interpretations of appeasement Flashcards
what were the main features of the popular majority view 1937-8
chamberlin was treated like a hero
he recieved an estimated 40,000 letters
applauded by the majority of members of parliment
why did the popular majority interpretation develop at the time
British people were scared by memories of the first world war
the country was not united behind the idea of going to war over czheckolosvakia
example of historians that agreed with the popular majority view
joseph Kennedy
lord halifax
what shows that appeasement was fair in the popular majority view
prevented war in the short term
who were the critics to the popular majority view
Winston Churchill
Cato
appeasement didnt prevent war it scared the soviet union into signing a a pact with Germany
what were the main features to the popular and political view the guilty men 1939-48
a book was published called the guilty men that stated appeasement was a foolish and cowardly and imoral policy book was published in 1940
appeasement made dictators stronger without them having to fight
why did the guilty men view interpretation develop at the time
many people felt ashamed about letting Hitler invade czech. attitudes to appeasement hardened when the war broke out
who agreed with the guilty men view and why was it fair
lord Beaverbrook winston churchill
appeasement didn’t stop war it made Germany more powerful
what was the main features of Churchills orthadox view 1948-1960
Churchill claimed that Chamberlin should have tried to put together a grand alliance of Britain France the USA and the Ussr to stop Germany
Churchill said Chamberlin had not been weak or immoral but appeasement was still a bad policy
why did Churchills orthdadox view develop at this time
the cold war: Churchill was concerned about the Ussr and saw it as a threat to europe and the world he believed that the USA and its allies should always stand up to dictators like joseph Stalin
the churchill factor: in 1943 churchill said ‘history will be kind to me because i shall write the history’ he was also dissapointed in losing the 1945 election and wanted to make sure his historical reputation didnt suffer
who agreed with the orthadox view and what shows that it is fair
tony Blair
Chamberlin was motivated by good intentions
what were the main features of the academic revisionist view 1960-1990
A.J.P Taylor argued that Hitler did not have a clear plan in the 1930s so Chamberlin couldn’t be entirely blamed
appeasement was the right policy because it gave Britain time to re arm
why did the academic revisionist view develop at this time
new British sources: in 1958 the government passed the public records act this meant official government papers could be studied 30 years after being created
Vietnam war: during the 1960s the the USA dislike to appeasement had drawn them into war which was going badly
who agreed with the academic revisionist view and why was it fair
A.J.P Taylor David Dilk
Chamberlin could not go to war without the public on his side
Chamberlin’s military generals weren’t ready to go to war
what were the main features of the counter revisionist view 1990-2000
Chamberlin ignored the advice of many of his officials
Chamberlin over rated his own abilities in thinking that he could talk Hitler into being reasonable
