The 1919 Treaty of Versailles made the German Rhineland a
demilitarized zone.
This meant Germany was allowed no troops or fortifications in
this area. It was meant to make France feel secure from
attack.
In 1925 Germany freely signed the Locarno Treaty
agreeing to uphold the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
In other words
Germany freely
agreed to keep the
Rhineland as a
demilitarized zone.
1)Aristide Briand; - France
2) Gustav Stresemann; Germany
3) Austen Chamberlain; -Britain
4) Edovard Bènés.
Saturday 7th of March 1936 22,000 German troops enter the
Rhineland.
Breaking the Treaty of Versailles AND the Treaty of Locarno
At the same time as this
aggressive action, Hitler made
himself look peace loving by….
•Offering a non aggression pact
with everyone for 25 years.
•Offering to retain the German
demilitarised zone, IF France
made one too.
•Offering to rejoin the League of
Nations, IF the Treaty of
Versailles was separated from it.
David Low sums up Hitler’s aggressive actions combined
with gestures of peace.
Why did Hitler put troops into the Rhineland?
I want to put troops into the Rhineland
because…
1. It will break the unfair Treaty of
Versailles.
2. If I can fortify the Rhineland I will
be able to attack countries in the
East without fear of attack.
3. I believe France has broken the
Treaty of Locarno so I should be
able to break it too.
Why did Hitler believe that France had broken the Treaty of
Locarno?
1. At the Treaty of Locarno
1925, France promised not to
interfere in Germany’s 2. But in 1935 France and
eastern borders.
Russia began to negotiate
forming a mutual assistance
pact.
3. Hitler took this as proof
4. On the 27th of February the
French ratified the pact in
Parliament. Hitler claimed this
broke Locarno and gave him the
perfect excuse to do the same.
that France was about to
break the Locarno Treaty
and was trying to encircle
Germany.
France had just
ratified the Franco
Soviet Mutual
Assistance Pact.
He was able to
claim she had
broken Locarno
and Germany felt
threatened.
He chose a
Saturday because it
would be harder for
governments to
react at a weekend.
Parliament would
not meet again till
Monday.
Mussolini had just
pulled out of the
Stresa Front. Hitler
felt confident he
wouldn’t stop him.
Why did
Hitler
choose
Saturday 7th
of March
1936?
France and Britain
were pre-occupied
by Mussolini’s
actions in
Abyssinia.
Choosing a Saturday
meant he got lots of press
coverage for his peace
loving propaganda. The
public would remember
this and ignore that he has
committed an aggressive
act.
France had a temporary
government. It did not
want to make such a big
decision when it was
unsure of support.
French right were
annoyed by pact with
Russia.
French Left were keen
to believe Hitler’s
promises.
It seemed better to do
nothing.
France’s troops were
tied up on the Italian
border in case
Mussolini retaliated
against sanctions.
France was defence
minded. After building
the Maginot Line, she
preferred not to take
any action which
might threaten her
security.
Why did France
not react?
France overestimated
Germany’s military
strength. She
believed 300,000
troops were in the
Rhineland and
Germany had 700,000
more available.
France could not
rely on help from
Britain if she stood
up to Germany. Their
relationship was
shaky after Britain
made the Anglo
German Naval
Agreement in 1935
without telling
France.
Britain was militarily
weak. 10yr rule
introduced in 1918 had
banned conscription
and reduced spending
on defence. Chiefs of
Staff warned “ any
question of a war with
Germany… would be
thoroughly dangerous”.
Sympathy with
Germany. Hitler was
merely ‘righting’ the
unfair Treaty of
Versailles. Lord
Lothian said “They’re
only going into their
own back garden”.
Pacifist mood in Britain. Public and Press
didn’t support any action. Duff Cooper said
the people didn’t care ‘two hoots’ about the
Rhineland. Eden said the public saw
Germany as the “’white’ sheep, whereas she
was really the ‘black’ sheep. Reassured by
offers of peace.
Why did Britain
not react?
Britain’s relationship
with France was
poor. We did not
want to let her drag
us into a war. Plus
we were concerned
by her growing
friendship with
communist Russia.
It would ruin our
economy if we
imposed economic
sanctions on Italy and
Germany.
Many in Britain
believed a strong
Germany would act as
a barricade to
communism.
Did anyone want to stop Hitler?
