Why did peace collapse in Europe in 1939?
Transcript of Why did peace collapse in Europe in 1939?
Any account of the origins and
course of the Second World War
must give Hitler the leading
part. Without him a major war
in the early 1940s between all
the world’s great powers was
unthinkable.British historian Professor Richard
Overy, writing in 1996.
Why did peace collapse in Europe in 1939?
Over the next few lessons:
• You will investigate why Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939.
• You will make up your own mind as to how far Hitler’s own policies were
to blame for the war and whether other factors were equally important.
What were Hitler’s aims in foreign policy?
Objectives:
• Understand Hitler’s aims.
• Explain how his aims might led to another war.
• Evaluate how far Hitler’s aims were justified.
Why would this aim make another war more likely?
Do you think this aim is
“fair”?
Over to you. Find it, remember it, get ready to use it.
Why would this aim make another war more likely?
Do you think this aim is
“fair”?
To make Germany great again BY
• abolishing the hated Treaty of Versailles
• gaining territory for Germany in the East to provide lebensraum
(‘living space’) for the German people
• destroying communism
• uniting all German speaking people under his rule
So what did Hitler want to achieve?
Germany
RECALL the main terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• War guilt: Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war
• Reparations: Germany had to pay £6600 million
• German territory: – Anschluss with Austria forbidden.
– European boundaries altered e.g. loss of Alsace-Lorraine, East Prussia.
• Germany’s armed forces restricted:– Conscription banned.
– Army limited to 100,000 men.
– No armoured vehicles, submarines or aircraft.
– The navy could build only six battleships.
– The Rhineland became a demilitarised zone.
Territorial changes at Versailles
Why did peace collapse in Europe in 1939?
Over the next few lessons:
• You will investigate why Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939.
• You will make up your own mind as to how far Hitler’s own policies were to blame for the war
and whether other factors were equally important.
Terms of theTreaty of Versailles
How does Hitler challenge the Treaty?
What reason/excuse does he give for his actions?
What was the response from Britain and France?
Germany’s armed forces to be severely limited
The Rhineland to become a demilitarised zone
Germany forbidden to unite with Austria
The Sudetenlandto be given to the new country of Czechoslovakia
German soldiers and armaments on show at the Proclamation
of Freedom to Rearm Rally in 1935.
What can you infer from this picture about Hitler’s aims in foreign
policy?
Rearmament, 1933One of Hitler’s first actions when
he became leader of Germany in
1933 was to increase Germany’s
armed forces. Thousands of
unemployed workers were
drafted into the army. This helped
him to reduce unemployment,
which was one of the biggest
problems in Germany at that time.
It also helped him to deliver on
his promise to make Germany
strong again and break the Treaty
of Versailles.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Hitler knew that the German people would support
rearmament because they bitterly hated the limits
placed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. But
Hitler knew that other countries would be alarmed.
He handled it cleverly, rearming secretly at first. He
then went to talk to Britain and France and made a
promise not to rearm Germany if in 5 years all other
nations had destroyed their weapons too. He knew
other countries would not agree to this, so he
seemed justified afterwards when he said he was
only rearming Germany to boost the economy and to
make it equal in power to other European nations.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own
words.4. Predict what happens next.
Hitler reintroduced conscription in March 1935. In
included all able bodied boys over the age of 1919/
By 1939 the army had grown from 100 000 to 1
million. Hitler was breaking the terms of the Treaty of
Versailles, but he guessed correctly that he would
get away with it. In 1935 many other countries were
using rearmament as a way to fight unemployment.
Rearmament was an incredibly popular move in
Germany. It boosted Nazi support. Hitler also knew
that Britain had some sympathy with Germany as
they felt the limits placed on Germany by the Treaty
were too harsh. Britain also believed that a strong
Germany was a good buffer against Communist
Russia.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own
words.4. Predict what happens next.
Terms of theTreaty of Versailles
How does Hitler challenge the Treaty?
What reason/excuse does he give for his actions?
What was the response from Britain and France?
Germany’s armed forces to be severely limited
The Rhinelandto become a demilitarised zone
Germany forbidden to unite with Austria
The Sudetenland to be given to the new country of Czechoslovakia
Complete the first row of your table
What part of the
Treaty is being
broken in this clip?
(Tip: look at the
reactions of the
people or the shop
names)
•In March 1936, Hitler takes
his 1st really big risk and
moves troops into the
Rhineland area of Germany.
•It was a huge gamble for
him as his army was not
equipped to fight
France/Britain if they chose
to attack him for breaking
the Treaty of Versailles.
•He would be humiliated if
they forced him to withdraw,
and he would also lose the
support of his own army.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own
words.4. Predict what happens next.
The French had just signed a deal with the
USSR to protect each other against attack from
the Germans.
Hitler claimed that he was now threatened as
Germany was surrounded by France and the
USSR. He was entitled to have troops on his
own frontier.
Hitler knew that Britain was already sympathetic
to the Germans and was confident that Britain
would not intervene.
He gambled over France – would they let him
get away with it?
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own
words.4. Predict what happens next.
The League was too busy
dealing with the Abyssinian
crisis, and could not cope with
this added pressure.
Britain said Hitler was simply
“marching into his own back
yard”.
Even France were divided over
what to do – they knew Hitler
was a threat but did not want to
be responsible for plunging the
country into another war.
