Appeasement Policy
- For the Appeasement Policy
• " Armed conflict between nations is a nightmare to me " , said Chamberlain - I believe he was not
only speaking on his behalf but that Britain and other countries could relate . After WW1 , no one
wanted another war .
• Britain , or any other ally , did not have that kind of resources - except America who refused to be
part of European politics . They had only joined the war later after being provoked with the Pearl
Harbor incident .
• If allies were made , someone could easily turn and devastate the result of the war .
• Even if negotiation failed , at least the prolonging of the war would give more time for the allies to
prepare .
• Lord Halifax said “The British forces, one is told, were shockingly unprepared for war, and were able
to make good some of their defects (become better prepared) during the year following the Munich
Conference. "
- Against the Appeasement Policy
• People say that the Appeasement policy gave the allies more time to prepare , but none of them
were fully prepared for the war when it arrived.
• Chamberlain also said " If I were convinced that Germany had made up its mind to dominate the
world by fear or by force, I would resist it. " But Hitler's plans are clearly mentioned in Mein Kamph !
• Winston Churchill said " Do not think that this is the end. This is only the first sip of a bitter cup.” ( on
the Holocaust ) it was obvious WW2 was unavoidable . Hitler should have been dealt with when his
power was just sprouting .
• In fact Hitler himself said , " We would have won this war (WWII) two years ago. Instead, we let
them (Neville Chamberlain, etc) talk us out of achieving our victory during the conference in Munich.
This was a mistake. But they have only postponed our victory for a few more years.” This confidence
that Hitler had , prospered only with the existence of the appeasement policy . You can see that he
was only so prepared because the consistent giving in to his wishes just grew his power and
resources , making it actually possible that he could have won the war .
• The Nazi Soviet pact in 1939 happened because the Russians thought that the powers would do
nothing if Hitler invaded Russia , just like they did nothing with Sudetenland , so they prepped by
becoming allies instead . Don't you think this increased the bloodshed of WW2 ?
• The annexation of new lands by Germany also contributed to the increase in German strength .
Even if the Allies were preparing for war and getting stronger, so were the Nazi's .
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• Is it justice to give another country to someone else in the name of a policy , without even that other
country's notice ?
• Hitler later confessed that if the French army had advanced into the Rhineland in response to his
actions, the Germans would have had to withdraw as they were incapable of mounting real
resistance. Where armed defiance, or even a short if bloody riposte, would have set him back on his
heels and might have even led at that early date to his political downfall, the feeble reaction only
encouraged Hitler.
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