“How far was the policy of appeasement the most
important cause of WW2?”
There were four main causes of ww2: the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler’s actions, the
failure of the League of Nations and the failure of the appeasement. In this essay
I am going to investigate how far was the policy of appeasement the most
important cause of World War 2.
Appeasement allowed the British and French to ignore an approaching threat and
produced a fake ‘peace’ that led to many deaths. Appeasement also bought
Britain the precious time it needed to prepare for the war; which was inevitable
at this point. However, this also gave Germany time to prepare for war.
Appeasement gave Hitler the idea that nobody would stand against his
expansionist attitude. If the Appeasement policy had been abandoned by 1935,
ww2 probably could have been avoided.
Britain was economically damaged and knew that war was impossible to avoid, so
they tried to buy time. The production of arms was stepped up. What
Chamberlain brought back from his talk s was time and it proved the balance
between winning an unprovoked war.
Britain had not the economy or manpower to risk and survive a full -scale war with
any country. I think Chamberlain made a wise decision to appease Germany, who
was in great debt after signing the Treaty of Versailles. Chamberlain also believed
that peace and diplomacy was the answer in dealing with a leader such as Hitler.
British politicians and leaders feared communism and saw Germany in central
Europe as a barrier to the spread o f this ideology from Russia. Chamberlain and
Winston Churchill were united in the view that "Hitlerism was preferable to
Bolshevism". Appeasement was a suitable option during the Rhineland as it
essentially kept Germany in between Britain and Russia.
The policy of appeasement used by Chamberlain, while intended to preserve the
peace, hindered the Allies and help Germany when ww2 broke out. Letting
Germany increase its navy, army, and air force, reoccupy the Rhineland, and give
it the Czech Sudetenland all helped to strengthen the German position in Europe.
It would lead to Germany taking over most of Europe with relative ease in a
matter of months.
Appeasement refers to the foreign policy of England and France toward Germany
in the years prior to ww2. They let Hitler rebuild the German army and navy,
occupy the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia. If they had put up a fight at the
beginning, perhaps Hitler would not have kept pushing until the situation turned
into a World War.
Appeasement was a popular concept among British policy. There were several
reasons as to why Chamberlain favored this policy. People in Britain during the
early 1930's had voted against war; this could also be down to the economic
problems after the Great Depression such as high unemployment. Due to the
economic problems, this led to military weakness as the country virtually had no
air force and the navy was insufficient as was the army. In light of all these
problems, Chamberlain had seen the effects of Hitler and the Nazis however he
had believed that by getting Hitler to sign the appeasement that this would
successfully bind Hitler into keeping his promises.
However, appeasement also had many risks associated. Some were stated at the
time and others become obvious with hindsight. First and most importantly, it
allowed Germany to grow too strong. Germany was not only recovering lost
ground but it was also becoming much more powerful than Britain and France.
Appeasement also scared the USSR. Hitler didn’t make his plans of eastward
expansion in secrecy. Appeasement gave the Russians the idea that Britain and
France would not stand in the way of Germany. It also put a lot of trust into
Hitler’s promises. It was based on the idea that Hitler was trustworthy. Finally, it
encouraged Hitler to be aggressive. Hitler gained confidence as he won gamble
after gamble. This encouraged him to take a bigger risk.
In conclusion, a lot of people think Chamberlain appeased Hitler in order to avoid
war; however others say that he was propelling Europe into war by allowing Hitler
to do as he pleased. I think appeasement was a factor, which caused ww2.
However, there were other factors, as appeasement on it’s own would never cause
a war. I think the harshness of the Treaty of Versailles was probably the most
important cause of ww2 as many Germans were full of resentment and wanted
revenge. Had Britain and France resisted German aggression earlier, ww2 might not
have broken out.