Appeasement
Why?
Fear of another Major War
- WWI had a major impact on countries
- Public no interest in war
Time to Rearm
- WWI weakened BR and FR
- Needed time to rearm
Sympathy over TOV
- Felt GR was punished too harshly
- Chamberlain thought "Hitler just wanted to reverse TOV"
- Believed Hitler's grievances were justified
Misjudgement of Hitler
- Chamberlain and Halifax believed Hitler was trust-able
- Believed Hitler would stop after obtaining Sudetenland
Fear of Communism
- Believed communism was a larger threat than Hitler
- Use Hitler as ally, shield against Soviet Union
Weaknesses of LON
- Relied on the League to solve disputes
- However, League was ineffective against strong countries
What?
Anglo-German Naval Agreement
- Allowed German Navy to go against TOV
- 'Gave in to Hitler'
Lack of actions against Hitler
| Hitler's actions | Why lack of action? |
|---|---|
| Remilitarisation of Rhineland | - British sympathy for Germany, saw it as Hitler merely returning 'to his own backyard' |
| - France unwilling to fight without British backing | |
| Involvement in Spanish Civil War | - Hitler protrayed himself as defender of civilisation, combating communists |
| - Western powers did not want communists to win, thought Hitler was an ally | |
| Anschluss with Austria | - Chamberlain did not want to go to war to defend TOV |
| - Hitler promised Austria would be his last demand |
Munich Agreement
- Hitler wanted Sudetenland
- Largely German people
- British PM gave it to Hitler on the basis that it will stop there
- Felt bad about TOV + Self-determination
Failure of Appeasement
- Hitler set sights occupying whole Czech
- Invaded on 15 Mar 1939
- There was no resistance
- BR and FR finally realised Hitler not trust-able
17:43 Monday 26 September 2022