Student Question
What were Hitler's foreign policies during World War II?
Quick answer:
Hitler's foreign policies during World War II were predominantly expansionist, aiming to increase Germany's power and territory. He sought to overturn the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding Germany's military and reclaiming lost lands. Hitler pursued alliances and treaties, such as the Non-Aggression Pact with the Soviet Union, for strategic advantage but often resorted to force or deception to annex territories like Austria and Czechoslovakia. His ultimate goal was to establish German dominance across Europe and beyond.
It seems to me that similar to much of Hitler's policies, in general, foreign policy was expansionist. Hitler did forge alliances with other nations and leaders out of self interest, but he sought to increase the political, geographical, and military strength of the German nation through force and expansion. His desire to unify the continent of the Europe under the German flag helped to feed this foreign policy. At the same time, he had little difficulty in concealing his desire to overrun England and advance his policy concerning the greatness of Germany to as many parts of the world as possible.
Driven by the need to conquer, motivated by revenge. Hitler's foreign policy centered around his personal and national desires for Germany to "right the wrongs" of the Versailles Treaty, which meant first ignoring or reversing its limitations on Germany. This he did by reoccupying the German...
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Rhineland, fortifying the border with France, and by rebuilding the German Wehrmacht (army), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Kriegsmarine (Navy) from scratch.
Every step Hitler made after that was solely designed to increase his empire, whether through voluntary annexation by Austria, deliberate deception as with Czechoslovakia, or through brute force, with nearly the rest of the entire continent and then some. By doing this, Hitler believed he could restore the German Empire (The Third Reich) to greatness, and achieve what he thought was his personal destiny.
This is sort of a vague question. If you can clarify, please let me know. Overall, Hitler's foreign policy was to use other countries for his own benefit. This could mean making treaties with them when it was useful (like he did with the Soviet Union when he had the Nonagression Pact with them). It could also mean taking them over if that was what seemed useful (like he did with Czechoslovakia). However, at least in the time before WWII, he was careful to use diplomacy to isolate a country like Czechoslovakia before he took it over.
The goal of Hitler's foreign policy before the war was to expand Germany as much as possible. The point of this was to get more resources and to make it harder for other countries to invade Germany.
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