A presentation on the road to WW II

1. The 12-Year Reich
1933-1945
Session 2
Prelude to War
1936-1939

2. The 12-Year Reich
1933-1945
Session 2
Prelude to War
1936-1939
Munich

3. The triumph of 1936, which had given Hitler’s own
self-confidence such a huge boost, proved in a
way not an end but a beginning....the
remilitarization of the Rhineland was merely an
important stepping-stone.
Kershaw, vol. ii, p. xlvi

4. Stanley Baldwin,
Prime Minister
1923-24, 1924-29 &
June, 1935-May, 1937
“With two lunatics like
Mussolini and Hitler you can
never be sure of anything. But
I am determined to keep the
country out of war”
***
“...the bomber will always get
through” (1934)

5. “...the reluctance of many Europeans to
contemplate the need to fight yet another war
against Germany, until forced to do so by the
Nazis.”
Jay Winter, Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning. p. 95

6. The road to Munich
and beyond
George Grosz, “The
Hero” 1924
pacifism and
appeasement were the
consequences of the
incredible horror and
real living memory of
1914-1918

7. This session will examine how Hitler’s singleminded
determination to push and his opponents inability
to resist effectively led to the re-ignition of global
war on a scale that surpassed the Great War.

8. Weltanschauung
world view
Hitler’s foreign policy followed logically from
his irrational world view. All the measures leading
to war and his downfall grew out of the two beliefs
which had been visible since Mein Kampf.
(1) the inevitable conflict with Bolshevism over
Lebensraum (living space)
(2) the necessity of removing the Jews (a) from
Germany (b) from their international power
positions, both capitalist and Bolshevik!

9. HIS SENSE OF URGENCY
In October, 1937 he told a group “that both his
parents had died young, and that he probably did not
have long to live. ‘It was necessary, therefore, to solve
the problems that had to be solved (living space) as
soon as possible, so that this could still take place in
his lifetime. Later generations would no longer be able
to accomplish it. Only his person was in the position to
bring it about’ “
Kershaw, v. ii, p. 37

10. The Fascist March of Aggression

11. The Fascist March of Aggression
Mussolini’s Abyssinian Crisis, October 1935-1936
Hitler's remilitarization of the Rhineland, February, 1936
Franco’s Spanish Civil War, July, 1936-1939
Hitler’s Austrian Anschluß, March, 1938
Munich & Sudetenland, late spring-fall, 1938
Hitler digests the rest of Czechoslovakia, March, 1939
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, August, 1939
Poland, 1 September 1939

12. German policy created a vicious circle
(1) rapid rearmament in
order to acquire territory
(3) makes acquisition of
(2) crisis of raw materials
territory necessary to keep
& foreign exchange
rearmament going
PMH Bell, Origins of the Second World War in Europe, p. 159

13. Mussolini first speaks of a Rome-Berlin Axis
1 November 1936 as both begin their aid to
Franco’s side in the Spanish Civil War

14. Anti-Comintern Pact
25 November 1936
Japan would have several
military clashes with the USSR
over their puppet Manchukuo’s
border
their military attache sought out
von Ribbentrop
he persuaded Hitler that this
symbolic agreement would be
a good move against Soviet
expansionism

15. Civil War in Spain, 1936-1939
JUST BACK FROM
Spain
Roland Strunk
REPORTER FOR THE V.B.
speaks about his experiences at
the Spanish front

16. Civil War in Spain, 1936-1939
as the hammer & sickle + river
of blood indicate, Germany
turned the events in Spain into
a melodrama, Good vs Evil
this complex Spanish event
became the international
focus of the Right vs Left
both sides drew volunteers
from as far away as the
JUST BACK FROM
Americas
Spain
Roland Strunk
REPORTER FOR THE V.B.
speaks about his experiences at
the Spanish front

17. HANS BEIMLER 1895-1936
HERO OF THE ANTI-FASCIST FREEDOM STRUGGLE
German communist emigre, killed in Spain

18. “They shall not pass!”
--persistent slogan of defiance--
used originally in 1916
by the French at
Verdun
a WW I poster, right
in 1936 in Spain in the
battle of Madrid-”No
pasaran!”

