It was a very direct and deliberate stand against the treaty of Versailles which was made after the of the first world war by the allies to control Germany. It was however, too strict and Germany saw most of it as a slap in the face. But the most significant thing they disliked was the lose of land... a major cause Hitler used to gain German support of World War two. It was also historically important because the rest of the world, particularly the US. chose to nothing about it. Hitler was ignored and allowed to break the treaty in many other ways too, including creating a powerful military nation state.