Hitler

Question 1

How did Nazi ideology motivate Hitler to go to war? [4]

Answer 1

• Racist views Aryan supremacy
• Lebensraum - the east had lots of land belonging to communists + inferior people.
• War seen as a natural order - social Darwinism
• Anti-communist policy.

Question 2

How did Hitler himself and the international context of the 1930s motivate Germany to go to war? [4]

Answer 2

• No eye for detail, had grand ambitions.
• Sacked leading Generals, appointed sycophants, supporters, and inexperience.
• Depression; Japan; Italy; Spanish Civil War
• France was politically divided and economically weak. Focused on its own defences. USA isolationist: Absence of a strong power that could have held Germany back.

Question 3

What do historians say about Hitler’s plan to achieve his aims?

Answer 3

• AJP Taylor and Mommsen argue that H did not have a clear plan - he was a reactionist, responded to opportunities, economic pressures, and Nazi Party demands.

Question 4

What are historians views on Hitler’s policy as a continuation of Weimar policy? [2]

Answer 4

• Revision of the TOV shared

- Most historians agree that H’s policy was a radical break from earlier German policy.

Question 5

How did economic factors influence Hitler’s foreign policy? [4]

Answer 5

• The heavy emphasis on rearmament led to shortages of consumer goods
• War production was at the expense of imports, Germany had no foreign exchange for imports.
• hitler ignored Schacht (finance minister) warnings about the economy when advised to scale back, increase foreign trade, resigned in 1939
• This encouraged a conquest for land + resources, Hitler saw war as the answer to economic problems. Divert attention from problems at home.

Question 6

What and when were these main events leading up to WW2 in Germany? [8]

Answer 6

• Rearmament - Hitler continued expanding military
• Saar Plebiscite 1935 - voted to return to Germany. Propaganda victory reinforce popularity of Nazi regime
• Stresa agreement 1935
• Germany remilitarizes Rhineland 1936
• Four Year Plan drafted 1936
• Anti-Comintern Pact Japan + Rome-Berlin Axis 1936 solidified Germany’s alliances
• Hossbach Memorandum 1937

Question 7

What were the impacts of Anschluss, and when did it happen? [3]

Answer 7

German troops marched into Austria 1938.

• Validated H’s strategy of aggressive foreign policy. He sees international blackmail and intimidation as effective.
• Promoted friendship of H and M, defining the alliances in the European power dynamic
• H now had access to South-Eastern Europe. Strategic position in Austria.

Question 8

Why did Hitler turn his eyes on the Sudetenland (outskirts of Czechoslovakia)? [4]

Answer 8

• Hitler considered the Slavs to be untermenschen
• It’s diverse population went against Hitler’s beliefs of class and racial superiority.
• The Sudetenland had a large German-speaking population.
• He thus began making military preparations and sponsored Sudeten German Army to rebel against the Czech gov’

Question 9

What was the significance of the Munich conference? [4]

Answer 9

• France, Britain and Germany met in 38 to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the Czech crisis
• New borders formed, Germany took control of Sudetenland.
• Peace no longer seemed likely. Britain and France increase pace of their rearmament.
• Other countries believe that B and F would do anything to avoid war with Hitler.

Question 10

Why did Stalin agree to the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 39? What impact did it have? [4]

Answer 10

• Stalin unimpressed by B and F’s proposed alliance against Hitler.
• Gave the Soviets time to prepare defences against a German invasion
• Guaranteed Germany safety from the Soviets if Hitler invaded Poland.
• Made war more likely - Hitler believed he could avoid a ‘war on two fronts’.