19. The International Brigades
some of the battalions are listed below

20. The International Brigades
some of the battalions are listed below
Abraham Lincoln &
George Washington
le Commune de Paris
& Henri Barbusse
Deba Blagoiev
Hans Beimler & Ernst
Thälmann
Garibaldi

21. The text reads All the peoples of the
world are in the International Brigades
supporting the Spanish people.

22. Republican poster from
Mexican sympathizers
many leftist exiles,
most famous, Leon
Trotsky, sought refuge
in Mexico
the Latin American left
and right took sides in
the Spanish conflict

23. German and Italian
“volunteers” get live fire training
the regular armed forces of the
European democracies observed
neutrality
no such scruples restrained the Soviets
or the emerging “Axis” countries
their “military advisors” played active
roles in the grim war
Spain was a testing ground for new
weapons and tactics

24. Aerial bombardment of civilians

25. Aerial bombardment of civilians
German and Italian flyers
soon won air superiority over
the Russian fighters
the international press was
horrified as modern bombing
proved much more effective
than its WW I counterpart
this triggered an aviation
arms race and reinvigorated
the pacifists

26. Picasso’s “Guernica”
28 German & Italian bombers leveled this town on 26 April
1937. The painting was displayed in the 1937 World’s Fair in
Paris

27. three “useful idiots” and their user
Langston Hughes, Mikhail Koltsov, Ernest
Hemingway, and Nicolas Guillen, Madrid, 1937

28. Bell, p. 219

29. “Spain made war respectable again.”
“Heroism and even heroics were back in fashion again.”
“The spell cast by the war has not yet lost its power;
there have been no anti-war novels or films about the
Spanish Civil War.”
Bell, p. 219

30. Franco’s
Nationalists
win, 1939
this Republican
poster shows the
Nationalists as an
odd lot

31. Anschluß, March 1938
(Link-up or Annexation)

32. Anschluß, March 1938
(Link-up or Annexation)

33. Volk outside the Reich

34. Volk outside the Reich
Note error
3&4
reversed

35. Austrian civil war; Feb 1934
Socialist fighter arrested
as government
crushes the
rebellion
Red workers take to
the streets in their
WW I uniforms

36. Engelbert Dollfuß, 1892-1934
Clerical Fascism

37. Engelbert Dollfuß, 1892-1934
Clerical Fascism
RC seminarian, then law at U of
Vienna, economcs at Berlin U
Austrian officer & POW in WW I
Christian Social Party, in
government, 1930
chancellor in coalition, 1932
dictator, 1933, allies with Mussolini
assassinated by Austrian Nazis, 25
july 1934

38. The modified Austrian Flag
The Jerusalem Cross in a circle looks
suspiciously like their neighbor’s Hakenkreuz

39. Your instructor in 1972
demonstrates “trial by combat” as King James
with crusader Jerusalem cross

40. Both Wehrmacht and economic leaders convince
Hitler to move on expanding Germany’s resource base

41. We help with the Four Year
Both Wehrmacht and economic leaders convince
Hitler to move on expanding Germany’s resource base

42. Meeting of 5 November 1937

43. Meeting of 5 November 1937
Foreign Minister
Four Year Plan “Czar” & von Neurath
Luftwaffe, Göring Hoßbach
Hitler’s army adjutant
War Minister
von Blomberg
Army Chief of Staff von Fritsch Navy Chief Raeder

44. Two sex scandals
the Blomberg-Fritsch crisis

45. Two sex scandals
the Blomberg-Fritsch crisis

46. Removing von Blomberg,
January, 1938

47. Removing von Blomberg,
January, 1938
not popular with the generals, too
much “Hitler’s man”--> “HJ Quex”
widower with 5 children
12.i.38 secret wedding Hitler &
Göring witness
Berlin prostitutes “out” his new wife
Gestapo alerts Hitler, 21 Jan
Goebbels--”Blomberg can’t be
saved ... only the pistol remains for
a man of honor. The worst crisis...
since the Röhm affair....”

