22-10-3 Comparing Pootin to Hitler | Dream of the Great Past (subs) - Katz > .
On 7 March 1936 the German Army under control of Adolf Hitler violated international agreements by remilitarising the Rhineland.
The Rhineland area of Germany, which lay on the border with France, had been banned from containing armed forces within a 50km-wide strip under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was also unable to maintain any fortifications within the area.
This agreement had later been confirmed by Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann in the Locarno Treaties of 1925. However, by 1936 Hitler had come to power and had begun to break the terms of Versailles by increasing the number of German weapons beyond the agreed limits and reintroducing conscription.
The Western powers had failed to respond to these moves with anything more than diplomatic grumbling, so Hitler felt emboldened to further test the limits of the Versailles settlement. After France and Russia signed the 1935 Franco-Soviet Pact, Hitler chose to send three battalions, or approximately 22,000 German troops, into the Rhineland. They entered on the morning of Saturday 7 March in what he claimed was a defensive move against ‘encirclement’.
Hitler’s own generals were expecting retaliation from France, and had even been ordered to stage an immediate withdrawal if the French army made a move. Despite Hitler’s concerns, however, France refused to move against Germany without the support of Britain. Having been severely weakened by the impact of the Great Depression and distracted by the unfolding Abyssinia Crisis, Britain sympathised to an extent with the German desire to defend its own border and refused to intervene. Hitler therefore successfully remilitarised the area.
This agreement had later been confirmed by Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann in the Locarno Treaties of 1925. However, by 1936 Hitler had come to power and had begun to break the terms of Versailles by increasing the number of German weapons beyond the agreed limits and reintroducing conscription.
The Western powers had failed to respond to these moves with anything more than diplomatic grumbling, so Hitler felt emboldened to further test the limits of the Versailles settlement. After France and Russia signed the 1935 Franco-Soviet Pact, Hitler chose to send three battalions, or approximately 22,000 German troops, into the Rhineland. They entered on the morning of Saturday 7 March in what he claimed was a defensive move against ‘encirclement’.
Hitler’s own generals were expecting retaliation from France, and had even been ordered to stage an immediate withdrawal if the French army made a move. Despite Hitler’s concerns, however, France refused to move against Germany without the support of Britain. Having been severely weakened by the impact of the Great Depression and distracted by the unfolding Abyssinia Crisis, Britain sympathised to an extent with the German desire to defend its own border and refused to intervene. Hitler therefore successfully remilitarised the area.
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