WORLD WAR TWO IN EUROPE
POLICY OF APPEASEMENT
Appeasement is the negotiating with, and making concessions to, another country in order to avoid war. This was practiced by Britain and France towards Germany.
REASONS FOR POA
Fear of another war
Britain and France had lost millions of men in WW1 and were unwilling to fight another war and suffer the same consequences.
Furthermore the people were very unwilling to go to war, making rearmament a difficult policy to implement by the leaders without public outcry.
Hence the Allies would rather make peace with Hitler to prevent war.
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Food for thought: Family who died in WWI, would you be willing to fight another war to stop Hitler?
REASONS FOR POA
Buying time to rearm
Britain and France had a weak economy and military after WW1. They needed more time to rearm and develop themselves economically, rather than to sacrifice themselves to help others.
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Hence the Allies would rather make peace with Hitler to prevent war.
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Food for thought: What kind of instinct can we see here? (Hint: wanting to develop their own arms rather than sacrifice to help others.)
REASONS FOR POA
Genuine sympathy for Germany over the TOV
Rearmament and reoccupation of lands were seen as reasonable as the TOV had been too harsh. By giving in to Hitler, Britain believed that Hitler would cease his demands after the Germans in Europe were reunited and there would be peace.
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Hence the Allies would rather make peace with Hitler to prevent war.
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Food for thought: Why were the rearmament and reoccupation of lands seen as acceptable? How would Hitler justify his actions?
REASONS FOR POA
Weakness of the League of Nations
The league was not effective enough to deal with powerful countries and settle disputes, allowed them to act without control. it was unable to rely on the ineffective LON, Britain had to adopt the appeasement policy for the safety of Britain.
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Hence the Allies would rather make peace with Hitler to prevent war.
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Food for thought: What was the point of the League in the first place?
REASONS FOR POA
Communism was seen as a far greater threat than Nazism
As Germany was anti-Communist, Britain and France believed that a strong Germany would help to prevent communism from spreading to Europe. This would help democratic states in Europe.
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Hence the Allies would rather make peace with Hitler to prevent war.
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Food for thought: Why did countries fear communism?
REASONS FOR POA
Chamberlain’s mis-judgement of Hitler
Chamberlain, the PM of Britain, thought that Hitler was a man of reason, so he believed that Hitler could be trusted to do the right thing. He wrongly believed that Hitler’s aims were limited and Hitler would be satisfied once he gets what he wanted.
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Hence Chamberlain would rather make peace with Hitler to prevent war.
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Food for thought: Can you blame Chamberlain for thinking that Hitler would eventually stop? Why?