Appeasement
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Define “appeasement” in your own words.
Give 4 specific examples of how Hitler was “appeased.”
What are the pros and cons of appeasement? Provide at least 3 of each.
Do you think appeasement was a good idea/goal? Explain.
Explain one of the cartoons below using historical events/evidence.
The first 3 steps
are labelled
“Rearmament”,
“Rhineland” and
“Danzig.”
At the back, Britain says to France, who is next-tolast: “Why should we take a stand about someone
pushing someone else when it’s all so far away?”
What was appeasement?
How Britain and France “appeased” Hitler in the period 1933–1938.
Appeasement can be defined as “giving a bully what he wants”. It describes animal
behavior, where a weaker animal adopts a submissive posture towards a more powerful
animal. It is claimed that this is what Britain and France did with Hitler in the 1930s. Hitler built up his army. After 1936, he reintroduced conscription, and by 1939 Germany
had 95 warships, 8,250 airplanes and an army of 1 million. Hitler even war-tested his
armed forces in the Spanish Civil War. Britain and France turned a blind eye to these
breaches of the Treaty of Versailles – Britain even made a naval agreement with Germany,
accepting Germanyʼs right to a navy 35% of the British navy. This looked like
appeasement. In 1936, Hitler moved his troops into the Rhineland. The appeasement
here, again, was that France did nothing to stop this open breach of Versailles. In 1938 Hitler went further. He invaded Austria and declared Anschluss. This, too broke the
Treaty of Versailles. Again, France and Britain did nothing – even though the Austrian
Chancellor Schuschnigg asked Britain and France to help. This (and the Westʼs ignoring of
human rights violations such as Kristallnacht, 1938) might be regarded as appeasement –
failing to confront the bully.
Up to 1938, however, France and Britain were not wholly appeasing Hitler. Some people
sympathized with Hitlerʼs aims – their inaction was not the result of fear alone. Wasnʼt it
reasonable that Germany have an army? The Rhineland belonged to Germany, shouldnʼt
German troops be stationed there? Versailles had given other countries self-determination,
why not Austria and Germany? This was not appeasement, it was agreement.
It is the 1938 crisis that is usually presented as appeasement. In 1938, Hitler got the
Sudeten Nazis, led by Henlein, to cause trouble, then he demanded union. But then
Chamberlain intervened. On 15 September he met Hitler at Berchtesgaden. Hitler
threatened war, but promised that this was the “last problem to be solved”. Chamberlain
decided that Hitler was ʻa man who can be relied uponʼ, and persuaded the Czechs to
hand over the Sudetenland. But when he met Hitler again, at Bad Godesberg (22
September), there were more demands, and Chamberlain refused. War seemed near, and
Chamberlain was not sure Czechoslovakia was a “great issue” which needed war. Instead, he decided that it was “a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom
we know nothing” and, at Munich (29 September), Britain and France gave the
Sudetenland to Germany. They gave the bully what he wanted.
These actions of Britain and France are called appeasement, and Chamberlain did want to
avoid war. But it can be argued that it was not appeasement only, and that other factors
were important – such as agreeing with the Germans, a feeling that this wasnʼt Britainʼs
business, and playing for time to build up Britainʼs armed forces.
Why was so little done to stop Hitler's aggression?
• One major cause was the collapse of the League of Nations, which many people and
countries hoped would help prevent a second war. Three of the five permanent
Council Members left the League in the 1930s; Japan and Germany in 1933 and Italy
in 1937. This left only Britain and France. In both countries many politicians and
voters went on believing that the League could settle disputes until the late 1930s.
• Britain and France did not co-operate. In 1936 when Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland,
neither Britain nor France was ready to act without the other. In fact it would have
been relatively easy to stop Hitler as he only had 30,000 trained soldiers and his
commanders carried sealed orders to retreat if they were opposed. Hitler later said
that the forty-eight hours after the march into the Rhineland were the most nerveracking of his life.
• Both the British and French Governments adopted the policy of Appeasement. This
came about as:
• Many people were horrified at the prospect of a second war and did not believe
that Hitler was planning one.
