nazi germany - influences on foreign policy
- Created by: Abi Crew
- Created on: 09-06-22 19:55
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- influences on nazi foreign policy
- domestic policy
- design/ideology
- nazi domestic policy was based on specific ideological programme that stemmed from a mutated form of nationalism
- principle of social darwinism
- the creation of a volksgemeinschaft and the purification of the race were seen by some historians as the preliminary steps to expansionist foreign policy and a new order
- propaganda
- foreign policy as a tool for propaganda
- foreign policy existed in a realm of slogans and parades rather than concrete aims
- view that foreign policy was just propaganda is inherently flawed
- ignores precise historical context of policy developments and relies on the premise that German people were incapable of free thought
- eg. Hitler's aim to conquer Ukraine was a catalyst for rearmament
- ignores precise historical context of policy developments and relies on the premise that German people were incapable of free thought
- design/ideology
- historical tradition
- continuity
- argued that Hitler's foreign policy was essentially a playing out of the past
- bismarck onwards
- national self-assertion through ideas of expansionism was a continuous thread running through German foreign policy
- consistency to foreign policy aimed at conflict and expansionism
- continuation of policies by Stressman in the 1920s
- changes to the terms of Versailles
- Stressman's policies were peaceful and diplomatic (Locarno Treaties = no war)
- did not rule out the possibility of using force to regain territories lost to Poland at Versailles
- revisionism was inevitable after WWI, no matter the leader
- though Hitler's revisionism was more aggressive than Stressman's, it was not a new departure
- argued that Hitler's foreign policy was essentially a playing out of the past
- continuity
- economic priorities
- big business and expansion
- driven by economic consideration after 1933
- Hitler merely a pawn for capitalists who would profit from rearmament and investment in expansionist wars abroad
- argued that aggressive policy was a way of preserving domestic order through social imperialism
- link between aggressive policy and business challenged as economical links abroad would ensure more profit , especially in the Soviet Union
- Hitler's economic organisation and pre-war diplomacy were part of the same drive towards expansionism
- big business and expansion
- domestic policy
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