Was appeasement the right policy for England in 1938? However, instead of throwing Germany the whole meal, assuring them that they can take as much as they want, Britain should have only fed them Scraps. In October 1935 Mussolini launched an attack on Abyssinia. 2. As someone mentioned, even at the end appeasement was a failure as it ended up with war. Appeasement was justified as going to war was the last resort for countries. British Home Secretary, Samuel Hoare, said, "These five men, working together in Europe and blessed in their efforts by the President of the United States of America, might make themselves eternal benefactors of the human race". So, appeasement was the right policy. In July, after the Fall of France, when Britain stood almost alone against Germany, Hitler offered peace. Therefore appeasement bought time for Britain in the sense that Communist forces were weaken to a certain extent and would prevent substantial damage if Britain was to engage in a 2 front war ( ie. While many would say that the British and French could have seized the moment and stood firm during the Czechosovakia crisis, one forgets the fact that both the French and British were VERY unprepared for war. Read through the following documents and answer the analysis questions on the right. You will examine a variety of documents and, evaluate different perspectives on appeasement, develop a claim and use evidence to answer the. It failed to prevent another great world war, 3. Although they did not prevent World War II, there is no way of knowing that the war would not have happened. Was France and Great Britains policy of appeasement justified? Use PowerPoint to establish background knowledge on appeasement and introduce Even if they somehow manage to go to war with their sheer lack of resources, the low morale will be detrimental to their campaign. This time has become known as the interwar years (from 1918 to 1939) in reference to the . 59, No. However, by the time of the Munich Agreement, which was concluded on 30 September 1938 between Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, the policy was opposed by the Labour Party and by a few Conservative dissenters such as future Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War Duff Cooper, and future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. Slovakia separated and created under a puppet government of Germany. When the German Empire and Austria-Hungary were broken up in 1918, Austria was left as a rump state with the temporary adopted name Deutschsterreich ("German-Austria"), with the vast majority of Austrians wanting to join Germany. And as Churchill suggested that appeasement was not the only option, and it turned out that appeasement didnt help in any case. By signing the appeasement, not only they can buy more time to rearm, it will also gain support from the masses. Scott Ramsay. The third justification for the appeasement was the singular common ground Britain and Germany had which was the fight against communism. Sudetenland was basically handed over to Hitler, along with all their modern defenses. [19], In the atmosphere of growing conflict, Mussolini persuaded Hitler to put the dispute to a four-power conference. However, Britain couldnt go straight into war as no one wanted a war: that is why British people wanted appeasement so they could avoid war at all costs. 1933. User content, unless source quoted, licensed under a. Was appeasement the right choice for England in the 1930s? Ideology and british appeasement in the 1930s. Britain was less hostile to Germany and set the pace in imposing sanctions and moved a naval fleet into the Mediterranean, but in November 1935, British Foreign Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare and French Prime Minister, Pierre Laval had secret discussions in which they agreed to concede two thirds of Abyssinia to Italy. History US History HIS 203 7 Attachments 1 2 3 4 He resigned after the Norway Debate in the British House of Commons, and on 10 May 1940 Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. 2023 TidyLife, Inc. All Rights Reserved. France was anxious to placate Mussolini to keep him away from an alliance with Germany. [38] As Antony Beevor writes, "The policy of appeasement was not Neville Chamberlin's invention. "The romance of decline: The historiography of appeasement and British national identity. [50], In France, the Arme de l'Air intelligence section closely examined the strength of the Luftwaffe and decided the German pursuit planes and bombers were the best in the world and that the Germans were producing 1000 warplanes a month. It also gave them time to bring up their economy which was needed during a war. [34] Chamberlain died on 9 November the same year. This is supported by the fact that the British had low moral due to WW1 and did not have the spirit to start another war, the Great depression had hit and a war was expensive, and the fact that nobody in general wanted ti start another war due to the memories of the first WW. Round 1: Take out Documents A and B, Guiding Questions, and Hypotheses Sheet. In the early 1930s, it was not so clear what Hitler as the leader of Nazi Germany would do, so maybe pursuing a foreign policy of appeasement was still justifiable, but by 1938, it was clear that it was no longer the case. To learn more about the CreateDebate scoring system, check out the, When you are ready to voice your opinion, use the. 3.Round 2: Take out Documents C, D, and E. Was Appeasement the Right Policy for England? He was replaced by Clement Attlee, who at first