What were the resources that Germany was seeking in taking over Rhineland and Poland?

Answer 1

These are two separate areas. I'll address the Rhineland first.

To begin, Hitler/Germany did not 'take over' the Rhineland. The French had been encroaching on western German lands for a couple centuries. Napoleon had greatly expanded France at the expense of the Germans around 1800. A little bit of payback came when Germany took back the province of Alsace (German speaking) and about half of Loraine (important militarily and economically) in 1870. The French boiled after the loss of these two areas and were quick to get into war with Germany in 1914 to regain them.

The French were on the winning side in WWI and sought massive territorial transfers of German lands, something on the order of what Napoleon had gained at his peak in the early 1800's. The other allies refused to allow the French such gluttony, but France did get back her two lost provinces of Loraine and Alsace (still German speaking). However, the French had also wanted the eastern border of their country moved all the way east, about 100 miles, to the Rhine river. Instead they were forced to accept that this area of Germany would be 'demilitarized'.

Thus, Germany was not allowed fortifications, military bases or even troops, in the area. This was meant to give the French some buffer from the German army. In order to enforce reparations the French later sent in their own troops to this area where they raped local women and pillaged the land.

Later when Hitler came to power he pledged to put a stop to this national disgrace. One of his first acts was to order a symbolic marching of German army troops into the Rhineland. Again this was purely symbolic and was not meant a direct threat to any neighbor nation. In fact, the troops were under orders to retreat should they be attacked by French military. In summary, Germany remilitarized the Rhineland but did not 'take over' the area.

As for Poland - this situation was in some ways similar. Poland had once been a great country, in the 1500's and 1600's, but had gradually faded, mostly due to incompetent political leadership. Eventually the nation disappeared from the map of Europe, as various pieces were taken over by Austria, Prussia, and Russia (Russia gained the most by far, probably 70% including the capital, Warsaw).

After WWI, the Poles were granted independence by the western allies. Their new nation was given territory from Russia and Germany for the most part. The Poles were not satisfied with this arrangement however, and pushed their borders outward. They occupied a huge swath of Russian lands on the east. To the west they sent regular army troops to try and steal land from an already shrunken Germany. Local German militias turned out to defeat these invaders and the Poles were stymied in moving further west.

When Hitler came to power one of his goals was to unite the various German speaking peoples of the world into one nation. Poland contained a large minority of Germans, their lands having been given to Poland by the French and British. Hitler demanded the return of these territories. The Poles, thinking France and Britain would help them, resisted. War ensued and Germany quickly liberated their people from Polish rule, plus occupied a portion of the rest of Poland. Russia too, got their revenge, and attacked from the east, taking about half the nation.

The resources Hitler's Germany gained in Poland were extensive. The western Polish lands contained iron, coal, zinc, and lead in good quantities, plus some heavy industrial plants. Some decent aggricultural lands were also taken, although most of those were in the east, taken by the Soviets. Germany also improved her strategic situation. Her new national borders were more rounded or even, allowing for easier defense. Some buffer lands were created as defense against the Soviets. The Polish army had been a potential enemy, and it was eliminated.

Although Hitler cetainly had some justification in occupying western Poland, the western allies saw this as the first expansion of Germany beyond purely German speaking territories, and declared war. WWII had begun.