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Replies: 1 / Views: 43Nineteen months would elapse from the day Hitler grabbed control of the German Army until the actual start of World War II. During those months, Hitler engaged in a kind of gangster diplomacy in which he bluffed, bullied, threatened, and lied to various European leaders in order to expand the borders of his Reich.
His very first victim was Dr. Kurt von Schuschnigg, Chancellor of Austria, a country being torn apart from within by Nazi agitators and also feeling threatened from the outside by Germany's newfound military strength. Hoping for some sort of peaceful settlement with Hitler, Schuschnigg agreed to a face-to-face meeting at Berchtesgaden. The meeting was arraigned by Franz von Papen, the former ambassador to Austria.
On the chilly winter morning of February 12, 1938, Schuschnigg's car was met at the German-Austrian border by Papen, who joined him for the ride up to Hitler's spectacular mountaintop retreat. Papen informed Schuschnigg that Hitler was in a very good mood this morning. But, Papen added, Hitler hoped that Schuschnigg wouldn't mind if three of Germany's top generals were also present during the day's discussion.
Schuschnigg was somewhat taken aback by this, but it was too late to change anything now. He arrived at the steps of Hitler's villa and was greeted by the Führer himself. Standing behind Hitler were the three generals; Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the High Command, Walter von Reichenau, Commander of Army troops along the German-Austrian border, and Air Force General Hugo Sperrle.
Hitler led Schuschnigg into his villa and up to the great hall on the second floor, a big room featuring a huge plate glass window with sweeping views of the Alps, and in the far distance, Austria itself. Schuschnigg, taking it all in, broke the ice with a little small talk about the view. But Hitler cut him right off. "We did not gather here to speak of the fine view or the weather!"
Thus began two hours of hell in which the quiet-spoken Austrian Chancellor was lambasted without mercy by the Führer. "You have done everything to avoid a friendly policy!" Hitler yelled. "The whole history of Austria is just one uninterrupted act of high treason...And I can tell you right now, Herr Schuschnigg, that I am absolutely determined to make an end of this. The German Reich is one of the great powers, and nobody will raise his voice if it settles its border problems."
Before Ribbentrop had even arrived in Moscow to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the British were already reacting to news of the agreement which had leaked out.
The Pact didn't change anything as far as the British government was concerned and it so informed Adolf Hitler. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sent the Führer a personal letter warning him that if the Nazis invaded Poland, the British would "employ without delay all the forces at their command, and it is impossible to foresee the end of hostilities once engaged..."
The letter was delivered to Hitler at Berchtesgaden on August 23rd by British Ambassador Nevile Henderson and sent Hitler into one of his classic fits of rage. Up to this point, Hitler had been assuring his generals that Britain and France would not go to war over Poland. "The men I got to know at Munich are not the kind to start a new world war," Hitler boasted during a military conference at Berchtesgaden.
All during 1939, Hitler had been spending more and more of his time atop his Berchtesgaden mountain retreat trying to figure things out. Thus far in his career, he had been the master chess player on the European stage, humbling and outmaneuvering all of his opponents, always a step or two ahead of everyone.
But now the game had changed. No longer was it a matter of bluff and dare. It had come down to actual threats of war, upon which rested the fate of millions. Hitler threatened war. Poland threatened war. Britain and France were threatening war.
Even the Americans were getting involved. President Franklin Roosevelt barged into the whole mess with a telegram to Hitler inquiring: "Are you willing to give assurance that your armed forces will not attack or invade the territory of the following independent nations?" Roosevelt listed 31 nations including Poland, the Baltic States, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Britain.
Hitler gave his answer during a speech to the Reichstag and assured 'Herr Roosevelt' that Germany only had peaceful intentions toward its neighbors. Germany, Hitler declared, "had not thought of proceeding in any way against Poland."
The problem was that nobody outside Germany believed him anymore. Hitler had lied once too often. And he had made the dreadful mistake of humbling and embarrassing the leaders of the British Empire, who would never forgive him for trashing the Munich Agreement. Britain would fight, they warned him and it could mean a new world war. But despite the repeated warnings, Hitler was still convinced Britain would back off at the last moment.
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