ON THIS DAY ·
Hossbach Memorandum
5 Nov 1937 — At a secret conference lasting four hours, Hitler tells his service chiefs that Germany must seize living space by force, by 1943–45 at the latest. His adjutant’s minutes later become a key exhibit at Nuremberg.
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The moment in context
The Rhineland belonged to Germany, but the postwar settlement forbade German troops and fortifications there. This gave France a way to put pressure on Germany if it attacked an ally in the east: French forces could enter the undefended zone while Germany was fighting elsewhere. On 7 March 1936 Hitler sent a small force across the Rhine. Its commanders were ready to withdraw if France resisted.
From Rhineland and the Spanish Civil War, chapter 5 of The Road to War, 1931–1941 (1937).
The place: Hossbach Memorandum — map and full story →
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — Versailles’ last physical restraint was psychological. Hitler had reason to doubt that the Rhineland restrictions would be enforced. The Abyssinian crisis had fractured the Stresa Front, Britain had…
- The turn — The Rhine bridges, 7 March 1936. Some historians see the Rhine bridges as the last chance to stop Hitler cheaply. The German operation was small and its leaders expected to withdraw…
- What it changed — Belgium bolts, the Maginot logic breaks. Belgium watched Locarno fail and in October 1936 moved away from its French alliance, returning to neutrality. That made cooperation on France’s…
Then ask the room: “The dictators intervened and the democracies did not — that is the history of the Spanish war in one sentence.” Is it fair? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
The atlas that shows it
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