Appeasement is the act of making concessions to someone, usually an aggressor often at the sacrifice of principles in order to avoid a greater conflict such as war. Great Britain took many actions that were seen as appeasing Hitler in hopes of avoiding but inevitably only prolonging what would come to be World War II. Britain had ignored the rearmament of Germany, which went against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and even expedited the rearmament through the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. They also allowed Hitler to reoccupy the Rhineland which de novo violated the Treaty of Versailles, which had demilitarized that territory. Britain turned a blind eye when Germany used bomber planes in the Spanish Civil War and likewise allowed Hitler …show more content…
This emphasizes with sustenance that the policy of appeasement that Britain enacted from 1935-1939 was largely justified due to the understanding that Britain was not militarily or economically capable of deterring Germany, the belief that Adolf Hitler would uphold his promise to make no further territorial claims, and the responsibility to please the national public interest of the pacifist movement.
Appeasement was necessary action due to Britain's military and economic incompetence to be able to deter Germany from forcibly seizing European territory. The effects of the Great Depression influenced the Allies' military reluctance. Their resources were absorbed in the struggle to overcome economic problems. Germany was producing 20.4 million tons of steel while Britain was producing a mere 11.8 million tons of steel (Quenoy 1). Britain was in economic disarray due to the Depression and could not keep up with Germany in the production of wartime goods, if they had not chosen appeasement then they would have been at a disadvantage when the war begun. Dominions had provided more than a quarter of British troops in World War I, but they were unwilling to offer similar support to Britain during the Czechoslovak crisis of 1938 (Quenoy 1). The British army had very little amount of
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Germany was a nation who gained the empathy of many nations and peoples due to the harsh terms placed upon them after World war I. Adolf Hitler chose to exploit this sympathy in order to succeed in his goal of completing his Third Reich and thus create a world in which his perfect Aryan race would be able to thrive off of others. If Britain hadn’t chosen to appease Germany World War II would have come sooner and unavoidably cause even more death as Britain wouldn’t have been as prepared militarily or economically. The policy of appeasement that Britain enacted from 1935-1939 was largely justified due to the understanding that Britain was not militarily or economically capable of deterring Germany, the belief that Adolf Hitler would uphold his promise to make no further territorial claims, and the responsibility to please the national public interest of the pacifist
England and France, fearing another war established a policy of appeasement to by time and rearm its forces. The European countries believed that Hitler would only retake the Sudetenland; this land was historically Germany's homeland(6). This was another mistake by France and England because with the Sudetenland he gained the famous Skoda armament factories and was ultimately a more dangerous military opponent(6). Until the remainder of Czechoslovakia was swallowed in 1939 all Hitler had done seemed reasonable(6). Until then he had only tried to obtain lands where ethnic Germans lived(6). The disregard of the Treaty of Versailles would be the main factor that allowed Germany to regain their power and ultimately bring the world into another war.
However as it was delayed it allowed time for the Germans to advance their weapons and prepare their armies even further, which meant that they would be fully prepared when war would start. By allowing the Germans more time to prepare, the British and the French were allowing them to start using the new armies and resources that they got from the countries they had joined with, meaning that the policy of appeasement allowed Germany to get stronger and harder to defeat in war, which is something the allies wanted to
If Britain and France had abandoned their policy of appeasement and retaliated against Hitler's aggression war could have been averted. Appeasement was deeply embedded into British foreign policy, even to the the extent were they would not honor their military commitments to France under the Treaty of Locarno, that if Germany were to remilitarise the Rhineland, Britain would offer them support. So, when Hitler ordered armed cars to enter the Rhineland in March 1936, France failed to retaliate. This was the ideal time to have halted Hitler as Allan Bullock quotes Hitler saying “If the French had then marched into the Rhineland we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs”, because Germany was still militarily weak and war would have lasted six weeks rather than six years. However, the appeasers were determined to stop any violence, that they failed to see, according to Keith Eubank, had they “retaliated against the remilitarisation with force, the German military units would have withdrawn and perhaps Hitler would have been overthrown; the drift to war would have been halted and World War II averted”.
