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Appeasement

By Caleb Banks

  • breaking the treaty

    breaking the treaty
    The first way Hitler broke the Treaty was over Germany’s armed forces. In 1934, he destroyed the League of Nations Disarmament Conference by demanding equality of arms with France and Britain – this broke the Treaty because it had set up the League with the stated aim of achieving disarmament.

  • Rhineland

    Rhineland
    The second way Hitler broke the Treaty was over the Rhineland (declared a demilitarised zone). In 1936, Hitler moved his troops into the zone, claiming that the recent treaty between France and Russia threatened Germany’s safety. His commanders had orders to retreat if the French army tried to stop them, but this time it was France who did nothing.

  • Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles

    Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles
    The Treaty forbade Anschluss between Germany and Austria. An attempted Nazi putsch in Austria failed in 1934, but in 1938 Hitler tried again. Austrian Nazis organised riots, while Hitler pressurised the Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg to declare Anschluss. Schuschnigg asked both France and Britain for help, but was refused, so he suggested instead a plebiscite. To prevent the possibility of a ‘no’ result, Hitler invaded.