48. Removing von Fritsch,
January-February, 1938

49. Removing von Fritsch,
January-February, 1938
as Hitler considered making him
Blomberg’s replacement an old
scandal surfaced
Otto Schmidt file from 1936 reviewed
v Fritsch indignantly denies
his accuser brought to confront him
Gestapo interrogation
Hitler doubts him
he also retires “for health reasons”

50. “In order to put a smoke screen around the
whole business, a big reshuffle will take
place.” --Goebbels, 4.ii.38

51. “In order to put a smoke screen around the
whole business, a big reshuffle will take
place.” --Goebbels, 4.ii.38
no new War Minister, Hitler will head Wehrmacht
a new office, the OKW, headed by Gen’l Keitel will
advise the Führer
service branches will be like ministries:
Army- von Brauchitsch
Navy- Raeder
Luftwaffe- Marshall Göring
von Ribbentrop replaces von Neurath at Foreign Office

52. Hitler addresses the generals
5.ii.38

53. Hitler addresses the generals
5.ii.38
emotional, “I’ve been betrayed” “I need your support”
their reaction--shocked silence, no objections
no doubt about Blomberg & Fritsch’s guilt
the army, not the navy, Luftwaffe or Party, “had
suffered a devastating blow”
weakened the authority of the military leadership

54. The outcome of the Blomberg-Fritsch affair
amounted to the third stepping-stone--after the
Reichstag fire and the ‘Röhm Putsch’--cementing
Hitler’s absolute power and, quite especially, his
dominance over the army.
Kershaw, vol ii, p.60

55. Chief of Staff
Alfred Janska
Nazi-
sympathizer
Nazi
Chancellor Artur Seyss- Edmund v
Kurt Schuschnigg Inquart Glaise-
Horstenau

56. Chief of Staff
Alfred Janska
Nazi-
sympathizer
Nazi
Chancellor Artur Seyss- Edmund v
Kurt Schuschnigg Inquart Glaise-
Horstenau

58. 12.ii.1938
Hitler’s Berghof (mountain farm)
“Perhaps I’ll appear some time overnight in Vienna;
like a spring storm” -- Hitler

59. Hitler’s February demands

60. Hitler’s February demands
1. Lift the ban on the Austrian Nazis
2. Release all Nazi political prisoners
3. Add Nazis to his government
4. Otherwise, military action

61. Schuschnigg in Austrian
Parliament
tries to rally nationalists
appeals to former
enemies on left
on 9 Mar calls for
plebiscite on 13 Mar
Berlin caught off guard

62. Anschluß began with a
propaganda barrage
Men, now’s the
time!

63. Anschluß began with a
propaganda barrage
“Rot, Weiß, Rot,
Bis Wir Tot!”
Red, White, Red;
Till we’re dead!
-- Austrian nationalist slogan
Austrian nationalists, communists,
and Jews (one clutching a cash
box) flee the impending Nazi take-
over
Hitler considered the time right in
early 1938
Men, now’s the
time!

64. Schuschnigg steps down

65. Schuschnigg steps down
in a series of improvised
ultimata, Hitler applies pressure
the army is told to prepare for a
peaceful entry
Austrian Nazis riot
Mussolini says he won’t object
Britain won’t help Austria
Seyss-Inquart replaces
Schuschnigg as Chancellor

66. 13 March 1938
Viennese police
fight to
restrain crowds
Austrian border guards
joyfully lift the barrier
( Blumenkrieg )

67. Heimkehr
Crossing at Braunau, then Linz, finally Wien. 15.iii
Addressing the crowds at the Heldenplatz.

68. Adoring Austrians
The shot is taken from the balcony of the Hofburg in
Vienna (where Hitler addressed the multitudes). It's
taken to the left, overlooking the Heldentor (Heroesʼ
Gate) on the Ringstrasse.

69. The announcement in the Reichstag
Hitler describes the “fulfillment of the supreme
historical commission.” -- 18.iii.38

70. Viennese Jews humiliated
Made to scrub the sidewalk

71. Poster for the plebiscite
1806 end of the old Reich
1848 the all German
Revolution
1918 Versailles und St
Germain
1938 Ger-Austro
Homecoming
On 10 April each of you tell
the whole world Yes it is the
wish and will of the German
One Volk-one Reich-one Leader!

