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Britain, France and Appeasement - Coggle Diagram
Britain, France and Appeasement
What criticisms can be made of the policy of Appeasement?
It encouraged Hitler to be aggressive
It put too much faith in Hitler’s promises
It allowed Germany to become too strong
Britain misjudged Hitler’s ruthlessness because he broke agreements and he was
willing to use force.
If war had broken out in October 1938, Britain and France would have had the
support of the 36 divisions of the Czech army
It alarmed the USSR
Why were Britain and France prepared to sign the Munich Agreement?
Britain and France wanted to avoid war at all costs.
Many Conservatives thought that the communist threat from Russia was a greater
danger than Hitler.
British military chiefs told Chamberlain that Britain was not strong enough to fight
against Hitler and their assessment was that France was weak and divided
Chamberlain realised he needed time to speed up British rearmament.
how was Apeasement justifiable?
Supporters of Chamberlain said it was the only option available.
He wanted to
avoid going to war again at all costs
Standing up to Hitler would have meant war with Germany - but evidence available
to Chamberlain showed that Britain was not ready for this.
The British armed forces were badly equipped and had fallen behind the Germans.
It was important to delay war because Britain was not ready to fight Germany and it
gave Britain time to re-arm.
Britain needed time to convince the Empire that they
should support another war.
Public opinion was in favour of Appeasement.
By the 1930s many people thought that the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh
on Germany
Why did Britain and France follow a policy of Appeasement in the 1930s?
Communism
Some admired Hitler for standing up to Communism
they were
more worried about the threat of Stalin to world peace than the threat of Hitler.
A strong Germany could be a buffer against Communism
The British Empire
It was not certain that the British Empire and Commonwealth
(e.g. Canada, Australia) would all support Britain in a war against Germany.
The Great War
Britain and France were desperate to avoid another war like the
First World War - at almost any cost.
The USA
American leaders were determined not to be dragged into another war,
so Britain and France were reluctant to fight Germany
Versailles -
many felt the Versailles Treaty had been unfair on Germany, and
assumed that once this was put right Germany would want to be a peaceful nation
Economic problems
Britain and France were still suffering from the Great
Depression, with large debts and unemployment,
many felt that this should
have a higher priority than tackling Hitler.