Hilter's Foreign Policy Essay

was a slap in the face. Hitler soon became bitter over the treaty and over the loss of German The

On June 28th 1919, in the Versailles Palace of France, the treaty of Versailles officially ended World war one. The signers of this treaty implemented certain restrictions on Germany that were to guarantee Germany would never start another world war. This begs the question, “what did the end of one war have to do with the start of World War Two?”. The evidence shows that it was this treaty’s influence on Adolf Hitler that led to the Versailles Treaty’s ultimate failure and provoked the start of the next world war. Because of this treaty Adolf Hitler’s economic plan, proposed while he was seeking political election, was focused on rebuilding and reclaiming Germany. This went hand in hand with the nationalist ideas of the Nazi party.

However, France remained passive without Britain’s support. Britain was sympathetic towards Germany and even signed an Anglo-German naval Treaty (June 1935) allowing Germany’s navy to be 35% of the size of the Royal Navy.

On February 3, 1933 during a meeting with German military leaders Hitler said his foreign policy was the conquest of Eastern Europe (Weinberg, 1970), also in 1933 Germany withdrew from the League of Nations, which should have been a warning sign that they were planning something big. This along with the increase of the Wehrmacht (German Army) to 600,000 should have thrown up some red flags to Britain and France that Hitler was up to no go. This was another of Hitler’s direct violations of the Versailles Treaty, yet no one stopped him, instead they let him continue untouched. Then in March of 1936

A major build up of armies in main countries resulted in the Naval Arms Race which was another main contribution to the war as it increased tension and more rivalry. The armies of Germany and France had more than doubled but it was Germany and England who were about to compete for the most powerful navy in the world the tension between the two nations had risen. Wilhelm’s dream of being an imperial ruler was about to come true, he had put his plans into practice and had built several powerful ships. The British saw this as a threat. In

Throughout the course of history, the United States has remained consistent with its national interest by taking many different actions in foreign policy. There have been both immediate and long term results of these actions. Foreign policy is the United States policy that defines how we deal with other countries economically and politically. It is made by congress, the president, and the people. Some of the motivations for United States foreign policy are national security, economics, and idealism. The United States entry into World War I in 1917 and the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1964 and the both had great impact on the United States.

Historians are often divided into categories in regard to dealing with Nazi Germany foreign policy and its relation to Hitler: 'intentionalist', and 'structuralist'. The intentionalist interpretation focuses on Hitler's own steerage of Nazi foreign policy in accordance with a clear, concise 'programme' planned long in advance. The 'structuralist' approach puts forth the idea that Hitler seized opportunities as they came, radicalizing the foreign policies of the Nazi regime in response. Structuralists reject the idea of a specific Hitlerian ideological 'programme', and instead argue for an emphasis on expansion no clear aims or objectives, and radicalized with the dynamism of the Nazi movement. With Nazi ideology and circumstances in

As stated in the New York Times, "...Germany today cast off the last shackles fastened upon her by the Treaty of Versailles when Adolf Hitler, as commander-in-chief of the Reich defense forces, sent his new battalions into the Rhineland’s demilitarized zone. . . ." (Document3). Hitler had challenged every condition in the Treaty of Versailles and violated every negotiation made. Territorial aggression and pushed every limit he was given, that disrupted peace. Hitler himself expresses his idea as stated "Oppressed territories are led back to the bosom of a common Reich, not by flaming protests, but by a mighty sword" (Document1). He also, rebuilt the German military and used extreme nationalism to unite Germany. A British historian, A.J.P Taylor expressed, " ...Hitler when he had come to power by constitutional means and was apparently supported by a large majority of the German people?"(Document8). Hitler had gathers supporters through his ideas and his speeches of hope. Hitler's leadership threatened the whole continent of Europe's peace. If his leadership was the ignition to the fire then state or the economy kept the fire running through the

"So long as this Treaty stands there can be no resurrection of the German people; no social reform of any kind is possible!".1 The Treaty of Versailles demanded exorbitant repetitions for a war Germany did not start. Adolf Hitler took the opportunity to address issues in his own hands after he left WW1 because the situation in Germany incited immense anger and distress in the people.

As the citizens of Germany endorsed Hitler’s new cutting-edge ideas, they gained enthusiasm and determination to regain their power. Germany came to the conclusion that war was the only solution to their problem when Hitler wrote, “No nation can remove this hand from its throat except by the sword” (Document A). These words reveal that Hitler’s thoughts and opinions affected those around him. By saying this, he suggested that he understood what Germany wanted and knew that they wouldn’t get it unless they followed his methods. People who read what Hitler wrote were hugely impacted by it, so much so that they began to think with their emotions instead of their heads.

France and Britain made Germany sign The Versailles Peace Treaty but once Hitler became the leader of Germany, he wanted to change everything in Germany and make it powerful like it was once before. The League of Nations came into being after the end of World War One. The League of Nation’s task was simple to ensure that war never broke out again but eventually the League of Nations failed. As the League of Nations crumbled, politicians turned to a new way to keep the peace appeasement. This was the policy of giving Hitler what he wanted to stop him from going to war. It was based on the idea that what Hitler wanted was reasonable and, when his reasonable demands had been satisfied, he would stop. There were many reasons why Chamberlin appeased Hitler. A few of them

The Treaty of Versailles caused World War II by taking much of Germany’s land. It took away important parts of land including Alsace, Lorraine, and the Polish Corridor, losing 40% of their coal production (Doc A). Because of this, Hitler stated in his book, Mein Kampf, “No nation can remove this hand from its throat except by the sword” (Doc A). This shows that from the beginning, Hitler had a militaristic stance of fixing their problems. He

“The Allies continued to regard the treaty as an international contract” (Doc D) Laurence V. Moyer, Victory Must be Ours: Germany in the Great War 1914-1915, 1995 since Germany accepted the fact that the war was caused because of Germany’s aggression and her allies, and caused all the loss and damage to the allies. After continuous years of the treaty, Germans saw the Versailles treaty as an “evil thing which must be destroyed,” and as an act of humiliation because they were made to be seen as a disgrace and cast off from other nations. When Adolf Hitler came to power, Germans admired him because he made them feel a sense of pride, reawakened a sense of self-respect and forced the world to look at Germany from a new perspective. (Doc D) Leading to a huge impact on why it helped cause World War II since Germany now saw how betrayed they were by the treaty, and felt the need to put their trust on a new leader such as Hitler, who could restore Germany into a powerful nation again, in their

“Hitler began building weapons, training pilots for war, and allied with Austria. He also left an International Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations.” (Chomsky, 2009) Racial theories and goals were at the center of Hitler’s thoughts. He wanted to make Germany a formidable military power.

Hitler ultimately wanted to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in Europe. To achieve this, he pursued a foreign policy with the declared goal of seizing Lebensraum ("living space") for the