Appeasement was the right policy for Britain in 1938. Having the time to rearm, there may be less casualties resulting from WW2 as compared to having no time to rearm at all. But what England did not know, was that Hitler would take over all of Czechoslovakia and . Firstly, and this isn't part of my argument, they threw Poland and Czechoslovakia to the dogs, which was a dick move. Appeasement was right in 1938 as this proved to the people of Britain that the government had tried every method before resorting to war. British Home Secretary, Samuel Hoare, said, "These five men, working together in Europe and blessed in their efforts by the President of the United States of America, might make themselves eternal benefactors of the human race". Johns, Michael, "Peace in Our Time: The Spirit of Munich Lives On", Murray, Williamson. However, it is a self-guided tour of the country that will help you understand, that will allow you to see it from the inside and see not only popular tourist sites, but also other interesting sights. to find a compromise over the Sudetenland. Dimuccio, R.A.B., "The Study of Appeasement in International Relations: Polemics, Paradigms, and Problems". But they pursued appeasement at first as they wanted to prevent another war, rearming was just what happened meanwhile when the leaders realised that their policy is failing. Therefore appeasement bought time for Britain in the sense that Communist forces were weaken to a certain extent and would prevent substantial damage if Britain was to engage in a 2 front war ( ie. Italy demanded apologies and compensation from Abyssinia, which appealed to the League, with Emperor Haile Selassie famously appealing in person to the assembly in Geneva. Appeasement was not necessary in the first place, as Britain could challenge Hitler immediately at that time and Hitler will be forced to back down because he has to keep his promise of not starting a war that early, or he will start a war with far less support behind him, and Britain could have easily won. It was the right policy as at that point of time, Britain was still reeling from the Great Depression. First Vienna Award and German annexation of Bohemia and Moravia, German annexation of Lithuania's Klaipda Region, Robert Mallett, "The AngloItalian war trade negotiations, contraband control and the failure to appease Mussolini, 193940.". Many have judged that belief to be fallacious since the dictators' demands were not limited, and appeasement merely gave them time to gain greater strength. One of the first dissents to the prevailing criticism of appeasement was made by John F. Kennedy in his 1940 Harvard College thesis, Why England Slept, in which he argued that appeasement had been necessary because the United Kingdom and France were unprepared for a world war.[76][77]. ", Finney, Patrick. They betrayed a lot of countries in the process. Churchill likened the negotiations at Berchtesgarten, Bad Godesberg and Munich to a man demanding 1, then, when it is offered, demanding 2, then when it is refused settling for 1.17s.6d. However, Britain couldnt go straight into war as no one wanted a war: that is why British people wanted appeasement so they could avoid war at all costs. On 15 March 1939, the German Wehrmacht moved into the remainder of Czechoslovakia, and from Prague Castle, Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia to be the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, completing the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The Glamour Boys . War was inevitable but delaying it was the correct move to prepare both the country and the people for war. [34] Chamberlain died on 9 November the same year. [51], The Labour Party opposed the fascist dictators on principle but until the late 1930s also opposed rearmament and had a significant pacifist wing. The Republic of China appealed to the League of Nations and to the United States for assistance. If they had been more aggressive, the war would have begun before Britain was even close to having a good defence to stop anyone from invading them.Also, at that point of time, Britain was trying their best to avoid a second world war altogether This would easily have led to the fall of Britain, and in the process, demolish all possibilities of not having a second world war. This would have put them in a better position, rather than just sitting around and doing nothing. Barros, Andrew, Talbot C. Imlay, Evan Resnick, Norrin M. Ripsman, and Jack S. Levy. Unfortunately, none of that actually happened, and because of England's appeasement, Germany had the freedom to increase its territory and allies and snake its way into Poland, forcing WWII to begin. However the 6 months also gave germany time to rearm and strengthen their army in addition to the arms strength they gained from Czechoslovakia. By showing that appeasement was a popular policy and that there was a continuity in British foreign policy after 1933, he shattered the common view of the appeasers as a small degenerate clique that had mysteriously hijacked the British government sometime in the 1930s that had carried out their policies in the face of massive public resistance. [32] The Soviets supported Lithuania in principle but did not wish to disrupt their relations with Germany since they were contemplating the German-Soviet Pact. giving how discredited the League of Nations was by the time the annexation of Austria). 