Thousands of political science books and magazines discuss the idea of democratic transformation. For example: how can a country once under authoritarian rule, transform from that to individual and democratic rule? And what do we truly know about dictatorships? Can a democratic country transform into a dictatorial country, despite the pre-existence of a constitution and elections?
Probably the most well-known example of this is Germany: which had a parliament; a multi-party system; laws protecting elections; and laws protecting individual freedoms. At the time, the illiteracy rate was almost zero percent,yet it transformed from a democracy into an expansionist dictatorship in 1933, after Hitler's rise to power.
Here, Nora Manseur and Kaye Porter look at Hitler’s actions in the build-up to World War II. Read part 1 on Hitler’s early years here, and part 2 on Hitler taking power in the 1930s here.
Seyss-Inquart and Hitler with (on the right) Himmler and Heydrich. Vienna, March 1938. Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 119-5243 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, available here.
After World War I, Germany was subjected to economic sanctions, lost territory, and was prohibited from having more than 100,000 soldiers in its army, or arming itself in any way that might pose a threat to another country. The German army did not even have an air force.
Hitler portrayed himself in all his speeches and international meetings as a peace-loving man, but at the same time he was working to rearm Germany and strengthen its army as quickly as possible. The truth is that the rearmament plan was initiated by some officers in the German army before Hitler even came to power. For example, in 1920, General Hans von Seekt, one of the generals who was responsible for building the army, decided to train soldiers as officers to overcome the shortage of soldiers, because if there was an opportunity to increase the number, it would be easier for these officers to lead the new recruits.
The German army was also not allowed to have tanks, so the same General Hans von Seekt used tanks called tractors. As for the air force, the leaders of the civil aviation industry were studying designs for fighter aircraft, in anticipation of the time of implementing these designs, but this was impossible as long as Germany was committed to the Treaty of Versailles.
Rhineland
In 1935, Hitler ended the Treaty of Versailles, and made a law reorganizing the armed forces, establishing the Air Force, and returning compulsory conscription from the age of 20. Even children were included in an organization called the Hitler Youth, and the League of German Girls. This would over time implicitly help to increase the size of the army, which in 1937 had 5 million members in service and 8 million in the reserves.
In 1936, France signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union, which Hitler considered a violation of the Locarno Treaty of 1925, in which five treaties were then signed: a Rhine Pact which guaranteed the western borders of Germany, and four other arbitration treaties (Germany-France, Germany-Belgium, Germany-Poland, and Germany-Czechoslovakia).
Hitler ordered the redeployment of troops to the Rhineland, a strip between Germany and France that had been demilitarized, consisting of the western bank of the Rhine River to France, and 25 miles from the eastern bank.
The army leaders opposed the German entry into this area because it would provoke France, especially since the German army was not ready because the rearmament process was not yet complete, but Hitler was determined to put the army to the French border because he thought that any move without military action was evidence of weakness for him.
Hitler also believed that France would not respond militarily, and would not exacerbate the issue for two reasons: the first reason is that it could not enter a second war after World War I, and the second reason is that the British government was pursuing a policy of appeasement in dealing with Nazi Germany.
On February 12, 1936, Hitler authorized the ‘Operation Winter Exercise’ to remilitarize the Rhineland.
On March 7, 1936, 19 German battalions crossed the Rhine River; fearing war with France, Hitler ordered them to withdraw if they opposed it. In fact, the French had already proposed a joint attack on 11 March 1936, but when Britain refused to participate, France decided it could not do it alone.
As a result, Germany occupied the Rhineland and its military fortifications, which only increased his ambitions.
Austria
In his book Mein Kampf in 1925, Hitler wrote: ‘Germany-Austria must return to the great German motherland, and not because of economic considerations of any sort. No, no, even if from the economic point of view this union were unimportant, indeed, if it were harmful, it ought nevertheless to be brought about. Common blood belongs in a common Reich. As long as the German nation is unable even to band together its own children in one common state, it has no moral right to think of colonization as one of its political aims. Only when the boundaries of the Reich include even the last German, only when it is no longer possible to assure him of daily bread inside them, does there arise, out of the distress of the nation, the moral right to acquire foreign soil and territory.’
Hitler saw the need to unite the Germans in Europe under one rule, and the largest place where there were Germans outside of Germany was Austria, where he was born.
To move safely, Hitler decided that there should be no country on the borders of Austria that would move against him.
Italy was internationally isolated and needed allies, so Mussolini sent his son-in-law and his foreign minister to Berlin, and then signed a secret agreement in which Italy agreed to Germany's invasion of Austria, but on the condition that it would not violate the Italian borders. Hitler also promised Mussolini his support, and that he would let him do what he wanted in the Mediterranean region, in exchange for Mussolini letting Hitler do what he wanted in Europe north of the Alps.
Hitler only had to find a pretext to invade Austria, for the sake of the international community, and in 1938, Hitler hosted the ruler of Austria, and threatened him that if he did not do what he wanted, he would invade him militarily. At the end of the same day, the members of the Nazi Party who were arrested in 1934 when they carried out a failed coup in Austria were released. The ruler of Austria also agreed to appoint Nazi ministers in the government, including the Minister of the Interior, Arthur Seyss-Inquart.
After that, the Nazis in Austria rioted and demonstrated, the result of which was that the Minister of the Interior asked Hitler to intervene and send the German army into Austria to maintain security and safety, so Hitler ordered the invasion of Austria. The invasion happened without a single drop of blood and Hitler then organized a referendum to legitimize their military action.
On April 10, 1938, more than 99% of Austrians voted to join Germany - in a sham referendum.
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