Remilitarisation of the Rhineland | Wikipedia Easy Search

Location of the Rhineland, as defined by the Treaty of Versailles, along the Rhine

Territorial evolution of Germany in the 20th century
Pre-World War II Act of 5th November proclaiming Kingdom of Poland (1916) Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Ukraine (1918) Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Soviet Russia (1918) Treaty of Versailles (1919) German–Polish Convention regarding Upper Silesia (1922) Return of the Saar Basin (1935) Remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936) Anschluss with Austria (1938) Munich Agreement (1938) Seizure of Czechoslovakia (1939) Treaty of the Cession of the Memel Territory to Germany (1939) Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (1939)
World War II Großdeutschland Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany General Government Zone interdite German–Soviet Border and Commercial Agreement (1941) Tehran Conference (1943) Moscow Conference and Declaration on Austria (1943) Yalta Conference (1945) Potsdam Conference (1945)
Post-World War II Berlin Declaration (1945) Potsdam Agreement (1945) Luxembourg's annexations (1946 and 1949) Saar Protectorate (1947) Paris Protocol (1949) Dutch annexation of Elten and Selfkant (1949) Belgian annexations (1949) Esrablishment of East and West Germany (1949) Treaty of Zgorzelec (1950) Minor territorial exchanges between East Germany and Poland (1949 and 1951) Bonn–Paris conventions and de facto return of Heligoland from the UK (1952) Return of Kehl from France (1953) London and Paris Conferences (1954) Austrian State Treaty (1955) Saar Treaty (1956) "Little Reunification" with Saarland (1957) Belgium–Germany border treaty and return of the majority of annexations (1958) Return of Kammerwald from Luxembourg (1959) Ausgleichsvertrag (1960) Return of Selfkant (1963) Polish–East German Baltic Continental Shelf Delimitation Treaty (1968) Treaty of Moscow (1970) Treaty of Warsaw (1970) Four Power Agreement on Berlin (1971) Basic Treaty (1972) Treaty of Prague (1973) United Nations Security Council Resolution 335 (1973) Polish–East German Maritime Boundary in Pomeranian Bay Delimitation Treaty (1989) German–Polish Border Treaty (1990) Two Plus Four Treaty (1991) Treaty of Good Neighbourship (1991)
Areas and issues Alsace–Lorraine Former eastern territories of Germany German question Hallstein Doctrine Drang nach Osten Lebensraum Ostpolitik
Adjacent countries Territorial evolution of France Territorial evolution of Poland Territorial evolution of Switzerland
v t e

Events leading to World War II
1910s Treaty of Versailles 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1919 Polish–Soviet War 1919–1920 Polish–Lithuanian War 1919–1920
1920s Treaty of Trianon 1920 Treaty of Rapallo 1920 Franco-Polish alliance 1921 March on Rome 1922 Corfu incident 1923 Occupation of the Ruhr 1923–1925 Mein Kampf 1925 Second Italo-Senussi War 1923–1932 Dawes Plan 1924 Locarno Treaties 1925 Young Plan 1929 Great Depression 1929
1930s Japanese invasion of Manchuria 1931 Pacification of Manchukuo 1931–1942 January 28 incident 1932 Geneva Conference 1932–1934 Defense of the Great Wall 1933 Battle of Rehe 1933 Nazis' rise to power in Germany 1933 Tanggu Truce 1933 Italo-Soviet Pact 1933 Inner Mongolian Campaign 1933–1936 German–Polish declaration of non-aggression 1934 Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935 Soviet–Czechoslovakia Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935 He–Umezu Agreement 1935 Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935 December 9th Movement Second Italo-Ethiopian War 1935–1936 Remilitarization of the Rhineland 1936 Arab revolt in Palestine 1936–1939 Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 Italo-German "Axis" protocol 1936 Anti-Comintern Pact 1936 Suiyuan campaign 1936 Xi'an Incident 1936 Second Sino-Japanese War 1937–1945 USS Panay incident 1937 Anschluss Mar. 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania Mar. 1938 May Crisis May 1938 Battle of Lake Khasan July–Aug. 1938 Bled Agreement Aug. 1938 Undeclared German–Czechoslovak War Sep. 1938 Munich Agreement Sep. 1938 First Vienna Award Nov. 1938 German occupation of Czechoslovakia Mar. 1939 Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine Mar. 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania Mar. 1939 Slovak–Hungarian War Mar. 1939 Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War Mar.–Apr. 1939 Danzig Crisis Mar.–Aug. 1939 British guarantee to Poland Mar. 1939 Italian invasion of Albania Apr. 1939 Soviet–British–French Moscow negotiations Apr.–Aug. 1939 Pact of Steel May 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol May–Sep. 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact Aug. 1939 Invasion of Poland Sep. 1939
v t e

The remilitarisation of the Rhineland (German: Rheinlandbesetzung) began on 7 March 1936, when military forces of the German Reich entered the Rhineland, which directly contravened the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties. Neither France nor Britain was prepared for a military response, so they did not act. After 1939, commentators often said that a strong military move in 1936 might have ruined the expansionist plans of Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany. However, recent historiography agrees that both public and elite opinion in Britain and France strongly opposed a military intervention, and neither had an army prepared to move in.^[1]

After the end of World War I, the Rhineland came under Allied occupation. Under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the German military was forbidden from all territories west of the Rhine or within 50 km east of it. The 1925 Locarno Treaties reaffirmed the then-permanently-demilitarised status of the Rhineland. In 1929, German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann negotiated the withdrawal of the Allied forces. The last soldiers left the Rhineland in June 1930.

After the Nazi regime took power in January 1933, Germany began working towards rearmament and the remilitarisation of the Rhineland. On 7 March 1936, using the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance as a pretext, Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to march 20,000 German troops into the Rhineland, which caused joyous celebrations across Germany. The French and the British governments, unwilling to risk war, decided against enforcing the treaties.

The remilitarisation and the German rearmament changed the balance of power in Europe from France and its allies towards Germany by allowing Germany to pursue a policy of aggression in Western Europe that had been blocked by the demilitarised status of the Rhineland.

The fact that Britain and France did not intervene made Hitler believe that neither country would get in the way of Nazi foreign policy. That made him decide to quicken the pace of German preparations for war and the domination of Europe.^[2] On 14 March 1936, during a speech in Munich, Hitler stated, “Neither threats nor warnings will prevent me from going my way. I follow the path assigned to me by Providence with the instinctive sureness of a sleepwalker".^[2]

^ Norrin M. Ripsman, and Jack S. Levy, "The preventive war that never happened: Britain, France, and the rise of Germany in the 1930s." Security Studies 16.1 (2007): 32-67.
^ ^a ^b Richard J. Evans (26 July 2012). The Third Reich in Power, 1933 – 1939: How the Nazis Won Over the Hearts and Minds of a Nation. Penguin Books Limited. p. 637. ISBN 978-0-7181-9681-3.