Key Terms

📖 Key Terms

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland (March 1936)

Hitler sent German troops into the demilitarised Rhineland zone — a direct breach of both the Treaty of Versailles (1919) AND the Locarno Treaties (1925). France and Britain did nothing. Hitler later called the 48 hours after the march "the most nerve-racking of my life" because he knew how weak Germany still was.

Anschluss (March 1938)

The union of Germany and Austria. Hitler pressured Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg to resign and then marched German troops in. A plebiscite was held showing 99.7% support (the result was rigged). The Anschluss was explicitly forbidden by Article 80 of the Treaty of Versailles. Britain and France protested but did not intervene.

Sudetenland Crisis (September 1938)

Hitler demanded the Sudetenland — the western border region of Czechoslovakia where 3 million ethnic Germans lived. Crucially, this region also contained Czechoslovakia's entire defensive fortification line. Losing it made Czechoslovakia militarily defenceless. The Munich Agreement handed it to Hitler without Czechoslovakia being consulted.

Locarno Treaties (1925)

An agreement between Germany, France, Belgium, Britain, and Italy guaranteeing the existing borders of western Europe. Germany voluntarily accepted the Rhineland demilitarisation. By remilitarising the Rhineland in 1936, Hitler broke both Versailles and Locarno simultaneously.

Nazi-Soviet Pact (August 1939)

A non-aggression treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, signed just days before the invasion of Poland. It contained a secret protocol dividing Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. It removed Hitler's fear of a two-front war and shocked the world — ideologically, Nazism and Communism were bitter enemies.