Chapter 6: Hitler's actions & foreign policy (Part 1)

Hitler's actions and foreign policy:

Shortly after Hitler came to power in 1933, he rearmed Germany. (Rearmament is the building up of a country's military force.) He also pursued an aggressive foreign policy in order to gain "Lebensraum" (land for Germany).

Video on rearmament



During the video, think about the following:
- In what ways did Hitler rearm Germany?
- How would this lead to the collapse of peace in Europe?

After the video, read the textbook for specific facts and figures on the above. For example, the textbook says that Hitler built up the German army from 100,000 in 1933 to 550,000 in 1935.

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Another of Hitler's actions was the remilitarization (some books call it "reoccupation") of the Rhineland. The Rhineland is in the west of Germany, close to France. You can see the map here.
Germany was not allowed to station troops there due to the Treaty of Versailles. By stationing his troops there, Hitler was sending a bold message that he was prepared to violate the Treaty of Versailles, and perhaps even invade France some day.



This is a rather long video. When watching it, besides thinking about how it led to the collapse of peace, can you think of reasons why the remilitarization of the Rhineland was so popular with the Germans?


Try this worksheet on Hitler's actions & foreign policy

Now, go on to Part 2 of this series.