Foreign Policy Timeline (1929-39)

The Young Plan was an attempt by former wartime allies to support the government of Weimar Germany.

Reduced the reparations to 37,000 million marks

Reduced annual payments further, spreading them over 57 years

Withdrew the last of the Allied troops from Germany

After his third term as Prime Minister, Poincaré got tired of political life and decided to resign. This was tough news for the French population since they liked Poincaré.

Stalin sees his economic policy of Collectivisation and FYP’s as successful, especially when compared with depression in Capitalist countries. Stalin felt that he could take a harsh line against non-Markist socialist parties e.g. Britain’s Labour Party, Germany’s Social Democrats. Any communication between the Communist parties of these countries as other non-Markist groups was banned, therefore in the face of a growing fascist threat the was to be no union between opposing groups. Stalin actually felt that the ‘National Socialists’ (Nazi’s) were going to help the socialist cause.

Mussolini desperately wanted to avoid the formation of the Anschluss (Mussolini saw Austria as an “Italian client state and military buffer zone” (Lee 118), and was incredibly worried when Hitler displayed plan to unite Germany and Austria.

After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, he refused to accept any reductions in armed forces and claimed that since Germany was already disarmed, the other countries should follow its lead.

Hitler withdrew from the Disarmament Conference and also from the League of Nations in October 1933.

In 1934 Germany signed a Non-Aggression Pact and then a trade agreement with Poland. This included an end to previous border disputes, agreement to negotiate differences and a ten year non-aggression treaty. This stabilised Germany's eastern borders and gave Hitler time to continue rearmament and focus on other aspects of Nazi foreign policy. Five years later Germany would officially end the treaty and invade Poland (September 1, 1939)

In March 1935, Hitler publicly announced Nazi Germany's military status and plans - which broke the terms of the Versaille treaty. Germany had 2,500 war planes in its Luftwaffe and an army of 300,000 men in its Wehrmacht. Hitler also introduced compulsory military conscription in Nazi Germany and an army target of 550,000 men.