72. Never overly subtle, the Nazis!
the size of the circle makes clear what the
correct choice is

73. Plebiscite and Greatergerman Assembly
Ballot
Will you support the deed of 13 March 1938
the Reuniting of Austria with the German
State
and do you support the action of our Leader
Adolf Hitler?
Never overly subtle, the Nazis!
the size of the circle makes clear what the
correct choice is

74. HITLER’S
HOMETOWN
LINZ, AUSTRIA, 1908-1945
Jim Powers
Evan Bukey, Achim Weber
1961

75. Tschechei(Czechia)
April-Sept, 1938

76. Tschechei(Czechia)
April-Sept, 1938
Sudeten-
deutsch
pin

77. Therefore, the Romans, foreseeing
troubles, dealt with them at once,
and, even to avoid a war, would not
let them come to a head, for they
knew that war is not to be avoided,
but is only put off to the advantage of
others...
Machiavelli, The Prince, iii

78. In 1919 the Treaty of St Germain had stripped
off the northern tier of Austria-Hungary to make
Czechoslovakia
pink=Germans; blue=Czechs; brown=Poles
olive=Ukrainians; dark green=Slovaks
light green=Magyars

79. Sudetenland
the mountainous border surrounding Bohemia
and Moravia

80. Hitler and Henlein at the Berghof
summer, 1938
Konrad Henlein, 1898-1945,
head of the Sudeten German
movement
WW I Austrian Army POW on
the Italian Front
gymnastics teacher, active in
politics after 1928
made ties with the NSDAP in
1935

81. the half-year crisis
After Anschluß, a new kind of crisis emerges. This crisis:

82. the half-year crisis
After Anschluß, a new kind of crisis emerges. This crisis:
not “in line with...expectations of...powerful [Ger.]
interests..., especially the army”
not “of brief duration”
provoked the “first tentative emergence of significant...
opposition”
“until 1938, Hitler’s moves...had been bold but not
reckless”

83. Fall Grün (Case Green) 1937
army staff had planned in 1937 a pre-emptive strike
against the Czechs, if the French attacked the Reich
amended after the “Hoßbach meeting” (5.xi.37) to fit
an unprovoked aggression to gain Lebensraum
the Czechs had resources, a developed armaments
industry, a good military with hardened mountain
defenses
the German High Command was not eager to attack

84. Ludwig Beck
1880-20 Juli 1944

85. Ludwig Beck
1880-20 Juli 1944
entered the Prussian Army, 1898
served on the General Staff,
1914-1918
served under Weimar
government
became Army Chief of Staff,
1935
wrote memos critical of the Case
Green plans, May-July, 1938
resigned in protest (but quietly),
on 18 August

86. Der Westwall,
1936-1945
begun by army as a response to
the Maginot line
1938, unhappy with the pace,
Hitler gives it to Organization
Todt and RAD
as the Czech crisis escalates, so
does the pressure for its
completion
end Aug, 140,000 civilians &
50,000 army workers
all work on the Autobahn and
housing suspended!

87. Göring’s role
like his army counterparts, quite
reluctant to start a war
feelers to London over the summer
through informal contacts
as matters heat up at summer’s
end, he suggests through the
British ambassador an international
conference to defuse the Sudeten
issue

88. Ribbentrop’s role
replaced v Neurath as
Foreign Minister, Feb,
1938 as part of the
“big reshuffle”
resentful of British
treatment of him as
ambassador, 1936-38
most eager, after Hitler,
for war over Czechia

89. the international constellation

90. the international constellation
both of the Czech treaty allies, France and USSR, had
serious problems limiting their readiness to aid
Poland and Hungary both had territorial claims and
looked to profit from the dismemberment
Italy had no interest in bucking her axis partner
Britain was concerned over imperial unrest, especially
Ireland, India and Palestine, and aware of her military
weakness. She had no treaty obligations to aid the
Czechs

91. French
pacifists are
clear
See what will happen
to us next, if the
Popular Front
disarms France!

92. The problem of Soviet
military aid to the Czechs
Poland
USSR
Czechs
Hungary Rumania
Poland or Rumania would have to
grant the Red military passage rights,
both highly unlikely

93. Arthur Neville Chamberlain
(1869-9 November 1940)
Rugby School, “red brick
university”
several Birmingham
businesses, then mayor
in government, 1917 on
Chancellor of the
Exchequer, 1931-37
PM, 1937-10 May 1940

94. On 30 August , in an emergency meeting, the British
cabinet declined to offer a formal warning to Hitler of
likely British intervention in the event of German
aggression. Instead it was decided to apply further
pressure on the Czechs...accept Henlein’s programme
[of] virtual autonomy for the Sudeten Germans...or be
doomed.
Kershaw, ii, p. 108

95. 12 September
...Hitler delivered his long-
awaited and much feared
tirade against the Czechs
at the final assembly of
the Party Congress....”
Ibid.