At that time we had no army worth
mentioning . . . If the French had taken
any action we would have been easily
defeated; our resistance would have
been over in a few days. And the Air
Force we had then was ridiculous – a
few Junkers 52s from Lufthansa and
not even enough bombs for them . . .
Hitler looks back on his gamble over the Rhineland
some years after the event.
THINK! Could Hitler have been stopped?
Terms of theTreaty of Versailles
How does Hitler challenge the Treaty?
What reason/excuse does he give for his actions?
What was the response from Britain and France?
Germany’s armed forces to be severely limited
The Rhinelandto become a demilitarised zone
Germany forbidden to unite with Austria
The Sudetenland to be given to the new country of Czechoslovakia
Complete the second row of your table
Anschluss with Austria, 1938
Hitler was spurred on
by successes with
rearmament and the
Rhineland.
Austrian people were
mainly German and he
made it clear his
intention was to reunite
the two states.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any
unknown words –find their meaning.
3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.
4. Predict what happens next.
Austria supported this as
they were economically
weak. He tried to unite the
two countries in 1936, but
was stopped by Mussolini.
In 1938, they were now
allies.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Nazi Party was strong in Austria. Hitler
encouraged them to stir up trouble, calling for
Union with Germany. Hitler told the Austrian
Chancellor that Anschluss (political union)
would sort out his problems. Hitler put pressure
on him to accept the Anschluss. The Chancellor
called for a vote to see what the people of
Austria wanted.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Hitler sent Nazi troops in to
guarantee a “trouble-free”
vote. 99.75% voted in
favour.
Anschluss was completed
with no military confrontation
– from neither Austria,
Britain or France.
Chamberlain felt the Treaty
had been wrong to separate
them. France would not act
without British support. Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Once again, Hitler had taken risky
but decisive action.
He now controlled Austria, with all
its raw materials and soldiers.
The Treaty had been broken once
again and Britain and France had
done nothing. Britain in particular
felt the Treaty itself was the
problem and were not prepared to
risk a war to uphold it.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Terms of theTreaty of Versailles
How does Hitler challenge the Treaty?
What reason/excuse does he give for his actions?
What was the response from Britain and France?
Germany’s armed forces to be severely limited
The Rhinelandto become a demilitarised zone
Germany forbidden to unite with Austria
The Sudetenland to be given to the new country of Czechoslovakia
Complete the third row of your table
Sudeten Germans
welcoming the Nazis, 4
October 1938
German troops
entering Prague,
March 1939
Challenge:THINK! Why are the reactions of the people so different?
Are you ready to learn? Let’s get on with it then! ☺
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
THINK! What can you learn about Hitler’s (Germany’s) attitude towards the Sudetenland?
Show you know by doing it.
“I give you my word of honour that
Czechoslovakia has nothing to fear from the
Reich (German parliament)”
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
THINK! What can you learn about Chamberlain’s (Britain’s) attitude towards the events taking place in the Sudetenland?
How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas masks here because of a quarrel in a far away country between
people of whom we know nothing. I am myself a man of peace to the depths of
my soul.
Show you know by doing it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
Reciprocal reading.1. Read the paragraph.2. Highlight any unknown words – find their
meaning.3. Summarise the paragraph in your own words.4. Predict what happens next.
Over to you. Find it, remember it, ready to use it.
“Peace in our time”
THINK! What was public opinion on the Munich Agreement? Explain your answer using evidence from the source.
Show you know by doing it.
Terms of theTreaty of Versailles
How does Hitler challenge the Treaty?
What reason/excuse does he give for his actions?
What was the response from Britain and France?
Germany’s armed forces to be severely limited
The Rhinelandto become a demilitarised zone
Germany forbidden to unite with Austria
The Sudetenland to be given to the new country of Czechoslovakia
Complete the final row of your table
‘Remember … one more lollipop, and then you can all go home!’
“APPEASEMENT” MEANS TO GIVE INTO THE DEMANDS OF A HOSTILE NATION IN ORDER TO KEEP THE PEACE.
THINK!Do you think this is ever a good idea?
Challenge: can you explain the meaning of the cartoon?
1. Sort the cards into arguments for and against appeasement.
2. Summarise the arguments for and against appeasement. You could do them as two lists or a spdier diagram, it’s your choice.
3. CHALLENGE: Identify which arguments belong in the following categories:• Military reasons• Economic reasons• Fear• Public opinion• Other
4. Was Britain right to follow the policy of appeasement? Use what you have learned to write a PEE paragraph explain your answer. CHALLENGE: write a second paragraph explaining hy the alternative view is wrong in your opinion.
Use the mnemonic to
remember the events
leading to World War
Two.
Saar plebiscite
Conscription & Rearmament
Rhineland
Anschluss
Munich & the Sudetenland
Czechoslovakia
USSR / Nazi Pact
Poland
1. Take each of the following causes of WWII. ▪ Hitler’s actions▪ The policy of Appeasement▪ The problems caused by the peace treaty▪ The Nazi–Soviet Pact
2. For each cause, summarise the ways in which it helped lead to war in 1939 (the consequences).
3. If you took any of these causes away, would there have been a war?
Why did war break out in Europe in 1939?
Challenge: are any of the causes linked? How?
Did you get everything – arguments for?
Did you get everything – arguments against?