The British Views of Hitler Between 1933 and 1936

The British Views of Hitler Between 1933 and 1936

In 1933 Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, this was a cause for

alarm if not panic, in many countries not least Britain. It seemed

certain that Hitler’s Nazi government would challenge the existing

European balance of power. But the exact nature of this problem was

not easy to determine at the time and is no easier now. Possible

solutions to the problems posed by Hitler where therefore even more

difficult to define. Before this period British attitudes towards

Germany had changed several times since the end of the First World

War. From 1914 until 1923 the British attitude towards Germany can be

described as hatred, because Britain had lost many men during the war,

civilians had gone through much suffering and the economy was severely

weakened. This then changed from 1923 until 1933 to sympathy, with

Britain feeling that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were overly

harsh on Germany. The attitude changed again in 1933 to one of

suspicion because of Hitler’s rearming, which later changed again to

acquiescence from 1935 until 1938.

There were those in Britain who certainly feared the worst. Sir Robert

Vansittart, who was the leading civil servant at the Foreign Office,

along with Winston Churchill warned ministers from the start about the

threat of Nazism. Churchill said in 1934 to the House of Commons; “We

should be in a position which would be odious to every man who values

freedom of action and independence, and all so in a position of utmost

peril for our crowded, peaceful population engaged in their daily

toil. I dread that day, but it is perhaps not that far distant.” When

Churchill said this he was warning that one day Britain could be under

the control of Germany and that it may happen soon because of Hitler

be I power in Germany. They were not the only ones under this

impression; a Defence Requirements Committee concluded in 1934 that

‘we take Germany as the ultimate potential enemy against whom our long