Appeasement

What is appeasement?

A compromise with Hitler that would hopefully not end in war

Who primarily used appeasement?

Chamberlain - British prime minister

Why did Chamberlain use appeasement?

He believed that Germany had genuine and understandable grievances caused by the Treaty of Versailles which could be solved by negotiation

Why were people so keen to avoid war?

The First World War was fresh in their minds, and everyone wanted to avoid the suffering and death they experienced then.

Arguments for appeasement

Many people thought that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh on Germany, so it was only fair to allow Hitler to overturn parts of the Treaty - eg, he should be allowed to rearm and remilitarise the Rhineland as Germany had been left vulnerable with the army limited to 100,000 men

The loss of life experienced in the First World War proved that appeasement was a sensible prevention method to ensure that similar events never happened; a survey in 1938 showed that public opinion was against war

Many people had faith in the League of Nations in 1934, when the Peace Ballot was created to understand public opinion, but after the collapse of the League, Chamberlain wanted to try personal diplomacy as the future way to keep peace

The fear of communism was strong and worried people more than Hitler - a strong Germany would stop the spread of communism from the USSR, so Hitler had to build up his army to ensure this would be maintained

Britain was still suffering from the effects of the 1929 economic depression and couldn’t afford a rearmament programme, much less the cost of war. The tactic of appeasement gave them time to slowly build up their army and weapons

Britain couldn’t rely on other countries like America or even their empire to support them so was likely to lose in war. The USA had signed two neutrality acts in the 1930s, signifying its efforts to be left alone

Most of Hitler’s actions had had a justification; 99% of Austrians voted for Anschluss, so it was democratically correct to let them

Arguments against appeasement

People misjudged Hitler and thought that he was a reasonable politician, but he had broken promises since 1933 onwards (since he became chancellor), so people should have known

Governments missed opportunities to stop Hitler, like during the remilitarisation of the Rhineland when Hitler’s forces weren’t ready for war or to defend themselves

Germany grew stronger and more confident as time passed, making it harder to defeat

Appeasement was morally wrong as it left countries like Austria and Czechoslovakia occupied by the Nazis who showed no mercy - political games shouldn’t have been played with people’s lives

Appeasement alienated the USSR and Stalin mistrusted Hitler but ultimately didn’t believe in the support of Britain and France if it was invaded

While Britain and France needed the USSR if war broke out, their relationship was strained due to appeasement

Appeasement encouraged Hitler as he believed that Britain was weak and afraid, so he couldn’t be stopped, causing him to become more aggressive

When did appeasement end?

When Hitler couldn’t justify the invasion of Czechoslovakia - he’d broken the promise made at Munich and was now seen as an aggressor whose aims weren’t limited but needed to be stopped