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2. Contents
• The Legacy of the Great War •
– Treaty of Versailles (1919) •
– Impact
•
• Hitler’s Foreign Policy
•
– Rhineland
•
– ‘Lebensraum’
•
– Britain-Italy-Germany
Triangle
•
•
– Anschluss
– Sudetenland and the Munich•
Agreement
•
• Appeasement
•
• Path to War
USSR’s Role
Invasion of Poland
Propaganda
Evacuation
Home Front
Churchill Takes Over
– Dunkirk
The Blitz
Turning Points in WW2
British Women in the war
1943-1944
The Legacy of War in Britain

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The Legacy of the Great War
• WW1 ended November 1918
• Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1918)
– Decision made by Allies
– Germans not invited
• Versailles was first of a series of agreements
• 1919 – separate treaties with Austria-Hungary
and Bulgaria
• 1920 – treaty with Turkey

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Treaty of Versailles (1919)
Aims of the Allies
Outcomes
Germany was guilty
America
• Peace settlement to last
• Avoid another war
Land given to Poland
Northern Schleswig to Denmark
France
• Punish Germany for starting the war
and damage
• Weak Germany cannot start another
war
Alsace and Lorraine to France
Reparations for damages
• Totalling £6,600 million
Britain
• Public same as French
• Worry that harsh Treaty would have
opposite effect
• Fear Germans would want revenge
Maximum military size
• 100,000 men
• 6 battleships
• No aeroplanes

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Impact
• Wilson believed each
• Mussolini was also bitter
nationality should have its
– Italy gained land but not
own country (self
much
determination)
– Badly treated at peace talks
– Yugoslavia contained various • Churchill learnt different
nationalities
lessons
– 3 million+ Germans living in
Czechoslovakia
• Hitler was bitter war ended
– Politicians let down the
army
– Angry at the Treaty of
Versailles (1919)
– Britain must gain militarily
– Only was to stop aggression
from other countries
• French healthy population
dropped
– 40% of French aged 20-32 in
1914 were still alive and well
in 1918

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Hitler’s Foreign Policy
• Germans told to ignore Treaty of Versailles by
Hitler
– Little Allies could (or were willing) to do
– Did not stop Germany making weapons or
increasing army
• 1935 – military service compulsory for men
– Hitler wanted army of 500,000
– Claimed Germany would rearm
• Both forbidden by Treaty of Versailles

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Rhineland
• Rhineland demilitarised as part of Treaty
– No military allowed within 50km of the River Rhine to
keep troops from France
• March 1936 – German troops entered the
Rhineland and not stopped
– Poland looked like action but no support
– Some British politicians thought Hitler had a right to
be there
• “Jerry can do what he likes in his own back yard”
• Used by Hitler to rest resolve of France/Britain

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‘Lebensraum’
• Hitler wanted all Germans on German soil 
master race
• Needed living space (lebensraum) to feed all
these people
– Looked towards Poland and Russia
• Attacking Poland was risky but a surprise attack
from France impossible with troops in the
Rhineland
– Feared fighting 2 fronts like Great War
– Wanted Britain and Italy as allies

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Britain – Italy – Germany Triangle
• Britain foresaw a need to have another ally
(besides France) against Germany
– Italy seemed obvious choice given location etc.
• 1935 – Mussolini attacked Abyssinia which
Britain opposed
– This spoilt any chance of Britain gaining Italy as an
ally
– Hitler also had to choose between Britain and Italy
• 1936 – Rome-Berlin Axis

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Path to War
• 1937
– Japan invades China
– Germany signs a military
agreement with Japan
– The Rape of Nanjing (Nanking) by
Japanese soldiers
• 1938
– Germany announces ‘Anschluss’
with Austria
– German military mobilises
– USSR beat Japan in border conflict
(Battle of Lake Khasan)
– Munich Agreement
– Germany occupies the
Sudetenland
– Kristallnacht
• 1939
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Nazis take over Czechoslovakia
End of Spanish Civil War
‘Pact of Steel’ signed with Italy
Nazis and Soviets sign Pact
Britain and Poland sign a Mutual
Assistance Treaty
Nazis invade Poland
War is declared on Germany
Battle of the Atlantic begins
Soviets invade Poland which is
divided between Germany and
USSR
USSR attacks Finland
USSR expelled from the League of
Nations

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Anschluss
• Hitler was keen to join Germany and Austria
as he was Austrian himself
– But it was banned under the Treaty of Versailles
• Austrian Chancellor wanted to avoid this 
1938 he arranged a plebiscite
– March (day before plebiscite) German soldiers
marched to Austria with no resistance
– Hitler got his Anschluss

