Germany's precise plans for expansion included treaties of convenience.

by Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

The Germans were restless; "Greater Germany" was being restored, Austria and Czechoslovakia were theirs. They looked to the east – to the large expanses populated by nothing but "sub-humans," namely Poland.

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Germans Entering Paris

Germans Entering Paris, July 1940
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

The German generals had fought in World War I, and had learned their lesson well. There were two things they wanted to avoid:

They did not want to get stuck in trench warfare.
World War I, with its trenches, bombs and gas being thrown back and forth, had cost a lot of money and casualties with very little progress.

The solution was the "Blitzkrieg,"the "lightning-strike" – mobile tanks and cannons and troops, all designed to break through static defenses.

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Germans Bombing Athens

German Planes Attacking Athens, Greece
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

They did not want to get stuck in a two-front war. In World War I, the Germans were fighting the Russians on the one side, and the Allies on the other.

 

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Ribbentrop and Molotov

Signing Russian/German Non-Aggression Pact
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

 

So, after years and years of Hitler’s ranting and raving that he was going to strike at Communism, he suddenly became good friends with Stalin. They signed a "non-aggression" pact. (Note that Stalin’s foreign minister was a Jew, but Stalin knew that Hitler would never sit down and sign a treaty with a Jew, so he replaced him.)

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Published: Wednesday, December 31, 1969
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Visitor Comments: 1

(1) Anonymous, January 3, 2008 5:27 PM

thank you

this sit eis utterly amazing. its so vivid and helful.thank you for the info.

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About the Author

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis studied biology and geology at Northern Illinois University. In addition, he spent time as a deep-sea diver in the oil fields in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway and has circumnavigated the seas of the world in a sailboat. Rabbi Ellis received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah where he is a senior lecturer at the Discovery and Essentials programs.

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky received his BS from Cornell with a major in Communication Arts and a minor in Archeology, and did post-graduate work at UCLA in the field of Desert Plants and Natural History. Prior to moving to Israel, he worked in the field of Urban Ecology including several years as a landscape designer in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Silinsky received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He currently teaches at the Yeshivat Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem.

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