opposed rearmament by advocating the abolition of national armaments and a world peacekeeping force under the direction of the League of Nations. Advertisement Advertisement Appeasement helped to build up national unity and not let people believe the British government has done everything they can to try to prevent war. Churchill delivered a tribute to him in which he said, "Whatever else history may or may not say about these terrible, tremendous years, we can be sure that Neville Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity according to his lights and strove to the utmost of his capacity and authority, which were powerful, to save the world from the awful, devastating struggle in which we are now engaged". Although she argued against the policy of "peace at almost any price",[70] she did not take a personal tone, unlike Guilty Men two years later. [citation needed], Many historians argue that the British policy of non-intervention was a product of the Establishment's anti-communist stance. Britain and France, along with the support from other nations, would have been able to be enough of a formidable force to deter Germany from taking further aggressive actions had they taken a stand and made it apparent that they do not condone such actions. One of the first dissents to the prevailing criticism of appeasement was made by John F. Kennedy in his 1940 Harvard College thesis, Why England Slept, in which he argued that appeasement had been necessary because the United Kingdom and France were unprepared for a world war.[76][77]. Hitler invading Czechoslovakia was inevitable, but if Britain and Czechoslovakia had been aggressive, they would have been able to make Germany back down, and could also have outflanked them. October 1938. 3.Round 2: Take out Documents C, D, and E. What impact did the appeasement policy of the United States, Britain, and France have on Germany aggression? Once Germany invaded Poland and so ignited World War II, consensus was that appeasement was responsible. To make their presence more evident, the Munich Agreement would be the best diplomatic solution forward, agree? Chamberlain returned to Britain and promised "peace for our time". On 29 September 1938, Hitler, Chamberlain, French Prime Minister douard Daladier and Mussolini met in Munich. [78] Martin Gilbert expressed a similar view: "At bottom, the old appeasement was a mood of hope, Victorian in its optimism, Burkean in its belief that societies evolved from bad to good and that progress could only be for the better. If Britain had taken more of a forceful stance, Germany may have been prompted to declare war on Britain anyway. [48][49] Specifically, regarding the fighters, the RAF warned the government in October 1938 that the German Luftwaffe bombers would probably get through: "the situation will be definitely unsatisfactory throughout the next twelve months". 1938 in Munich. If this is your first time checking out a debate, here are some quick tips to help get you started: Jeremy Matthew [NO] - I think Appeasement policy was not the right policy that Britain had taken in 1938. They emboldened Hitler to pursue his aggressive foreign policy. Before Munich, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had sent a telegram to Chamberlain that said "Good man" and he later told the American ambassador in Rome, William Phillips, "I am not a bit upset over the final result".[20]. All scores are updated in real-time. the annexation of Austria). [60][61], Czechoslovakia did not concern most people until tid-September 1938, when they began to object to a small democratic state being bullied. [1] The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the British governments of Prime Ministers Ramsay MacDonald (in office 19291935), Stanley Baldwin (in office 19351937) and (most notably) Neville Chamberlain (in office 19371940) towards Nazi Germany (from 1933) and Fascist Italy (from 1922)[2] between 1935 and 1939. No personalities. When asked at press conferences about Hitler's abuse of Jews and other minority groups, he went so far as to denounce these reports as "Jewish-Communist propaganda".[65]. [52] British communists, following the party line defined by Joseph Stalin,[57] argued that appeasement had been a pro-fascist policy and that the British ruling class preferred fascism to socialism. A forceful stand could also aggravate the situation and Hilter may be more willing to fight Britain, which at that time had a weak military after WWI. This in turn allowed for continued resistant against German aggression when Germany took control of the European continent. The general strike of 1926 and the depression made the possibility of revolution a very real concern to conservative politicians. On September 3, 1939, Great Britain and France. "The study of appeasement in international relations: Polemics, paradigms, and problems. I do agree that the Appeasement that they had executed could have been better, however, it was the best decision at that time. because its Armed Forces were so small there was nothing that they The British, after seeing the devastating effects of war, prioritised peace more than anything else, thus the people felt that appeasement was better than war. To follow along, you may find it helpful to. [92], In 2013, Obama administration officials such as Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel claimed that a failure of the United States to intervene in the Syrian Civil War after the 2003 Ghouta chemical attack would be an act of appeasement towards Bashar al-Assad. Britain and France was able to have time