1 

history 
The move to global war 
Germany 1933-1938 1 
coursebook: 
The Move to Global War: IB History Course 
Book: Oxford IB Diploma Program 
teacher: Mr. Némethy 
 
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OPVCL. ”With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyse 

the value and limitations of the source for a historian.” 
 
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contents I. 

II. 
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III. 
 
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What was Hitler’s vision and how did he intend to achieve this vision? 
read the summary and fill int he table with the appropriate names fill in the table with the 
appropriate information appropriate information on the next page 
 
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Did Adolf Hitler have a clear plan (blueprint) how to attain his 
aims/vision when he took power in 1933? Historians are divided: 

NO BLUEPRINT YES, HITLER HAD A 

BLUEPRINT 
historians historians 
name of school 
historians 
name of school 
main argument 
phases 
 
9 
A.J.P. Taylor tells us about the creation of the Hossbach document: "In moderne practice, an 
official record demands three things. First, a secretary must attend to take notes which he 
writes up afterwards in orderly form. Then his draft must be submitted to to the participants 
for correction and approval. Finally the record must be placed in the official files. None of 
this took place in regard to the meeting on 5 November 1937, except that Hossbach attended. 
He took no notes. Five days later he wrote an account of the meeting from memory in 
longhand. He twice offered to show the manuscript to Hitler, who replied that he was too busy 
to read it. This was a curiously causal treatment for what is supposed to be his "last will and 
testament". 
How does Taylor consider the Hossbach Memorandum? Why? TOK 
 
