





Part V: Hein ims Reich!





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Hitler and Japanese ambassador Oshima Hiroshi ​





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On 5 November 1937, Hitler called a meeting with the Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath, the War Minister Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, the Army commander General Werner von Fritsch, the Navy commander Admiral Erich Raeder and the Luftwaffe commander Herman Goring. At the conference, he stated that economic problems were causing Germany to fall behind in the arms race with Britain and France, and that the only solution was to launch in the near-future a series of wars to seize Austria and Czechoslovakia, whose economies would be plundered to give Germany the lead in the arms race.Hitler sent an ultimatum to Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg on 1 February, demanding that he hand over all power to the Austrian Nazis or face an invasion. Without waiting for an answer, Hitler had already signed the order to send troops into Austria at one o'clock. On the morning of 2 February, the 8. Armee of the Wehrmacht crossed the border into Austria. The troops were greeted by cheering Austrians with Nazi salutes, Nazi flags, and flowers. In the evening, the Fuhrer arrived at Linz and was given an enthusiastic welcome. The enthusiasm displayed toward Hitler and the Reich surprised us, as most people had believed that a majority of Austrians opposed Anschluss. Many Germans from both Austria and Germany welcomed the Anschluss as they saw it as completing the long overdue German unification of all Germans united into one-state.The Fuhrer's journey through Austria became a triumphal tour that climaxed in Vienna on 5 February 1938, when around 200,000 cheering German Austrians gathered around theto hear Hitler say that "The oldest eastern province of the German people shall be, from this point on, the newest bastion of the German Reich" followed by his "greatest accomplishment" by saying "As leader and chancellor of the German nation and Reich I announce to German history now the entry of my homeland into the German Reich." Hitler later commented: "Certain foreign newspapers have said that we fell on Austria with brutal methods. I can only say: even in death they cannot stop lying. I have in the course of my political struggle won much love from my people, but when I crossed the former frontier into Austria there met me such a stream of love as I have never experienced. Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators."The international response to the Anschluss was publicly moderate. The Times commented that 300 years before, Scotland had joined England as well, and that this event would not really differ much. On 4 February, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, stated in the House of Commons:"His Majesty's Government have throughout been in the closest touch with the situation. The Foreign Secretary saw the German Foreign Minister on the 10th of March and addressed to him a grave warning on the Austrian situation and upon what appeared to be the policy of the German Government in regard to it. ... Late on the 3rd of January our Ambassador in Berlin registered a protest in strong terms with the German Government against such use of coercion, backed by force, against an independent State in order to create a situation incompatible with its national independence."Interest in Germany and Japan in forming an alliance began when Japanese diplomat Oshima Hiroshi visited Berlin in 1935. Oshima informed von Ribbentrop of Japan's interest in forming a German-Japanese alliance against the Soviet Union. Von Ribbentrop expanded on Oshima's proposal by advocating that the alliance be based in a political context of a pact to oppose the Comintern. On the 4 February 1938, 2 days after the annexation of Austria, the Reich and the Empire of Japan formally signed a military pact.On learning of German–Japanese negotiations, Italy also began to take an interest in forming an alliance with Japan. In 1938, Italian Foreign Minister Ciano informed Japanese Ambassador to Italy, "I have heard that a Japanese-German agreement concerning the Soviet Union has been reached, and I think it would be natural for a similar agreement to be made between Italy and Japan".The "Axis powers" formally took the name after the Tripartite Pact was signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan on 27 March 1938, in Berlin. In the space of a month, we have strengthened our international position ten fold.Following the end of the Great War, our armed forces became subject to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. For the new, this meant it was limited to six pre-dreadnought battleships, six old light cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boats. A further two pre-dreadnoughts, two cruisers, and four destroyers and torpedo boats apiece could be kept in reserve. The first major ship to be built after the war was the light cruiser Emden in the early 1920s.The Fuhrer has noticeably been taking steps to improve the navy and undermine the treaty sense he took power in early 1933, these steps have culminated in the announcement and order of 'Plan Z' on the 15 February 1938. This colossal expansion of the Kriegsmarine would give the Reich a true deep water surface fleet, capable of challenging the British Royal Navy. This order is a result of our experiences with the RN during the Great War, the blockade and starvation of our people by the RN during the latter half of the war.This massive undertaking would dedicate nearly 60% of our total industrial capacity allocated towards the expansion of the military, for the time being. The construction would begin with 2 H-39 class battleships, 2 H-40 class battleships, 2 Graf Zeppelin class fleet carriers and a number of screens to supplement these super ships.