Year 9Thursday 2nd May: Was it Hitler’s actions alone that caused war?

Learning Objectives• To know what Hitler did between 1933 and 1939 and how Britain and France reacted to him• To understand why the leaders of these countries acted as they did• To be able to evaluate the policy of appeasement

Task 1: answer the following using the sourceWhat can you see happening in this image?

What do you think is the message of this image?

What questions do you have about the image?

Were Hitler’s actions all part of a ‘master plan’?

Task 2: using the speech bubbles, summarise what Hitler’s 3 big aims were

Aim 1:

Aim 2:

Aim 3:

After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, he started to take actions to achieve his aims. We need to consider the question:How did the British government respond to Hitler’s actions, and was it good enough?

Task 3: Read through the timeline of Hitler’s actions. Use the map on the next page to find some of the places that are mentioned on the timeline.

Event Hitler’s actions

October1933

At the League of Nations meeting Hitler refuses to accept disarmament unless all nations are equally disarmed. France refuses, they feel threatened.Hitler withdraws Germany from the League of Nations.

March1935

Hitler announces that Germany has a military airforce (Luftwaffe) and that he is introducing conscription. This announcement is a clear rejection of the military restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.

7 March 1936

Germany re-militarises the Rhineland. His army is not prepared for war and he does not know how Britain and France will react but it is well known that many in Britain believe that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh

November 1936

Hitler makes an informal agreement with Mussolini of Italy – the Rome-Berlin Axis. Hitler and Mussolini agree to work more closely together.

April 1937

Hitler takes the opportunity to test out his new weapons in the Spanish Civil War(between nationalists and communists).In April 1937 the German Luftwaffe destroy the Spanish city of Guernica. The British are not fighting in this war.The world is horrified at the destruction which can be caused by these modern weapons.

End 1937

The Anti-Comintern Pact is signed between Germany, Japan and Italy.This commits the countries to open hostility towards the Soviet Union (Communist).

March1938

In January 1938 Austrian police raid Nazi headquarters and find plans to take over the government.The Austrian Chancellor, Schuschnigg is worried. He meets Hitler on the 12th February and agrees to lift restrictions on Nazi Party activity. He hopes this concession will be enough for Hitler. Then on the 11th March the German army goes into Austria and Schuschnigg is replaced with Seys-Inquart, a Nazi sympathiser. No blood is shed and there is no resistance. A vote is called so that Austrians can say whether they want to remain independent. On the 10th April this takes place. 90% vote for Anschluss (unification with Germany).

September 1938

Six months earlier Hitler had demanded that the Sudetenland become part of Greater Germany. The Sudetenland has many Germans living there, he argues. There are important resources here. On the 15th September Hitler meets with Chamberlain (British PM) and tells him that he wants only those parts of the Sudetenland which are mostly populated by Germans. Benes, the Czech leader agrees, reluctantly, and Chamberlain goes to Hitler with the news. But Hitler has changed his mind. Now he wants all of the Sudetenland. He does promise though that he won’t make anymore territorial claims once this issue is resolved.The Czech army is strong and willing to fight.

March1939

Hitler’s army is on the march again, this time into the rest of Czechoslovakia.The Czech army are no longer in a position to fight. Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.

Task 4: You now need to imagine you are the British government. You need to choose what you are going to do in response to each of Hitler’s actions.

On the next page there are 6 choices that the British government had, along with their advantages and disadvantages. Underneath there is a table to fill in. For each of Hitler’s actions, choose how you would react and explain your choice Use the map to help you to decide. You can use one choice, more than once.

Remember, you want to avoid war at all costs. And remember, your work on the Holocaust and responsibility. If you kill Hitler in 1933, another Nazi, like Adolf Eichmann, could have taken over and they might have been even more violent, earlier on.

So, now you have decided how YOU would react to Hitler’s actions, it is time to think about what ACTUALLY happened. Task 5: Read through the actions that were taken. They are NOT in chronological order. Can you work out which response matches which event.

For example, number 1 is how the British government responded to the event of April 1937.

CLUE: It might help you to know that a man called Neville Chamberlain was Prime Minister of Britain between 1937-1940.

Look at the next page for answers.

Event British Response

October 1933 7.

March 1935 8.

7 March 1936 6.

November 1936 5.

April 1937 1.

End 1937 9.

March 1938 2.

September 1938 4.

March 1939 3.

Task 6: Reviewing your work

1. Can you now answer any of your questions?

2. Can you add more inferences to the source using your

knowledge?