2) There is always a mix of rhetoric on both sides and many differing voices on what to do. [22] Baldwin rejected their sense of urgency and declared that he would not get Britain to war with anybody "for the League of Nations or anybody else" and that if there were to be any fighting in Europe, "I should like to see the Bolshies and Nazis doing it". James P. Levy argues against the outright condemnation of appeasement. Appeasement was the right policy. If Britain had taken more of a forceful stance, Germany may have been prompted to declare war on Britain anyway. Postponing the war was a bad thing because all it did was to give Hitler time to increase his power. At a debate at the Oxford Union Society in 1933, a group of undergraduates passed a motion saying that they would not fight for King and country, which persuaded some in Germany that Britain would never go to war. Instituted in the hope of avoiding war, appeasement was the name given to Britains policy in the 1930s of allowing Hitler to expand German territory unchecked. A plebiscite was held on 10 April and officially recorded the support of 99.73% of the voters for the Anschluss.[12]. The British government took the role of negotiating with Germany. The general strike of 1926 and the depression made the possibility of revolution a very real concern to conservative politicians. The 1945 United Kingdom general election was a national election held on Thursday 5 July 1945, but polling in some constituencies was delayed by some days, and the counting of votes was delayed until 26 July to provide time for overseas votes to be brought to Britain. Why did Britain and France adopt a policy of appeasement? was attempting to unite ethnic Germans in Europe. [39] Consciously encouraging war with Stalin is not widely accepted to be a motive of the Downing Street appeasers, but there is a historical consensus that anti-communism was central to appeasement's appeal for the conservative elite. That marked the beginning of many years of stark tragedy and desperate peril. An example is the surrender of Sudetenland (and eventually Czechoslovakia) to Germany, and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. [13] Even the strongest voices against annexation, particularly those of Fascist Italy, France and Britain (the "Stresa Front"), were not backed by force. It encouraged Hitler rather than curb his appetite. By contrast, the few who stood out against appeasement were seen as "voices in the wilderness whose wise counsels were largely ignored, with almost catastrophic consequences for the nation in 193940". Even if they went to war, the war would have ended much earlier and the British might not have suffered such drastic losses. In the early 1930s, it was not so clear what Hitler as the leader of Nazi Germany would do, so maybe pursuing a foreign policy of appeasement was still justifiable, but by 1938, it was clear that it was no longer the case. However, due to appeasement, the citizens did get more prepared for war. The constitutions of both the Weimar Republic and the First Republic of Austria, included the aim of unification, which was supported by democratic parties. [9][15] Nevertheless, the initial response of the British public to the Munich agreement was generally favourable. Some politicians both inside and outside the government were willing to consider the offer, but Churchill refused to do so. Germany accepted that arrangement under the Locarno Treaties of 1925. Leaders throughout the world, have invoked appeasement to justify military action, Chamberlains policy, however, were far from, straightforward. But appeasement did not achieve its main goal, stopping war. It is exactly because of Chamberlain's appeasement policy that Germany grew stronger and caused the amount of damage it did during World War II. Minister. The overall effect of the appeasement policy would be that they would fare better in the war. To vote for an argument, use these icons: Debate scores, side scores and tag scores are automatically calculated by an algorithm that primarily takes argument scores into account. "Hal G.P. Sign in|Recent Site Activity|Report Abuse|Print Page|Powered By Google Sites, More so, not acting with authority cost Chamberlain the chance he may have had to take Hitler down. [60][61], Czechoslovakia did not concern most people until tid-September 1938, when they began to object to a small democratic state being bullied. Hitler's expansionist aims became clear in 1936 when his forces entered the Rhineland. [82] Appeasement was a crisis management strategy seeking a peaceful settlement of Hitler's grievances. His expansionist policies could be seen taking place right in front of British eyes, but their politicians were so paranoid about war that they did not do anything about it. 1 See answer Advertisement tprmadness40 because it allowed Hitler to get exactly what he wanted, land in the Czechoslovakian area, and with the new territory he gained, Hitler became more powerful, and his desire to expand grew. The United States reminded them of their duty under the KelloggBriand Pact to settle matters peacefully. I think it was the best policy at that time in Britain despite the many failures after the appeasement because the fact that even if they were to deploy their army at that point in time in retaliation, there was a slim chance that they could have won against Germany who had air forces which were very devastating as shown during the Spanish civil war. Even though Chamberlain had helped Hitler in his expansionist policy, it gave the other countries the time to rearm and expand their military capabilities. Chamberlain's policy of appeasement emerged from the failure of the League of Nations and the failure of collective security. [66] For example,>Lord Halifax>told radio producers not to offend Hitler and Mussolini, and they complied by censoring anti-fascist