to rearm. In response, Japan resigned from the League and continued its advance into China, with neither the League nor the United States taking any action. What was Chamberlain's goal for the Munich Agreement? The Czechoslovak government rejected those demands, France ordered mobilisation and Britain mobilised the Royal Navy. Appeasement policy bought time for the British Government to rebuild its financial capabilities. Through appeasement, Germany knows that the government will be very hesitant to start a war with Germany, knowing that there will be a drop in people's morale. [9] In Parliament, the Labour Party opposed the agreement. But how did each individual country know if they had enough men to counter the german forces? If he saw someone's weakness or something suffer, it would only encourage him. In August 1938, General Ludwig Beck relayed a message to Lord Halifax to explain that most of the German General Staff had prepared a coup against the Fuhrer for if there was "proof that England will fight if Czechoslovakia is attacked". On 30 September, on his return to Britain, Chamberlain delivered his famous "peace for our time" speech to delighted crowds. Appeasement was a mistake because it did not prevent war. [32] The Soviets supported Lithuania in principle but did not wish to disrupt their relations with Germany since they were contemplating the German-Soviet Pact. The attempt to prevent war was there, just unsuccessful. The extra 6 months provided because of the appeasement policy allowed not just Britain but other Allied countries to prepare for war. The 1935 Anglo-German Naval Agreement had the Britain permit Germany to begin rebuilding the German Navy, including its U-boats, despite Germany having repeatedly violated the Treaty of Versailles. Not to mention reconnaissance against the British would be risky, as the Spitfire was superior to the Messerschmitt-109, and if caught could bring Britain into Hitler's plan too early for the Blitzkrieg. Based on the information provided by this map, how did adopting the policy of appeasement at the Munich Conference in September 1938 change Europe? The agreement was supported by most of the press, with only Reynold's News and the Daily Worker dissenting. What was the result of the policy of appeasement? Right, because it gave Britain 6 months of peace to rearm hence it was the right try for appeasement. Appeasement was the right policy for Britain in 1938. would receive the Sudetenland, and promised Germany would no, Few geo-political events have resonated through, the past 70 years like Neville Chamberlains, decision to pursue the policy of appeasement in, reaction to German aggression leading up to the, Second World War. The Heritage Foundation's Michael Johns, for instance, wrote in 1987 that "seven years after Ronald Reagan's arrival in Washington, the United States government and its allies are still dominated by the culture of appeasement that drove Neville Chamberlain to Munich in 1938. It is true that the appeasement did not prevent the war from breaking out, however the appeasement did allow them to buy more time to rearm and have a stronger opposing army to oppose Germany. Germany as such distrusted both sides and thought both sides sought to undermine its survival. [59] Even the left wing of the pacifist movement quickly began to turn with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, and many peace-balloters began signing up for the International Brigades to fight Franco. You have a point, but they would not have been able to know that they can overpower Germany since Hitler was already in the process of his aggressive Expansionist Policy. But what they attempted was logical, rational, and humane". Ambassador to the United Kingdom and later supported a negotiated surrender to Germany during the May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis and the Battle of Britain. [29], Lithuania secretly informed the signatories of the Klaipda Convention about those demands since technically, Lithuania could not transfer Klaipda without the signatories' approvals. I feel that Appeasement was the Right Policy for Britain but they should have controlled the amount of power they were willing to give. U.S. Nonrecognition of the Soviet Occupation of Lithuania, Primrose Booklet.Indd 1 15/07/2010 15:39 Primrose Booklet.Indd 2 15/07/2010 15:39 a Gift from the Churchills the Primrose League, 1883-2004, Valkyrie: Gender, Class, European Relations, and Unity Mitford's Passion For, Diehard Conservatives and the Appeasement of Nazi Germany, 19351940, IntroductionGuilty Women? Not the other way round. [22] He and a few other Conservatives who refused to vote for the Munich settlement were attacked by their local constituency parties. Answers Learn with flashcards, games, and more for free. This resulted in weak western governments and this allowed Hitler and other countries to take advantage and cause war. Lithuanian diplomacy characterized the concession as a "necessary evil" to enable Lithuania to preserve its independence, and it maintained the hope that it was merely a temporary retreat. [14] The American reaction was similar. Germany was seen as to push forward and in line with British national interest. [22] The event forms the main part of what became known as Munich betrayal (Czech: Mnichovsk zrada) in Czechoslovakia and the rest of Eastern Europe,[27] as the Czechoslovak view was that Britain and France had pressured it to cede territory to prevent a major war, which would involve Western Europe.
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