1. The Road to War
WORLD WAR II

2. The Road to War timeline
Rearmament
Rhineland….March 1936
Austria…..March 1938
Munich Agreement…Sept 1938
Sudetenland…Oct 1938
Czechoslovakia…March 1939
Nazi-Soviet Pact…August 1939
Poland…Sept 1, 1939

3. Rearmament Hitler promised to make Germany a world power
Restore previous military strength
Began to rearm in the mid-30s (army/airforcearmy/airforce/tanks/tactics)
Unemployment dropped from 6 million in 1931 to just over 1 million by 1937

4. March 1936…Rhineland
Prior to WWI it belonged to Germany but following WW1 it became a demilitarized zone under League of Nation control (occupied by allied troops)
Hitler was determined to get it back & in March 1936 he peacefully invaded.
It was the first outright violation of the Versailles Treaty
The first instance of the appeasement policy(…. more later).

5. March 1938…Austria
Hitler wanted all Germans living within new German state…..the Reich.
Hitler argued that many Germans lived in Austria so it should be part of Germany.
March 1938 Nazi forces entered Austria.
Britain & France did nothing…..didn’t want to risk another war.

6. Sept 1938…Munich Agreement
Britain, France, Germany met in Munich & decided to give away the Sudetenland
Hoped to save the world from war
Czechs were not invited
“Peace in our Time”
Appeasement
Hitler promised no more demands for territory.

7. Sept 1938…Munich Agreement
You British fool

8. Sept 1938…Munich Agreement
"Peace in our time"

9. Oct 1938…Sudetenland
Northwestern Czechoslovakia (3 million German speaking people living there).
Heavy industry & defenses
Czechs wanted to fight but Britain & France would not support them
Munich Agreement allowed Germany to have the Sudetenland

10. Oct 1938…Sudetenland

14. March 1939…Czechoslovakia
Britain, France, stood by as Germany occupied all of Czechoslovakia
Munich Agreement was broken by Hitler

15. August 1939…Nazi-Soviet Pact
Promise by both not to attack each other in the event of war
Secretly agreed to divide Poland
Germany now could plan for war against Britain & France
Eastern border secure from Soviet attack

16. Sept 1939…Invasion of Poland
Hitler demanded Polish Corridor be handed back to Germany
Poland refused
Germany invaded using “Blitzkrieg”
Britain & France came to Poland’s aid & declared war on Sept 3, 1939

17. August ’39…Nazi-Soviet Pact

18. August ’39…Nazi-Soviet Pact
                                           
August ’39…Nazi-Soviet Pact

19. August ’39…Nazi-Soviet Pact
                                           
August ’39…Nazi-Soviet Pact

20. August ’39…Nazi-Soviet Pact
                  
August ’39…Nazi-Soviet Pact

21. Germany above all things
1938 Political Cartoon
Germany above all things

22. Why Appeasement? 1)Define the term “appeasement”.
2)Which of the reasons given for why the British practiced a policy of appeasement with regard to Hitler do you agree with? Disagree with? Respond in writing (point-form) and be prepared to discuss.