler to invade Poland.

 Their inaction proved that aggression paid off.

E.G.
When Japan, invaded Manchuria in 1931 and the League did nothing to stop them.
After this it encouraged leaders like Hitler, to use force and aggression to get what
you want, since no one was going to stop them from doing it, he even tested out his
theory in 1938, when Germany and Austria broke their treaties and signed the
Anschluss. This was and aggressive act because before the plebiscite even took place
Hitler sent Nazi troops into Austria to ‘persuade’ the Austrians to vote for it, even
though they probably would’ve done it anyway. It set the stage for the invasion of
Poland.

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7. Appendix: Key Events

Hitler’s foreign policy aims:

 Hitler’s desires were evident in his book Mein Kampf (1924). One aim was to
abolish the Treaty of Versailles completely.
 He wanted to greatly rearm Germany and to remilitarise the Rhineland.
 Also, he wanted to expand German territory and lebensraum (living space) for the
Aryan race.
 He wanted Anschluss with Austria and to unite all German speaking people into
one Greater Germany (pan-Germanism).
 Moreover, Hitler wanted to defeat and destroy Communism by expanding towards
the USSR.

German rearmament:
 When Hitler came to power in 1933, he began to rearm secretly. But after leaving
the League of Nations due to the failure of the Disarmament Conference, he began
to rearm openly.
 In 1935, Hitler staged a massive rearmament rally. A year later in 1936, he
reintroduced conscription.
 Also in 1935, Hitler signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement with Britain,
which allowed Germany to expand its navy up to 35% the size of the British navy.
 Hitler greatly increased the number of warships, aircraft and soldiers: 30 warships
(1932) to 95 warships (1939); 36 aircrafts (1932) to 8,250 aircrafts (1939);
100,000 soldiers (1932) to 950,000 soldiers (1939).

Freedom to rearm rally:

 In 1935, Hitler publicised Germany’s rearmament
 He held a “Freedom to Rearm” rally
 Hitler showed the world how powerful Germany’s Army was.
 Propaganda success result was positive so Hitler introduced conscription.

Anglo-Germany Naval Agreement:

 Signed in 1935
 Allowed Germany to increase its navy to 35% of Britain’s navy
 French were angry with the British for allowing this agreement.
 30 Warships, 1932 to 95 Warships, 1939
 Cleary broke the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

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Saar Plebiscite:
 1919 the Saar region of Germany had been held by the by League of Nation
 January 1935 the League of Nation held a plebiscite
 The Saar could either join France, Germany or stay a League of Nation Mandate
 Hitler was scared to do the plebiscite
 Hitler sent Nazi Soldiers for a trouble-free plebiscite
 Goebbels mounted a massive campaign propaganda
 Germany won 90% votes
 Entirely legal and within the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
 Huge propaganda success

Mutual Assistance Pact:

 Signed May 1935
 Signed by Russia and France
 They promised to help each other if Germany invaded France or Germany
 This gave Hitler an excuse to rearm (for example conscription) and to remilitarise
the Rhineland 1936.

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland:

 March 1936, Hitler moved troops into the Rhineland
 Against Treaty of Versailles
 The German army was told to return to Germany if the French retaliated
 Reasons Hitler invaded the Rhineland:
o France and USSR signed the “Mutual Assistance Pact”
o Hitler’s army lacked essential air support and air support
o Hitler knew that Britain was sympathetic and believed that Hitler had a
right to rearm his own land
o France would not retaliate without help from Britain
 Huge propaganda success

Spanish Civil War (1936-38):

 war between the republican govt. and the right-wing fascist rebels under general
Franco
 USSR supported republicans, Hitler and Mussolini supported General Franco
 Britain and France said they would not intervene but France provided weapons for
the republicans
 Hitler helped Franco transport his troops from north Africa to Spain
 Hitler carpet bombs cities like Guernica (1937) using Luftwaffe – gave war
experience
 Helps build relations with Italy and Germany which lead to the Anti-Comintern
Pact 1937

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Anti-Comintern pact (November 25, 1936):
 Signed by Germany and Japan
 Anti-communist pact to block COMINTERN
 Italy joined in 1937 as a result of cooperation of the Spanish Civil War
 Also known as Axis alliance
o *Comintern was the USSR’s organization for spreading communism
(1919).

Anschluss with Austria:

 In 1934 Hitler tried invading Austria, but Mussolini had stopped him
 By March 1938 Austria and Germany were much closer
 Hitler believed uniting Austria into Germany was a good thing
 Pressured Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg into agreeing the Anschluss
 Schuschnigg appealed for the League of Nation help
 League of Nation sent no help and Schuschnigg called a plebiscite
 Nazi party in Germany & Austria sent troops in March 1938 to guarantee a
trouble-free plebiscite
 99.75% of Austrians agreed because –Austria’s economy was weak
 Hitler was Austrian
 Germany/Nazi party was strong
 Germany was going against the Treaty of Versailles
 Austria wanted to rebel from its treaty
 Hitler gained land, gold, iron, guns, and soldiers

