Policy of Appeasement

1. Weakness of the League of Nations
Hitler’s expansionist policy
Policy of appeasement
Among the factors leading to the
outbreak of WWII in Europe, which is
more significant?

2. With Hitler’s expansionist policy, why
didn’t anyone stop him?
Appeasement policy
Appeasement means the practice of avoiding war
by giving in to the aggressive demands made by a
country.
To bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm or contentment; pacify;
soothe
- Dictionary.com

3. Chief Appeaser
Neville
Chamberlain
British Prime Minister
for first 8 months of war.

4. Winston Churchill

5. Reasons for the Policy of
Appeasement
Fear of
another
major war
Buying time
to rearm
Sympathy
for Germany
over TOV
Misjudgment
of Hitler
Fear of
Communism

6. Reason 1: Fear of another major war

7. Reason 1: Fear of another major war

8. Reason 1: Fear of another major war
 Not militarily prepared
 Economies weakened by Great Depression
 No public support for war
 Public enthusiasm for Munich Agreement

9. Reason 2: Buying time to rearm
The English people realise that we are in
no position to enter upon war with such
a formidable power as Germany, much
less if Germany was sided by Italy…
Therefore, until our armaments are
strong, we must adjust our foreign
policy to our circumstances.
- Neville Chamberlain to a friend in the
USA

10. Reason 3: Sympathy for Germany
o Many British politicians and people
felt that the terms of the TOV
were too harsh.
o They also saw that the terms on
disarmament and the huge
reparations forced upon Germany
had indeed caused great hardship
for the Germans.
o By the 1930s, the mood had
changed from demands for revenge
after WW1 to feelings of guilt over
the harshness of the TOV and many
began to feel that German
complaints about the TOV were
reasonable.

11. Reason 3: Sympathy for
Germany
o As a result, when Hitler first
violated the TOV, the British did
not intervene and allowed Hitler
to get his way:
o Walking out of the
Disarmament Conference
o Remilitarizing the Rhineland
o This was because they felt that
Hitler was reasonable in his
actions since the TOV was too
harsh in the first place.

12. Reason 4: Misjudgement of Hitler
o It took a long time for Britain and
France to realise that Hitler was a
totally unreasonable leader who would
continue to demand more and more.
o They had initially believed that Hitler
was a person who could be reasoned
with
o They first thought that once Hitler got
back the Rhineland and successfully
rearm Germany, he might be satisfied.
o But Hitler got bolder and bolder in his
demands

13. Reason 4: Misjudgment of Hitler

14. Reason 5: Fear of
Communism
o Some politicians in Britain and
France disliked Communism
much more than they disliked
Nazism.
o To them, Communism was a
greater evil and they could see
some advantage in accepting
Germany which was strongly
anti-Communist.
o Communism was more of a
threat to civilization than
Nazism.
o They thought that a strong
Germany would stop the
westward spread of Soviet
Communism.

15. Reason 5: Fear of Communism
o As a result, they were keen
to retain Hitler’s friendship so
that they might combine
forces to stop Communism
from spreading.
o In order to secure Hitler’s
friendship, the British had to
show its ‘sincerity’ by not
stopping Hitler’s actions.
o Thus, the Allied powers
appeased Hitler because they
hoped that in return they
could count on German
support against the Soviet
Union.

16. Why was the policy of appeasement
adopted?
1. Fear of
another War
3.
Sympathy
for Germans
5. Fear of
Communism
4.
Misjudgment
of Hitler
2. Buying
time to
Rearm

17. Examples of Appeasement
 Anglo-German Naval Agreement
 The TOV states that German Navy to only have 6
warships and no submarines
 Under the Agreement with BRITAIN, Germany was
allowed to have 1/3 the tonnage of British surface
fleet and equal tonnage of submarines
 Signalled the beginning of appeasement
WHY?
 It was hoped that this would reduce German anger
and stabalise Europe

18. Examples of Appeasement
 Munich Agreement (Recall Sudetenland)
 Benes (who?) wanted to fight, the Czechs had a
modern army
 Britain, France, SU promised to help if in war
HOWEVER…
 Chamberlain went to meet Hitler, he said that
Germany would ONLY claim Sudetenland and only
if the plebiscite showed they wanted to be part of
Germany
 Chamberlain then went back to Britain and
proclaimed he had achieved “peace of our time”

19. “We have achieved peace of our
time”
 Video “Neville Chamberlain – Peace of our Time”

20. In what ways were the policy of
appeasement successful?
However, consider this
We now know that the policy has
failed.