10 
”Mein Kampf’s reliability is unquestionable, although not in termsof what the policy actually 
consisted of during the period, as it was written a decade before Hitler had the power to turn his dreams 
into reality. However, as a stimulus for future policy Mein Kampf is reliable as it was written by the same 
man who instigated the policies being studied. Equally important in determining the reliability of the 
alternative interpretations of the book is the consideration that the original was written in German. 
Translation into English lays open the risk of altering and misunderstanding the original text in some 
ways. For example, the translator of the Pimlico edition, Ralph Manheim, states: “There are certain traits 
of Hitler’s style that are peculiarly German and do present a problem in translation”. He goes on to state: 
“No non-German would write such labyrinthine sentences” and that Hitler’s writing is cluttered with 
“useless little words like: wohl, ja, denn, schon, noch, eigentlich, ... which he strews about quite 
needlessly”. These words have no English equivalent and are, therefore, lost in translation.” 
A study of the German version of Mein Kampf and the English translation confirms that 
Manheim’s ‘useless little words’ indeed make a material difference in a German sentence. They can 
underline and accentuate certain statements, which makes them appear more direct and powerful. Their 
presence makes a strong difference to Hitler’s intended meaning. This is, however, only something that 
the German reader can perceive. These little words are usually employed orally and do not normally 
appear in written texts as often as in Mein Kampf. The South Germans and Austrians are especially 
addicted to these ‘little words’, and they can be found in almost every one of Hitler’s sentences. This is 
one factor that removes some authenticity from the working English source. However, the core language 
of the English version still provides an insight into Hitler’s mind, demonstrating how his talents lay in 
oratory rather than in writing. 
Hendrik K. Hogrefe is a history undergraduate at the Universities of Goettingen and Cambridge. 
What does the source suggest regarding the importance of the Mein Kampf? 
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TOK. What problems can arise as to the English translation of the Mein Kamp? 
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Hitler disliked writing and so there are no vast files of Führer correspondence for historians to 
study.He made no margin comments on official documents, but preferred to discuss problems 
unofficially with close friends. It is therefore very difficult to trace the development of his ideas for 
the future. He distrusted his diplomats and by the late 1930’s did not keep a diary and wrote few 
private letters or memoranda. Consequently, historians are left with Mein Kampf and the few 
existing records of confidential addresses in the 1930s to highranking party officials, businessmen 
and army commanders. 
What does the source suggest as to why it is so difficult for historians to study Hitler’s foreign 
policy objectives? 
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11 
The nature of Hitler’s charismatic leadership is another factor to be taken into account when analysing the 
motives behind his foreign policy. Hitler was driven by the need for constant success and that is what he 
achieved in his foreign policy, taking over one country after another, at first without even the need for 
war. Hitler’s apparently sensationally effective ‘coups’ in foreign policy were fundamental to his hold on 
the German people. By 1938, if one ‘coup’ did not swiftly follow another, there was a sense, even among 
ordinary German people, that Hitler’s grasp was slipping. The essence of Hitler’s style was the method of 
conducting foreign policy by sudden moves, often carried out at weekends and designed to catch potential 
opponents off guard. He adapted the methods of the streetwise agitator- methods that had brought him 
success on his road to power to his application of foreign policy. Undisciplined and often slothful in his 
personal lifestyle, Hitler was not a calculating long-term planner and his approach was not that of a chess 
player. He was, as A.J.P. Taylor suggests, a high-risk gambler, for whom the concept of policy based on 
collective decisionmaking was an alien concept. 
Hendrik K. Hogrefe is a history undergraduate at the Universities of Goettingen and Cambridge 
What does the source suggest as to Hitler’s foreign policy? How does the source relate to Taylor’s 
views? 
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Trevor- Roper argues that Mein Kampf is clear proof for Hitler’s later plans after 1933- 34 and that the 
Memorandum reiterates the theory of Hitler as a “master planner” as early as 1923-24, when he wrote 
Mein Kampf. Bullock states that, contrary to a common misconception, Hitler did not want war with 
Britain and France in 1939. What he wanted was small wars of plunder to help support Germany’s 
struggling economy (although the Nazis never broadcast their financial problems). Hitler wanted a full 
scale European war with Britain and France by no later than 1943, before Germany’s rivals were fully 
rearmed. This can be seen in the Hossbach Memorandum and thus it would prove his aggressive 
intentions as early as 1937. This raises the question of whether there was intent on Hitler’s part to start a 
war rather than just a hypothetical scenario; the Allies at Nuremberg certainly defined it as intent. ... 
The synthesised and balanced view can be found, among others, in the writings of Alan Bullock who 
maintains that Hitler had a consistency of aim and that it “never changed from its first definition in Mein 
Kampf.” However, Bullock claims there was never a definite blueprint to achieve this aim. Hitler was an 
opportunist in his methods, and also in his effort to restore German military power, expand its frontiers 
and create living space. Bullock also claims that he was an opportunist in his firmness of purpose, strong 
will and readiness to threaten, bluff, gamble and fight to achieve these aims. According to Bullock, 
opportunism was Hitler’s weapon in fulfilling his aims. While he may have employed time limits, using 
what Bullock calls “one at a time tactics,” he never used a timetable. 
Perhaps it could be suggested that Mein Kampf was in fact written as some form of selfjustification, and 
to make people take him seriously as an original thinker. This is a view which is supported by Bullock 
who suggests that few contemporary readers had their interests awakened by Mein Kampf. Yet all of 
Hitler’s later foreign policy moves can be found in Mein Kampf and so Bullock suggests that World War 
Two could have been predicted in 1924. 
What is Bullock’s viewpoint on Hitler as a planner with clear blueprint? 
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12 
How does Bullock see the Mein Kampf? 
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Alan Bullock 
(1914–2004) was a distinguished British historian and well-known broadcaster. He grew 
up in the north of England and was trained as an historian at Oxford. From 1940 to 1945 he worked in the 
BBC’s European Service, acting as diplomatic correspondent during the latter part of the Second World War. 
He then became a fellow of the New College, and in 1952 was made Censor of St. Catherine’s. Among his 
other books are The Liberal Tradition and The Life and Times of Ernest Bevin; he also edited The Ribbentrop 
Memoirs. 

