Year 10 Modern World History Events Leading to World War 2

1. Rearmament Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. One of his first steps was to increase Germany’s armed forces. In 1935 Hitler openly staged a massive military rally celebrating the German military. Like many other countries, Germany used rearmament as a means to create jobs during the global economic crisis of the 1930s. Whilst Germany’s actions were contravening the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, very little could be done to stop Germany as Britain had already helped to dismantle the Treaty by signing a naval agreement with Hitler in 1935. This agreement allowed Germany to increase its navy to up to 35 per cent of the size of the British navy.

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‘I am convinced that Hitler does not want war… what the Germans are after is a strong army which will enable them to deal with Russia.’

German soldiers and armaments on show at the Proclamation of Freedom to Rearm Rally in 1935.

German armed forces in 1932 and 1939

British politician Lord Lothian, January 1935.

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2. Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

In 1936, Hitler took his first big risk by moving troops into the Rhineland area of Germany, bordering France. Hitler knew that many people in Britain felt that he had the right to station his troops in the Rhineland, ‘his own backyard’, and therefore Hitler was fairly confident that Britain would not intervene. His gamble was over France. Would France let him get away with it? The French, who were most directly threatened by the move, were divided over what to do. They were about to hold an election and none of the French leaders were prepared to take responsibility for plunging France into another war. In the end France refused to act without the support of Britain.

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A British cartoon about the reoccupation of the Rhineland, 1936. Pax Germanica is Latin and means ‘Peace, German style’.

‘All 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 actions over the 

Rhineland some years after the event. 

An American cartoon published in 

March 1936 showing the encirclement 

of Germany by France and the USSR. 

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3. Anschluss with Austria, 1938

Hitler had stressed in his book Mein Kampf that both Germany and Austria should belong together, as they were culturally similar if not the same. Many Austrians supported Hitler in this view, especially at a time when Austria’s economy was in a more severe situation that Germany’s. Hitler, in 1934, had attempted to bring the two countries together but Mussolini had stopped him. By 1938, Hitler and Mussolini were allies; the only thing that could stop Germany was the Austrian government and its people. The Austrian Chancellor was keen for Britain and France to support him in his attempt to prevent Hitler from seizing control of Austria. Neither Britain nor France were inclined to help Austria and Britain went as far as welcoming the decision to bring both Austria and Germany together into a political union (Anschluss).

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 A Soviet cartoon showing Hitler catching a fish - Austria, 1938.

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 Taken from Punch magazine, commenting on Anschluss, 1938. Mussolini is calling out the Hitler, ‘All right, Adolf – I never heard a shot.’

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4. Appeasement

Hitler had always wanted to reunite the German speaking people of Europe. He had achieved part of his plan by uniting Germany and Austria in March 1938, under the policy of Anschluss (political unity). His next target was the German speaking people of Czechoslovakia. This group lived on the German-Czechoslovakia border known as the Sudetenland. Despite the fears of the Czech President Beneš, Hitler, with the help of Mussolini and the support of British Prime Minister Chamberlain and the French leader Daladier, struck a deal and signed the Munich Agreement. This allowed Hitler to claim the Sudetenland. Beneš was not consulted during this meeting. As a result Hitler marched in to the Sudetenland and Chamberlain declared ‘Peace in our time’.

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We regard the Agreement signed last night …as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again. We are resolved that we shall use consultation to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries and we are determined to continue our efforts to assure the peace of Europe.

The joint declaration of Chamberlain and Hitler, 30 September 1938.

Map of Europe in 1938. It includes the policy of Anschluss (political union of German speaking people).

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By repeatedly surrendering to force, Chamberlain has encouraged aggression…our central contention, therefore, is that Mr Chamberlain’s policy has throughout been based on a fatal misunderstanding of the psychology of dictatorship.

The Yorkshire Post, a British newspaper commenting on the actions of British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, December 1938

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We have suffered a total defeat…I think you will find that in a period of time Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi regime. We have passed an awful milestone in our history. This is only the beginning of the reckoning.

Winston Churchill speaking in October 1938. He felt that Britain should resist the demands of Hitler. His view was a minority one.

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A British cartoon by David Low, 1938, commenting on the delicate diplomatic situation

A British cartoon commenting on the Sudetenland crisis of 1938.

David Low, a British cartoonist commenting on the actions of Hitler, 1936.

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7. The Nazi-Soviet Pact

Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, became extremely worried about what was happening in Germany in the 1930s. Hitler had declared that he wanted Russian land and he had already arrested and killed many communists in Germany. The failure of Britain and France to act against Hitler confirmed to Stalin that he could not rely on their support in the event of Germany invading the Soviet Union. Stalin had to seek a different alliance.

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A British cartoon from 1939.

A Soviet cartoon from 1939. CCCP is Russian for USSR. Who are the two policemen and what are they doing?

Hitler regarded the Pact as his master stroke. Although he had promised Russia eastern Poland, Finland, Estonia and Latvia, he never intended to allow them to keep these territories.

Stalin did not expect Hitler to keep his word either. He was sure he could only gain from a long war in which Britain, France and Germany exhausted themselves. Seldom have two countries entered an alliance so dishonestly.

L.E. Snellgrove, The Modern World from 1870, published in 1980

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Year 10 Modern World History

Summary: Some Events Leading to World War Two

1922 Benito Mussolini, Europe’s first fascist dictator, came to power in Italy. 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in Germany. 1935 March Hitler announced that Germany will begin to rearm. October Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and defied the League of Nations. 1936 March The German Army occupied the Rhineland on Hitler’s orders. July The Spanish civil war began. October – November

Italy, then Japan signed diplomatic agreements with Hitler. This was the beginning of the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo association that became known by 1937 as the Axis Alliance.

1938 March Anschluss with Austria. The German Army marched into Austria and made it part of the German Reich. September The Sudetenland Crisis. Hitler claimed that Germans living in the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia were being persecuted. The Munich Conference, the highpoint of the appeasement policy followed, with Germany being allowed to take the Sudetenland.

1939 January Germany took the remainder of Czechoslovakia. March Britain and France promised to support Poland in case of attack. August The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. September The German Army attacked Poland on September 1st. Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3rd.

Poland surrendered on September 27th after being attacked by both Germany and Russia.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, on his return from meeting Hitler at the end of September 1938. At this meeting Chamberlain had obtained Hitler’s signature on the famous “piece of paper” he is holding up (see Source 2 on page 5). The piece of paper was a declaration - typed out by Chamberlain himself and signed by both leaders - which declared that Britain and Germany both wanted peace. It has been suggested that, at the meeting, Hitler privately referred to Chamberlain as an Arschloch.