Rearmament

1. Rearmament
By: Salvador Castagnino, Juan Cruz
Subirá, Trinidad Torrendell and
Felicitas Donato

2. Connection between the topic and the Treaty
of Versailles.
❖ Like many Germans, Hitler believed that the Treaty was unfair. It was as a
constant reminder of their defeat in the First World War and how they were
humiliated.
❖ As soon as he came to power things began to change, for example: Germany
stopped paying reparations, and it started rearming itself.
How?
❖ First of all, he increased Germany’s armed forces, which helped him to reduce
unemployment and it also helped to fulfill the promise he made to help
Germany become strong again.

3. ❖ Secondly, he made a public display of his desire not to rearm Germany, and
that he was only doing it because other countries refused to disarm.
❖ Then, he followed Japan’s example and left the League of Nations.
❖ In 1935, HItler organised a rally celebrating the German armed forces. He
even reintroduced conscription to the army.
❖ He was breaking the terms of the Treaty, although he knew he would get
away with rearmament.
❖ In 1934, with the collapse of the disarmament conference, it had shown that
other nations were not prepared to disarm.
Connection between the topic and the
Treaty of Versailles.

4. Hitler’s Actions and Excuses.
❖ In 1933, Hitler came to power and took Germany out of the League of
Nations so that he could start REARMING himself.
❖ Hitler left the the League as an excuse to ignore the terms of the Treaty, and
in October 1933 he left the disarmament conference.

5. Role of BRITAIN and FRANCE. What did they
do?
❖ Hitler knew Britain had some kind of sympathy with Germany on this issue.
Britain believed that the limits on Germany’s armed forces were too tight
and that a strong Germany would be a good buffer against Communism. So,
in 1935 Hitler and Britain signed a naval agreement, even though the French
were very angry about this.
❖ Finally, in 1935 Britain and Hitler signed a naval agreement, allowing
Germany to increase its navy 35 percent of the size of the British navy.
There was a lot of controversy between France and Britain about this
situation, although there was little they could do.
How the situation ended?

6. Provide a collection of sources or video that
analyses the situation.
Naval Agreement,
1935.
Germany vs Treaty Of
Versailles.
Germany leaves
the League.
Videos:
❖ Hitler's Rearmament of Germany
❖ German Rearmament and Parade.

7. Treaty of Versailles / Germany.
❖ Treaty of Versailles (1919):
Germany’s armed forces:
- German army was limited to 100.000 men.
- The army could have no tanks or heavy artillery.
- The air force was disbanded.
- The german navy was limited to 15.000 sailors.
- The navy could only have six battleships and no
submarines.
❖ German armed forces (1932-
1939)