On March 7^th 1936 German troops marched into the Rhineland. This was Hitler's first illegal act in foreign relations since coming to power in 1933 and it threw the European allies, especially France and Britain, into confusion. What should they do about his actions?
These documents reveal the motives and attitudes of the British government as they discuss their options. They are all extracts from the Minutes of the Cabinet Meeting on March 11^th, 1936. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was Anthony Eden, the Prime Minister was Stanley Baldwin.

1a. Scan through Source 1. What clues are there that the British Cabinet thought the situation was serious?

1b. What was British policy for dealing with the crisis?

1c. How did this policy go down with our allies?

1d. Why do you think they reacted in this way?

1e. What did Anthony Eden expect the allies to do next?

1f. Why would this put Britain "in an impossible position"?

2. Read Source 2

2a. What does this tell us about Baldwin's attitude to:

(i) War and (ii) Communism?

2b. How might each of these worries affect how Britain would deal with the crisis?

3. Read Source 3

3a. Make a list of the clues we have that Britain and the British people were unready to go to war over the Rhineland.

3b. How would this affect our readiness to go along with what France wanted?

4. Read Source 4

4a. What arguments are put here for and against economic sanctions against Germany?

5. Read Source 5

5a. What deal does Anthony Eden want to offer Germany?

5b. What do you think were Eden's motives in making this offer to Germany?

5c. Did this deal abide by the terms of the Treaties of Versailles and Locarno?

5d. Why do you think he didn't consult the League of Nations?

6. British policy towards Germany at this time is called appeasement. Use your answers to questions 2(a), 3(a), 4(a) and 5(a) to describe what appeasement was and why Britain took this line.

7. We know that Hitler moved on from the occupation of the Rhineland in 1936, to the annexation of Austria and the seizure of the Sudetenland in 1938, to the take-over of the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and then Poland in September 1939. We know that those men sitting round the Cabinet table in Downing Street in March 1936 were only three and a half years away from war. But they didn't know that and we must try not to use hindsight in judging them.

Do you agree with what Eden wanted to offer Germany in March 1936?
What other action could he have taken?

The Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War laid out the terms which the defeated Germany had to agree to. One was that the Rhineland, a strip of land inside Germany bordering on France, Belgium and the Netherlands, was to be de-militarised. That is, no German troops were to be stationed inside that area, no fortifications built etc. The intention was to increase French security by making it impossible for Germany to invade France unawares.

Other terms restricted the German army to 100,000 men and the navy to just 36 ships. Germany objected to the terms of the Treaty but were told to sign it or the war would begin again. They had no choice but to sign.

The Treaty also set up the League of Nations, an international peace-keeping organisation. It was based on the idea of collective security, that is, the nations of the world would act together (collectively) to preserve peace. Unfortunately, one of the most powerful, the USA, did not join the League.

Germany in the 1920s was keen to get back on normal terms with other nations and signed the Treaty of Locarno. By this treaty Germany agreed to accept the terms of the Versailles Treaty, at least on her western borders.

France continued to worry about their safety against Germany particularly after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. He had always declared his firm intention of overthrowing the Treaty of Versailles and uniting all Germans in one country, even if it led to war. Germany began to re-arm. Could France trust collective security, or should they find military allies?

In May, 1935 France signed a treaty of friendship and mutual support with the USSR.

Germany claimed the treaty was hostile to them and Hitler used this as an excuse to send German troops into the Rhineland in March 1936, contrary to the terms of the treaties of Versailles and Locarno. It was gamble on his part and his generals were nervous about it. German re-armament had not yet reached a point where they felt ready to take on a well-armed nation like France.

Consequences

Following the discussions described in the documents, the British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, did indeed meet the German ambassador and make his proposals. Hitler refused to play ball and kept up his bluff. France was on the verge of a general election and would not act without Britain; Britain did nothing; Hitler got away with it.

For other Snapshots on this period, see also Chamberlain and Hitler, 1938, and Adolf Hitler

For more information on the build-up to war, try the following websites:

Causes of the Second World War

Overview of events between 1919 and 1939