The Sudetenland:
 Czechoslovakia was a new state created by the Treaty of Versailles. 3 million
Germans were living in the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia.
 On 15th September, Chamberlain met Hitler. Hitler moderated his demands, as he
said he was only interested in German parts of the Sudetenland, and only if a
plebiscite was organised. Chamberlain agreed.
 However, a week later on the 22nd September, Hitler increased his demands. He
wanted all of the Sudetenland by 1st October as he believed the Germans there
were being mistreated by the government.
 War seemed imminent. But on the 29th September a final meeting took place in
Munich. Britain and France decided to give Hitler what he wanted in what is
known as the Munich Agreement.
Policy of Appeasement:
 The policy usually linked to Chamberlain, British Prime Minister in 1937. Seen in
Anschluss and Czechoslovakia Crisis.
 Idea was present before (E.x Remilitarisation of the Rhineland)
 Policy to give Hitler what he wants to avoid war/ give Britain time to rearm

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Munich agreement (September 29, 1938):
 Germany (Hitler), France (Daladier), Italy (Mussolini), Britain (Chamberlain) met
to decide that Czechoslovakia would lose the Sudetenland.
 They did not consult Czechoslovakia nor USSR
 Joint declaration between Chamberlain and Hitler was published next morning
promising to deal with all issues without war “peace in our time”
 Benes (leader of Czechoslovakia) was not invited
 Gave Sudetenland to Germany
 Guaranteed Czechoslovakia independence

Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1939):

 March 15, German troops took over the rest of Czechoslovakia.
 Against the Treaty of Versailles
 No resistance from the Czechs, British and French did not do anything.
 Next target would most likely be Poland
 British and France said if Germany invaded Poland they would declare war on
Germany – end of appeasement – Hitler did not believe them
 October 1938, 93% of the British opinion poll said that they did not believe that
Hitler had no more territorial ambitions in Europe.

Nazi-Soviet Pact:
 On 23rd August 1939, the Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed between the German
foreign minister Ribbentrop and the Russian foreign minister Molotov.
 Russia and Germany in this pact agreed not to attack each other. Also, Germany
would give Russia technology, whilst Russia would give Germany grain to make
bread.
 They as well agreed secretly to divide Poland between them.
 Hitler agreed to sign the pact (even though he despised Communism) because he
would gain half of Poland and not have to face a war on two fronts. (E.x Russia
and France)
 Stalin agreed to the pact mainly due to security. He met with Britain and France in
March 1939 about an alliance against Hitler, but they were unwilling, showing
their desire for Hitler to advance to the USSR.
 Germany invaded Poland on 1st September 1939, and war was declared by
Britain and France two days later.

Poland & British and French Declaration of War:

 Hitler invaded Poland on the 1st of September 1939.
 Germany invaded Poland and had little resistance
 Britain and France demanded Germany to leave Poland or they’ll declare war
 Hitler believed that Britain and France would not actually do anything (because
of Appeasement)
 On the 3rd of September Britain and France declared war on Germany

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8. Appeasement: Was Appeasement justified?
YES
 WWI horrors - don’t want to repeat
 Economy - more important for British
 Empire won’t support them
 Communist Fear → push Hitler East
 USA isolationist - won’t help
 Not ready - RAF 1940 (UK armed
forces)
 Treaty of Versailles - sympathy
 Individual events - not important →
why fight over Sudetenland/Rhineland
etc.
 Prevent war by appeasing Hitler?
 Overestimated Power - Freedom to
Rearm Rally 1935 →Rhineland
 Democracy - Public opinion: UK
election-France election 1935
 Cheap - Wall Street Crash: Broke →
Cheap
Was Appeasement Successful?
YES
 Delayed War - Until British could
defend (RAF ready in 1940) & WIN
‘Battle of Britain’
 Avoided Br/Fr blood - Short term →
Common sense! – try to avoid war ( T
of V harsh)
 Allowed British to rebuild
economically → appeasement cheap
policy
 Had no choice
→ WWI hate
→ Empire won’t support
→ Economy bad – WSC
→ Communist fear
→ USA isolationist
→ Not ready (RAF 1940)
→Treaty of Versailles
 Public opinion → delay highlights
Hitler’s aggression → get US and British
Empire + public on their side
14
NO
 Let Germany build up: Airforce - 36 →
8250
 Encourage Hitler to ask for more/Made
Allies look weak eg. Munich Conference
→ post Munich → invasion of Cz. March
1939
 Treat USSR unfairly - Hitler pushed East
 Response - ‘Clear’ Hitler isn’t responding
fairly
 Avoiding responsibility of dealing with
Hitler
 Missed opportunity to prevent war
eg. Rhineland 36’, Sudetenland,
Anschluss 38’, Polish , Czechs on side of
British, ready to fight: Cz. had
Sudetenland + modern well equipped
army
 Selfish - British make no attempt to help
other countries: Immoral → death
NO
 Didn’t avoid war
 Germany obviously strong by 1939 →
Austria/Czechoslovakia/ Poland
 USA - USA did not help until 1941
 Forced USSR into German hands (Nazi-
Soviet Pact) → Failed as it was mean to
build up Nazis to fight USSR/barrier to
Communism
 Lost allies -
Czechoslovakia/Poland/France
 Allowed Germany to build up its
armed forces/ to grow too strong:
→ Anglo-German Naval agreement
March 1935
→ Didn’t stop him from Conscription &
Luftwaffe (32’: 36, 39’: 8250)
 Hitler more aggressive - not
trustworthy
 Mistake: Encouraged Hitler
 Mistake:Missed opportunities to stop H.
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