• Hitler was also respected for his success in tackling the effects of the Depression
and cutting unemployment.
• Some politicians also saw Hitler as an alternative to Communism. they believed
that he would prevent Stalin increasing his influence in Western Europe.
• It was believed that if Hitler's demands were met, he would be satisfied and
wouldn't make any more. Hitler continually stated that he had no further demands
to make, but each time broke his word.
• Neville Chamberlain believed in "Appeasement from Strength", but at the same time
he was horrified at the prospect of a second war; he had lost a son during the Great
War. It is very difficult to work out what exactly he was trying to achieve at Munich. He
seems to have believed beforehand that if he met Hitler face to face all would be well.
there are, however, two possible explanations of his actions:
• He believed that Hitler would keep his promise and that the sacrifice of
Czechoslovakia was worthwhile.
• He was playing for time and sacrificed Czechoslovakia to put war off for as long
as possible.
• At the time the press greeted Chamberlain as a hero and a great peacemaker; since
then his reputation has suffered.
Who Started Appeasement?
Was Chamberlain to blame?
Chamberlain always gets the blame for appeasement, but there are many other people
and factors who might be held just much – if not more – responsible:
• STANLEY BALDWIN
• Baldwin was Prime Minster from 1935 to 1937, and he really set the policy of
appeasement which Chamberlain followed.
• Baldwin did nothing about German rearmament.
• He did nothing when Hitler invaded the Rhineland (March 1936).
• Baldwin was sympathetic to the fascists in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 – he
persuaded 27 countries to sign a Non-Intervention Pact (and then stood by and
watched as Hitler and Mussolini ignored it and sent military support to Franco).
• He openly said that he would not go to war: "With two lunatics like Mussolini and
Hitler you can never be sure of anything. But I am determined to keep the country
out of war." (April 1936)
• Baldwin seems to have had four reasons for his appeasement. Like Chamberlain:
• He did not think Britain was militarily strong enough to fight a war.
• He did not want to spend the sums necessary to rearm.
• Like many Conservatives, he feared Communism, and rather hoped Hitler
would stop the advance of Communist Russia.
• He knew that the British people would not accept war. Later, he said:
"Supposing I had gone to the country and said that Germany was rearming,
and that we must rearm, does anybody think that this pacific democracy would
have rallied to that cry at that moment? I cannot think of anything that would
have made the loss of the election from my point of view more certain."
• So there are good grounds for saying that Baldwin set the British policy of
appeasement on course – though (of course) it was Chamberlain gave it full
expression in 1938 (Anschluss and Munich).
• THE FRENCH
• When Hitler marched into the Rhineland, his generals had orders to retreat if the
French army did anything at all to prevent it – but the French did nothing. • Although Czechoslovakia was an ally of France, not Britain, France did nothing to
help them.
• THE AMERICANS
• The Senate was determined to remain isolated from Europe.
• American industrialists such as Henry Ford and Irenee du Pont actively financed
Hitler
• America didnʼt even go to war when it broke out – howʼs that for appeasement?
• TREATY OF VERSAILLES
• It was too harsh – it made western politicians feel that Germany had been badly
treated, and so they made allowances for Hitler who, until March 1939, was
arguably merely righting the wrongs of the Treaty.
• It was supposed to be the Treaty to end all wars – and created in the victorious
countries a massive peace movement which really didnʼt want to go to war at all.
• It set up the League of Nations, which was supposed to be a place to talk out
problems without the need to go to war – it gave western politicians a way out:
wasnʼt the League there to sort these problems out without the need for war?
EIGHT RESULTS OF APPEASEMENT
Historians have said that appeasement: 1. Let Hitler grow stronger.
2. Gave Britain time to re-arm.
3. Humiliated Britain – no country in central Europe ever trusted Britain again.
4. Abandoned millions of people to the Nazis.
5. Caused the war, by encouraging Hitler to think he could do anything.
6. Gave Britain the morale high ground – when war came, Britons knew they had done
everything possible to keep the peace.
7. Would never have stopped Hitler, who was determined to go to war.
8. Was a fine attempt to prevent the deaths of millions of people in a war.
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