The Rhineland
BackGround
Clauses 42, 43, and 44 of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 made the Rhineland a demilitarized zone, an area Germany could not fortify or send soldiers into. These clauses were designed to protect France from invasion by making Germany more vulnerable and making it harder to build up an invasion force. In 1925, in the Locarno Treaties Germany voluntarily reaffirmed the demilitarization. However in 1935 Hitler had denounced the military clauses of both treaties and began to rearm the nation. The next step would be to remilitarize the Rhineland.
WHere IS the Rhineland?
The Rhineland, Germany:
The Remilitarization
On March 7th, 1936, Hitler ordered 32,000 soldiers and armed police into the Rhineland. If there was any sign of French military opposition, he told his generals, they were to withdraw. After two nervous days, it was clear France would make no move.
Reactions
Germany
Hitler learned he did not have to walk softly around the two great powers from World War I; they would ignore all but the most invasive actions. If they would not defend their own protective barrier, they certainly would not object to actions, which did not immediately effect them. Advances on Austria and Czechoslovakia, for instance.
"The fourty-eight hours after the march into the Rhineland were the most nerve-wracking in my life. If the French had then marched into the Rhineland, we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs, for the military resources at our disposal would have been wholly inadequate for even a moderate resistance." ~Hitler speaking of the remilitarization
France
As Hitler had carefully calculated, the French were far too busy dealing with political and economic problems. A military move to defend the Rhineland would be highly unpopular and might provoke the Germans. France did not know how precarious the German position was and would not chance war.
Great Britain
Most of the British believed that some terms of the Treaty of Versailles were no longer appropriate for the time, including the clauses demanding the demilitarization. Almost no citizens supported British evolvement, with some colonies outright refusing to support military action.