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Hitler s Re militarization of the Rhineland In March 1936, Adolf Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland. Hitler s decision to remilitarize the Rhineland was brilliant for four reasons. First, Hitler was able to predict that no nation would try to stop him from remilitarizing the Rhineland. Second, by remilitarizing the Rhineland, Hitler gained a better military position both offensively and defensively against France. Third, Hitler also increased the support of the German people for the government and for himself. Finally, Hitler was able to safeguard his control over the natural resources in the Rhineland, where a large majority of Germany s coal supply was located.
Without that supply, Germany would likely have fallen right back into the Depression, taking away its main advantage over all other major powers. Perhaps the most critical reason that Hitler s decision to remilitarize the Rhineland was brilliant was that Hitler was able to predict that no nation would act against him. The only powerful nations that would have cared about the re militarization of the Rhineland were the United States, Great Britain, and France. The United States simply did not care enough to act. It would have taken too long and would have been too costly for the United States to pose a threat to Germany.
The United States had also previously showed that it lacked interest in Germany s breaches of the Treaties of Versailles and Locarno. When Germany had stopped paying its debt to France, as required by the Treaty of Versailles, the United States did nothing. Similarly, when Germany started to rearm itself in defiance of both the Versailles Treaty and the Locarno Pact, again the United States had no reaction except for a statement of protest. Great Britain with respect to Germany s defiance of the Versailles Treaty and Locarno pact followed suit and did nothing. Great Britain had even gone behind the backs of the United States and France by making a treaty with Germany allowing Germany to rearm its navy. The public view in Britain was that the Versailles and Locarno Treaties were too harsh on Germany, so Germany should not have to abide by the terms stated in the treaties.
Furthermore, Great Britain was not prepared to attack Germany. Great Britain, like most of the rest of the world, was just on its way out of the Depression, and therefore viewed the notion of a war as too costly because each country had its own problems. France, on the other hand, was not on its way out of the Depression. The Depression had hit hardest in France because it had hit there last. To battle Germany, France would have needed another nation to help it either on the battlefield with troops, or by supporting France with funds. But that aid was nowhere to be found, the only other nations that might have cared did not.
Moreover, even if any other nation had cared, it would not have helped. All nations were afraid of starting another Great War. Before any nation would act against Hitler, that nation would have to determine whether the benefits of trying to stop Hitler outweighed the risk of starting another Great War. The only way an affordable, reasonable threat could have been posed against Germany was through the League of Nations.
The League could have collected small amounts of money from each country; thereby making the threat against Germany cost efficient for each nation. The only problem with going through the League of Nations was that it was simply impotent. For the League of Nations to provide a threat to Germany, it would first have to set up a date to discuss the topic. Then, the League would have to hold a hearing to find Germany in the wrong, which simply would not have happened given the public opinions in both the United States and Great Britain.
One reason public opinion was tilting towards Germany at the time was that Germany had been spending its time trying to get on the good side of other nations. Almost immediately before remilitarizing the Rhineland, Hitler was presenting himself as a peaceful man. Hitler said he was willing to sign a 25 -year non-aggression pact, and an air-power pact. Hitler even said that he wanted Germany to rejoin the League of Nations.
Hitler also made it appear as if he had remilitarized the Rhineland because he had been provoked. Hitler had begun the planning of the re militarization of the Rhineland on the same date as the signing of the Franco-Russian Pact, which Hitler claimed was his reason to remilitarize the Rhineland to prepare for a two-front war. Germany was also strong enough to make other international powers think about the repercussions of a war. Hitler had started German rearmament long before the re militarization and therefore had thousands of troops ready for action. Britain had also made a treaty with Germany allowing the German navy to grow to a formidable strength. Germany had also become an air power.
In addition, Hitler had the entire nation behind him with the support of the SA and the SS. Moreover, Germany was in a better economic state than any other nation at the time. While all other nations were still in the middle of the Depression, Germany had almost fully recovered by the time of the re militarization of the Rhineland. The German workforce was as strong as it was before the Depression hit any country. Before the Depression in Germany, 1. 4 million Germans were unemployed. Four years later, in 1932, 5. 6 million were unemployed; but just four more years after that, at the time of the re militarization of the Rhineland, 1. 6 Germans were unemployed.
Germany could have survived the economic repercussions of another war, while every other major power could not. Realizing that there would likely be no response from any nation if Germany remilitarized the Rhineland, Hitler could easily see that he would only gain from sending troops into the Rhineland. The German army would get to be right next to the French border as opposed to over 20 kilometers behind the Rhineland. Hitler would also gain a stronger hold on all of the goods and natural resources available throughout the Rhineland, which contained over half of Germany s coal supply.
Hitler also gained the support of the German people, who had been looking for a strong political leader to follow since the end of the Great War. The German public had an increase in faith in Hitler in view of Hitler s decision to blatantly defy the Treaties of Versailles and Locarno by remilitarizing the Rhineland. This act of insubordination made the German people view Hitler as a commanding leader. One might argue that Hitler s decision to remilitarize the Rhineland was a poor one.
That argument would say that the re militarization was not a good idea because it was a leading cause of World War II, and World War II was the cause of Hitler s downfall. There is one critical flaw in this reasoning. To defend that point, one must assume that if the re militarization of the Rhineland had not taken place, World War II would not have taken place, but this is simply not true! Hitler s plans eventually to conquer the entire world were well stated in his book Mein Kampf. The re militarization was a part of those plans, but Hitler s plans to conquer the entire world would have become actions regardless of whether Hitler rearmed the Rhineland.
Those actions would have started World War II and Hitler s downfall, not the re militarization of the Rhineland. The re militarization helped Hitler against France in World War II, without it Hitler would have never had a chance. In conclusion, Hitlers re militarization of the Rhineland was a brilliant strategic move in four ways. First, it consolidated Germany's economic power, the foundation of his military power at a time when no other major power was in a position to respond.
Second, it enabled him to consolidate his domestic power and was a first step to a new world order with Germany at the center: the Third Reich. Third, it set up a better position militarily against France. Most importantly, Hitler was able to predict the reactions of all other nations based on each country s economic conditions and social views at the time. Notes Andrew Crozier, The Causes of the Second World War (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc.
c 1997) 40 Crozier 40 Crozier 41 Office of the United States Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Asis c, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (William S. Hein &# 038; Co. ) 386 Stewart Ross, Causes and Consequences of World War II (Austin, TX: Raintree Stack-Vaughn Publishers, c 1996) 32 Otto Nathan, The Nazi Economic System (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, c 1994) 335 Nathan 335 Ross 33 Ross 33 Office of the United States 439 Office of the United States 439 Office of the United States 439 Office of the United States 442 Office of the United States 422 Crozier 145 R. J. Over, The Nazi Economic Recovery, 1932 - 1938, (London, England: Macmillan Publishers, c 1982) 55 - 6 Over 55 - 6 Over 55 - 6 Office of the United States 444 Adolf Hitler translated by Ralph Manheim, Mein Kampf (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1999) Ross 33 Bibliography Crozier, Andrew. The Causes of the Second World War.
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc. , c 1997. Hitler, Adolf translated by Ralph Manheim. Mein Kampf. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, c 1999. Nathan, Otto. The Nazi Economic System.
Durham, NC: Duke University Press, c 1944. Office of the United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Asis c. Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression. William S. Hein &# 038; Co.
Over, R. J. The Nazi Economic Recovery, 1932 - 1938. London, England: Macmillan, c 1982. Ross, Stewart. Causes and Consequences of World War II.
Austin, TX: Raintree Stack-Vaughn Publishers, c 1996.
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