Why was the Rhineland important?

Answer 1

The Rhineland, that is the area of Germany between the Rhine river & the Holland, Belgium, French border was designated to be occupied by allied forces after WW1. They were supposed to be there until 1935 but were withdrawn in 1930. It was to be a demilitarised buffer zone. General Guderian was quoted after the war (WW2) that Germany would have been powerless to oppose an allied intervention when Hitler marched a couple of divisions in, & the likelyhood would have been the removal of Hitler as chancellor at that time ! Hindsight is such a wonderful attribute !

Answer 2

The Rhineland was established as a demilitarized zone after World War I to protect France from its enemy neighbor, Germany. It was territory taken from Germany to act as a barrier between France and Germany. When Hitler came to power and started to reconquer lands Germany lost after WWI, he reoccupied the Rhineland and faced no opposition from France. This is because France and the United Kingdom were undergoing a policy of appeasement, where they would basically ignore Hitler and his actions to avoid war to a certain extent. They did not see the reoccupation of the Rhineland as an act of aggression by Hitler, and therefore did not take action. This was a vital mistake for the Allies and ultimately played a factor in the fall of France.

Answer 3

Under the Treaty of Versailles, the Rhineland was demilitarized, due to its proximity to the French and Low Countries borders. The Rhineland was the heart of the German steel and heavy industry manufacture, and when Germany occupied it, it was viewed as an act of aggression.

Answer 4

Remilitarization of the Rhineland was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. So was starting a new German Air Force. The original German Air Force was completely dismantled after WWI and Germany was forbidden to have an air force by the Treaty.

In 1935, Hitler both restarted the German Air Force and remilitarized the Rhineland. Hitler had only been in power for two years, and had only really consolidated his hold on Germany in 1934. He had taken only the first few steps toward rearming Germany, and the German military was not yet formidable.

Had the British and French dealt firmly with Hitler in 1935, its likely Hitler would have been stopped at that point, and might have lost his leadership role in Germany. Thus, the Second World War might have been averted by insisting Germany abide by the Treaty of Versailles in 1935.