Rearmament - GCSE History Definition

Definition

Rearmament is the process of supplying a country's armed forces with new or improved weapons. Rearmament often includes an expansion in the number of people serving in the nation’s military.

Explanation

Rearmament normally occurs after a defeat in war or in response to a growing threat. The most famous example is the German rearmament that took place during the 1930s.

Following Germany’s defeat in the First World War, its leaders were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty placed severe restrictions on Germany’s armed forces, reducing the number of men allowed to serve to 100,000 and banning conscription.

Further to this, the treaty explicitly banned Germany from having any tanks, any submarines or any aircraft. Restrictions were also placed on the number and type of ships Germany could have and it was forbidden from having any heavy artillery.

Under the Weimar Government, Germany mostly stuck to the terms of the Treaty and saw its military stripped back to a fraction of its former size and capability. 

Hitler was elected to the position of Chancellor in 1933 after promising to ignore the Treaty of Versailles and rebuild Germany’s military. At first secretly and then openly as Fuhrer from 1935, HItler launched a massive rearmament programme. 

The Army grew from 100,000 to over a million by 1939 and was equipped with tanks and artillery. The airforce (or Luftwaffe) was built from scratch and soon had thousands of aircraft. The navy was also rebuilt and expanded and included large fleets of submarines. 

Rearmament in the 1930s was not limited to Germany. After the First World War, Britain had reduced the size of its armed forces considerably. The war had been widely called “the war to end all wars” and victory in 1918 was believed to have guaranteed peace for years to come. As a result, Britain did not see the need for such a large and expensive military.

Hitler’s rise to power and program of rearmament changed this thinking. From 1933 onwards, Britain set about rebuilding its military to be able to meet the threat posed by Hitler. The Royal Air Force replaced its biplanes with modern monoplanes such as the Spitfire. The Royal Navy received new battleships and aircraft carriers and the British Army was equipped with new tanks and artillery. 

Other examples of rearmament include West Germany after the Second World War. This was funded by the United States and was designed to prevent the invasion of West Germany by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.  

Key Historical Facts

By the 1930s, many people in Britain, France and America had begun to see the terms of the Treaty of Versailles as being too harsh on Germany. As a result, they were reluctant to enforce the terms when HItler began to break them with his rearmament program. 

During the First World War, the development of tanks, submarines and aircraft completely changed how wars were fought. By banning Germany from having any of these, it was left practically defenceless from attack by land, sea or air. 

Rearmament not only enabled HItler to attack other countries in 1939, it helped him end the enormous unemployment problem Germany faced in the early 1930s. Millions of Germans were employed in the factories making planes, tanks, submarines, guns, ammunition, uniforms etc. 

Many German people felt that the Treaty Of Versailles was deeply humiliating and they were desperate for revenge. In contrast, many people in Britain and France were still traumatised by the First World War and were desperate to avoid another war at all costs. This helps explain why the leaders of Britain and France did not act when Hitler blatantly broke the terms of the Treaty and began to rearm. 

HItler tested many of the new weapons that Germany had been developing in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. German aircraft bombed Spanish cities on behalf of the Spanish Fascist leader, General Franco. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Germany need to rearm in the 1930s?

Germany had seen its military dramatically reduced in the 1920s as part of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. With an army of just 100,000 men and no aircraft, submarines or tanks, Germany was in no position to defend itself. By the 1930s, many leaders in France and Britain thought the terms were too harsh and should be relaxed. Hitler, however, had ambitions to reclaim land taken from Germany at the end of the First World War and wanted to build a military capable of invading other nations in Europe - including Czechoslovakia, Poland, France and the Soviet Union.

Where does the word rearmament come from? 

The word arms is sometimes used to refer to weapons. For example, the second amendment of the constitution of the United States declares that all Americans have the right to bear arms. So, in that context, rearmament means to replace or restore your weapons. The first recorded use of the word rearmament occurred in 1769. 

Why didn’t Britain and France stop Hitler when they had the chance?

There was very little appetite for war in either Britain or France during the 1930s. The Peace Pledge Union in Britain had over 130,000 members who had all sworn to “renounce war and never support another”. Memories of the horrors of the First World War were still very fresh and millions of people were still grieving the death of a loved one. They hoped and believed it was the “war to end all wars”. Many had also come to see the terms of the Treaty Of Versailles as being overly harsh and did not want to trigger a war over them. There was a growing belief that many of Hitler’s demands were quite reasonable and, by granting HItler what he wanted, it would avoid the need for war. This approach was known as appeasement. 

Why was rearmament so important to Hitler and Nazi Germany? 

There are a number of reasons why rearmament was so important to HItler and Nazi Germany. Firstly, Germany had always been a very militaristic nation and had taken great pride in its armed forces. The Treaty of Versailles had stripped them of much of their military and Hitler saw rearmament as a way of restoring pride after years of humiliation. 

Also, with no airforce, tanks and a highly restricted navy. Germany was unable to protect itself from foreign invasion. Hitler was able to argue that by rearming, and breaking the Treaty of Versailles, he was only doing so in order to protect his people.

Many people in Germany in the 1930s had an enormous desire for revenge for what they saw as the wrongs committed after the end of the First World War. Hitler and the Nazis wanted to defeat France and reclaim areas such as Alsace-Lorraine, which had been taken from them as part of the post-war treaties. He also wanted to reclaim territory that had been given to Czechoslovakia and Poland. If he was to be successful in doing this, he would need extremely powerful and modern armed forces. 

Finally, rearmament would give Hitler a much needed boost to the German economy. Millions were unemployed when HItler came to power in 1933. By launching a massive rearmament programme, hundreds of thousands of people would join the army, navy and airforce. Millions more would gain jobs by making the tanks, guns, planes, bullets, ships etc that the new army needed. 

Related Glossaries

Conscription

Czechoslovakia

Fuhrer

Nationalism