IGCSE History: Appeasement

IGCSE History: Appeasement Appeasement Background 1933-1939 Definition: “to give in to aggression to keep the peace” Example 1: Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935 (5:5:3 Treaty) ● Allowed Germany submarines even though this was against the Treaty of Versailles ● Germany was allowed a navy 35% the size of Britain’s, even though Britain’s navy was the biggest and most powerful in the world, and Germany had not even been allowed more than 20 warships, torpedoes etc by the ToV. ● Weakened the Stresa Front (1935) – an anti-German grouping between Italy, France and Britain to ‘keep the peace in Europe’ Example 2: 1933 – 1935 Secret Rearmament of Germany ● Became known when they had a military parade in 1935 ● Allies decided to overlook this even though it was a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. They justified it through claiming that: ○ The ToV had been too harsh in the first place ○ It was reasonable for a country to want to defend itself ● Some historians state it was more worried about the Russian’s communist power, and hoped for a strong Germany to act as a buffer between France and Russia – excuse for appeasement? Example 3: Remilitarization of the Rhineland* (March 1936) Example 4: Anschluss (March 1938) Example 5: Munich Crisis and Czechoslovakia (1938) Example 6: Invasion of Czechoslovakia (March 1939) Reasons for the Policy of Appeasement (1937 – 1939) Factor 1: Chamberlain’s personality: Chamberlain was horrified at the idea of another war, as he believed passionately in peace, and made achieving peace in Europe his personal and ultimate goal. He believed in the power of talk and negotiations: ● Said to the Soviet Ambassador in Britain “if only we could sit down at a table with the Germans and run through all their complaints and claims. That would greatly reduce the tension.” ○ Again, some people view this as naivety He was honest and assumed all other leaders were too ● Chamberlain was not used to dealing with fanatics like Hitler. ● Believed Hitler when he said that he had no other territorial ambitions after Czechoslovakia, and so appeased twice his invasions of the Czechoslovak state ● Some felt he was naïve and foolish for trusting Hitler’s promises of peace in Europe ● Others feel it was understandable, as Hitler could be extremely persuasive, and no one knew that he would go back on his word When Chamberlain returned from Munich he thought Hitler respected him and he was sure that Hitler would not deceive a man whom he respected: ● Reports later claim that after the Munich Conference, Hitler actually compared Chamberlain to a ‘little worm’ and said ‘I’ll kick him downstairs and jump on his stomach’ Felt that a peaceful settlement in Europe depended on an Anglo-German understanding. ● Tried to stay on friendly terms with the Germans, even though Hitler was naturally hostile and had double crossed them. Interpretations of Chamberlain’s response to Hitler: 1. Chamberlain thought to be a trusting fool because he thought Hitler was reasonable and continued to appease him after it was clear that Hitler had no intentions of keeping his promises 2. Others understood that Chamberlain was in a difficult position and that appeasement was the sensible choice at the time. Militarily weak, no support from colonies or British public, had not known that Hitler would be so sly and untrustworthy Factor 2: Concern for the Empire: The British Empire was of paramount importance to the British – it was almost their first priority st September 1938: ● South Africa and Australia said that they would not support England in a war over Czechoslovakia. ● 24th September: South Africa voted for neutrality. If Britain were to support Czechoslovakia in the war it would split the British Empire, and it would not have gained its support. Much of the empire was in Asia where Japan was rising to power: ● Military leaders were terrified of fighting two wars at once (a war on two fronts) and supported appeasement, to prevent, or at least delay any European conflicts. Factor 3: The Sleeping Superpowers: If Britain had the support of the USA and USSR they could have taken a harder line towards Germany. But: ● USA was isolationist – so it put its domestic problems over foreign affairs, and became involved in as little international conflicts as possible. ● USSR was communist and so, was considered untrustworthy. USA: ● Until the beginning of WWII US spending of defense was limited: ○ 1937 only 1.5% of its national income was spent on defense in contrast with Germany’s 23.5% in that same year. ○ Was not in a position to fight ● As a result of isolationism: ○ In 1937, they only had a small standing army equipped with outdated weapons; this was nothing compared with the German forces, which, since 1934, had been mass producing weapons of high quality ○ Their air force was considerably outnumbered by the German and Japanese air forces. ● F.D. Roosevelt’s personality and policies: ○ Roosevelt hated war. ○ He was a realistic politician who tried to do please the public; the American public then was wholly concerned with rebuilding their economy and country after the Depression, and was indifferent with the European crises. ○ Some felt that the US should try to stop the war and arms trade, but this wasn’t a strong feeling ● The USA passed a temporary Neutrality Act in 1935 and made it permanent in 1938. USSR: ● The Red Army was large but incapable. ● Russia was still unstable then, with revolutions, poverty, starvation etc, and so was more concerned with domestic problems. ● It was communist, which was the ideological opponent of Britain’s imperial political system. So there was mutual distrust and dislike between the British and Soviets. ● The purges Stalin carried out in the late 1930s heightened the British belief that the USSR was unreliable and cruel: ○ Many leading Soviets were accused of treachery. ○ 1937, Stalin killed most of his military leaders: ■ 75/80 members of the Supreme Military Council were executed. ■ This weakened the fighting capacity of the Red Army further, convincing the British that the Soviet military aid was of little use. Without the support of powerful Allies Britain could not be sure of victory: ● In the Great War they had the support of Italy, Japan and Russia as well as France and only won when the USA entered the war. ● In the late 1930s they had no allies except for France. Factor 4: Playing for time: Appeasement allowed Britain time to rearm. ● This would allow future aggression to be met by force. ● It’s cut on defense spending coincided with German rearmament, which made it much less confident on its ability to face Germany in a large-scale conflict ● 1934-38 Britain increased four-times their spending on defense, which allowed them to be better prepared and equipped when the war began in 1939. At the time of the Munich Crisis Chamberlain felt that they were not strong enough yet and was also urged to play for time by his military advisors. ● This also allowed the Germans more time to strengthen their military strength and might not actually have worked out as the British military leaders intended. ● However, it gave Britain and France a much larger chance of victory than if they had decided to oppose Hitler in the early thirties, when the military and country were at their height of power. At the end of the war Hitler told his assistant that he felt cheated by the Munich deal: ● He felt that Germany was better prepared than their enemy then and that it would have been better to attack before Britain had had the time to fully prepare herself. ● So appeasement was successful in a way Strengths Weaknesses Gave Britain and France time to rearm Was one of the main reasons for Second World War Chamberlain’s character, strive for world peace and pacifist attitude were good and worthy intentions Violated the League’s purpose, its system of collective security, sanctions etc. Caused France and Britain to not lend their support to less powerful countries that had depended on them. Prevented Britain from fighting a war on two front It completely violated the Treaty of Versailles and permitted a relatively quick and rounded German recovery The Allies feared communism more than German recovery, and so hoped for a strong Germany to act as a buffer between them and communist Russia, who they were really worried about Encouraged Hitler’s aggression and ridiculous demands and allowed it to expand his influence, as well as regain European territory lost to it after WWI and become a threat once again Gained the support of its empire in 1939, who also came to the conclusion that appeasement was useless Encouraged other rising aggressive dictators (Mussolini), which led to many crises The Sleeping Superpowers had not offered Chamberlain any support, and so it seemed a safe to appease Germany temporarily Gave Germany time to rearm to a greater level Led to the collapse of the anti-German Stresa Front Cowardly action – Appeasement only put off the inevitable war Chamberlain was seen as a fool for being duped by Hitler so many times