Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
German troops entered the demilitarised Rhineland on 7 March 1936, and nobody stopped them. The zone had been created by the Treaty of Versailles and confirmed by Locarno in 1925 — which Germany had signed voluntarily, unlike Versailles, and which is why the move mattered legally. Its purpose was French security. A Germany with no forces west of the Rhine could not attack France without weeks of visible preparation, and could not defend the Ruhr against a French advance, which is what made French guarantees to Poland and Czechoslovakia credible. Hitler moved about 22,000 troops in, with three battalions crossing the bridges. His generals opposed it and the orders were explicit: if the French army moved at all, the troops were to withdraw immediately. He said afterwards that the forty-eight hours that followed were the most nerve-racking of his life. France had around a hundred divisions available and did not move. The reasons were domestic and diplomatic. It was weeks from an election; the general staff overestimated German strength by a factor of several and insisted that any response meant full mobilisation; and Britain, whose foreign secretary said the Germans were only going into their own back garden, would not support action. The Council of the League condemned it and did nothing. The strategic consequence was immediate: France began building the Maginot Line's northern extensions and lost the ability to help its eastern allies, which is what made Munich possible two years later. Hitler's judgement had been vindicated against his own army.
- Year: 1936 CE
- Category: Military
