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The Outbreak of the Second World War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

James C. Robertson
James C. Robertson
Affiliation:
Hitchin Girls' School
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Type
Review Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , December 1978 , pp. 1001 - 1007
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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References

1 A summary in English and a bibliography can be found in Hillgruber, A., ‘England's place in Hitler's plans for world dominion’, Journal of Contemporary History, IX, 1 (1974), 5–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and in Fest, J. C., Hitler (London, 1974), pp. 483–510, 539–621Google Scholar. See also Hiden, J. W., Germany and Europe, 1919–1939 (London, 1977)Google Scholar, which adds little to what is already known but surveys all aspects of inter-war German foreign policy and shows how greatly Hitler changed its emphasis.

2 Der erzwungene Krieg: die Ursachen und Urheber des zweiten Weltkrieges (Tübingen, 1964).

3 1939 the making of the Second World War (London, 1973).

4 The impact of Hitler: British politics and British policy, 1933–1940 (Cambridge, 1975).

5 Vansittart, permanent under-secretary, to Clerk, British ambassador in Paris, 26 Apr. 1935; Clerk to Simon, foreign secretary, 27 Apr. 1935; memo, by Vansittart, 26 Apr. 1935: Vansittart to Maisky, Russian ambassador in London, 30 Apr. 1935; Foreign Office minutes, 3–9 May 1935; minutes by Vansittart and Simon, 6 and 7 May 1935; Foreign Office papers, Public Record Office, 371/18837, C3328 and 3494/55/18; 371/18838, C3523, 3554 and 3613/55/18.

6 The most recent exploration of these issues is Hauner, M., ‘Did Hitler want a world dominion?’, Journal of Contemporary History, XIII, 1 (1978), 15–32CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Dr Hauner shows that Hitler evolved a scheme for German world domination as the war progressed, but the evidence that Hitler had such plans prior to Sept. 1939 is at present sparse and insufficient to warrant a definite conclusion about ultimate German aims before the outbreak of the Second World War. For example, the large-scale expansion of the German navy ordered by Hitler on 27 Jan. 1939, with priority over army and air force armaments, might equally indicate only that Hitler had come to reckon on the possibility of a war against Britain more strongly than hitherto.