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The Sudetenland and the Munich
Agreement
• A fortnight after the
Anschluss, Hitler wanted
the Sudetenland
– 3 million Germans there
– Heavy industry and main
Czech defences
• September 1938 –
Chamberlain flew to
Germany to discuss issue
– In Britain gas masks were
issued and trenches dug in
preparation for air raids
• Nobody wanted war – most
wanted Czechs to give in
• 3 trips were made
– Czechs present but not
taking part in talks
– Britain and France already
decided to give in to Hitler
• Agreement signed 1
October 1938
– “Peace in our time”
• Bookmakers offered odds
of 32:1 against war in
France
– But PM Daladier thought
war was now inevitable

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Appeasement
• Popular policy aimed to satisfy
Hitler and prevent war
• Most thought it was fair for
Germany to get what it lost in
Versailles
• Few outside Germany read
Mein Kampf
– Few realised there was no limit
to lebensraum
• Half British Cabinet against
appeasement
– Chamberlain didn’t trust Hitler
– Britain started to rearm from
1937
• Reasons for appeasement’s
popularity:
– Germany had been treated
harshly at Versailles
– Britain too weak for war
– Hitler would stop the
Communists
– Couldn’t help Czechoslovakia
due to its location
– Sacrifice would be worth
making for peace
– USSR too weak and unreliable
as an ally (plus they are
Communist!)

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USSR’s Role
• No invitation to Munich
Agreement
• Communists not trusted by
Western world
• Communists wanted another
war
– Spread communism
– But scared and unready
• USSR in a dangerous position
from the threat of war
– 1934 – joined the League of
Nations
– Couldn’t get support to stand
up to Hitler
– Caused mutual distrust with
West
• Hitler’s invasion of the rest of
Czechoslovakia where Britain
and France did nothing left
USSR vulnerable
– Needed an ally
• Germany or Britain
• Distrust on all sides
– Had talks with Britain but
Britain didn’t think USSR could
stand up to German military
– USSR wondered if Britain and
France would ever stand up to
Germany
– Fear of alliance with Germany
to attack USSR
• Stalin allied with Hitler
– Nazi-Soviet Pact (23 August
1939)

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Invasion of Poland
• March 1939 – invasion of Czechoslovakia
– Czechs showed ager by throwing snowballs
• Hitler wanted Polish corridor
• Appeasement had failed
• March – Britain and France promised to support Poland
if attacked
• Early April – Hitler gave secret orders for army to attack
Poland on 1 September 1939
• May – Germany and Italy made the ‘Pact of Steel’
– Mussolini thought war with Poland would lead to a wider
war
– Hitler disagreed: ‘neither England or France will embark
upon a general war’

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Invasion of Poland continued
• Britain was getting ready for
war
– May – all men 20-21 were
conscripted
– June – first young men signed
on
– Newspapers supported this
saying it would make them
fitter
• August – reports of clashes
between German and Polish
troops
– 23rd – USSR signed pact with
Germany, including a secret
pact to carve up Poland
– 24th – Polish mobilised troops
• SS officers disguised as Polish
soldiers took over a German
radio station on the Polish
border with an anti-Hitler
message
• Meant to mean German attack
justified
– Orders to attack signed 8 hours
before
• 1 September – invasion
• 3rd September – war declared
on Germany by Britain and
France

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Propaganda
• British propaganda very effective in WW1
– Goebbels studied this very closely
– 1933 Goebbels became propaganda chief
• sole control over all media (including radio, film, etc.)
• After the war began Britain set up:
– Ministry of Information – propaganda for British
– Another organisation for propaganda aimed at enemy
• Posters were always propaganda
• Photographs that showed real events could be
used for propaganda

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Evacuation
• 1 June – 3 September 1939 – 3.5 million moved
house
– Many were newly-weds
– Many were children – 1.5million moved 3 days before
war started
• Accompanied by teachers and mothers if under 5
– Anywhere with room to spare had to have at least 1
child
– Government paid 52 1/2 p/week
– Locals chose evacuees
• Many were middle class while the children were often very
poor

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Evacuation continued
• Stepney – 10% of homes had a bath
• Glasgow – 50% of homes had a bath
• 50% of children had lice and fleas
– Many only had one set of clothes
– 10% were not toilet trained
– Some didn’t know what a bed was for and slept under
it or were found standing in a corner
• For the first time the well off saw how poor the
poor was
– Shocked and saddened
– Many felt guilty

