Origins & Outbreak of the Second World War Practice Questions

Study Source A below, then answer the question.

Source A: From an editorial in an Italian newspaper controlled by Mussolini's Fascist government, published at the end of July 1934, a few days after Austrian Nazis murdered the Austrian Chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuss, during a failed attempt to seize power in Vienna.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

On 25 July Austrian Nazis forced their way into the Chancellery in Vienna and shot Chancellor Dollfuss, then left him to die. Their plot has failed, but no one should pretend it was the work of a few hotheads acting alone. For months the radio in Munich has urged Austrians to rise against their government, and Austrian Nazis have been trained and sheltered across the German frontier. Berlin now says it knew nothing. Italy is not deceived. Our divisions stand ready at the Brenner Pass, and they will stay there. Austria's independence is not Germany's to take.

Study Sources B and C below, then answer the question.

Source B: From a statement issued by the German government press office in Berlin on 12 March 1938, written for publication in German newspapers on the day German troops entered Austria.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

German troops crossed the frontier into Austria this morning at the request of the new Austrian government, in order to prevent disorder and bloodshed. Everywhere they have been met with flowers and with cheering crowds. For twenty years the German people of Austria have been held apart from the Reich by a treaty forced upon them. That injustice is now at an end. A vote will be held so that every Austrian may freely declare his support for union with Germany. No other nation has cause for alarm. This is a family matter between Germans.

Source C: From a letter written by a British teacher who had lived in Vienna for six years, sent to her sister in England on 27 March 1938.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

You would not know this city. Swastika flags hang from nearly every window, and thousands cheered the German soldiers as they came in. Many here genuinely believe that union with Germany will bring work and bread after years of hardship. But that is not the whole story. My neighbour, a Jewish bookseller, was made to scrub the pavement while a crowd stood and laughed. His shop is now shut and his son has been arrested. Friends of mine are desperate for visas. The welcome you read about in the newspapers is not shared by everyone.

Study Sources B and C below, then answer the question.

Source B: From an editorial in a British newspaper, 24 August 1939, the morning after Germany and the USSR signed a non-aggression pact in Moscow.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

For six years Germany's rulers have told the world that communism is their deadliest enemy. Now their foreign minister has flown to Moscow and signed. Nobody should be deceived about what this agreement means. Hitler no longer fears a war on two fronts, and Poland stands in the gravest danger. Those who hoped that Moscow would join us in resisting aggression must accept that the summer's talks have come to nothing. Our pledge to Poland remains, and the government has declared that nothing agreed in Moscow alters it. If German troops cross the Polish frontier, this country will not stand aside a second time.

Source C: From an article in a Soviet newspaper, written for Soviet readers at the end of August 1939, explaining the government's decision to sign the pact with Germany.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

Our country has been patient. For months our representatives waited while Britain and France sent officials without the authority to agree anything, and while they refused to say how their armies would act if the Soviet Union were attacked. We remember Munich, where great states settled the fate of Czechoslovakia without inviting us to the table. A government must protect its own people. The agreement signed in Moscow removes the danger of war from our western frontier and gives us time to strengthen our defences and our industry. The Soviet Union has no quarrel with the German people, and we shall not fight other nations' battles.

(The Nazi–Soviet Pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939.)