Although beginning with a decade of peace, the 1900’s quickly became a time of conflict and war all over the globe. In 1918, conflict broke out among the major powers of the world, the world went to war. Some of the world’s strongest empires, including The United States, Germany, Russia, Japan, and Britain engaged in warfare that lasted 4 years, resulted in about twenty million deaths, twenty-one million wounded, and damages which costed one hundred and fifty-one billion dollars in direct and indirect costs. This war, known as the first world war ended with a peace treaty between Germany and the Allied Powers. The treaty declared Germany responsible for the war, and responsible for the cost of damages. As well as having to pay approximately thirty billion dollars in damages, Germany was stripped of a great deal of its land, which was divided among other countries. It was also kept under strict rules that restricted the country from actions that could allow them to grow strong enough to go to war again. Yet on September 1, 1939, the world went to war again. Germany, even with the restraints it had, rose as one of the strongest combatants in the six-year war. During this war, World War II, under the rule of Adolf Hitler, Germany enforced an imperialist foreign policy in order to regain power lost in World War 1.
In an effort to regain lost power, Germany wanted to reclaim lost territory and expand back to its former size pre-World War I. For this reason, Germany implemented an imperialist foreign policy. Due to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had lost a substantial amount of land. Germany’s losses included Alsace-Lorraine which was a territory in southern Germany that was originally part of France but later invaded and occupied by the Germans. Control of Lithuania was given to Memel. Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium. Denmark took Schleswig. Poland received parts of Germany’s territory in West Prussia as well as Silesia. The Hultschin District was taken by Czechoslovakia. Germany forfeited control of the Saar region, which was located on the border of France and Germany. This region was an important part of the coal industry and therefore very profitable for Germany. Ownership of this region was to be given to the League of Nations for fifteen years in order to weaken Germany’s industry. The League of Nations was also given power over the newly-freed district of Danzig. Besides all of these territories, all colonies outside of Europe were lost. In total, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Germany forfeited 13 percent of its European territory (more than 27,000 square miles)” (United States Holocaust Memorial). Due to the loss of land and resources of the land, Germany reached one of its lowest and weakest points. The country needed a way to work its way back up. Under the leadership of Hitler, Germany turned to imperialism as a way to climb out of the hole they were in and regain what was lost. Imperialism, by definition according to How the World Works, is “a policy of extending national power over other states and people” (Bova, 204). Hitler, who was coming to rule, believed that Germany not only needed more territory, but that they also deserved it. In his book Mein Kampf, he talked about Lebensraum, meaning “living space” which was Hitler’s idea that Eastern Europe needed to be invaded so that Germany and the perfect Aryan race could have more territory. In his book, he states, “we National Socialists must hold unflinchingly to our aim in foreign policy, namely, to secure for the German people the land and soil to which they are entitled on this earth. And this action is the only one which, before God and our German posterity, would make any sacrifice of blood seem justified” (Hitler). Hitler was a strong German nationalist who was firm in the belief that the German race was superior to the rest and due to this, deserved to possess more land and power. Hitler began carrying out his plan even before the war began. Beginning in 1936, Hitler sent troops to occupy Rhineland. On October 15, 1938, troops went into Sudetenland, which lead to the resignation of the Czech government. Just 5 short months later in March of 1939, Hitler’s army called the Nazis took over Czechoslovakia. September 1st, 1939, six months later, Germany invaded Poland, which caused France, Britain, Austria, and New Zealand to declare war against Germany, signaling the start of the second World War. War didn’t stop Hitler, and throughout the six years of combat he managed to invade Warsaw, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Holland, Greece, and Yugoslavia. He sent troops into Scotland, Romania, Paris, England, and London. He seized cities including Kiev, Minsk, Odessa, Kharkov, Rostov, Sevastopol, and Rome. Hitler’s first step towards attaining power was to expand Germany’s territory- not just back to its pre-World War I size, but beyond that using imperialism.
