ABSTRACT
It is often assumed that 1933, the year in which Hitler came to power, represents a turning point in the development of German foreign policy, and that the objectives of the Third Reich were fundamentally different from those of the Weimar Republic. This chapter will deal with two basic issues arising from this. First, did the Nazis depart completely from the policies of statesmen like Cuno and Stresemann, or is there at least some evidence of continuity? Second, if Hitler’s ambitions and projects can be considered essentially new, does it necessarily follow that the Second World War was their inevitable consequence?
