Hitler's Foreign Policy in the years 1933-39

Hitler's Foreign Policy in the years 1933-39

When looking at Hitler's foreign policy it is difficult to pin point

one particular year as a turning point through which Hitler's actions

change from cautious to aggressive. When looking at this statement it

is therefore assuming to describe the years leading up to 1937 as a

period of pure restraint and caution as the Hitler's actions before

37' suggest he employed tactics that were both restrained and

provocative. It is far easier to speculate a mix of aggression and

caution in Hitler's actions both before and after 1937. In order to

agree or disagree with this statement as a summary of Hitler's foreign

policy in the years 1933 to 1939 we must compare his cautious actions

before 1937 and his aggressive actions after 1937 with his aggressive

actions before 37' and his actions of restraint after 37'.

In agreement with this statement there are various examples of

Hitler's caution in foreign policy before 1937. From early 1933 one of

Hitler's main objectives was to rearm, an action that would not only

violate the treaty of Versailles but depict him publicly as an

aggressive nationalist. This is where we see the first signs of

caution in foreign policy not necessarily in Hitler's actions, as he

did not hesitate to rearm once in power, but in his desire to

camouflage this militaristic move from the general public. Throughout

1933 he exclaimed in various public interviews and speeches that

'nobody wishes for peace more than I' yet in secret by February 1933

he had already told the generals and the cabinet that rearmament was

Germany's main priority. I think that Hitler's desire to keep

rea...

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...n 1937? Perhaps this

is evidence in itself.

After viewing all the evidence it would be wrong to wholly agree with

this statement, as there is too much evidence to suggest that Hitler

was progressively aggressive and not just after 1937. I think it is

also relevant to conclude that with every aggressive move he made he

couples with an action of peace and caution. While he gets

progressively aggressive he manages to mask it with various public

actions of caution. I think it is this bond between his cautious

action and aggressive actions that enables him to get away with so

much by 1939. I do not completely agree with this statement however I

can understand that the aggression is more concentrated and more

substantial (with Anschluss, and the invasions of the Sudentanland,

Czechoslovakia and then Poland) after 1937.