Download pdf - PreWar Period-Reading Notes p. 160-175 (Keylor)

7/31/2019 PreWar Period-Reading Notes p. 160-175 (Keylor)

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Hitler Brings the Pain!

p. 160-175 (Keylor)


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Hitler Woos Poland to Annihilate

Czechoslovakia

Hitlers Principal Aim- to accelerate Germanystactical rapprochement with Poland andHungary and to establish ties withCzechoslovakias two partners in the Little

Entente (Yugoslavia and Romania) Principal Source of Friction between Germany

and Poland- Danzig, where the Nazi municipalgovernment caused considerable trouble for the

Polish authorities Directives from Berlin stopped anti-Polish agitation

while Hitler made nice with the Polish government


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Hitler Woos Poland to Annihilate

Czechoslovakia Positive Basis for German-Polish

Cooperation- Teschen district of Silesia

Industrial area awarded to Czechoslovakia in

1920

Home to 80,000 Poles

Working together the Polish government

added this demand to Hitlers demand for theGerman-speaking region of the Sudetenland

(Western Czechoslovakia)


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Hitler Woos Romania and Yugoslavia

to Annihilate Czechoslovakia

Difficulty in Negotiations-

No territorial land claims to reward them with likePoland

Belonged to the Little Entente with Czechoslovakia Linked together with protector France

Hungary Throws a Wrench in the Works

Little Entente kept a wary eye on Hungary because

Hungary had lost much land to the Little Entente atthe Paris Peace Conference

Main reason the Little Entente held together


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Hitler Woos Romania and Yugoslavia

to Annihilate Czechoslovakia Hitler Encourages Better Hungary-Yugoslavia

Relations

Hungary and Yugoslavia reached an agreement in 1938 onthe major issues of dispute between them

Dealt a serious blow to the anti-Hungary basis of the LittleEntente

Hitler Drives a Wedge between Romania andCzechoslovakia

Bitter territorial struggle between Romania and Russia

over Bessarabia Romania proved to be an obstacle to Russian allegiance

to Czechoslovakia as they blocked Soviet access to theirally


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Hitler Establishes Economic Ties with

Central Europe

Campaign to isolate Czechoslovakia from its

neighbors was bolstered by a series of

commercial policies designed to subordinate

the shaky economic systems of the nations of

Central Europe to the expanding German

economy


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Nazi Propaganda Hits Czechoslovakia

Hitler Barrages Prague with PropagandaCampaign-

Summer of 1938- directed at Pragues alleged

persecution of the three million German-speakinginhabitants of the Bohemian borderlands

Konrad Henlein Joins the Shenanigans

Leader of the Sudeten German party

Demands political autonomy of the German-speaking region as a prelude to secession andannexation by Germany


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Czechs Check Sudeten Secession

Two Main Reasons for Noncooperation byPrague- Loss of the Sudetenland would deprive it of its

defensible frontiers and the elaborate border

fortifications constructed behind them leaving themdefenseless against German invasion

Granting of autonomy to the Germans of Bohemiawould establish a precedent for similar demands bythe other national minorities in the multiethnic

republic Poles in Teschen

Hungarians in southern Slovakia

Possibly even the Slovaks themselves


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France- The Shrinking Violet

France Balks at War with Germany

Remained committed to the Franco-Czechoslovak

alliance for the sake of appearances but

Deplorable condition of their air force

Refusal of Belgium to allow the transit of French

troops to Germanys most vulnerable industrial

targets

Exaggerated estimates of the size of the German army

Strength of the Rhineland fortifications

Caused the failure of their nerve to fight


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Britain- The Conciliatory Pansy

Britain wanted no part of a war between

France and Germany in which there was no

issue of national importance to them

Memories of Spanish towns being hit by

German bombers led Britain to exert every

diplomatic effort to avert a war

Antiaircraft artillery system and radar

installations were still under construction


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Czech President Eduard Benes

Anglo-French pressure on Prague to reach a

settlement with the Sudeten party compelled

Benes to grant all of that partys main

demands on September 5, 1938

Hitler, not wanting political concessions (but

war instead), advised Konrad Henlein to

produce a list of grievances against the Czechgovernment


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Neville Chamberlain Sells

the Czech Farm

British PM Affected by Two Major Events

World War I

Believed that the Belligerents had entered into a

terrible war that might well have been averted by amore skillful, active diplomacy

Paris Peace Conference

Believed that the victorious Allies had mistreated

Germany at the peace conference by refusing to apply

the principle of national self-determination to

Germanys eastern frontiers


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Neville Chamberlain Sells

the Czech Farm Chamberlain Hopes to Avoid World War II

September 15, 1938- Chamberlain boards a planeand flies to Hitlers private retreat at