96. 12 September
...Hitler delivered his long-
awaited and much feared
tirade against the Czechs
at the final assembly of
the Party Congress....”
Ibid.

97. enter Neville Chamberlain
15 September

98. enter Neville Chamberlain
15 September
his first airplane flight at age 69
landing at Munich he takes a
special train to the Berghof
Hitler greets him on the steps
after small talk they retreat to
the study
a three hour talk ensues

99. Hitler’s study
from a contemporary
postcard
• Hitler begins with the German grievances
• Chamberlain offers to consider, as long as
force is ruled out
• when Hitler blames Beneš for using force,
Chamberlain shows guts, offers to walk out
• Hitler-”If you recognize the principle of self-
determination...then we can discuss....”

100. 22 September
Bad Godesberg

101. 22 September
Bad Godesberg
the meeting begins with a shock for Chamberlain
he explains how he had lined up his and the French government
Hitler replies “that’s not good enough, events have changed our position” Does a
rant. Demands immediate occupation of Sudetenland
Chamberlain returns to his hotel
the next day, they exchange letters
Chamberlain agrees to take the new demands to the Czechs if Hitler would draw
them up
“That’s an ultimatum” “With great disappointment and deep regret, I must register,
Herr Reich Chancellor, that you have not supported in the slightest my efforts to
maintain peace.”

102. 26 September
• his tolerance toward Beneš was at
an end
• praised Chamberlain’s efforts for
peace
• no further territorial demands in
Europe once the Sudeten problem
was solved
• “We don’t want any Czechs at all”
• the decision for war or peace
rested with Beneš
• “We are determined. Herr Beneš
radio broadcast
may now choose” Berlin Sportpalast

103. 27 September
“Chamberlain [speaks this] evening on the radio
of the absurdity of war on account of ‘a quarrel
in a faraway country between people of whom
we know nothing’.”
Kershaw, ii, p. 119
In a letter to Hitler and Mussolini he proposes a
four power conference

104. 28 Sept 1938

105. 28 Sept 1938
“Göring and Ribbentrop had a fierce row, though not
in Hitler’s presence....He knew what war was, shouted
Göring. If the Führer ordered it, he would be in the first
aeroplane. But he would insist upon Ribbentrop being in
the seat next to him.”
Kershaw, ii, p. 120

106. enter Il Duce
28 September

107. enter Il Duce
28 September
11:15 a.m.,as the French
ambassador was playing for more
time...
Italian ambassador asks for an
urgent meeting with Hitler
the Duce supports Germany but
believes the English request for a
conference would be advantageous
Hitler suspends the planned
mobilization
“Tell the Duce I accept his proposal”

108. Braun Haus, München
site of the conference, 29. ix. 1938

109. to the historic meeting 29 Sept 1938 in
Chamberlain, Daladier, Mussolini, Hitler
conspicuously absent, Czech President Beneš

110. discussion on map specifics
beginning the afternoon of 29 September the four
powers carved up Czecho-Slovakia without the
object of their deliberations being represented

111. after 13 hours, the agreement
0230 30.ix.1938

112. the winners the next day
the dictators receive applause for saving the
peace

113. “I have here, signed by Herr Hitler himself...”
the sad, ill chosen words--
”peace with honor” and “peace for our time”

114. Was Britain prepared to threaten Germany with war
on behalf of a state which it certainly could not
save...but with the absolute certainty that to do so
would
from Robert Self, “Neville Chamberlain’s Reputation--Time
for Reassessment”

115. Was Britain prepared to threaten Germany with war
on behalf of a state which it certainly could not
save...but with the absolute certainty that to do so
would
provoke a ruinous and probably unwinnable war
slaughter millions
bring in Japan and Italy
destroy the British Empire
squander its wealth
undermine its position as a great power
from Robert Self, “Neville Chamberlain’s Reputation--Time
for Reassessment”

116. Postcard showing formidable Czech defenses

117. Postcard showing formidable Czech defenses
...still stronger was the
Führer’s will!
Hitler in Eger
von Leeb’s troops enter
unopposed

