Appeasement. The first 3 steps are labelled Rearmament, Rhineland and Danzig.

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Arlene Stevenson
6 years ago
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5. Explain one of the cartoons below using historical events/evidence.

1 Appeasement 1. Define appeasement in your own words. 2. Give 4 specific examples of how Hitler was appeased. 3. What are the pros and cons of appeasement? Provide at least 3 of each. 4. Do you think appeasement was a good idea/goal? Explain. 5. 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?

2 What was appeasement? How Britain and France appeased Hitler in the period 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.

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.

3 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 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.

4 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.

5 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

6 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?

7 Historians have said that appeasement: Let Hitler grow stronger. 2. Gave Britain time to re-arm. EIGHT RESULTS OF APPEASEMENT 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.

With regard to the outbreak of World War Two the following events are seen as being contributing factors:

With regard to the outbreak of World War Two the following events are seen as being contributing factors: World War Two began in September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany following Germany s invasion of Poland. The war ended in Europe on 6 th May 1945 when Germany surrendered. The war