Chamberlain"s Appeasement Collapse
Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain, had foreign policy in the 1930s which tried to accommodate Germany and other dictators, including Italy and Japan.
This was called 'appeasement'.
He had hoped that with political concession, peace would be maintained in Europe.
Chamberlain's 'appeasement' was not popular with all members of his government, especially not with Winston Churchill.
But Chamberlain believed that Hitler would stop his annexation of European territories, as he had given his word.
The British public viewed the Treaty of Versailles as a mistake, and thus put pressure on their government to have sympathy for Germany.
Most of Europe, and especially Britain and France, were economically drained.
The First World War and the Depression had forced cuts in military spending, and a disarmament programme.
This left Britain ill-equipped for war in the 1930s.
War was of course also unpopular with the British public.
This was more of a concern if they had to fight on two fronts - Japan and Germany.
After the failure of the League of Nations, Chamberlain and his supporters hoped that Germany would re-establish herself in Europe and integrate into a peaceful system.
He felt that face-to-face discussions would be more effective, so he met with Hitler at Berchtesgarten (without the knowledge of his cabinet, the French or the Czechs) to consider the future of the Sudetenland.
After these discussions, he believed that Hitler's idea of self-determination was fair, and that this was what the Sudetenland was entitled to.
But Hitler's goals made him aggressive, although he was militarily weak at this time.
Firstly he wanted to challenge and reverse the Treaty of Versailles.
He wanted to expand German territory in Russia forLebensraum.
He thus made agreements with Russia to neutralise her for a non-aggressive take-over at a later date.
His main aims had been to re-arm Germany, re-militarise the Rhineland, reunite Germany with Austria (Anschluss) and annex the most strategically important part of Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland), which were all actions against the conditions laid out in the Treaty of Versailles.
Britain thought Hitler was reasonable and that his aim was just to restore Germany's position in Europe after the horrors of the First World War.
The British public were especially supportive of the Munich Agreement of 1938 between Britain, Germany, France and Italy which transferred the Sudetenland to Germany.
It was believed that this agreement would prevent war in Europe and that Hitler and Mussolini, although dictators were pragmatic and realistic.
Britain had mistakenly believed that remilitarising the Rhineland would stop Hitler's progress in Europe, and that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be his last territorial demand.
Germany's military strength was over-estimated and Britain did not think they could defeat Hitler at this time either.
In fact, German had a very weak military force and would have been stopped quite easily if other European nations had chosen to defend against this German advance into the Rhineland.
Many of the later Allied countries were impressed with Hitler - his brutal regime was overlooked in favour of his achievement in keeping Communism out of Germany.
Hitler signed 'The Paper' with Chamberlain, which was "symbolic of a desire of our two peoples never to go with war with one other again" and it was believed that Britain and Europe's safety was preserved.
Britain lacked allies at this delicate time.
France was still suffering the aftermath of World War 1 and the economic struggles of the 1920s and 1930s.
The United States of America was observing an isolationist policy, and chose to remain out of European issues.
With the rise of nationalist movements across the British Empire, 75% of the British troops had been deployed across the Empire in support of especially the governor of Indian.
There was hope too that appeasement would delay war until economy had recovered enough to support the expense of war.
But, in spite of Chamberlain's efforts at appeasement, Germany invaded and annexed Czechoslovakia, Bohemia and Slovakia and proved Hitler to be untrustworthy.
He had lied when he signed the Munich Agreement and that his wish to unite the Germans was in fact not true.
He was invading non-German speaking territories.
This caused Chamberlain to make a firm stand against Hitler, and he declared he would defend Poland against a German attack.
In Germany, Hitler's desire for a racial hierarchy manifested itself in the attacks of Kristallnacht, when many Jews were killed, injured and intimidated.
Pact of Steel, which set up a war alliance between Germany and Italy concerned Britain, and she started to build up her military.
On the home front British politicians were speaking up against appeasement, gaining more public anti-appeasement support.
Appeasement collapsed once Hitler proved himself to be a liar and once his agreements were uncovered as insincere.
His actions were evidence that his goals was not for the good of the German people, but for military might and personal power.
Chamberlain had hoped that by appeasing Germany, he could confine Hitler and give Germany time to recover from the conditions set out in the Treaty of Versailles.
