Immediately after entering 1936, the world was immediately concerned about the entry of German troops into the Rhine Demilitarized Zone.

In the early hours of 29 February, a German army of 19 infantry battalions and 12 artillery batteries (about 30,000 men in total) entered the Rhine demilitarized zone. Three of the battalions crossed the Rhine and advanced towards Aachen, Trier and Saarbrücken, on the German border with Belgium and France.

At 10 a.m., the German Foreign Minister summoned the ambassadors of France, Britain, and Italy to Germany to Wilhelmstrasse (the seat of the German Foreign Office) and handed them a note on the abrogation of the Locarno Convention and a notice of the arrival of German troops in the Rhine demilitarized zone, as well as a new German "peace" proposal.

François Ponsé, the French ambassador who participated in the summons, later recalled: "Hitler slapped his opponent in the face, and in doing so, he said: 'I propose peace to you!'" ”

Two hours after the German march on the Rhineland, Hitler once again demonstrated his provocative oratorical genius from the rostrum of the Reichstag. William Shailer, a well-known American journalist who attended the congressional speech, recounted the scene at that time. After talking about the disadvantages of the Treaty of Versailles and the threat of Bolshevism, Hitler unhurriedly declared that Germany was no longer bound by the Locarno Convention because of the entry into force of the Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty; "The German government has re-established Germany's absolute sovereignty in the demilitarized zone without any restrictions from today!"

Although Hitler was very calm in his speech to the Reichstag, he was very weak and nervous.

He later admitted: "The 48 hours after the march into the Rhineland were the most nervous moments of my life. If the French had also marched into the Rhineland, we would have had to retreat with our tails between our legs, for the little military force at our disposal would not be sufficient even for a little resistance. ”

And when the German General Staff Headquarters received the initial information from Paris that France had ordered the transfer of 13 divisions to the Maginot Line on the Franco-German border, the Chief of Staff of the German Army, General Beck, demanded the withdrawal of the 3 battalions of German troops that had crossed the Rhine. These senior German generals believed that the French would not fail to take action on a major matter concerning the security of their country.

However, Hitler, with his gambler's mentality and special political sense, continued to bet on the estimation that Britain and France would not take actual sanctions, and rejected the generals' proposal to withdraw their troops. Although if Britain and France really intervened militarily, not only would the German army "have to retreat with its tail between its legs", but it could well mean the fall of Hitler himself and the ** regime.

But I have to admit that Hitler was indeed very far-sighted, and he seized the best opportunity.

Italy began to change its attitude, even if it did not support Germany, but it would not oppose it.

In the past, Italy and Germany had sharp contradictions over the Austrian question, and they had always opposed Germany's arms buildup along with Britain and France. However, when Italy invaded Ethiopia, Britain advocated for the League of Nations to impose sanctions on Italy, while Germany adopted neutrality and provided a lot of aid to Italy during the war. So in 1 privately, Italy assured Germany that it would not interfere with its future advances.

Not long ago, Britain had obtained satisfactory results from the Germans on the issue of naval arms control, and would not take military action against Germany on this issue. You must know that Britain has always adopted a continental balance of power in Europe, and France is suspected of being a dominant company in Europe, and it is also beneficial to have a German team that can contain France's strength.

In addition, the British economy was also in shambles, and in the second half of 1931 the gold standard that had been in place for centuries was abandoned, and the British economy has not yet recovered.

As for France, which has the most important relations, French politics has been unusually chaotic for many years. Left and right parties point to each other as having seriously dragged down the development of the French economy. Moreover, the Franco-Soviet mutual assistance treaty just passed by the French House of Representatives gave Hitler an excuse.

He attacked the Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty as "bringing communism into the European arena" and incompatible with the obligations under the Locarno Convention, declaring that it "brought with it an element of legal insecurity".

The treaty provided for an immediate guarantee of mutual support and assistance in the event that either side of France and the Soviet Union became the object of aggression by the European countries.

The Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance, on the other hand, did violate the provisions of the Locarno Convention on the peaceful settlement of disputes between Germany and France.

However, Hitler deliberately ignored the fact that France chose to be close to the Soviet Union because of concerns about Germany's return to compulsory military service in 1935. Germany, which reverted to compulsory military service, rapidly expanded its military strength to 350,000. It was precisely seeing the rapid restoration of German military strength that France chose to approach the Soviet Union.

Therefore, in the face of the German army's entry into the Rhine demilitarized zone, France did not give a strong response, but only transferred 12 divisions to the Franco-German border to strengthen the defense.

In fact, France also has its own difficulties, in addition to the above reasons. France suffered heavy casualties in World War I, and the general war weariness among the population was very serious. And the politicians did not dare to do anything that would displease the population, so they could only watch as German troops occupied the Rhine demilitarized zone.

As for Germany's eastern neighbor, Poland, the mood is even more complicated. Despite the German-Polish non-aggression pact of 1934, the Poles remained wary of Germany. As a long-time ally of France, Poland believed that France would never tolerate a German advance into the Rhineland, and on March 9 proposed to France that "a military alliance between the two countries enter into force."

When it was discovered that France did not intend to act, the Polish government was embarrassed by its self-indulgence and had to explain to Berlin (Hitler said that he understood the difficulties of the Polish government).

Britain and France (especially France) and other allies in Europe were chilled by this and began to adjust their policies to the new balance of power in Europe. Even Belgium and the Netherlands, which had always been allied with Britain and France, declared neutrality one after another.

In the face of Germany's entry into the Rhine Demilitarized Zone, what does Romania, as an important member of Europe, think?

Eder said, moving a bench and sitting and watching. At present, relations between Germany and Romania are good, and the military cooperation between the two countries is satisfactory to each other. Hitler, a brilliant statesman, certainly did not forget Romania, and before the start of the march, Hitler had tested Romania's attitude through his ambassadors.

For this reason, Eder said that Romania believed that Germany should have the right to garrison troops on its own territory. Overjoyed by this, Hitler openly said to the others, "The Romanian division is a true friend of Germany." ”

True, Eder would have liked to see Germany rearm. Without Germany breaking the Versailles system, how could Romania be allowed to fish in troubled waters?

To do this, Eder also needed a magic weapon to guarantee Romania's interests.