Conclusion - a synthesis 
Neither Mein Kampf on its own, nor the Hossbach Memorandum on its own, may be as valuable a source 
as many might think for studying German foreign policy during the years 1933- 39. Only when used in 
conjunction with other sources does Mein Kampf have some value in determining where the stimulus for 
Hitler’s foreign policy originated, and for seeing how close he came to achieving what he generally 
intended to do. Nevertheless, what Hitler achieved in the later 1930’s seems to bear a considerable 
resemblance to the aims he set out in Mein Kampf and the Hossbach Memorandum. Moreover, when 
placing these events in the context of the 1930’s, then the case for seeing Hitler as someone who was 
propelling towards war from the outset seems even stronger. ... 
The speed and consistency with which Hitler moved from one crisis to the next suggests that 
much more than clever opportunism was at work. It is simply not credible to think that Hitler could, by 
accident, have moved Germany from the situation it had been in during 1933 to that in which it found 
itself in 1939. A.J.P. Taylor may have dismissed Mein Kampf as the ‘day dreaming’ of a marginal 
right-winger, and certainly not everything that Hitler aspired to in the book actually came to pass. But 
even if it is agreed that Mein Kampf does not contain a detailed timetable, and even if it is acknowledged 
that it is impossible to see in it a consistent set of plans, it must be recognised that, in broad terms, the 
vision which Hitler outlined in this book and in the Hossbach Memorandum bears a striking resemblance 
to the broad policies of expansion, aggression and violence he pursued from 1933 onwards. Perhaps the 
best way to think about Nazi aggression is not as the product of a careful, detailed planner, but also not 
simply the product of short-term opportunism either. A more apt description of Hitler’s aggression in the 
1930s was that it was the work of a visionary, a man with a vision of a German dominated Europe 
towards which he was working throughout his political career, and which he would use any means to 
achieve. 
What is the most accepted view today amongst historians as to Hitler’s foreign policy 
according to the sources? 
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13 
Using the sources and your own knowledge, discuss to what extent did Adolf Hitler have a 
clear plan to start a global war before 1939? (mini-essay - about 25 minutes to write it!) 
source A source B 
Since the 1960's, there have been two main schools of thought on this subject. According to the 
‘fanatic' view, expressed by historians like Hugh Trevor-Roper, Hitler aimed consistently at 
expansion and war. His Lebensraum policy has been emphasised since the days of his 
imprisonment, and naturally struggle and war were seen to be vital to its success. Trevor-Roper 
believes Hitler had a clear vision that involved a master plan for war and he completely 
controlled the events that culminated in his attack on Poland in 1939. The evidence for this 
interpretation comes from Mein Kampf and, according to Trevor-Roper, the ideas expressed in 
Mein Kampf and the Zweite Buch - Hitler's secret book which was never published - are the keys 
to understanding German foreign policy after 1933. source C 
draft 
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14 
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16 

To what extent was Hitler’s foreign policy a continuation of earlier 

German foreign policy or a radical break from the past? 
1. Hitler's foreign policy was not very unique - a continuation of earlier German foreign policy/ 
German 
traditions eg. Fritz Fischer and A.J.P. Taylor. Nazi foreign policy continued a long-held German 
expansionist 
policy rather than being a new policy. 
Fritz Fischer (1908 –1999) was a German historian best known for his analysis of the causes of World War I In the 
early 1960s Fischer advanced the controversial thesis that responsibility for the outbreak of the war rested solely on 
Imperial Germany. He has been described by The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing as the most 
important German historian of the 20th century. 
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 
Alan John Percivale Taylor (1906 –1990) was an English historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century 
European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his television 
lectures. His combination of academic rigour and popular appeal led the historian Richard Overy to describe him as 
"the Macaulay of our age". 

2. Hitler's foreign policy was unique (Friedrich Meinecke, Gerhard Ritter, Ralf Dahrendorf, Prof John 
Hiden). 
Hitler’s foreign policy had distinctive features opposed to the former German expansionist policy. 
John William Hiden (1940-2012) was a British historian who was emeritus professor of Baltic studies at Bradford 
University and senior research fellow at Glasgow University. He was a specialist in modern German history and the 
history of the Baltic republics. 

The Origins of the Second World War by Dr Ruth Henig. University of Lancaster. new perspective. 
Volume 3. Number 1. September 1997 /http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~semp/origins.htm/ 

The Debate about Continuity 

While historians accept that there are some similarities between the foreign ambitions of Wilhelmine 
Germany, the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, recent studies (such as Germany and Europe 
1919-39 by Professor John Hiden) place more emphasis on those characteristics which made Nazi foreign 
policy objectives so different from those of preceding regimes. We can identify four areas of policy which 
clearly illustrate a change of policy after 1933 rather than a continuity of aim. 
 
17 

Lack of Continuity. 1 The Racial Element 

While Germany's geographical position made it inevitable that she would seek to exert power in eastern 
Europe, it was only the Nazi regime which sought to establish in the East and in Russia an empire based 
on race, in which those of Aryan descent would rule over lesser Slav subject races. As John Hiden has 
pointed out, German leaders during the First World War 'followed an expansionist policy in the East 
primarily to help them preserve a conservative reactionary status quo, not a racially-driven revolution of 
German, then European and, ultimately, world society!' In this sense, Hitler's aims were truly 
revolutionary. ... The change was to have far-reaching implications, as Hitler later declared: `with the 
concept of race, National Socialism will carry its revolution abroad and recast the world'. 

