reaction to possible outbreak of war

In the beginning of the reading for this week, Kershaw emphasizes the feelings of fear and the rejection of any possible outbreak of war during the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia. What I found particularly interesting was his comment on page 136 of the Sopade reports claiming that opposition to the regime, however small would support a war, perhaps even regardless of possible bloodshed and difficulties for Germany because they believed that war was the only way to rid Germany of its fascist government, especially since they believed that Germany would not be victorious.

He also repeatedly points out that the quick victories in both countries after the atmosphere of fear and dissent of possible war only continued to cement belief in the Hitler myth. The blitzkrieg in Poland, again although it was an open declaration of war continues to foster if not open support than at least concealment of discontent due to the lack of bloodshed on the side of the Germans.

In the same vein that we discussed the what ifs of Hitler’s rise to power, whether it would have happened had the great economic depression not taken place in Germany, during this reading I started to wonder what would have happened had the annexation of Czechoslovakia not gone over peacefully and Hitler had declared war. Kershaw points out that Hitler would have realized that open war would not have been a smart move and would not have declared war in that instance. However, had he declared war, would the German people have readily joined up and fought for the cause? I imagine that due to their economic fears and potential disillusionment with Hitler, the German people may have dissented and world war two, at least on the grader scale might have been avoided. In this case the underground opponents to the regime may have garnered support and have found a way to undermine support for Hitler.