German and Italian Expansion

The Saar was an iron and coal rich region of Germany that bordered France. It was placed under the adminstration of the League of Nations after WW1 and France was allowed to operate and prosper from its coalmines. This was done to compensate France for coalmines destroyed by Germany in northern France during the war. 

The League of Nations held a plebiscite in the Saar in January 1935 in which residents of the Saar could vote to rejoin Germany, remain under League adminstration of merge with France

The Rhineland was a large ***** of German territory that bordered Belgium, France and Luxembourg. This zone was demilitarized at the end of the First World War to create a buffer between Germany and its western neighbours so that if there was a future war, France and Belgium would be warned far ahead of time. Germany saw the demilitarized zone as a vulnerability since France could potentially invade Germany with no resistance until Fremch armies were deep insde the country. Being unable to control its territory was also a national humiliation. 

In October 1936, a new diplomatic relationship between Germany and Italy was announced. This became known as the Rome-Berlin axis, indicating the desire or dream of this new diplomatic alignment that world affairs be determined by the governments of Italy and Germany, not london and Paris, the capitals of Britain and France. This was a clear announcement that Britain and France were no longer to be the states that determined international affairs and events and that Italy and Germany were instead to replace them in importance