Once Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, he quickly began to rebuild the German Military. Eventually, he made no secret of his plans to rearm Germany, which was a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Despite its controversy, the action to rearm Germany went for the most part, unchallenged by the European Community. In 1935, GB signed a new treaty with Germany allowing them to build submarines and warships under the guise of affording Germany the opportunity to defend itself from the threat of communism by the Soviet Union. Hitler’s claim to rebuild to defend against communism was a smokescreen designed to hide the fact that Germany was planning to build a mighty German empire.
In addition to rebuilding the German military, in 1936, Hitler sent a small armed force to the Rhineland, a German territory that bordered France. Hitler claimed this action was actually a reaction to a French-Soviet military agreement that he claimed threatened Germany. This Militarization of the Rhineland was yet another way that Hitler directly violated the treaty of Versailles, which required German troops and military to stay away from that particular region. Although the French and British complained about Hitler’s actions, they took no direct action to stop the militarization of the Rhineland, therefore, troops remained in this region and Hitler became increasingly bold and powerful.
In 1938, Hitler continued his quest to build a mighty Germany empire. Knowing that Europe hoped to avoid another World War, Hitler continued his aggression, and this time aimed for Austria. Hitler demanded that Austria accept annexation by Germany. The Austrian Anschluss by Germany was successful as it became clear that Germany would take Austria by force if necessary. Additionally, many Austrian people supported unification with Germany. Germany formally took control of Austria in March 1938, when they marched into Austria, facing no opposition.
Once Hitler had attained control over Austria, with little interference, he believed he was virtually untouchable. He next set his sights on the Sudetenland, a large German speaking population that lived in an area of Czechoslovakia. The Sudetenland had been a part of the German Confederation and Germany until after WWI, when it was incorporated into the newly formed Czechoslovakia. Although initially okay with being under Czech rule, once Hitler and the Nazi’s came to power, German speakers in the Sudetenland began to complain about Czech dominance and became eager to rejoin Germany. The Czech government however, was not willing to turn over the Sudetenland. Czechoslovakia believed that if it confronted Germany in a war, France would come to its aid. Hitler agreed to meet with Chamberlain, and representatives from France and Czechoslovakia to work out an agreement. Hitler threatened to invade Czechoslovakia unless they agreed to support his takeover of the Sudetenland. The other representatives believed his demands were unfair and refused an initial compromise. Hitler, however, knew that Great Britain and France did not want to go to war. Mussolini suggested to Hitler that one way of solving this issue was to hold a four-power conference of Germany, Britain, France and Italy. This would exclude both Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, and therefore increasing the possibility of reaching an agreement and undermine the solidarity that was developing against Germany. The meeting took place in Munich on 29th September, 1938. Desperate to avoid war, GB and France agreed that Germany could have the Sudetenland. In return, Hitler promised not to make any further territorial demands in Europe. On 29th September, 1938, German, Italy, Great Britain and France signed the Munich Agreement which transferred the Sudetenland to Germany. When Czechoslovakia protested at this decision, Great Britain told him that Britain would be unwilling to go to war over the issue of the Sudetenland. The German Army marched into the Sudetenland on 1st October, 1938. As this area contained nearly all Czechoslovakia's mountain fortifications, she was no longer able to defend herself against further aggression.
Great Britain’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain now believed that his policy of appeasement had avoided unnecessary war. Other’s however, were not convinced and believed that allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland would result in further aggression by Hitler.
In the summer of 1939, Hitler reached an unlikely agreement with the Soviet Union. The agreement was unlikely because the Fascist and Communists were strongly opposed to one another due to their radical differences. Although the British and French were in formal talks with the Soviet Union to form an alliance due to their concerns over Hitler’s growing aggression, Stalin believed that the British and French would not provide the necessary back up if the Soviet Union was attacked. Therefore, Stalin began secretly negotiating an agreement with Germany. The Nazi Soviet Nonaggression Pact was formalized in August 1939 and each side agreed not to attack the other. For the Nazi’s it allowed further expansion in Europe. Additionally a secret part of the treaty agreed to divide up Poland into areas for the Germans and the Soviets. The British and French were shocked at the revelation of this agreement and now realized that the only way to stop Hitler was through force.
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