Lack of Continuity. 2 Colonial and Trade Policy 

Hitler himself pointed out in Mein Kampf that, whereas the aim of German governments before 1914 was 
to secure colonies overseas and to acquire markets worldwide, the objectives of the Third Reich would be 
very different: to expand Germany's living space in the East and to try to make the country economically 
as self-sufficient as possible. Hitler was not greatly interested in the return of the pre-1914 German 
colonies; what he sought was the productive soil of eastern Europe which could support an expansionist 
Aryan state and enable it to become one of the world's dominant powers. He was convinced that 
Germany's former dependence on international trade had laid it open to the malign influence of external 
enemies, particularly scheming Jewish financiers. Thus, his aim was to ensure that through bilateral trade 
agreements and the manufacture of synthetic materials, Germany could be in full control of its economic 
development and therefore master of its political and military destiny. 

Lack of Continuity. 3 The Role of Russia 

Russo-German relations were a central element in European history from the mid-nineteenth century 
onwards. Both Bismarck, after 1870, and Weimar governments of the 1920s recognised the importance of 
cultivating good relations with Russia, to prevent Germany from becoming encircled by a ring of hostile 
powers and to allow some freedom to manoeuvre within the European diplomatic system. Even in the 
period between 1892 and 1914, when Russia and France were in alliance against Germany, there were 
dynastic ties between the Kaiser and the Tsar, and the recognition of similar domestic social and political 
goals. 
Hitler's attitude to Bolshevik Russia was very different. He viewed it as an ideological enemy, a 
monstrous regime based on Communist doctrines of class division and led by racially-unfit Jews. His 
hostility to Russia was, therefore, based not on its potential strategic threat or military power but on its 
capacity to undermine Germany's social and political foundations and contaminate its Aryan race. In the 
long run, there could be no compromise between the Third Reich and Bolshevik Russia. The Russian 
regime had to be defeated and dismantled to make way for the establishment of an enlarged Aryan 
empire. 

Lack of Continuity. 4 The International System 

It has sometimes been argued that, as Foreign Secretary in the 1920s, Stresemann pursued aims similar to 
those of Hitler, centred on the removal of the shackles of Versailles and revision of frontiers in eastern 
Europe which would allow for the recovery of German power and for substantial expansion eastwards. 
There is no doubt that Stresemann, like all Weimar leaders, and like Bismarck before him, aimed to 
restore Germany's power within the existing international system, working through the League of Nations 
and through the conference diplomacy of Locarno. Like Bismarck, he sought a pivotal and possibly 
dominating role in European diplomacy, but he did not aim to overturn the whole system. 
 
18 
Hitler, however, viewed alliances and diplomatic agreements as tactical ploys (a strategem: a cleverly 
contrived trick, or a cunning plan or action), which would protect Germany from attack while she was 
still relatively unarmed and vulnerable, but which could be repudiated later on. His overriding aim was to 
build up Germany's power to the point where he would be in a position to challenge and to overthrow the 
existing international system, replacing it with a racially-based global order. Whereas Stresemann and 
Bismarck worked through diplomacy and negotiated agreement to achieve defined goals, Hitler 
emphasised the importance of ceaseless struggle to achieve his aims. As he wrote in 1928: 'Wherever our 
success may end, that will always be only the starting-point of a new fight'. 
Thus, Hitler's approach to international affairs was very different from that of his predecessors or, indeed, 
from that of the foreign leaders with whom he was dealing after 1933. They sought to negotiate with him 
and were agreeable to the restoration of a considerable degree of German power, so long as it was 
negotiated within the existing European order. Hitler's aim was to destroy that order but, in the short term, 
he was prepared to work through it to achieve his long-term goals. It was both the revolutionary nature of 
Hitler's ultimate objectives and the accommodating flexibility of his methods which made him so 
different from previous German leaders and so dangerous to Europe. 
Summarise Prof John Hiden’s position on the unique nature/features of the Nazi foreign policy 
under Adolf Hitler. Make references to the key features of the former German expansionist policy 
as well. 
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20 
What were the key aims/objectives/goals of Hitler’s foreign policy in the Mein Kampf? 
(paper 1 -part a) 
What shifts occured in Hitler’s thinking as to his foreign policy aims? 
 
21 
What is stressed by Hitler in his speech (1933)? 
Is the message of the speech in accordance with the later events? 
OPVCL. With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyse the value and limitations of the 
source for a historian studying German foreign policy after 1933. 
value based on origin: 
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value based on purpose: 
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value based on content: 
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limitation based on origin: 
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limitation based on purpose: 
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limitation based on content: 
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22 

What characterized the first years of Hitler’s foreign policy according to the 
sources 
key constituents of the first years of Hitler’s foreign policy: 
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23 
What is the historical importance of the Geneva Disarmament Conference held in 1933? 
Why was it crucial for Hitler to leave the conference and the League of Nation? 
What was the international impact of the German departure from the conference and 
why? 
 
