Another treaty constraint, which Hitler broke, was that of reparations imposed in 1919 in the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was ordered to pay the cost of war damage by the allied leaders after the First World War. Hitler refused to pay these reparations claiming that the Treaty of Versailles was wrong. It could be argued that the reparations were too harsh on Germany and it was unfair to expect her to pay for a war, which many countries had been involved in. Reparations had been stopped for a period of a year in 1931 by the American president Hoover in the Hoover Moratorium. This was the last time any reparations were ever paid by Germany, as Hitler did not start paying again at the end of the moratorium.
Hitler withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933 shortly after he had come to power. This move was seen by some as an act of defiance because the League was setup by the Treaty of Versailles. What is more likely is that Hitler saw the League as another way the allies could try to control Germany. In Hitler's defence he had every right to leave the League, as Germany's entry was not compulsory. Some countries had already left the League, Japan for example, after the Manchuria incident.
In 1936 Hitler became involved in the Spanish civil war helping the fascists in their attempt to gain power by defeating the republicans. Hitler used the Spanish civil war as a testing ground for his idea of blitzkrieg (lightning attack). He also tested his very strong airforce the Luftwaffe using them to bomb the republican city of Guernica. It could be argued that Hitler had every right to become involved in the war as the Russians under the control of Stalin were providing the Republicans with weapons. Also Hitler could argue that Great Britain and France had become involved in the Russian civil war on the side of the Whites so they could not criticise him for his involvement.
The next step towards war in Europe was the German re-militarisation of the Rhineland.
