Was Appeasement Justified
Was Appeasement a ‘Mistake’? H/W 07.03.13
There are many arguments for and against appeasement before WW2. Appeasement was a policy between Britain, France and Germany. The policy meant that the allies would give Germany what they wanted as long as they didn’t start a war or cause trouble. The Dictionary definition of appeasement is: (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the policy of acceding to the demands of a potentially hostile nation in the hope of maintaining peace. Many people now oppose the policy but not many people did at the time apart from the MP Winston Churchill.
An argument for appeasement is that Germany deserved to have a better deal as The Treaty of Versailles, many British people thought, was too harsh. If Germany would have some of the clauses of the treaty rescinded, then maybe they will be happy and not cause a war. Moreover Britain had lost and reduced a lot of its army during and after WW1. This meant that even though Chamberlain didn’t like to avoid war at any cost, he soon realized that Germany had been rearming its army for quite a while. Consequently it would be ludicrous to go to war with such a small army, therefore in the mean time it was better to appease Hitler. Britain slowly started to rearm its army, each year investing more. Reasoning for this is that if you spend all your money too soon you may end up with outdated weapons, which are useless against a modern army. Also numerous people feared a second world war, as WW1 was very bad for the citizens on Great Britain, especially as it may be over a small country such as Czechoslovakia. Many people would do anything to avoid a war as bad as WW1, this is why it was sensible to appease, as the public opinion was against war. Additionally many wealthy people, and ordinary people, would lose their land, property and their money if a communist government took over the country. The majority thought that communism was much worse than Hitler, as Adolf was seen as a strong
There are many arguments for and against appeasement before WW2. Appeasement was a policy between Britain, France and Germany. The policy meant that the allies would give Germany what they wanted as long as they didn’t start a war or cause trouble. The Dictionary definition of appeasement is: (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the policy of acceding to the demands of a potentially hostile nation in the hope of maintaining peace. Many people now oppose the policy but not many people did at the time apart from the MP Winston Churchill.
An argument for appeasement is that Germany deserved to have a better deal as The Treaty of Versailles, many British people thought, was too harsh. If Germany would have some of the clauses of the treaty rescinded, then maybe they will be happy and not cause a war. Moreover Britain had lost and reduced a lot of its army during and after WW1. This meant that even though Chamberlain didn’t like to avoid war at any cost, he soon realized that Germany had been rearming its army for quite a while. Consequently it would be ludicrous to go to war with such a small army, therefore in the mean time it was better to appease Hitler. Britain slowly started to rearm its army, each year investing more. Reasoning for this is that if you spend all your money too soon you may end up with outdated weapons, which are useless against a modern army. Also numerous people feared a second world war, as WW1 was very bad for the citizens on Great Britain, especially as it may be over a small country such as Czechoslovakia. Many people would do anything to avoid a war as bad as WW1, this is why it was sensible to appease, as the public opinion was against war. Additionally many wealthy people, and ordinary people, would lose their land, property and their money if a communist government took over the country. The majority thought that communism was much worse than Hitler, as Adolf was seen as a strong