commentary made by Labour and Popular Front MPs. 1. Chamberlain became President in 1937. On 30 September, on his return to Britain, Chamberlain delivered his famous "peace for our time" speech to delighted crowds. If this is your first time checking out a debate, here are some quick tips to help get you started: Jeremy Matthew [NO] - I think Appeasement policy was not the right policy that Britain had taken in 1938. This policy was supposed to prevent war from happening, but war happened anyways. [94][95] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later stated that the Trump administration's foreign policy was "trying to correct for what was the Obama administration's appeasement of Iran. The arguments in Taylor's Origins of the Second World War, which have sometimes been described as "revisionist",[9][80] were rejected by many historians at the time, and reviews of his book in Britain and the United States were generally critical. Was Appeasement the Right Policy for England in 1938? CreateDebate is a social debate community built around ideas, discussion and democracy. But the time frame now is 1938, where Britain had not done much to stop Hitler. He was replaced by Neville Chamberlain, who pursued a policy of appeasement and rearmament. However, appeasement was not largely justified because there were many opportunities to hinder Hitlers plans, such as not allowing the remilitarization of the Rhineland which led up to Hitlers increase of aggressiveness, more time for Germany to prepare for war, the betrayal of Czechoslovakia, losing the allies . This is the strategy Britain used with Hitler, ignored or satisfying demands for territory and rearmament in the hope that one day Hitler would simply stop. [41] Amongst Conservatives, Churchill was unusual in believing that Germany menaced freedom and democracy, that British rearmament should proceed more rapidly and that Germany should be resisted over Czechoslovakia. [56], A few on the left said that Chamberlain looked forward to a war between Germany and the Soviet Union. The Labour MP Hugh Dalton identified the policy with wealthy people in the City of London, Conservatives and members of the peerage who were soft on Hitler. A credible network of alliances might have ensured a cheaper and quicker victory over Hitler, had war come. It perceived decisive German air superiority and so it was pessimistic about its ability to defend Czechoslovakia in 1938. The League declared Italy to be the aggressor and imposed sanctions, but coal and oil were not included since blocking them, it was thought, would provoke war. Its roots lay in a fear of bolshevism. The people were wary of another war and if they had not tried appeasement, the government would not have the full support of the people if a war broke out. Germany and Soviet union). [37] Many believed after the First World War that wars were started by mistake, in which case the League of Nations could prevent them; or that they were caused by large-scale armaments, in which case disarmament was the remedy; or that they were caused by national grievances, in which case the grievances should be redressed peacefully. [88][77], During the Cold War, the "lessons" of appeasement were cited by prominent conservative allies of Reagan, who urged him to be assertive in "rolling back" Soviet-backed regimes throughout the world. Also, this policy was being carried out at a point of time where there was a slight chance of peace. ", Walker, Stephen G. "Solving the Appeasement Puzzle: Contending Historical Interpretations of British Diplomacy during the 1930s. The British people at that time were also not willing to go to war, hence trying every possible methods including Appeasement to avoid war. "[40], Most Conservative MPs were also in favour, but Churchill said that their supporters were divided and in 1936 led a delegation of leading Conservative politicians to express to Baldwin their alarm about the speed of German rearmament and the fact that Britain was falling behind. With appeasement, time can be bought and it would have shown the people that the government had tried many methods to prevent the war from happening. The policy of appeasement became increasingly attractive after the overwhelming destruction of World War I. Taylor argued that Hitler did not have a blueprint for war and behaved much as any other German leader might have. Shreyas Yes, Britain tried their best to prevent or at the least delay another war from happening. "The Ghosts of Appeasement: Britain and the Legacy of the Munich Agreement. 59, No. Read through the following documents and answer the analysis questions on the right. Some Conservatives abstained in the vote, but the only MP to advocate war was the Conservative Duff Cooper, who had resigned from the government to protest the agreement. [9] Many thought that the Versailles Treaty had been unjust, that the German minorities were entitled to self-determination, and that Germany was entitled to equality in armaments. If England had taken action sooner and had done something more substantial in 1938, rather than literally giving Hitlerwhat he wanted like a spoiled little kid, then there was a good chance that WWII would have never started. They thought that Germany could act as a buffer, especially as Hitler was very anti-Communist. Chamberlain went to meet Hitler on 15th September 1938 in Scott Ramsay. The Life of Lord Halifax (Phoenix, 1997), p. 282. "Peace in Our Time: The Spirit of Munich Lives On", by Michael Johns. Of Sudetenland ( and eventually Czechoslovakia ) to Germany, and the Depression made the of... 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