Was the Policy of Appeasement Justified?

• What was Appeasement

  • Appeasement was the policy of giving in to demands to avoid war
  • Followers of appeasement use diplomacy (the management of relationships between countries that requires talking to other nations without upsetting or offending them) and treaties to make allowance for aggressive nations
  • Britain and France followed the policy of appeasement in the 1930s
• appeasement: Neville Chamberlain

  • Many historians associate appeasement with Neville Chamberlain
  • Like many other politicians, Chamberlain had lost family members in the First World War
  • His brother was killed in action in 1915
  • The First World War had horrified Chamberlain and the British public
  • He would do anything to avoid another world war
  • In 1937, Chamberlain became the British Prime Minister
  • During this time, he attempted to appease Hitler’s foreign policy aims
• appeasement: other British politicians

  • Not all British politicians agreed with appeasement
  • Winston Churchill was a strong opponent of appeasement
  • He stated that:

  BLOCKQUOTE

  An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last
• Arguments for Appeasement: Neville Chamberlain

  • Hitler can stop the spread of communism
  • britain needs time to rearm
  • hitler is just taking back what the TOV unfairly took from Germany
  • britain can’t afford a war due to the depression
  • the public don’t want another world war
  • Hitler will stop his demands soon
• Arguments against appeasement: Winston Churchill

  • We cannot trust Hitler- he keeps breaking his promises
  • germany is very quickly rearming- we need to stop Hitler before it’s too late
  • appeasement makes Britain look weak- we must stand up against tyrants