Chamberlain's intentions were good, but Hitler used these opportunities to his own advantage and sadly with the collapse of appeasement in 1939, Europe faced another war.
This was called 'appeasement'.
He had hoped that with political concession, peace would be maintained in Europe.
Chamberlain's 'appeasement' was not popular with all members of his government, especially not with Winston Churchill.
But Chamberlain believed that Hitler would stop his annexation of European territories, as he had given his word.
The British public viewed the Treaty of Versailles as a mistake, and thus put pressure on their government to have sympathy for Germany.
Most of Europe, and especially Britain and France, were economically drained.
The First World War and the Depression had forced cuts in military spending, and a disarmament programme.
This left Britain ill-equipped for war in the 1930s.
War was of course also unpopular with the British public.
This was more of a concern if they had to fight on two fronts - Japan and Germany.
After the failure of the League of Nations, Chamberlain and his supporters hoped that Germany would re-establish herself in Europe and integrate into a peaceful system.
He felt that face-to-face discussions would be more effective, so he met with Hitler at Berchtesgarten (without the knowledge of his cabinet, the French or the Czechs) to consider the future of the Sudetenland.
After these discussions, he believed that Hitler's idea of self-determination was fair, and that this was what the Sudetenland was entitled to.
But Hitler's goals made him aggressive, although he was militarily weak at this time.
Firstly he wanted to challenge and reverse the Treaty of Versailles.
He wanted to expand German territory in Russia forLebensraum.
He thus made agreements with Russia to neutralise her for a non-aggressive take-over at a later date.
His main aims had been to re-arm Germany, re-militarise the Rhineland, reunite Germany with Austria (Anschluss) and annex the most strategically important part of Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland), which were all actions against the conditions laid out in the Treaty of Versailles.
Britain thought Hitler was reasonable and that his aim was just to restore Germany's position in Europe after the horrors of the First World War.
The British public were especially supportive of the Munich Agreement of 1938 between Britain, Germany, France and Italy which transferred the Sudetenland to Germany.
It was believed that this agreement would prevent war in Europe and that Hitler and Mussolini, although dictators were pragmatic and realistic.
Britain had mistakenly believed that remilitarising the Rhineland would stop Hitler's progress in Europe, and that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be his last territorial demand.
Germany's military strength was over-estimated and Britain did not think they could defeat Hitler at this time either.
In fact, German had a very weak military force and would have been stopped quite easily if other European nations had chosen to defend against this German advance into the Rhineland.
Many of the later Allied countries were impressed with Hitler - his brutal regime was overlooked in favour of his achievement in keeping Communism out of Germany.
Hitler signed 'The Paper' with Chamberlain, which was "symbolic of a desire of our two peoples never to go with war with one other again" and it was believed that Britain and Europe's safety was preserved.
Britain lacked allies at this delicate time.
France was still suffering the aftermath of World War 1 and the economic struggles of the 1920s and 1930s.
The United States of America was observing an isolationist policy, and chose to remain out of European issues.
With the rise of nationalist movements across the British Empire, 75% of the British troops had been deployed across the Empire in support of especially the governor of Indian.
There was hope too that appeasement would delay war until economy had recovered enough to support the expense of war.
But, in spite of Chamberlain's efforts at appeasement, Germany invaded and annexed Czechoslovakia, Bohemia and Slovakia and proved Hitler to be untrustworthy.
He had lied when he signed the Munich Agreement and that his wish to unite the Germans was in fact not true.
He was invading non-German speaking territories.
This caused Chamberlain to make a firm stand against Hitler, and he declared he would defend Poland against a German attack.
In Germany, Hitler's desire for a racial hierarchy manifested itself in the attacks of Kristallnacht, when many Jews were killed, injured and intimidated.
Pact of Steel, which set up a war alliance between Germany and Italy concerned Britain, and she started to build up her military.
On the home front British politicians were speaking up against appeasement, gaining more public anti-appeasement support.
Appeasement collapsed once Hitler proved himself to be a liar and once his agreements were uncovered as insincere.
His actions were evidence that his goals was not for the good of the German people, but for military might and personal power.
Chamberlain had hoped that by appeasing Germany, he could confine Hitler and give Germany time to recover from the conditions set out in the Treaty of Versailles.
Chamberlain's intentions were good, but Hitler used these opportunities to his own advantage and sadly with the collapse of appeasement in 1939, Europe faced another war.