Another aspect of imperialism that Hitler used to strengthen Germany was the restoration of unification of Germany. The country of Germany had experienced a major decrease in nationalism after its defeat in the first World War. Founded in 1871, Germany was a fairly new country whose citizens were known for a strong sense of pride in their country- something called Pan-Germanism. German culture was renowned. They were backed by an army which had strengths that many were proud of. The surprising win of the German army in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 left citizens and leaders optimistic about their countries future. After the victory, German General Freidrich von Bernhardi even went as far as to say that “[Germany] must secure to German nationality and German spirit throughout the globe that high esteem which is due them and hitherto been withheld from them”(Vern). German citizens felt not just deserving, but even entitled to, respect based on their nationality. Not only were its citizens very patriotic, Germany in its early stages, was also led by young, optimistic leaders who placed emphasis on nationalism and on the expansion of Germany. They had yet to experience any type of defeat or anything to undermine the potential that their new and beloved country held. Germany went into the first World War with this sense of pride but after their defeat in World War I, there was a change. First and foremost, Germany felt defeat and failure for the first time. As a result of this defeat, they were no longer “free” but were now restrained by regulations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. These restrictions limited their economy, government, and military- which Germany had invested time, money, and a multitude of other resources. On top of the money that they had spent on the war, they were also now in debt of about thirty-one billion dollars- which they were forced to pay according to the treaty. Germany quickly went from having one of the most successful economies to having one of the worst in all of history. Inflation like never before hit the German market. The conditions of the citizens of Germany went from being some of the best to some of the worst in a very short period of time. In turn, there was a significant decline in the Germany’s patriotism. Citizens lost their sense of pride in the country. Furthermore, the war even led to the division of the population. Because Germany was in control of much land before World War I, there were German-speaking citizens scattered all around the different countries of Europe. In the country of Germany itself, there co-existed an abundance of cultures in the country as well which led to a less unified population. Imperialism was Hitler’s solution for problems of this nature. Hitler aimed to regain control over the lost territories and bring together all Germans into one large, unified, German-speaking state. Not only would it be easier to unite them all under one government, Hitler hoped that by invading other c
ountries and succeeding in defeating their armies and acquiring new land, Germans would feel a sense of pride and nationalism that they hadn’t felt in a while due to the defeat they had experienced during the first World War. They would be once again proud of their army, their government, and their country as a whole. The acquisition of more land and the repossession of of power would aid in erasing the repercussions of the horrible defeat Germany and its citizens had faced during the war. The territory expansion would restore the economy and bring back wealth into the country. Through imperialism, the sense of nationalism would return. Hitler also implemented imperialism in hopes of reminding citizens of the founding goals of the country and of the glory of Germany in its early years. The expansion of Germany into Eastern Europe was done in a hope to unite and empower the people of Germany.
Another reason behind enforcing a foreign policy of imperialism in Germany was to empower Germany enough to break the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler, as well as much of the German population believed that the peace treaty imposed unfair restrictions and debts on them. When Hitler and the Nazis came to power in 1933, Germany ceased to pay the reparations and instead began putting the money back into the German economy. This action had no consequence and was disregarded. The improvement in the economy resulted in improved opinions on the government. In the process of expansion, Hitler was aware that he would be violating the treaty, but also knew that if Germany had a strong army and a well-thought out plan, they could break the treaty and get away with it for a short period of time- if not longer. When and if the time came for Germany to fight, Hitler would be prepared in both strategy and troops. This was another one of the first ways that Germany broke the treaty. In Article 160 of the Treaty of Versailles, it is stated that, “the total number of effectives in the Army of the States constituting Germany must not exceed 100,000 men, including officers and establishments of depots”(Treaty of Versailles). By 1935, Hitler had broken the contract, and allowed three hundred thousand soldiers to be trained per year. By 1938, he had thirty-six divisions of sixty thousand men each. As well as preparing an army, Hitler prepared equipment and other military forces, such as submarines, trained pilots, and an air force– all of which were violations of the treaty. The contract served as an attempt to disarm Germany so that it was less likely for them to go back to war. After preparing an army, Hitler went on to send troops into a demilitarized area of Rhineland in 1936, which once again broke the treaty. According to the contract, Germany was not to have troops in Rhineland, which was a piece of land that bordered France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Nevertheless, under Hitler’s direction, troops were successfully moved into Rhineland with no consequences. The lack of repercussions was due mainly because Britain believed that the contract was too strict, and France would not enforce the treaty without the assistance of Britain. Hitler continued to advance and start the process of imperialism, by starting to send troops to other states and countries, which once again broke the Treaty of Versailles. It was stated that Germany was not to invade any other country. Disregarding the treaty, Germany used imperialism to break the Treaty of Versailles which would allow the retrieval of lost power.
Even after Germany’s attempt to regain the power lost in the first World War, the second World War ended with similar results. After a long and destructive six years of war, Germany was finally forced to surrender on the western front on May 7th, 1945 after being surrounded by Western Allies as well as the Soviet army. The war officially ended on September 2nd, 1945 with yet again the defeat of Germany. As a result, Germany was once again forced to pay reparations to France, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, this time not in money. They paid their debts with coal, labor, and machinery from factories. Approximately twenty-three billion dollars’ worth of machinery and plants were repaid. The territory that was seized during the war, and more was divided among other colonies once again. The remaining German territory was also divided into 4 parts, that were occupied by the 4 main winning powers of the war.
The economy of Germany also returned to the terrible state it was in after the first world war. The people of Germany not only felt an even stronger defeat now, they also experienced resentment from the rest of the world. Every aspect of Germany’s situation was worse than before, at the end of the second world war. Although Hitler’s attempt at using the foreign policy of imperialism was for the good of Germany and was intended to restore power and strengthen Germany, it ultimately failed.