What was the greater threat to European peace in the 1930s: the German invasion of the Rhineland or the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

The 1936 German invasion of the Rhineland constituted a serious threat to European peace. It marked the beginning of Hitler's reversal of the Treaty of Versailles whilst completely disregarding the Locarno Pact. Further, the inaction of the League of Nations in response to the invasion marked the definitive end to it as a trusted peace-keeping institution. Consequently, Hitler was emboldened to go further with the rest of his territorial ambitions in Europe, such as the Danzig and the Polish Corridor. However it was the Nazi-Soviet Pact, signed by Hitler and Stalin in 1939, which constituted the greater threat. The secret clauses which divided Poland between the two states confirmed the planned invasion of Poland and thus made a European war an inevitability given British & French vows to help Poland in the event of an invasion.

Answered by Monique N. History tutor

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