1. What was Hitler’s fi rst open breach of the Treaty of Versailles? 2. Why did Britain and France adopt the policy of appeasement? 3. Why was there controversy over which countries did and did not attend the Munich Conference? 4. What were the benefi ts of the Nazi–Soviet Non-Aggression Pact for (a) Hitler and (b) Stalin? 5. Why did this pact increase the likelihood of war?
Exploring History
1. Write a paragraph about each of the following: appeasement, the Munich Conference and the Nazi– Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.
2. Who was more responsible for the outbreak of World War II: Germany, or Britain and France? Explain your answer, referring to both.
3. On 3 September 1939 King George VI called upon ‘…my people at home and my peoples across the seas… I ask them to stand calm, fi rm and united in this time of trial. The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead and war can no longer be confi ned to the battlefi eld. But we can only do the right as we see the right and reverently commit our cause to God.’
(a) According to the source, what did King George VI ask people to do? (b) Why will the task be hard? (c) What are the benefi ts of a source like this for historians?
KEY TERMS
Lebensraum Anschluss
Sudetenland Appeasement
‘living space’ for ethnic Germans; the policy behind the expansion of German territory
the joining together of Germany and Austria in the Third Reich the majority German-speaking regions of Czechoslovakia agreeing to Hitler’s demands in the hope of avoiding war
Go to page 146 of your Sources and Skills Book for more exercises.
Go to page 87 of your Research Portfolio for a task based on this chapter.