Britain still hoped to avoid the war at this time and offered an appeasement to Germany stating that they would willing give Sudetenland to them if they left the rest of
In the 1930s, European governments found it necessary to appease Hitler and Mussolini. Appeasement is the word that clearly sums up the policies and actions that were taken by the European governments. There were a few reasons that these concessions were offered by European countries: none of the countries wanted another World War, the devastating effects
Document 2 indirectly supports the idea that pro-appeasement ideologies towards German military expansion were also causes that led to World War II by explaining how the League of Nations believed that through appeasement treatment Germany will eventually be satisfied and seize to conquer other lands yet they were wrong therefore once Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party had conquered lands all the way to Poland the allied powers, Great Britain, France, United States, and Russia, declare war on Germany with the hope of stalling Nazi expansion and eluding the possibility to falling into his power. Document 5 is a speech by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain which explains how appeasement was the only way to maintain peace in Europe after World War I and how Britain would only become involved in major conflicts not an invasion of a state. Document 5 is biased since it was written by a prime minister’s point of view that is pro-appeasement and supports the idea that such is the only way that Germany can be stopped without the need of war. Document 5 supports the idea that pro-appeasement ideologies towards German military expansion were also causes that led to World War II by listing textual evidence on how leaders such as Neville Chamberlain allowed Adolf Hitler to spread his Nazi regime through the use pro-appeasement ideals however such
Britain, France and Italy believed that Hitler would keep his word after this appeasement and wouldn’t try to take over any other land. Their continuous appeasement did not solve anything, and Hitler’s Nazi Party kept accumulating more and more lands, creating more problems. William Shirer stated, “His waiting ten short days has saved Europe from a world war,” (Doc. 4), but this is not true, since this appeasement only postponed the war, and let the Nazi Party gain more power. This is a simple example of how appeasement was not
Appeasement was arguably the only realistic option for British policy towards Germany between 1936 and 1938 when considering the fact that appeasement permitted Britain to rearm, thus preparing her more effectively for war, whilst also giving her the moral high ground. Nevertheless, for some “appeasement has become a dirty word, synonymous with weakness and defeatism in the face of naked aggression” since Britain’s policy of appeasement succumbed to Nazi aggression and failed to actually prevent war. Subsequently many historians argue that alternatives including a ‘Grand Alliance’ and military intervention in the Rhineland (1936) and Czechoslovakia (1938) would have been better options. However, when considering the several hindrances to these alternatives including political and public stance, financial difficulties and the depth of pacifist objection, it appears that appeasement was the only realistic option.
Moreover, while Jews in Germany were being tormented and war was approaching, Great Britain did not want to take part. Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister of the British from 1937-1940, decided to sign an appeasement “a peace treaty” with Hitler stating that the British only wanted peace (Neufeldt, 109). However, Hitler already had his plans, and the
During the early 1940's many European, countries and the United States, were recovering from World War I and the depression. Due to the fact that no one initially could or wanted to control Hitler's dictatorial power his extreme racism got out of control and he was able to slaughter millions of Jews. Though eventually Hitler brought destruction upon himself, if other countries would have stopped him in the early stages, World War II may have never happened. Though countries might have wanted to stop Hitler in Germany; they had their own county and people to worry about. The economic troubles prevented England and other European nations from taking part in international issues, and Hitler took full advantage of their weak conditions. This
Appeasement, when talking about Nazi Germany in 1930, is considered to be against the topics discussed in the quotations. There are a few reasons why I believe that it is considered against the quotations.
however it did not. Adolf Hitler proves that he is ruthless, a risk taker, and
Hitler in the early 1930s, started attacking its bordering nations, and so Britain turned to a policy of appeasment zas well as France. For example in 1938, they gave Hitler the sudetenland, without an inch of warning toward the czechslovackinans in the region. France and Britain believd that this would satisfy Hitler and would put a stop to any further attacks. And in America, people believd that
Rearmament was a popular move in Germany. It boosted Nazi support. Hitler also knew that Britain had some sympathy for Germany on this issue, as Britain believed that the limits put on Germany’s armed forces by the Treaty of Versailles were too strict. It was clear that the permitted forces were not enough to defend Germany from attack. Also, Britain thought that Germany would be a good buffer against Communism.
Factors Which Lead to a Policy of Appeasement in Britain In the period 1931-38, there were several reasons that the policy of 'appeasement' was taken up by the British government. There were both long and short-term reasons that contributed. The most important, I believe was Britain's belief in Pacifism. The public could not support the war in terms of soldiers, and the government could not support a war financially.