How Weak Willed Allies Empowered Hitler
Hitler’s decision to remilitarize the Rhineland was a big gamble. Especially in light of the fact that the German military at the time was in no condition to do much if it faced opposition. The Germans at the time could have done nothing other than beat a humiliating retreat if the Western Allies had opposed the remilitarization with even minimal armed force. Hitler however was a gambler. He bet that while the Western Allies had the power to thwart him, they lacked the will to actually use that power.
On March 7th, 1936, against the advice of his generals, Hitler ordered 19 German battalions to occupy the Rhineland, in direct violation of the treaties of Versailles and Locarno. He won the gamble. The British and French protested, but neither took direct action to enforce the treaties’ terms. Once he had taken the measure of France and Britain, Hitler’s appetite was whetted for ever riskier gambles. He calculated that he could act more and more egregiously, secure in the knowledge that the Western Allies would strongly protest and vehemently condemn, but stop short of direct action. He continued to escalate until his invasion of Poland in 1939. He was stunned that Britain and France had finally had enough, and declared war against Germany.