The Four Big Factors and how they link

No German accepted it
It was referred to as the ‘Treaty of Shame’ and a dictated peace: the ‘Diktat’
But France was determined to ensure its provisions were upheld
Though the successor states that bordered Germany and included millions of Germans amongst their populations (Czechoslovakia and Poland), were too weak to stand up to Germany on their own
Hitler achieved power partly because he promised to smash the treaty
Britain, increasingly uneasy with the treaty itself, appeased Hitler in his unlawful revision of it

He had fought bravely in WW1 and felt bitter about the TofV
He had risen to power determined to smash the TofV (*the 1st link)
Once secure in power, he set about doing so: rearming, remilitarising the Rhineland, Anschluss with Austria, taking the Sudetenland and then the rest of Czechoslovakia, and finally taking Poland
He was also set on securing more living space for Germany (lebensraum) and smashing communism

Because it seemed to support the German view that the TofV was unfair
Consequently it undermined the TofV (*a 2^nd link)
But it only served to encourage Hitler (*a 3^rd link)
And it left Stalin worried that perhaps the Western powers weren’t strong enough to stand up to Hitler (and so were not worth allying with) and perhaps even wanted a resurgent Germany so that it could attack Russia (*leading to a 4^th link)

Because Poland was the line drawn in the sand as far as Britain and France were concerned. Hitler would not be allowed another act of aggression without facing the consequences.
But a pact with Russia meant that if Hitler’s bluff was called (and he didn’t think it would be), then he would not be facing a war on two fronts and so he attacked Poland
Whereas for Stalin, looking at Britain’s policy of Appeasement and reaching the conclusion that it had negative consequences for Russia, a deal with Hitler at least bought him time which could be used to prepare for war (*the 4^th link)

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