The goals of Nazi foreign policy were to rebuild Germany's military, extend German territory, and form alliances with other countries. Hitler took steps to rearm Germany in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, including establishing the Luftwaffe air force and conscripting soldiers. He also sought to expand Germany's borders by remilitarizing the Rhineland in 1936, annexing Austria in 1938, and taking the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia in 1938. Hitler built connections with other fascist leaders like Mussolini of Italy and signed non-aggression pacts, though he surprisingly agreed to a pact with the Soviet Union in 1939 as well.

1. Goals of Nazi
foreign policy

2. Hitler’s prime aim was to rebuild
German strength. This meant
ending the Versailles settlement
and extending German power.
Nazi foreign policy focused on
three key goals:
• Rebuilding Germany’s military
• Extending German territory
• Links with other countries

3. Rebuilding Germany’s military
The Nazis’ long term hopes of
building a stronger and larger
Germany rested partly on having
a rebuilt military.
Hitler believed that Versailles’
restrictions – including limits on
personnel numbers and a
weakened navy – left Germany
vulnerable and powerless.

4. The German economy was
designed to meet the country’s
military needs.
The Four Year Plan started in
1936 and set Germany the
challenge of being ready for
war in four years, both in terms
of economic and military
readiness. Herman Goering
argued for “guns, not butter.”

5. Through the interwar years,
Germany secretly developed an
air force, including training
pilots in the USSR.
On 9 March 1935, Hermann
Goering announced the setting
up of the Luftwaffe (Germany’s
air force). It was overseen by
Erhard Milch (who later
founded Lufthansa).

6. One week later, on 16 March
1935, Hitler announced the
reintroduction of conscription
into the Germany Army.
100,000 conscripts (able
bodied men who turned 19)
were to be recruited and
trained each year, although
officially the Wehrmacht size
would remain 100,000 (in line
with Versailles).

7. These actions violated the Treaty
of Versailles so Britain, France
and Italy held the Stresa
Conference in April 1935.
They agreed to oppose further
Versailles breaches. However
Britain undermined this with the
Anglo-German Naval
Agreement in June 1935, which
increased the German Navy’s size.

8. Extending German territory
Hitler wanted to unite all
Germans in one country.
He argued in Mein Kampf that
Germany needed Lebensraum
(‘Living Space’). This meant
that Nazi Germany had to
expand its borders to give
space for all Germans.

9. Between 1936-1939, the Nazis
took numerous actions to
expand Germany’s size and
population. Ultimately these
changes would eventually led
to the start of World War Two.
The 1937 Hossbach
Memorandum outlined the
Nazis’ plans for a more
aggressive foreign policy.

10. In March 1936, the Nazis took
full control of the Rhineland,
the area demilitarised as part
of the Treaty of Versailles.
Germany marched 22,000
troops into the area. Although
Britain and France opposed
this, neither took any steps to
stop it due to their own
military weakness.

11. Another key part of the
Versailles Treaty was that
Germany and Austria could not
unite (Anschluss).
In February 1938, the
Austrian government gave into
pressure and included Nazis in
their government. In March
1938, a referendum on
Anschluss was announced.

12. Hitler claimed that the
referendum was rigged
against Anschluss, so on 11
March 1938, Germany
invaded Austria.
The Austrian government
legally confirmed Anschluss
on 13 March 1938. The
persecution of Jews in Austria
started immediately.

13. A referendum was held on 10
April 1938. 99.7% of Austrian
voters supported Anschluss.
There was no secret ballot and
voters were observed.
Austrians were given a ballot
paper which asked them if they
backed Anschluss and Hitler’s
party. The Yes option was much
bigger than the No option.

14. Hitler’s next target was the
Sudetenland in
Czechoslovakia. The Czechs’
had gained German land as
part of the Versailles’ treaty.
After Anschluss, German
Sudetens had demanded to be
reunited with Germany. A war
over the issue seemed
increasingly likely.

15. The German Army advised
Hitler against invading
Czechoslovakia. Some even
plotted to overthrow him if he
went against this advice.
Instead Hitler met British
Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain in September
1938. Chamberlain agreed to
give Germany the Sudetenland,
as did France three days later.

16. The Munich Conference of
September 1938 officially
confirmed German control of
the Sudetenland. The Czechs
also agreed after being told
Britain would not go to war
over this issue.
Losing the Sudetenland and its
mountains left Czechoslovakia
vulnerable to invasion.

17. Hitler’s next target was all of
Czechoslovakia. In March 1939,
the German army marched into
the country and took control of
all areas.
The Allies did not stop this but
now realised they could not
trust Hitler (Czechs were not
Germans, for example). They
now promised to defend Poland.

18. On 1 September 1939,
German troops marched into
Poland. Germany refused a
British demand to withdraw
from the country, believing that
war would not happen.
On 3 September 1939, Britain
and France declared war on
Germany, starting World War
Two. The USSR then invaded
Poland too.

19. Links with other countries
Although Hitler’s goal was to
create a strong Germany, he
recognised that this would
involve building links with
other countries.
Hitler also gambled that other
European countries did not
want war so would not oppose
Germany’s actions.

20. In October 1933, Hitler
announced that Germany was
to leave the League of Nations,
as well as a Disarmament
Conference which was being
held at the time.
Hitler argued that Germany
had already disarmed, whereas
other countries were refusing
to do the same.

21. In January 1934, Germany
signed a Non-Aggression Pact
with Poland, with both sides
promising not to attack the other.
Hitler also built links with Fascist
Italy, meeting leader Benito
Mussolini in June 1934. The
following year the Italians
dropped their commitment to
protect Austrian independence.

22. German and Italian links were
reinforced in November 1936
with a Rome-Berlin Axis.
Earlier in 1936, Germany had
given military support to
Spain’s Nationalist
government, in the Spanish
Civil War. This let the Germans
test their military strength,
especially the Luftwaffe.

23. Germany also sought to exploit
British fears over Japan. Britain
worried its Asian empire was
under threat from Japan’s own
imperial plans.
In November 1936, Germany
signed the Anti-Comintern
Pact (against the Soviet Union)
with Japan. Italy joined this
group in 1937.

24. May 1939 saw Germany and
Italy sign the Pact of Steel,
promising each other military
and economic support.
Japan was due to sign this too
but all sides disagreed on
whether the Pact’s target was
the USSR (Japan’s demand) or
Britain and France (Germany
and Italy’s preference).

25. Hitler was passionately anti-
Communist and had built many
alliances based on this. However
in August 1939, Germany
surprised everyone by signing a
Non-Aggression Pact with the
Soviet Union.
This meant that both sides would
not attack the other and resulted
in the invasion of Poland.

26. Hitler also sought alliances
with other countries, but was
rejected. In particular he
wanted to work with Britain.
Hitler believed that British
focus was on their Empire,
whilst Germany could control
Europe. The USSR Pact was
signed partly because Britain
would not sign its own version.

27. Historians’ views
• Hugh Trevor-Roper: Believes that Hitler had a clear foreign
policy plan to culminate in a major war.
• A.J.P. Taylor: Argues that Hitler had no clear aims and was
simply an opportunist dealing with issues as they arose.
• Alan Bullock: Argues for a mixture of Taylor and Trevor-
Roper’s opinions; he believes that Hitler did have a plan of
action, but that a lot of the specific actions he undertook were a
result of circumstances at the time.