British Policy of Appeasement at the Beginning of World War Two
The First World War was the beginning of a new era in fighting. Weapons and fighting technique had drastically changed, making war much more dangerous. With the predictions for the new weapons including poisonous gas and bigger bombs, Great Britain was very much afraid for its citizens, especially men and women of fighting age. The country wished to avoid war at any cost. The choices of Neville Chamberlain and The Parliament favoring appeasement affected the decisions of other European leaders, such as French Premier Daladier, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, and Winston Churchill, and those choices helped Britain enter the war.
Many believe that with the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War One, the prelude to World War Two was put in motion. At the time many Europeans, who were still hurting from the war, were not concerned that the restrictions put upon Germany were too stringent. But it gave Germans a reason to elect Hitler to the Chancellorship of Germany in 1933. While Britain tried to ignore the new leader of Germany, they could not ignore him any longer when the Saar Basin voted to return to Germany. As part of its World War I repatriations, the Saar Basin had been given to France because of the territory’s natural resources and such.1
Since Germany had now violated the Treaty of Versailles, Britain, France, and Italy gathered at Strea in Italy to discuss a course of action. Britain and France’s main concern was to keep Italy in opposition to the Germans. When Italy decided to attack Ethiopia, Britain was torn between avoiding war or endorsing the unprovoked attack. They left it up to the League of Nations to make the decision. In this deci...
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...Lilly, David. (1994). British Reaction to the Munich Crisis, 1.
6. Rempel, Professor Gerhard. (1999). The Nazi-Soviet Pact. Available:
http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/hitler/lectures/nazisoviet.html [Mar.
4, 2000], 1.
7. Paul, James. (1998). Britain in World War Two.
8. Lilly, David. (1994). British Reaction to the Munich Crisis, 1.
9. John L. Snell, Problems in European Civilization: The Outbreak of the Second World
War, (Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1962), 6.
10. Rempel, Professor Gerhard. (1999). The Nazi-Soviet Pact, 2.
11. John L. Snell, Problems in European Civilization: The Outbreak of the Second World
War, 6-7.
12. Rempel, Professor Gerhard. (1999). The Nazi-Soviet Pact, 3.
13. John L. Snell, Problems in European Civilization: The Outbreak of the Second World
War, 9.
There is no excuse for the horrible things Nazi Germany did during World War II. But one can get a better idea how that war started by learning about how World War I ended. The Treaty of Versailles was created by the winners of World War I, like France, Great Britain, and the United States, to make peace. So how did it help contribute to an even worse war less than twenty years later? It was mainly because it was too hard on Germany’s territory, military, economy, and national pride.
One way that the Treaty of Versailles had a part of causing World War 2, was by taking land away from Germany. This Treaty took away Lorraine and Alsace, by losing these two places Germany lost a critical resource. When these two places were taken it reduced Germany’s coal production by 40% which is really bad because everything was powered by coal at that time. Germany also lost the Polish Corridor and Danzig, this made it especially difficult to get to East Prussia Because it was surrounded by land that Germany didn’t have.(This evidence is shown on the German Territorial Losses Map). The information above supports the idea that the loss of land did affect Germany because by taking land away it takes power away too. As Hitler said in the Mein
The Versailles Peace Treaty of 1918 was the end result of the brutal First World War. Europe was devastated, and the Allied forces were faced with the task of coming to terms with their former German enemy. It is well known that the French were determined to punish Germany; they sought revenge and made little attempt to hide their objective. At the Versailles Peace Conference the struggle between the French and Germans began a new path. The French demanded large reparations payments and several other drastic measures that would keep Germany from ever being capable of attacking them again. The agreement that was reached enacted several harsh measures against Germany. Aside from the huge reparations that they would be forced to pay, the Allied nations forced the Germans to completely demilitarize their military. Germany was also str...
