I hope that you enjoyed hearing Reena's story from yesterday. I would like to apologize that we have not had the opportunity to watch Schindler's List prior to her talk which may have helped you understand her talk a little more. Next week we will be watching the film in class and I will point out the events that Reena mentioned that are in the film.
Below is a reading that I would like to read and print out about Germany violating the Treaty of Versailles repeatedly without any punishment from the Allies. Between 1935 and 1938 there were several opportunities where Hitler tests the resolve of Britain, France, and the United States. In other words, how much can he get away with before he is challenged.
After World War I, in order to create a buffer zone between Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the Allies ordered that the Rhineland become a demilitarized zone. In the Rhineland were many important German cities, Cologne, Aachen, Frankfurt, and Dusseldorf as well as Germany's industrial center. In October of 1935, French intelligence became aware that the Germans were moving troops towards the Rhineland in direct opposition to the Versailles Treaty. The French government contacted the British government of the situation, but the British remained silent on the issue. On March 7, 1936, German troops crossed into the Rhineland while the global community sat largely silent on the issue. Hitler's invasion of the Rhineland made him a hero to many Germans. He was seen as a leader who was willing and able to stand up to the Allies.
The foreign policy of many nations during the 1930s was appeasement or giving in to the demands of an aggressor in order to avoid future conflict. With the memories of World War I still fresh in the minds of many people the governments of Britain, France, and the United States were hesitant to resisting Hitler's actions and risking another war. Some Europeans and Americans believed that a strong Germany was good for the world because it would keep the Soviet Union at bay.
Following his success in the Rhineland Hitler began to prepare for his next test for the Allies, Austria. Austria and Germany had fought together during World War I. Fearing a large and powerful Germany, the Treaty of Versailles had forbidden Germany and Austria from ever joining together under one government. For years the Nazi party had worked on creating a formidable presence in Germany and worked tirelessly to spread Nazi propaganda.
Citing unrest and crisis that was occurring in Austria, in 1938, Hitler called for an Anschluss or union between Germany and Austria. Struggling with Nazi sympathizers in their government, the Prime Minister of Austria attempted to restore diplomatic relations with Germany and prevent a war. In his hopes of preventing any loss of life, the Prime Minister resigned from his position paving the way for a German invasion of his country. As Hitler and the Nazis invaded Austria, several Catholic and Lutheran bishops praised the Nazis for peacefully uniting the two countries and encouraged members of their church to work with the Nazi leadership.
Hitler set his sights on the Sudetenland an area controlled by Czechoslovakia that has a large German population that had settled in the region centuries before. The Nazi party had a presence in these provinces and had worked with Germany in helping to create a crisis that would ultimately end with the Germans seizing the land. Hitler claimed that the Germans living in the Sudetenland were being persecuted by the Czech government. He argued that Germany needed to take drastic actions to ensure the safety and well being of their fellow Germans living in Czechoslovakia.
Hitler believed that the Czechs and Slovaks who made up a majority of the Czechoslovakian population were racially inferior to the Germans and were subhuman. He hoped to prove his theories of racial supremacy by taking over the entire nation. In March of 1938, Hitler ordered Sudeten Nazis to create a crisis in the country. Violence broke out across the Sudetenland and Hitler mobilized his army to the Czech border hoping to intimidate the Czechoslovakian government. The Czechoslovakian government awaited help from their allies the British and the French.
On September 29th, British, French, German and Italian leaders met in Munich to discuss the growing conflict over the Sudetenland. Neither the Czechs or their allies the Soviet Union were invited to attend the conference. During the meetings Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland be placed under German control. He promised that if Germany was given the Sudetenland, then he would leave the rest of Czechoslovakia alone. Fearing the possibility of war, the French and the British agree to Hitler's demands hoping that they just secured peace for all of Europe.
When the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to London he brought with him a treaty that Hitler signed pledging to never attack Great Britain. The British public celebrated Chamberlain's accomplishment of securing peace for Europe believing that Hitler would not longer be a threat. Shortly after Chamberlain's return to Britain, Hitler invaded the Sudetenland and shortly took over the rest of Czechoslovakia.
