BBC - h2g2 - Hitler's Foreign Policy

Hitler was still full of hatred from the First World War, and wanted revenge for how Germany had been treated over the last two decades. To do this, he created his Foreign Policy aims. These were:

To go back on the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler hated the Treaty of Versailles, and thought it was an unfair treaty. Most people in Europe also thought the treaty was unfair at this time, so when Hitler began to break the terms of the treaty, he was appeased and allowed to do it. However, if Hitler was going to re-gain everything that Germany had lost because of the Treaty of Versailles, then he was going to have to invade other countries.
To re-arm. Hitler wanted Germany to be a power in Europe again, and to do this he needed to re-arm. He was given an excuse in the early 1930s when there was great unemployment in Germany. It was the perfect solution to their problems.
To unite all German-speaking people in one country: GrossDeutschland. The treaty of Versailles had given each race of people their own country, but this meant that there were many Germans spread all over Europe. If he were to unite them all in one country, he would start having to invade and take over other countries, which could quite easily turn into war.
To win living space (Lebensraum) for Germany. The only way that Hitler could do this is to take control of the countries around Germany, which could quite easily start a war.
To racially cleanse the Reich. Hitler thought that his race of people was perfect, and that other races were below them. If Hitler were to cleanse the Reich, then he would have to commit mass murder in Germany and the surrounding countries.
To destroy Communism. To do this, Hitler would have to rage war with the USSR. To get to the USSR, they would have to go through Poland, which could quite easily start a war, however, Britain and France also hated Communism, and they would probably support a war between Germany and the USSR. The USSR became part of the League of Nations in 1934, but left in 1939 when they realised that the League of Nations would not protect them if they were attacked by Germany.

As Hitler started to try and achieve his aims, Britain and France appeased him, and allowed Germany to become more powerful. Hitler's Foreign Policy aims, which were made public, were a large cause of the Second World War, as they showed that Hitler was going to fight countries for what he wanted. It was obvious from the very beginning, that the only way to stop Hitler would be through war. His Foreign Policy aims became an even bigger cause of the war, when Hitler began achieving them. The table below shows how Hitler went at achieving his Foreign Policy Aims, and going against the Treaty of Versailles.

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles	What Hitler did and when	The reasons he gave for his actions	The response from Britain and France
Germany's armed forces to be severely limited	In 1933, Hitler increased Germany's armed forces. In 1935, he made an agreement with Britain to increase naval forces, and he introduced conscription in 1936.	He needed larger armies to protect Germany, and large armies also provided jobs and solved unemployment problems caused by The Great Depression.	Britain sympathised with germany, believing that the Treaty if Versailles had been too unfair on them. The French were angry with Britain, but there was little they could do.
The Rhineland to be a demilitarised zone	In March 1936, Hitler moved troops into the Rhineland, going against the Treaty of Versailles.	France and Russia had made a treaty to protect each other from Germany. Hitler said that he should be allowed to place troops on his own frontier.	Many British people felt that Hitler had a right to have troops in the Rhineland, and France wouldn't do anything without Britain's help, so nothing was done.
Germany forbidden to unite with Austria	The NAZI party stirred up trouble in Austria. In 1928, Austrians has a vote to decide whether they would unite with Germany. Germany sent troops into Austria to make sure the vote was fair. 99.75% of Austrians voted to unite with Germany.	There were lots of German people living in Austria and Hitler said the people of Austria wanted to unite with Germany. Austria was economically weak and Hitler promised to solve the problem.	France and Britain refused to help Austria. The British prime Minister Neville Chamberlain felt the Treaty of Versailles was wrong and that Austria and Germany should be united.
The Sudetenland taken into the new state of Czechoslovakia	In 1938, Hitler said that he was ready to fight Czechoslovakia. After meeting with Britain, France and Italy, Hitler was given the Sudetenland.	There were lots of germans living in the Sudetenland and Hitler wanted to unite them. he also claimed the Czech government were mistreating the Germans.	On September 29, after numerous meetings, britain and France made an agreement to give Hitler the Sudetenland. However, Britain and France also said that if Hitler invaded any other country, then they would delare war on Germany.¹
The Polish Cirridor given to Poland	On September 1, 1929, germany invaded Poland from the West. On September 17, Soviet forces invaded Poland from the East. They split Poland between them.	There were Germans living in Poland, and \Hitler wanted them to be united with Germany. Hitler also wanted more living space, as this was one of his Foreign Policy Aims.	On September 2, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Germany did not expect this, as Britain and France had appeased Hitler before and had not acted on their threats.