The first world war saw a lot of refusal towards the war effort by men which made the government afraid due to the futile and indiscriminate slaughter of the British army at the battle of the Somme in 1916 where General Haig's tactics failed to show success which resulted in Britain losing a vast majority of soldiers by 1916. Therefore the government feared that they might lose World War one as well because there a lot of casualties which needed to be replaced and many men were becoming antisocial and refused to join the war, these people were known as conscientious objector or short for C.Os. Some C.Os did not want to fight in the war but were keen to do there bit in the war, so they were willing to help out in weapon factories and go to the trenches and became stretcher bearers theses types of C.Os were known as non commandant, however some C.Os were total refused to do any type of military work these were known as the absolutists. By 1916 volunteers to join the war started drying up,as their was many reasons why men refused, being that they pacifists who isolated themselves from a type of violences, political objector who went against the idea that Germany were their enemy, and religious objector who followed the words of the bible which says “thou shell not kill” so they were against the idea of shedding blood of their own kind. Consequently, Britain introduced conscription in 1916 where the law stated that you had to severe your country in the military for a certain time period this only went for unmarried mans. But in 1916 the military services act got introduced which widened conscription to married man as well. Conscription increased the power of the British army massively which was what the Government wanted as they neede...
Britain's Role in the War Against Germany 1939-45 Britain had a very important role during World War II. It was the longest allied country in the war and was able to give many contributions to ensure Hitler’s fall. Britain’s influence started on the 3rd of September, with the German invasion of Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany. Why was this special?
After the Treaty of Versailles was forced upon the Germans, there were several challenges the Germans had to deal with. Some examples of the cost of the war to Germany was the forfeiting or giving back of land, its coal mines productions were given to France for a 15 year span, and Germany had to limit its army to 100,000 men with its forces not allowed around the French border. In addition to all of this, Germany was forced to accept war guilt as having been solely responsible for World War I. This had a crippling effect on Germany as they did not believe they had really caused or had lost the war. The bitterness from humiliation as well as the poverty this treaty bestowed upon the people was too much for Germany. This would lead to World War II in later years. Adolf Hitler had a plan to handle these problems that the Germans faced as a result of the war. It is probably best described as National Socialism.
The Treaty of Versailles, initially created to keep peace in Europe and ensure that another war like World War I wouldn’t happen again, had in fact, backfired and spiraled the world down into a deeper, bloodier battle. The treaty discriminated strongly against Germany, with the loss of territories, military restrictions, economic reparations, and the War Guilt Clause. It caused humiliation and anger within Germany, and led to Hitler and the Nazi Party coming to power. World War II was not only started by Adolf Hitler and Germany, but had a lot to do with the humiliation that Germany felt when the terms for the Treaty of Versailles were laid down. The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles may be indirectly related to the cause of World War II, but nonetheless was a huge factor in starting the war.
...eaknesses to win their loyalty. Finally, the written agreement of Versailles was purported to represent the peaceful ending to warfare I, however, it became the prelude to a different war. it had been originally an attempt to revive order and supply a peaceful conclusion to warfare I. The sick feelings and economic upheaval that resulted provided the proper climate for Hitler's dominance, in post-war FRG. The contributor’s participants of Versailles had alternative motives behind the peace agreement apart from a peace settlement. Their stingy actions resulted in not solely the economic hardship of FRG, however inflation and state altogether of Europe. The severity of the reparations contained during this document set the stage for history to repeat itself. Therefore the terribly method within which the written agreement of Versailles was forced on the German people.
The punitive terms of the Treaty of Versailles destabilized Germany and fostered resentment that helped lead to the ultranationalist platform of right-wing parties such as the Nazis, and subsequently, Hitler. Also, the new borders drawn by France and Britain for reasons of self interest rather than the best interests of the many groups living in the Middle East has disrupted the area for decades. Therefore, it is clear that the Treaty of Versailles has not ensured lasting peace; the treaty has rather destabilized Eastern Europe and the Middle East, leading to World War II and the present-day conflict in the Middle
Faced with harsh peace terms at the end of World War I, Germany was put in the perfect position for extreme political turmoil to rise, along with the need to place the blame for the German defeat. The Treaty of Versailles, which was the Allies’ peace treaty with Germany following World War I, “... took territories from Germany in the east and west, destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, humiliated Germans by including a “war guilt” clause, imposed disarmament, and demanded heavy reparation payments for war damage” (Weisser). This “peace” treaty, littered with bitter terms for Germany, did great harm to the nation. Germany was not only stripped of its once powerful nation by depriving it of its territories and armaments; but also by the destruction of its economy through hyperinflation, a result of printing more money in order to pay reparations. This treaty therefore ruined Germany, putting it in an atrocious state, which would eventually allow for dramatic political change and the placing of blame for the...
