Appeasement, the War, and the debate

Appeasement, the War, and the debate

1. Re-occupation of the Rhineland 1936

   • ToV started the Rhineland should be demilitarised
     • Security for France
   • Sent troops to reclaim the region
   • Br and Fr did nothing to stop this

2. Munch Settlement 1938

   • Under ToV the Sudetenland was made part of Czechoslovakia
   • Idea of self-determination for the 3 million Sudeten-Germans
   • Agreement gave Germany the Sudetenland
     • Stopped immediate threat of war
     • Germany went against the agreement also occupied Bohemia and Moravia, destroying Czechoslovakia

3. Poland 1939

   • Br promised to protect Poland in the event of German invasion
     • Was actually a more reasonable demand
     • Keeping with this, Br declared war on Germany 6 months later
   • Went against the Munich Agreement

4. The Soviet Union

   • The Guilty Men
     • Condemnation of Br's leaders for undermining Soviet-British relations
       • Could have been a counter-weight to the growth of Germany
   • Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939
     • Agreement that pledging the USSR and Gr would stay at peace for 10 years
     • Would devided Poland between them
     • Hitler betrayed the agreement on June 1941 with Operation Barbarossa

5. Debate

   • 1939 onwards, Appeasement was considered terrible
     • Failed to stop the expansion of Nazi Germany
   • War was too horrible to contemplate
     • Avoidance was neccessary
     • Public opinion
       • Anti-war feelings
       • Genuine support for rearmament
         • Explains why government was so ill prepared for war
   • Economic depression
     • Money for armaments not of vital importance at the time
   • Trust in LoN
     • Had in some successes
   • Military position in the 1930's
     • Navy overstretched
     • Impossible to resist Germany by armed force
       • Could not help Poland
     • Could not defend the own interests and stop Gr at the same time
       • Failure in defending their interests in Abyssinia proves this
   • Sympathy for Germany
     • Belief even the Rhineland, Sudetenland and Austria incidents were in keeping with self determination
     • Fr refusal to budge on reparations
   • Fear of Communism
     • Afraid of the spread of Communism into Europe
     • Strong anti-communist Germany could be a barrier to the spread of communism