118. Marks of a Genocidal Mentality

120. vom Rath’s assassin,
7 November 1938, Paris
Herschel Grynszpan

121. stores smashed and
looted, synagogues
torched nationwide

122. thousands of shops, nationwide
the scope made it clear that this was no
spontaneous popular outburst

123. One of the at least ninety-one murdered
She was shot when she refused to
tell where her husband was. The
death certificate says she was
“found dead”
‘Sarah’ Selma Zwieniki
Hamburg

124. roll call at Buchenwald
some of the 30,000 Jews rounded up
nationwide after Krystallnacht

125. Israel’s Secret Plan for Destroying the Völk
Unknown Secrets of the Bible
pamphlet published in Munich, 1938

126. results of Reichskrystallnacht

127. results of Reichskrystallnacht
international condemnation
criticism within Germany of the wanton destruction of
property while the four year plan demanded conservation
never again would the pogrom approach be used
the “Jewish Question” was turned over to the SS for a
more “orderly” solution
Jews were further demonized and dehumanized as
“Germany’s misfortune” -- the internal enemy
efforts to emigrate became more desperate

128. Hitler’s prophesy to the Reichstag
30.January.1939

129. IF•INTERNATIONAL•
FINANCE•JEWRY•SUC/
CEDS•AGAIN•IN•PLUN/
GING•MANKIND•INTO•
A•WORLD•WAR•THIS•
WILL•NOT•BE•THE•
VICTORY•OF•JEWRY•
RATHER•THE•ANNIHIL/
ATION•OF•THE•JEWISH
•RACE•IN•EUROPE
Hitler’s prophesy to the Reichstag
30.January.1939

130. Vernichtung
a frame from the film clip of Hitler’s speech to the
Reichstag -- words have meaning

131. Miscalculation

132. Miscalculation
Protectorate of Bohemia and
Moravia

133. Coat of Arms
First Slovak Republic
(Nazi satellite)
1939-1945
POLAND

134. Modern Slovakia--not WW II borders

135. Msgr. Jozef Tiso
1887-1947
RC priest, politician, head of Slovak Peoples
Party
entered Czechoslovak parliament 1925, govt
minister, 1927-29 & 1938
with Nazi encouragement, agitated for
Slovak independence, hence “Czecho-
Slovakia”
Czech “oppression” of Slovaks used by
Hitler as a pretext for March occupation
Tiso’s reward was to head the Nazi satellite
hanged by the Czech government, 1947

136. Emil Hacha
1872-26 June 1945

137. Emil Hacha
1872-26 June 1945
Czech lawyer, 3rd President, only
State President of the Protectorate
of Bohemia and Moravia
succeeded Beneš when he left
after Munich, 30 November 1938
elderly, sickly, summoned to Berlin,
evening of 14 March 1939, kept
waiting until 11 p.m.
threatened by Göring with the
bombing of Prague, he fainted
signed capitulation, 4 a.m. 15.iii.39

138. Nazi troops enter Prag
midday 15.iii.39

139. Nazi troops enter Prag
midday 15.iii.39
troops were poised on the
border
orders were to enter at 0600
15 March, resistance or no
Hacha ordered the Czech
army to stay in their barracks
“another bloodless victory
for vulgar gangsterism”--
WLSC

140. this famous picture
published worldwide as a symbol of the misery
which this occupation brought to most Czechs

141. and once again the ultimate victims
Zhid (Jew, cf. “Yid”), you’re not our neighbor!

142. Memelgebiet (Memel
district)

143. Historic Memel, 1252
Teutonic Knights’ castle (Ordensburg) guards the
port. Symbol of the Drive East (Drang nach Osten)

144. Memel
district
1920-23 allied
occupation
1923 Lithuania
annexed
1924
“Autonomous”

146. Heim ins
Reich
Pres. Smetona Street
becomes Adolf Hitler
Street, 23.iii.39 ...
after an ultimatum

147. “In the event of any action which clearly
threatened Polish independence, and which
the Polish Government accordingly
considered it vital to resist with their national
forces, His Majesty’s Government would feel
themselves bound at once to lend the Polish
Government all support in their power.”
Neville Chamberlain
in the House of Commons
31 March 1939

