What was the foreign policy adopted by Hitler?

Answer 1

Prior to WW2, Hitler's foreign policy began cautiously with a test as to whether England or France would prevent the Germans from occupying the Rhineland. Hitler's orders were to retreat if they were militarily confronted. AsEngland & France did nothing, it showed Hitler that they were going to avoid any warfare.

This was a mistake by England & France as it gave Hitler more confidence that his opponents were appeasers. Austria was taken over without any protest from England & France. Hitler's approach to foreign policy was based on gaining as much territory as possible without starting a war. He cleverly fooled Stalin into the German-Soviet Non-Agression Pact. Earlier France & England sought a treaty with Stalin but to no avail. In the eyes of the world, Stalin was placing his bets on Hitler. To make matters worse, the secret part of Hitler's deal with Stalin was that if Hitler attacked Poland, Stalin could "occupy" the eastern half of Poland. As per secret KGB documents revealed in the last days of the USSR, the Russians executed 15,000 Polish military officers in the eastern Polish forests.

Hitler began making noise about the German population in Czechoslovakia. To avoid war, The English, French & Hitler's ally, Mussolini held the Munich Conference to decide what to do about Hitler's demands on the Czechs. The PM of Czechoslovakia was not invited to an agreement that Hitler could for all practical purposes annex Czechoslovakia .

In return Hiler promised he would do no more harm in Europe. This appeasement was shocking. Without a war Hitler had retaken the Rhineland, annexed Austria and the Czechs. Unknown to the Soviets was the semi well known idea of Hitler to look to the east ( Russia ) for the rich farmland and minerals he wanted for Germany. In summation Hitler's foreign policy was to test how far he could go in acquiring territory without firing a shot. In this, prior to WW2, he succeeded.

Answer 2

Otto Von Bismarck was Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1862 - 1890 and First Chancellor of the German Empire, 1871 - 1890. His policy to encourage the union of Germany militarily was called "Blood and Iron".

Following the Prussian (German) defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war in 1871, the "Iron Chancellor's" overall foreign policy was to keep France diplomatically isolated while maintaining cordial relations with the other European states to forestall threats to the power of the German Empire he had engineered. He at first even declined to expand the German Navy or to seek a German colonial empire in order not to offend Great Britain. Bismarck's policies helped keep Europe largely peaceful until he was forced from office in 1890 by Wilhelm II, the German Emperor, who did want colonial and naval expansion and determined to get both.

Answer 3

Germany has had a foreign policy since it was created in 1871; it has varied over time.

Answer 4

Forming military alliances with other powerful European states.