I think this shows that Hitler can’t be trusted. We
should expect him to break any treaty – even if he
negotiated it freely. By allowing troops in the
Rhineland ‘Britain’s frontier with Germany is now the
English Channel’
I think we should use force (collective security
through League )to make Germany withdraw and
economic sanctions should be taken off Italy and
placed on Germany.
The Daily Telegraph called for stronger
action to be taken.
These were MINORITY views.
The remilitarisation of the
Rhineland
‘the forty eight hours after the march
into the Rhineland were the most
nerve-wracking of my life. If the
French had then marched into the
Rhineland, we would have had to
with-draw with our tails between our
legs.’
Cartoonists like David Low and Ernest Shepard try to show
how dangerous Hitler was in their cartoons.
Cartoonists like David Low and Ernest Shepard try to show
how dangerous Hitler was in their cartoons.
How Britain felt about the remilitarisation of
the Rhineland -The Goose Step
German flags
Why is it a goose?
What is the goose
carrying?
Swastika
Olive Branch with PaxGermanica
Locarno Treaty – why is the
goose stepping on this?
How Britain felt about the remilitarisation of
the Rhineland -The Goose Step
• Why is it a goose?
•
Nazi – Goose step
• What is the goose carrying?
•
Heavily armed
•
Olive branch – ‘Pax Germanica’ (peace
for Germany on Germany’s terms because of the remilitarisation)
•
Swastika - Nazi
How Britain felt about the remilitarisation of
the Rhineland -The Goose Step
• What do the presence of the flags say?
• The goose is stepping on a piece of paper
with Locarno written on it – Locarno is a
pact which stated that the borders that
were decided by Versailles should be
upheld and the goose is stepping on it to
show that they are ignoring this.
Cartoonists like David Low and Ernest Shepard try to show
how dangerous Hitler was in their cartoons.
Results of remilitarisation/Democracy was
beaten by Fascism
What is Hitler
doing?
What has he
already achieved?
David Low, Spineless leaders of democracy, 8th July 1936.
‘The Stepping Stones To Glory’
How Hitler took the attention away from
his remilitarisation of the Rhineland
• As troops marched into the Rhineland German ambassadors issued
a memorandum to all interested governments.
• This memorandum justified remilitarisation and made a number of
offers. Two of the offers said the following:
• They offered to go into talks with Belgium and France to consider
the creation of a demilitarised zone on both sides
• To rejoin the League of Nations if the Treaty of Versailles was
separated from it.
• As well as offering to return to the League of Nations Germany
offered a 25 year pact of peace
• Hitler declared that he had, ‘…no further territorial demands to
make’.
• By Monday the 9th of March it was these promises that were on
people’s minds, not the fact that the Rhineland was re-militarised.
Hitler’s promises were a smokescreen to distract attention from what
he had done.
• Copy these points into your jotter.
What happened to Hitler’s
proposals?
• At first sight proposals seemed reasonable
enough
• However, the first offer/proposal implied
that the French defences worth £40 million
would have to be scrapped
• Hitler must have known it would never
have been considered
• The talks dragged on, but got nowhere,
exactly as the Germans intended!
Hitler’s gamble had paid off - it had
positive results for Germany
• Hitler had successfully read the situation in
Europe
• His success on remilitarising the Rhineland
increased his standing in Germany. His public
popularity increased. The German people voted
a near unanimous vote of approval at the end of
March 1939. The success also strengthened his
power over the generals.
Hitler’s gamble had paid off - it had
positive results for Germany
• Germany now were not in fear of French
invasion they were now not controlled by
the threat of invasion from France
• Hitler’s Germany was much stronger
• With his western frontier secured, he could
now turn his attention to the east. (Racial
Philosophy)
Results of remilitarisation for
France
• The whole affair was a major set-back for
France as her security was dependent on the
demilitarised Rhineland.
• France’s network of alliances with East
European states was devalued once Hitler had
fortified the Rhineland as it was no longer an
easy conquest in the event of German
aggression against Poland or Czechoslovakia.
• France became more paranoid and invested
even more time and money into Maginot Line.
• France became more dependent on Britain
Other results
•
•
•
•
Democracy was beaten by Fascism
Appeasement was shown to be weak.
Belgium also felt very vulnerable.
Britain and France were faced with the prospect
of war.
• Britain began to rearm and reaffirmed its
obligation under The Treaty of Locarno – namely
that Britain would come to the help of France
and Belgium if they were attacked by Germany.