24 
What does the source (cartoon) suggest? What message is conveyed by the cartoonist? 
What does the source (cartoon) suggest? What message is conveyed by the cartoonist? 
 
25 
What does the source (cartoon) suggest? What message is conveyed by the cartoonist as to 
the success of the Geneva Conference? 
 
26 
first question part a – 3 marks (3 elements) 
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27 
third question – compare and contrast 
similarities 
▪ Both sources highlight that ..................... 
▪ Both sources comment on ...................... 
▪ Both sources reveal that ......................... 
▪ Both sources focus on ............................. 
▪ Both sources mention ............................. 
▪ Both sources show that .......................... 
▪ Both sources suggest that ...................... 
▪ Both sources demonstrate sth/that ....................... 
▪ Both sources claim that .......................... 
▪ Both source agree that the main cause/nature/consequence of sth was the same 

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contrasts 
▪ Source G indicates that .................................... whereas Source E ................................... 
▪ Source G is more focused on .................... whereas Source E .......................................... 
▪ Source E states that ......................... whereas Source G suggests that ................................. 
▪ Source I claims that ......................... whereas Source J claims .......................................... 
▪ Source I suggests ............................ whereas Source J claims .......................................... 
▪ Source M is completely in favour of ............................whereas Source O is strongly opposed to ...................... 
▪ Source T suggests that problems stemmed from ...................... whereas Source S suggests that they also 
stemmed from other things eg. .............................................................. 
▪ Source B provides an emotive account of events describing ................. whereas Source D focuses on 
a more objective assessment of the events by ................................................................. 
▪ While source G is critical of the ................................Source H states that ............................ 
▪ While source G views sth as the main factor for sth (eg.victory), source H considers other factors such as..... 
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28 
 
29 

✓ What was the League of Nations established for? ✓ What was 

the League of Nations? 
What was the principal purpose of the league? 
 
30 
What was the concept of collective security about? 
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According to the source in what sense was the concept of collective security revolutionary? 
What does the source (cartoon) suggest to a historian studying international affairs 
between the two world wars? 
OPVCL. With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyse the value and limitations of the 
source for a historian. 
 
31 
What key aspect of the League does the cartoon refer to? How did it influence the 
effectiveness of the League? Why? 
What is the danger Wilson is talking about? 
How did the US Senate relate to the idea of establishing the League of Nations according to 
the source? Why? 
Why was the position of the Senate so crucial? 
Lodge, Henry Cabot (1850-1924), an American Republican Senator and Chairman of the 
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 
How do the two sources (Lodge’s viewpoint and the cartoon) relate to each other? 
Compare them! Discuss it with your partner! 
 
32 
What does the source suggest? What message does the cartoonist try to convey to the 
viewer? 
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OPVCL? 
Why was the absence of the US catastrophic? 
 
33 
Why was the absence of the US catastrophic? What does the source suggest? 
The League was composed of a General Assembly, which included delegations from all member states, a 
permanent secretariat that oversaw administrative functions, and an Executive Council, the membership 
of which was restricted to the great powers. The Council consisted of four permanent members (Great 
Britain, France, Japan, and Italy) and four non-permanent members. At its largest, the League of Nations 
was comprised of 58 member-states. Except for Great Britain and France, which remained members 
during the entire life of the League, most of the major powers joined it only for brief periods. Germany 
joined in 1926, but withdrew in 1933, when Japan also left after having been condemned for its 
intervention in Manchuria. Italy withdrew in 1937 after its conquest of Ethiopia. The Soviet Union joined 
in 1934 but was expelled in 1939 for invading Finland. The failure to obtain universality of membership 
and the unwillingness of some states to renounce was as a means of policy came in conflict with the 
fundamental principles of the League. Moreover, the members declined to accept the rule that an attack 
on any one state was to be considered an attack on all others, which was the main idea behind the 
League's concept of collective security. Since the sense of community and mutual confidence needed for 
the system of collective security was singularly lacking in the 1930s, the rather positive results achieved 
in the first decade of the existence of the League could not be repeated. 
 
34 
How strong was the foundation of the League? 
What fundamental problem did the League have to face? What does the source suggest? 
 
35 
What do the sources suggest as regards the League of Nations? 
OPVCL. With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyse the value and limitations of the 
source for a historian. 
 
36 

Summarize what fundamental weaknesses did the League of Nations have in 
terms of membership? Write a mini-essay on it using your own knowledge 
and the sources given. 
source A source B 
 
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