30 janv. 1933 - Rearmament (HFP)

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When Hitler became the chancellor of Germany in 1933, one of his first steps was to increase Germany's armed forces. Thousands of unemployed workers were drafted into the army, this helped battling unemployment which was one of the biggest issues in Germany at the time (this was during the Depression (1929 to 1941)). But it also helped make Germany strong again to challenge the TOV.

Hitler knew that Germans supported re-armament, but he also knew it was going to alarm other countries. So, he started rearming in secret at first. In fact, he made a huge display of his desire to not rearm and that he wouldn't because it meant other countries didn't have to either - this was very clever.

Hitler then followed Japan's example and left the LON, and in 1935 Hitler openly staged massive rallies celebrating the German armed forces. In 1936 he even reintroduced conscription. He was breaking many terms of the TOV, but he guessed correctly that nothing would happen. Besides, many other countries were re-arming as a way to fight unemployment, and the collapse of the disarmament conference had shown that all nations were not ready to disarm.

Rearmament was also very popular within Germany because it boosted Nazi support. And, Britain had some sympathy for Germany due to the fact it believed the terms of the TOV were too tight, and that the forces given to Germany under the TOV were not enough to protect the nation. Britain also thought that a strong Germany would be a good buffer against communism. Britain had already helped to rearm Germany by signing a naval agreement in 1935, allowing Germany to increase its navy to up to 35% of Britain's navy. The French were angry with Britain about this, but there wasn't much they could do.

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