Berchtesgaden in order to settle the Czechproblem

Hitler demanded the Sudetenland on the basis ofnational self-determination

Chamberlain returned to London and attemptedto persuade France and Czechoslovakia to acceptthe German demands


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Edouard Daladier Caves on the Issue

of the Sudetenland

French PM Bristles at National Self-

Determination through Plebiscites in

German-Speaking Areas in Central Europe

Backs down from this terribly true ideal as he

defers to Chamberlains leadership on this issue

against his own better judgment


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Benes Sticks to His Guns- Sort Of

Prague Angrily Rejects the Anglo-French

Proposal

Eventually forced into agreement by the threat of

an end to British peacemaking efforts and a

bluntly repeated refusal of French assistance in

case of war


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Chamberlain Returns to

the Scene of the Crime

Chamberlain Returns to Godesberg, Germany

on September 22, 1938

Informs Hitler of concessions

Hitler declines on his own previous demands

Cited that deteriorating conditions in the Sudetenland

required immediate German intervention


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War Seems Inevitable

Czech Government Mobilizes for War on

September 24, 1938

France Mobilizes its Army for War on

September 26, 1938

Britain Mobilizes its Naval Fleet for War on

September 27, 1938

Germany Orders Attack of Czechoslovakia to

Begin on the Morning of September 30, 1938


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Last Ditch Efforts for Dtente-

The Munich Conference

Mussolini Intervenes on Behalf of

Czechoslovakia on September 29, 1938

Hitler agrees to host a conference in Munich,

Germany

Hesitations of Mussolini?

Reluctance of his generals?

Refusal of Chamberlain and Daladier to stand idly by?

Attendees- Britain, France, Italy, and Germany


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The Munich Pact- September 30, 1938

Facets of the Munich Pact

Evacuation of Czech army from Sudetenland

between October 1 and 10, 1938

Followed by German occupation in four stages

Britain and France guaranteed redrawn borders

of Czechoslovakia

Germany and Italy promised similar guaranteesonce Polish and Hungarian territorial claims had

been satisfactorily adjudicated


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The Rest of Eastern Europe

Falls in Line

Romania-German Economic Agreement-

December 10, 1938

Guaranteed German access to Romanian oil

Supplement to the insufficient synthetic production

from domestic coal

Guaranteed German access to Romanian wheat

Supplement to the annual shortfall in Germanagricultural output


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The Rest of Eastern Europe

Falls in Line Hungary Joins the Anti-Comintern Pact and

Withdraws from the League of Nations

Germany rewarded Hungary with approval to annexCzechoslovakias easternmost province

Capatho-Ukraine (Ruthenia)

Home to numerous Hungarians

Romania and Yugoslavia accept a policy of diplomaticand economic subservience to Germany

Lithuania was reduced to the status of satellite Port of Memel was annexed by Germany in March 1939

Home to many German-speaking people


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Germany Breaks the Munich Pact

March 15, 1939- Hitler Marches into Prague

and Military Occupation Begins

Western half of the country annexed as a

German protectorate

Eastern half of the country converted into the

satellite state of Slovakia


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Poland Retracts from German

Reorientation in Eastern Europe

Poland Rebuffs Hitlers Demands for PublicConfirmation of Subservience to Germany andAdherence to the Anti-Comintern Pact

Ruling elite had maintained a balance againstGerman and Soviet control since the end of WorldWar I and they were not about to give either a leg upwithin their borders in 1939

National pride kept the Poles from accepting the

same fate as the Czechs or to tolerate theestablishment of German hegemony in EasternEurope


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Hitler Plots Poland First

Hitler Decides Military Action Against Poland

Prior to Military Action Against the

Democracies in the West

Old German grievances resurfaced

Maltreatment of the Germans in Danzig

Economic difficulties caused by the separation of East

Prussia from the rest of the Reich


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Polish Resolve Heightens

Why?

British and French foreign policy fromappeasement to resistance

Britain greatly accelerated rearmament andformulated precise plans for deployment on thecontinent

France took the necessary steps to rectify the

serious deficiencies in its air power by placingorders for warplanes in the US after obtainingthe tacit consent of the Roosevelt Administration


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Hitler Woos Stalin

Nazi-Soviet Pact- August 23, 1939 Hitler halts any immediate Soviet aggression against

Germany by appeasing them with bits of Poland

Stalin gains time to complete armaments buildup for

the inevitable German invasion

Side Note: Hitler had to choose between a pactwith Russia or a pact with Britain

He chose Russia because he believed that Britainwould not be prepared to defend Poland (which wascorrect)


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