Appeasement Flashcards
What was Appeasement?
It was Britain and France giving Germany exactly what he wanted and letting him get away with a bunch of different things.
What was one argument for Appeasement? 1/2
Lack of resources: British empire, British arms, Economic problem
Britain believed they did not have enough resources to fight Germany, and needed to build up their armies and gather together allies. Britain and France were both in a deep economic state and were really struggling. France was in a recession and elections were also going on. Britain only started rearming in 1935 while Germany had been rearming that whole time.
What is another argument for appeasement? 2/2
Effects of the war:
Fear of communism, Memories of the war, Treaty of Versailles
Britain and France still had memories of the war and wanted nothing more than to avoid it from happening ever again. Everybody felt bad about the Treaty of Versailles and believed that they should have been less harsh on Germany which meant that they were less harsh later. Britain and France wanted Hitler and Stalin to go to war and appeasement would make Hitler get closer to Russia.
What is an argument against appeasement? 1/2
Hitlers Aggression: German arms, Make a stand, Trusting Hitler
Germany had clearly been seen as an unreliable country and trusting Hitler is definitely in hindsight seen as naive. Even during the treaty of Versailles Hitler was starting to rearm, and made that one of their main aims. Letting Hitler continue to rearm and test their armies puts every other country at a disadvantage. If they had forced Germany out of the Rhineland in 1936 then Hitler would have suffered humiliation. Further rearmament would have then been prevented.
What is another argument against appeasement? 2/2
Various allies:
Hitler’s allies, The USA, The soviet union
The USA was not a good ally to Britain and France and did not get involved in any of the crises which happened in Europe. In 1919 the USA adopted isolationism and therefore did not help any conflicts abroad. Hitler had already started gaining allies like Italy, Japan, and also the USSR. This puts Germany at a major advantage and is starting to build up its strategic position. The Soviet Union is a major power and now allied with Germany is incredible and was not at all what Britain and France hoped would happen. So therefore they should have stopped Germany before all this happened.
What is a good conclusion for these arguments?
To conclude appeasement in hindsight was seen as completely irresponsible and naive, however during that time Britain and France did need more time. That being said with the use of hindsight they could have stopped Hitler in his tracks and possibly avoided WW2 altogether. They could have stopped Hitler by stopping him in the Rhineland but that didn’t happen and let Hitler continue to take more and more. Appeasement is both understandable and partly justified but it was not the right thing to do in this scenario.
