How did the German people react to the invasion of the Rhineland?

Answer 1

The Germans were not really phased by the United States joining the war. They knew that the biggest enemy to them was the Japanesse who had bombed Pearl Harbor a day earlier. During that time the Germans still beleved that the Soviet Union was close to defeat even though at the battle of Stalingrad in 1942. When the U.S. first joined in the battle in Africa, Erwin Rommel, Feild Marshal of the Africa Core had defeated them many times. When they really started to worry is at the turning point at Kasserine Pass.

Answer 2

Firstly, it was not an "invasion". The Rhineland was a part of Germany, and a country cannot invade itself. The Rhineland is that part of Germany west of the Rhine River, on the same side of the Rhine as France. The rest of Germany, which is by far the most of Germany, is east of the Rhine. What it was, was the "remilitarization" of the Rhineland, which had been forbidden under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. This meant Germany got to keep the Rhineland after WWI, but was forbidden from creating fortifications, strong points, military air bases, lines of defenses, military bases, etc. in the Rhineland. In defiance of the Treaty Hitler sent German troops into the Rhineland, to stay there permanently. Some Germans were no doubt worried that France and Britain would go to war against Germany to enforce the terms of the Versailles Treaty, and if they had, WWII would probably never have happened. The Germans were still very weak militarily, as Hitler had only just begun to recreate a powerful German military. The Germans would probably have been easily and swiftly defeated, and Hitler swept from power as the idiot who brought that calamity upon Germany. But Britain and France lacked the political will to do anything more than protest the remilitarization, and so, Hitler got away with it, as he would get away with everything he did for the next four years, right up to the invasion of Poland. Those Germans who were Nazis, or who were nationalists or militarists, were no doubt ecstatic that Hitler had the guts to poke a finger in the eye of the British and French and to defy the terms of the hated Treaty of Versailles.