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Home Front
• Most feared air raids
– Animals also evacuated
• Many feared gas attacks
– Tops of pillow boxes were
pained in gas-sensitive paint
– Gas masks were issued
• From 1 September blackouts
were enforced
• From 3 September there was
conscription for all men 18-41
– Anyone whose jobs were not
vital
– Conscientious objectors not
forced to join
• No rationing until January
1940 – bacon, sugar and
butter
– Meat and tea later in 1940
– Jam in 1941
– Sweets in 1942
• Restaurants rationed from
1942
– Only allowed to serve 1 main
meal
– Meals could cost no more than
25p
• Phoney War
– Blackouts relaxed (dimmed
lights)
– ½ evacuees returned home

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Churchill Takes Over
• Blitzkrieg tactics used effective by Germany
– Poland was invaded and nothing could be done
• April 1940 – Chamberlain: ‘Hitler had missed the
bus’
– Within days. Denmark and Norway were invaded
• 10 May – Chamberlain resigned, replaced by
Churchill
– Germany entered Holland, Belgium, and later,
Luxemburg
– Germany would soon turn onto France

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Dunkirk
• Britain sent an Expeditionary Force to France but
the Germans continued to advance
• French and British troops retreated to the coast
and were surrounded at Dunkirk
• 300,000 were rescued by sea – pleasure boats,
yachts and dinghies
– Called a ‘miracle’ by the newspapers
– But France was soon defeated by Germany (and Italy)
• 22 June – France surrendered to Germany, an agreement
was signed in the same railway carriage as the Treaty of
Versailles

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The Biltz
• Battle of Britain began August 1940 after Hitler decided
he must invade Britain
• Goering boasted that he would control the air within 4
days
• The raids damaged the RAF
– Pilots were being killed faster than trained at one point
• British had radar and ingenuity of developing their
aircraft
• RAF bombed Berlin, which made Goering decide to
bomb London
• London was bombed 76 nights in total – one night off
due to bad weather

30. Britain vs. Germany
Britain
• At first there were too few
planes
• Spitfires and Hurricanes
were built quicker than they
were being destroyed
– German losses mounted
• Londoners got used to the
raids
• Civilian deaths
outnumbered military ones
until September 1942
Germany
• Hitler kept bombing after he
decided not to invade
Britain
• Attacks elsewhere (Egypt)
weren’t successful
• May 1941 – British and
Empire forces had
overtaken Abyssinia
• Germany turned to the
USSR as its new target

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Turning Points
• Battle of the Atlantic
– U-boats used to attack merchant ships in 1941
– RAF and the convoy system were used to protect British (and
American) ships
• America Enters the War
– Sinking of American ships helped them join the war
– However, bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1942 was the catalyst
– By May, Japan suffered their first defeat to the US
• Russian Invasion
– Germany’s invasion slowed in 1942 due to Russian resistance and then
winter cold
– Stalingrad battle started in September 1942 and only ended when
German troops disobeyed Hitler in February 1943 and surrendered
• British Success
– Success in North Africa - General Montgomery

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British Women
• 1941 saw all unmarried women, 20-30 years old, called up
– WAAF
– Land Army
– Industry
• Better paid and hours in new jobs compared to old
– Men still earned more than women (est. 2/3)
• Better conditions for all – women’s campaigns
• 1942 allowed women to go to Church without hats or stockings –
clothes were rationed
• Relationships were also more relaxed
– Many unmarried women had sexual relationships with soldiers
• Still had some traditional values
– BBC banned a song “I heard you cry last night” because a man crying
was ‘bad’ for morale
– Men resented women’s new freedoms (thought they should be at
home)

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1943-44
• January 1943 – Allies asked
Germany to surrender
unconditionally
– Hitler refused and so fighting
continued
• Soviets pushed Germany out
of the USSR throughout 1943
– Two villages wiped out
completely
– Millions living in holes in the
ground
– Million people had died at
Leningrad alone
• Anglo-American troops
crossed from Africa to the
Mediterranean  towards
Italy
• Mussolini was rescued by
Germans in September 1943
– Italy was split into two halves;
both at war with each other
• D-Day (6 June 1944) was to
attack Germany from the west
• 150,000 troops landed that
day – to increase to millions
within a month
– Hitler received reports but
dismissed them
• August 1944 – Paris was
liberated
• By December, the Allies had
pushed on to the German
borders

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The Legacy of War in Britain
• Britain had lost as much as Germany
– In fact Germany could completely rebuilt whereas Britain just
‘patched up’
• Britain had bigger debts than any other country by 1945
– £1100million from America
• Rationing continued until 1954
• Emergence of a welfare system
– Beveridge Report
– 1948 – NHS was set up
• France and Italy was exporting twice the rate of Britain
– Out of date machinery and technology
– Industry was also out of date (e.g. shipbuilding)
• Erosion of world status – Empire erosion and World Power
status