Post by Diarist on May 19, 2014 6:35:21 GMT 1
On 16 March Hitler announced the introduction of compulsory military conscription with the aim of creating 36 Divisions with 500,000 men. This came one week after he had revealed the existence of the Luftwaffe, a statement which didn't really cause much fuss. An expansion of the German Navy had also been ordered by Hitler, including 12 submarines. All blatant violations of the Treaty of Versailles.
A heated debate ensued in the House of Commons and in the evening Ramsey McDonald resigned as Prime Minister and Stanley Baldwin was charged with forming a new government. Anthony Eden remained the Foreign Secretary but Winston Churchill was chosen to head the renamed Ministry of Defence. Ministry of War was deemed to be too ominous - after all, we didn't want to alarm the Germans. This is Stanley Baldwin's third term as Prime Minister and he no longer shares the view that a strong Germany would be useful in blocking the expansionist policies of the Soviet Union. An alliance with France would be essential to counter not only Germany but also Fascist Italy and Benito Mussolini. In the Far East Imperial Japan is also a threat to British and French interests in the region.
The Training and Doctrine Command, TRADOC, was secretly created on March 17th as an answer to Germany's re-armament policy. It's mission is to work closely with industry and scientists to develop new weapons systems and formulate new doctrines for the employment of these new weapons.
A heated debate ensued in the House of Commons and in the evening Ramsey McDonald resigned as Prime Minister and Stanley Baldwin was charged with forming a new government. Anthony Eden remained the Foreign Secretary but Winston Churchill was chosen to head the renamed Ministry of Defence. Ministry of War was deemed to be too ominous - after all, we didn't want to alarm the Germans. This is Stanley Baldwin's third term as Prime Minister and he no longer shares the view that a strong Germany would be useful in blocking the expansionist policies of the Soviet Union. An alliance with France would be essential to counter not only Germany but also Fascist Italy and Benito Mussolini. In the Far East Imperial Japan is also a threat to British and French interests in the region.
The Training and Doctrine Command, TRADOC, was secretly created on March 17th as an answer to Germany's re-armament policy. It's mission is to work closely with industry and scientists to develop new weapons systems and formulate new doctrines for the employment of these new weapons.