Appeasement at the time Chamberlain's policy was popular until the failure of the Munich Agreement "Appeasement" had been a respectable term between 1919 and 1937 Wars were caused by large-scale armaments, in which case disarmament was the remedy Many believed that Versailles had been unjust German minorities were entitled to self-determination and Germany was entitled to equality in armaments Most British Conservative politicians were in favour of appeasement, as were some Labour politicians Appeasement with hindsight Once war broke out, appeasement was blamed for the failure to stop the dictators Appeasement used to mean a of disputes’ ‘settlement After 1938: the granting from fear or cowardice of unwarranted concessions in order to buy temporary peace at someone else's expense (David Dilks) In 1961 the view of appeasement as avoidable error and cowardice was criticised by A.J.P. Taylor in The Origins of the Second World War Taylor argued that appeasement was an active policy, and not a passive one "men confronted with real problems, doing their best in the circumstances of their time“ Chamberlain wanted to protect the world from war; besides he urged for time: military and air power needed to be strengthened. Taylor’s views were rejected by many historians But he showed that there was continuity in British foreign policy after 1933 In the 1990’s, historians emerged who argued that appeasement was probably the only choice for the British government in the 1930’s However, it was poorly implemented, carried out too late and not enforced strongly enough to constrain Hitler Frank McDonough (Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War) - "Chamberlain's worst error," says McDonough, "was to believe that he could march Hitler on the yellow brick road to peace when in reality Hitler was marching very firmly on the road to war.“ Some postwar impact: North Korea invasion of South Korea 25-6-1950 US had avoided military engagement in the region Truman: remembered how each time that the democracies failed to act, it had “I encouraged the aggressors to keep going ahead” "We will continue to take every honorable step we can to avoid general war…. But we will not engage in appeasement…” MacArthur: no lessons from the successors of Neville Chamberlain" “Need
Appeasement at the time Chamberlain's policy was popular until the failure of the Munich Agreement "Appeasement" had been a respectable term between 1919 and 1937 Wars were caused by large-scale armaments, in which case disarmament was the remedy Many believed that Versailles had been unjust German minorities were entitled to self-determination and Germany was entitled to equality in armaments Most British Conservative politicians were in favour of appeasement, as were some Labour politicians Appeasement with hindsight Once war broke out, appeasement was blamed for the failure to stop the dictators Appeasement used to mean a ‘settlement of disputes’ After 1938: the granting from fear or cowardice of unwarranted concessions in order to buy temporary peace at someone else's expense (David Dilks) In 1961 the view of appeasement as avoidable error and cowardice was criticised by A.J.P. Taylor in The Origins of the Second World War Taylor argued that appeasement was an active policy, and not a passive one "men confronted with real problems, doing their best in the circumstances of their time“ Chamberlain wanted to protect the world from war; besides he urged for time: military and air power needed to be strengthened. Taylor’s views were rejected by many historians But he showed that there was continuity in British foreign policy after 1933 In the 1990’s, historians emerged who argued that appeasement was probably the only choice for the British government in the 1930’s However, it was poorly implemented, carried out too late and not enforced strongly enough to constrain Hitler Frank McDonough (Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War) - "Chamberlain's worst error," says McDonough, "was to believe that he could march Hitler on the yellow brick road to peace when in reality Hitler was marching very firmly on the road to war.“ Some postwar impact: North Korea invasion of South Korea 25-6-1950 US had avoided military engagement in the region Truman: “I remembered how each time that the democracies failed to act, it had encouraged the aggressors to keep going ahead” "We will continue to take every honorable step we can to avoid general war…. But we will not engage in appeasement…” MacArthur: “Need no lessons from the successors of Neville Chamberlain"
Munich%201938_Teacher%20Historical%20Notes.docx