3.1 Nazi Germany prepares for war (TTO-3)

• Geschiedenis
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

3.1: Nazi Germany prepares for war

3.1: Nazi Germany prepares for war

Goals

The student can explain four out of 5 causes of WWII

• Treaty of Versailles
  
• Economic crises (1923 and 1929)
  
• The dictatorship of Hitler (nationalism→ Heims in Reich, Lebensraum)
  
• Appeasement politics

The student can give examples of how Hitler broke the treaty of Versailles 

Basic information about WWII

1st of September 1939: Hitler invades Poland and as a result, Britain and France declare war on Germany → This could count as the beginning of WWII in Europe.

The war was between the allies and central powers. Move the countries to the correct alliance.  

The allies

The Central Powers

Germany

Great Britain

France

Japan

China

The United States

Italy

Russia

A few causes of WWII

1. Treaty of Versailles
   
2. Economic crises (1923 and 1929)
   
3. Dictatorship of Hitler (nationalism→ Heims in Reich, Lebensraum)
   
4. Appeasement politics
   
5. Japanese expansion
   

Why was the Treaty of Versailles a cause for WWII?

The Treaty of Versailles

Why was it a cause?

• The treaty was too humiliating for most Germans
• The treaty was too harsh (ex; not being able to pay all the reparations and restoring the economy at the same time)
• The treaty became part of the stab-in-the-back-myth → The government of the Weimar Republic was blamed for all the new problems since they had accepted the treaty. They had betrayed the German soldiers and German people→ This made way for extreme political parties like the Nazi Party.

Stab-in-the-back-myth source

Why was the economic depression after 1929 a cause for WWII?

Economic crises

1923

• hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic.
  
• Led to Hitler trying to stage a coup in Munich (which failed).
  
• After his imprisonment, he decided to use the democratic system to overthrow the government.
  

The great depression (1929-1930’s)

• led to massive unemployment/ homelessness.
  
• The Weimar republic was hit very hard because they couldn’t rely on the Dawes Plan anymore.
  
• It gave way for anti-democratic parties like the Nazi Party that promised that they would solve everything.
  

Dictatorship of Adolf Hitler

Heim ins Reich = back home to the Reich

• After WWI Austria-Hungary was split up and in all these new states lived German minorities
• Germany itself had lost territory and so German inhabitants
• Hitler tried to convince people that they should establish a Greater German Reich (a large state for all Germans)

Dictatorship of Adolf Hitler

The German economy should become self-sufficient, so it wouldn’t need to rely on other countries for supplies.

• Hitler wanted to conquer Eastern European countries to gain possession of sufficient farmland and raw materials
• These areas were seen as Lebensraum→ future living space for the Aryan Race.

Homework

Do question 4, 5,  6,  7 and 8 of paragraph 3.1. 

Do these questions on Eduhint (online platform).