Hitler's aims and the legacy of Versailles Cambridge IGCSE History revision
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In plain words
Hitler never hid what he wanted. He had written it down in a book in 1924 while in prison. The mystery is not what he planned. It is why the men who could have stopped him waited until 1939.
9 things to know
- Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. His foreign policy had four main aims.
- To destroy the Treaty of Versailles, which he called a crime against Germany.
- To rearm Germany, by building up the army, navy and air force that the Treaty had forbidden.
- To unite all German-speaking people in one country. This included union with Austria, the Anschluss, and taking in the Germans who lived in Czechoslovakia and Poland.
- To win Lebensraum, which means living space, by conquering land in eastern Europe and the USSR. He also meant to destroy communism.
- The long-term consequences of Versailles helped him. Germans' bitterness about the Treaty gave him support at home. In Britain many people had come to think that the Treaty had been too harsh, so they saw his early demands as reasonable.
- The Treaty had also created new, weak states in eastern Europe that contained German minorities, which gave Hitler targets and excuses.
- The failures of the League in Manchuria and Abyssinia showed Hitler that aggression would not be punished. Collective security was dead, so each country looked after itself.
- In October 1933 Hitler took Germany out of the League's Disarmament Conference, and out of the League itself.
Worked example
Explain why the Treaty of Versailles helped Hitler's foreign policy. This is a 6-mark question.
- In Germany: the Treaty was hated, so a leader who promised to tear it up won mass support.
- In Britain: many thought that the Treaty had been unfair, so they were ready to let Hitler undo parts of it without a fight.
- On the map: the Treaty left Germans living under foreign rule, which gave Hitler demands that sounded like self-determination.
Tips and tricks
- Four aims to learn: destroy Versailles, rearm, unite all Germans, win Lebensraum. Every event from 1933 to 1939 serves one of them.
- Only the last aim, Lebensraum, could not be passed off as putting right the wrongs of Versailles. That is why the invasion of non-German lands in 1939 changed British opinion.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Hitler's aims and the legacy of Versailles: 5 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
When did Hitler become Chancellor of Germany?
January 1933.
What does Lebensraum mean?
Hitler meant to take it in the east.
What did Hitler do in October 1933?
It cleared the way for rearmament.
Why did many British people accept Hitler's early demands?
His demands looked like the correction of an unfair treaty.
Which of Hitler's aims could not be justified by the idea of self-determination?Stretch
It meant ruling other nations, not uniting Germans.
Quiz
5 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 14 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Hitler's aims and the legacy of Versailles
Cambridge IGCSE History 0470 · 14 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
What were Hitler's aims in foreign policy?[4]
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To destroy the Treaty of Versailles. To rearm Germany. To unite all German-speaking people in one country, including Austria. To gain Lebensraum, living space, in the east, and to destroy communism.
Why did the failures of the League of Nations in the 1930s encourage Hitler?[6]
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Japan in Manchuria and Italy in Abyssinia had used force and kept what they took. The League had shown that it had no power to stop a strong country. Britain and France had failed to act together. Hitler concluded that he could break the Treaty of Versailles without being stopped.
What was meant by Lebensraum?[4]
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It means living space. Hitler believed that Germany needed more land for its growing population. He planned to take this land in eastern Europe, especially from Poland and the USSR. The people living there were to be removed or made to work for Germans.
Answers: Hitler's aims and the legacy of Versailles
- 1. To destroy the Treaty of Versailles. To rearm Germany. To unite all German-speaking people in one country, including Austria. To gain Lebensraum, living space, in the east, and to destroy communism.
- 2. Japan in Manchuria and Italy in Abyssinia had used force and kept what they took. The League had shown that it had no power to stop a strong country. Britain and France had failed to act together. Hitler concluded that he could break the Treaty of Versailles without being stopped.
- 3. It means living space. Hitler believed that Germany needed more land for its growing population. He planned to take this land in eastern Europe, especially from Poland and the USSR. The people living there were to be removed or made to work for Germans.