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Hitler leaves the League of Nations
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The Saar Plebiscite
The events in the Saar were a big step in his rising to WW2. The Treaty of Versailles caused the Saar to be under control of the League for 15 years, were, during these years, the region was administered by the League.
The plebiscite was a certainty. Many people that were against the Nazis had fled to the Saar after 1933. -
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement was an attempt to improve the relationship between the two countries that were to sign the agreement, Germany and England.
On the side of the Germans the agreement meant to initiate an alliance that was against France and the Soviet Union. On the other hand, however, for England it meant to suffer a weapon restriction arrangement with the purpose of restricting Germany’s fast expansion. -
Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
In the months that followed Germany exiting the League of Nations, Hitler increased the German army, ignoring the restrictions on arms that the Treaty of Versailles had imposed.In 1935, when it had been clear that no action was going to be taken against Germany for breaking the terms of the treaty, Hitler decided to introduce conscription.
Hitler knew that France and England were stronger than Germany, militarily speaking. -
Involvement with the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War, started in 1936, was a potential trigger of the second world war. In fact, although it didn’t make the war inevitable, it sinificantly increased the likelyhood of a conflict. The effects of the Civil War left the state’s economic and social infrastructure in ruins, resulting in thousands of casualties. At the start of the Spanish Civil War the leaders of the military asked Germany for help. -
Anti-comintern Pact
While Germany and China had traditionally enjoyed a productive friendship, Adolf Hitler increasingly wished to befriend Japan, which was unofficially waging a war against China.
The resolve this dilemma, the German foreign ministry worked out a common anti-communist agenda that could potentially bring the three nations together. Although the Germans failed to persuade the Chinese to sign the treaty, Germany and Japan continued with the work. -
Anschluss with Austria
Hitler wanted European German-speaking nations to become part of Germany. To achieve this, Hitler had plans on uniting once again Germany with Austria. Under the conditions that the Treaty of Versailled had imposed, however, Germany and Austria were unable to become unified.
Hitler also wanted control of the largely German-speaking area of Sudetenland. Austria shared a border with in that area. -
German-Soviet Pact
The German-Soviet Pact, also known as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact after the two foreign ministers who negotiated the agreement, had two parts. An economic agreement, signed on August 19, 1939, provided that Germany would exchange manufactured goods for Soviet raw materials.