- Could not be justified on the grounds of self-determination as Czechoslovakia was made up of several nationalities and was not predominantly German
- Czechoslovakia had industrial and agricultural resources that Hitler wanted to own
- Hitler bullied President Hacha to give these resources to Germany
- The German army seized the Prague, capital of Czechoslovakia in March 15, 1939
Agreements
- Pact of Steel (May 1939): A formal alliance of Germany Italy
- Italy’s neutrality (Sep 1939): Italy was not ready for war when Britain and France declared war on Germany and opted for neutrality in the meantime after informing Hitler
- British-French guarantee to Poland
- Poland was most likely to be the next target as…
- It was made by the Versailles Settlement
- Danzig was predominantly German
- The Polish Corridor separated East Prussia from the reset of Germany
- Poland had territories that had been German before the settlement (eg. West Prussia)
- Hitler demanded the transfer of Danzig to Germany
- This transfer was justified under self-determination
- However, after Hitler’s actions in Czechoslovakia, he could not get away with his actions for Danzig
- Britain and France ensured Poland support in the case Poland was invaded
- Britain and France considered an eastern alliance against Germany, and tried to get the help of the USSR
- The help of the USSR was not given, and Britain and France ended up not being able to provide its immediate support in its guarantee to Poland
- Nazi Soviet Pact (Aug 1939)
- 10 year non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR
- Mentioned invading parts of Poland in private
- Did not seem to make sense due to rivaling ideologies: communism and fascism
- Germany’s purpose of signing the pact was to make sure the USSR did not attack Germany after it invaded Poland
- The USSR’s purpose of signing the pact was to stall for time in a lengthy war between Britain-France and Germany to build up defences and its military and to avoid war against Germany and Japan (considering its aggression) at the same time
- It was a win-win situation
- Claimed reason for war was because Germany refused to withdraw troops from seized territories in Poland
- The bigger picture of why war started was because Germany’s intentions to dominate Europe were now clear
- Opposition was necessary, or else it would seem that other nations accepted Germany’s dominance
- Understanding of Germany’s true intentions
- Before the invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Germany had expanded its borders based on self-determination
- Invasion of the multicultural Czechoslovakia broke this impression and changed the understanding of Germany’s intentions as one to dominate Europe
- Even though the invasion of Poland was in line with self-determination, the new impression after March 1939 made it seem like a continuation of the intention to dominate Europe
- Hitler and the British-French guarantees to Poland
- Hitler was surprised by the declaration of war
- He thought there was no point in doing so as Britain and France could do little after the Nazi-Soviet Pact
- Believed that declaration of war was even more unlikely as he believed that he could claim Poland without resistance like he did with the Sudetenland and other territories
- Therefore, war broke out on Hitler’s incorrect prediction (even though it would have happened around the time)
Declaration of War (1 Sep 1939)
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