Appeasement

What is Appeasement ?
• Appeasement is a policy which was aimed at
preventing aggressors from starting wars by finding out
what they really wanted and then agreeing to those
demands which seemed reasonable.

• This policy was followed by Britain and France for most

of the 1930’s when neither were willing to risk war
with an aggressive power (Germany, Italy or Japan)
and believed that there was nothing wrong in giving
into demands which seemed reasonable if it could
avoid war.
 Why ?
SYMPATHY FOR GERMANY
• There was some justice in Hitler’s demands as many in Britain accepted
that the TOV had been too harsh on Germany and they deserved to be
treated more fairly
• Allowed Hitler to break the terms of the treaty as they were not willing
defend a flawed treaty.
• They sympathized with the German desire to bring the German speaking
people into one nation.
• This allowed Hitler to get away even when he was blatantly aggressive
for he was seen as getting back what was rightfully Germany’s.

• Anglo-German Naval agreement (1935)

• Remilitarization of Rhineland (1936)
• Anschluss with Austria (1934 & 1938)
 Why ?
THE DESIRE FOR PEACE
• Memories of the horrors of the WW1 were still strong
in Britain & France and it was clear that another war
was bound to be more devastating than before and
would involve large scale civilian casualties due to
bombing raids.
• In 1936 Britain peace pledge union had 100,000
members who had promised not to support another
war.
• This had led most European countries to place their
trust in the LON and the idea of collective security.
 Why ?
THE THREAT OF COMMUNISM

• The governments of Britain and France were more

concerned with the spread of communism and the
dangers posed by Stalin’s regime than Hitler.
• They wanted to use Hitler and Germany as a buffer
against the westward spread of communism and saw
Hitler as a potential ally.
• The unreliability of the USSR was increased by the
purges carried out by Stalin. These purges also
weakened the fighting capacity of the Soviets as
many of the top military leaders were executed.
 Why ?
TIME TO REARM
• The strongest argument for appeasement was that the British
government felt that they had not rearmed themselves sufficiently to
go for war in the early 1930’s.
• Badly affected by the economic depression, Britain & France found it
difficult to support additional defence commitments financially.
• A re-armament programme to prepare Britain for war was launched
only in 1936 and was in for completion only in 1940. After the 1938
crisis the spending on arms was increased sharply. This meant Britain
keen to avoid conflict
• The Appeasement policy also bought them time to rebuild its defence
forces and when the war did come in 1939, Britain had made just
enough preparations to survive
• Although France stood up for the terms of the TOV in the 1920’s, it
was less assertive in the 1930’s and French defence strategy was
based on further fortification of the Maginot line (a strong line of
fortification along the Franco-German border)
 Why ?
CONCERN FOR THE EMPIRE
• The British Empire mattered a great deal to the British
politicians in the 1930’s .The cost of protecting the
empire was very high and the Japanese invasion of
China meant that the defence of the empire was
priority
• To keep a free hand in the Far East it was vital not to
get involved in a European war
• The self governing countries- Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa made it very clear to Britain
that they would not support another war
 Why ?
THE SLEEPING SUPERPOWER

• Britain and France also lacked effective allies in the 1930’s

• USA continued to follow an isolation policy and thus refused to

intervene to stop Hitler. USA also did not spend much on its defence.
In 1937 it was spending only 1.5% of its national income on defence
and thus they not only had a small standing army but also a poorly
equipped one. The long standing policy of defence also meant that
the American forces were not really in a position to fight

• The economic depression of the 1930’s also meant that neither the
American politicians nor the American public were keen to involve
themselves in European politics. The US congress passed the
Neutrality Act in 1937 which meant that Britain could not expect any
help from them in their struggle with Germany.
 Why ?
INEFFECTIVENESS OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

• LON included all European powers except USSR by 1933

• Missing members like USA and USSR meant trade sanctions
could not be effectively implemented
• Structural weakness such as unanimous decisions, veto vote
and lack of armed forces meant actions against aggressors
not taken decisively and in time
• Self Interest of key members like Britain and France
impacted its decisions and the LON was not able to take a
consistent and effective response
• Collective security had failed
 Why ?
BRITAIN’S SELF INTEREST
• In sorting out disputes and dealing with aggression in the 1930’s
meant that the leaders in Britain esp. Chamberlain felt that one way
of selling disputes was by personal contact between leaders. He felt
that he would be able to civilize Hitler and trusted his intentions

• Even though Chamberlain has been criticized for the Appeasement

policy he followed, he was not been the first politician to use it and
it had already been in place when he became the Prime Minister.

• In Britain not many members of the parliament opposed

Appeasement with the exception of Anthony Eden (foreign
secretary), Winston Churchill and Gallagher (Communist member).
The British public also favoured the policy of Appeasement.
 Historical Debate
• Orthodox View- 1940’s-50’s
Condemned Chamberlain and portrayed Appeasement as a
shameful combination of deliberate deception of Br public
opinion, incompetent leadership and diplomacy

• Revisionist View – late 1960’s

• Portrayed Chamberlain having a good grasp of Britain’s
economic and military weakness and in trying to maintain
peace while preparing for war
• Have expressed doubts about USSR as an effective ally
• France’s inability to fight- exposed in WW2
• Simultaneous aggression from Japan, Italy and Germany
• Appeasement a realistic policy in the 1930’s
 Missed Opportunities
• However by not opposing the dictators before 1937,
Britain and France encouraged their aggressive
demands and actions
• They missed excellent opportunities to stop him in
their efforts to please Hitler. Hitler could have stopped
at numerous occasions but no action taken against him
only emboldened him and made him stronger
• Experiences like unchecked involvement in Spanish
Civil War only encouraged more aggression
• Aggressors like Hitler had no final demands. The more
he was given the more he was willing to try and take
 Lost Ally

• The Appeasement policy also alarmed the USSR and

sent clear signals to it that if Hitler put his plans of
lebensraum into action Britain and France would not
stand in its way and thus they lost an important ally
as USSR went on to sign the Nazi Soviet Pact in 1939
to protect its self interest
 Cowardice

• Britain and France were so afraid of another war

breaking out that they allowed Germany to break
international agreements without punishments.
• Appeasement was thus another word for cowardice
and weakness.
• Appeasement did not succeed in maintaining peace
but did prevent war from breaking out at key
moments in the 1930’s. Even though it could not
prevent war from breaking out in 1939 the intention
all along had been to prevent it.