148. launch of battleship
Tirpitz
1.iv.39
Wilhelmshaven
Hitler’s speech:
“He who does not possess
power loses the right
to life”

150. Franz Halder
1884-1972

151. Franz Halder
1884-1972
before Munich, part of the Beck
circle considering a putsch,
Hitler’s assassination
as Chief of the General Staff,
prepares the plan for Poland, Fall
Weiß (Case White)
“now evidently relished the
prospect of easy and rapid victory
over the Poles and subsequent
conflict with the Soviet Union or
the western powers” (op. cit., 179)

152. Freie Stadt Danzig

153. Freie Stadt Danzig
City
Coat of
Arms

154. Col Jozef Beck, 1894-1944
quot;Peace is a precious and a desirable thing. Our generation, bloodied in wars, certainly deserves
peace. But peace, like almost all things of this world, has its price, a high but a measurable one.
We in Poland do not know the concept of peace at any price. There is only one thing in the lives
of men, nations and countries that is without price. That thing is honor.quot;-- 5 May 1939

155. ...from Polish courage and self-confidence
there arose a crucial element in the
European situation in 1939. Under pressure
from Germany, Poland would fight rather
than yield.
Bell, p. 251

156. Bombshell!

157. the secret protocol dividing the spoils
23/24 August 1939

160. Göring’s role
felt excluded from foreign policy since his row
with Ribbentrop over Czech policy
thought his arch rival, Ribbentrop, was way
too confident that the British and French
wouldn’t come to Poland’s aid
continued to work through “back channels” for
a settlement of the Polish crisis that would limit
the participants
late August, sent Swedish contact Birger
Dahlerus to England several times with offers
to keep Britain out of the coming war
but Chamberlain’s government had lost all
trust in Hitler after the March seizure of the rest
of Czechia

161. Hitler meets with the army leadership
at the Berghof, 22 August
the famous picture window in
the Great Hall with its mountain
view

162. Hitler meets with the army leadership
at the Berghof, 22 August
around 50 officers dressed in civilian
clothes assembled in the Great Hall
“It was clear to me that a conflict with
Poland had to come sooner or later.
“Essentially all depends on me, on my
existence, because of my political talents.
“...probably no one will ever again have the
confidence of the whole German people as
I have. There will probably never again in
the future be a man with more authority
the famous picture window in
than I have.
the Great Hall with its mountain
view
Germany’s economic difficulties were a
further argument for not delaying action

164. “We can only hold out for a few more years. Göring can confirm this.
We must act.”
The Polish situation had become intolerable. ...danger of losing
prestige.
The high probability was that the West would not intervene. He had
always been proven right.
“We are faced with the harsh alternatives of striking or of certain
annihilation sooner or later.”
Britain was in no position to help Poland
“Our enemies are kleine Würmchen (little baby worms). I saw them
in Munich.”
His only fear was “that at the last moment some swine or other will yet
submit to me a plan for mediation.”

166. after a lunch break he continued with operational
details and a pep talk
“iron determination” “life and death struggle” not to
reach some line, but Kesselschlacht (cauldron battle)
to annihilate the enemy forces
he would provide a propaganda pretext for beginning
the war, however implausible
“The victor will not be asked afterwards whether he
told the truth or not. When starting and waging a war it
is not right that matters, but victory.”

167. Remember this poster from 1933?
Emphasizing Germany’s weakness under the
Versailles restrictions?
Wer braucht Sicherheit im
Osten?
Who needs security in the
East?

169. Albert
Forster
leader of the Danzig
NSDAP, here seen in
1941 as Gauleiter

170. Gleiwitz/Gliwice radio station Alfred Naujocks
Operation Himmler
most famous of 21 such staged “provocations”
which Hitler used to justify his invasion

171. Old battleship fires the first shots
of World War II
The Schleswig Holstein was a training ship sent
to disguise its intent as a combat vessel

176. The scum
of the The bloody
earth, I assassin of
believe? the workers,
I presume?

177. “The wagon had begun in the spring to roll towards
the abyss. In the last days of August, Hitler ‘could
hardly have turned the carriage around without
being thrown off himself.’ “
Kershaw, quoting Weizsäcker, p 228

178. Review and Preview--an animated map from
an Internet site showing the stages of
German expansion from 12 March 1938 to
the end of September, 1939