Although France and Britain were natural enemies, their fear of Germany united them together with Russia. These alliances set the final stage for the beginning of World War I. Each country in each alliance would help each other during warfare. For example, if Germany attacked France, Britain and Russia would help France, and Italy and Austria would help Germany, dragging Europe into a state of chaos and violence. & nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;Militarism was also an underlying cause of World War I. As the alliance system divided Europe into opposing groups, each nation began to increase spending on its military.
At the end of World War 1, the victorious nations met in France to hammer out a treaty that would officially end what was the most destructive war in modern history. That treaty’s name was the Treaty of Versailles. Over the last 75 years, historians have argued that the Treaty of Versailles, and the demands within it, directly led to World War II; there is far too much evidence supporting the fact that the treaty did lead to World War II. Evidence such as territorial losses, reforming of the German military, Reparations to be paid from the Germans to the Allies, and the War Guilt Clause, all point to the fact that the Treaty of Versailles directly led to World War II.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, marks the day that WWI descended into armistice. However, the involved countries reached an agreement as to the events following the war on the 28th of June, 1919. The famous Treaty of Versailles was known for its role in ending war. But it was not known for being a double-edged sword, as the ending of war came with the consequence of causing future war. The Treaty consisted of uncontested biases due to Germany's unconditional surrender. The Allies held a gun to Germany's head, with their trigger finger tense. Each article of the Versailles Treaty only made Germany more restless, until 1933 when Hitler produced his own gun and pointed it at the Allies. The Treaty had a series of unproportional effects upon Germany and its people. It caused a rift between the two sides because of the alliances that it formed, brewing tension. The punishments enforced upon Germany were unrealistically huge and it increased the wish among the Germans for the nullification of the Treaty. Finally, the accumulated hatred amongst the people gave birth to potential for a revolution. The Treaty of Versailles is, therefore, an indirect cause to World War II, because of the alliances it caused, the punishments it enforced, and the hatred it developed.
The supreme present of militarism, "a policy of aggressive military preparedness" , in this period of time gave all countries great reason to feel the heavy weight of an oncoming war. Great Britain's naval policy (to always be twice as big as the next two largest navies put together), along with the predominate feeling of war provided countries with a strong reason to try and create an incredibly strong military force. This led to an arms race, which made the impending war seem inevitable. The military planning in some countries also caused an increased fear of war. Since military machines were being developed, each country was appointing a general staff of experts. The greatest problem with this was that there was a fear that "some chief of staff, in order to maintain the schedule on his 'timetable', might force an order of mobilization and thus precipitate war." These two factors also led, in part, to the alliance system. If two or more countries are allied with each other then they have a better chance of defeating their common enemy if war is declared.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed by the Weimar Republic at the conclusion of WW1, introduced economic insatiability and caused a profusion of hardship. The idea of resorting to an extremist group promising better alternatives became an attractive option to many Germans. The Treaty of Versailles’ vindictive terms and unreasonable reparations (6,600,000,000 pounds) resulted in undesired economic circumstances. Unemployment rose to 25%, no less than fifty percent of school children were undernourished and annual meat consumption fell from 52kg to 26kg per person. In general, the German standard of living decreased dramatically. The terms of the hated treaty angered and frustrated people. Hitler, intensely detesting the November criminals1, promised to build a back powerful nation, the German public, in a state of disillusionment, responded positively to this claim and began to support the Nazi Party. Hitler’s ability to take advantage of the Treaty of Versalles and the hardship that it brought to the German nation contributed to Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of the Weimar Republic.