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To what extent was the policy of appeasement a mistake
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Justifying Appeasement in the Nineteen-Thirties The policy of appeasement, embraced by Great Britain and France in the 1930s, was ultimately a bid to reach a peaceful understanding with Germany. The major powers were anxious to abort any German influence over Eastern Europe. One of the points that suggest appeasement was justifiable was that it was popular with the British public, who still had grave Memories of the First World War - The United Kingdom was extremely reluctant to fight due to the psychological trauma which resulted from having witnessed the mass deaths of vast numbers of young people. For example, many British cities lost up to 40% of all young men; many families lost all their sons and most young male relatives. Secondly, appeasement gave Britain the opportunity to rearm. Chamberlain and his ministers were aware of the lack of military capacity at their disposal. This was partly due to the belief given to by many governing elites that war would no longer be an option and that military budgets could be tailored accordingly. In addition, the Wall Street Crash had forced governments to cut down on expenditures and account for increasing levels of poverty. In these circumstances, a heavily funded military was not financially possible. There was also the fact that Britain failed to recognize the evils of Nazism. Most of Central and Eastern Europe in the 1930s was ruled by dictators, and in the early stages there was no realization that the Nazi regime in Germany was worse than these other dictatorships. Even Winston Churchill, while recognizing the military threat posed by a re-armed Germany, was slow to recognize the evil of Nazism itself. There are also however, reasons to suggest that appeasement was not justified, such as the fact that it gave Germany more time to rearm; in 1935, Hitler announced that Germany was undergoing preparations of rearmament, a complete violation of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1936, Hitler continued to disobey the restrictions that followed the Great War by announcing the mobilization of troops in the French-occupied
America and the USSR both had different opinions on communism and how a country should be run. The USSR believed communism was the perfect way to run its country and people. Communism consisted of a one party state which owned the whole of the industry business and the agricultural business too. There would be no individual profit making and everyone was equal and received an equal amount of money. America, however was a capitalist state which meant that there was freedom of speech, free elections and more than one political party.
Britain afford to pay for a war like this? The only way to pay for a
The type of policy known as containment was the foreign policy that the United States of America used between the times of 1947 (two years after World War Two) until 1989 (he fall of the Berlin Wall). The definition of containment in this case is strategies whether it was diplomatically, militarily or economically to contain the forming and progression of communism and to give America an influential advantage abroad. The policy of containment all started out with what was known as the Yalta conference, which consisted of Franklin D Roosevelt, the president of the United States at the time, Winston Churchill, the prime minister of the United kingdom, and Joseph Stain, leader of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). It was during this conference that the three men came to an agreement that these three countries would separate the world into three different parts and have their influence on those three parts. This was known as the sphere of influence and it was divided like this; The United States would have control of influence the western hemisphere meaning all of the Americ...
It failed to produce the desired results, but rather added fuel to the fire. At the Munich Conference the Big Four discussed the demands for the territory of Czechoslovakia and ultimately gave into Hitler’s request. While many people like Neville Chamberlain argued that appeasement was the best option Winston Churchill viewed it as a consequential decision. Churchill stated that he, “thinks of all the opportunities to stop the growth of Nazi Power which have been thrown away.” No action was taken to establish the security of Czechoslovakia making the Nazi’s more powerful. Appeasement did not defer the hostility that the desire for expansion brought on, but made it escalate. When Ethiopia was invaded by the Italians the emperor, Haile Selassie, was denied assistance from the Leage of Nations. He warned them what would happened if the aggressors were not stopped and wrote, “It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.” Haile Selassie knew that aggressors were going to continue to seek for more land and that any nation could be attacked next. Not only was appeasement an effort to satisfy the demands of dissatisfied powers in hope of maintaining stability, but it was also the disregardance of possibly serious conflict. The League of Nations incapability to be a forceful united front allowed for the Axis Powers to become even more willing to break boundaries. Appeasement was used to be the path of least resistance, but it would never stop the
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.
Seven American presidents over the course of 44 years engaged the Soviet Union in cold war prior to Reagan’s election in 1980. They used policies such as containment and Détente to contain Soviet aggression and win the Cold War. Ronald Reagan came to power at the pinnacle of the Cold War, following, what he saw, as the failures of Détente. Reagan was a tireless cheerleader of American patriotism in a time when America had lost faith in its national institutions and its position on the world’s stage. An ardent anti-Communist, Reagan often invoked anti-Soviet rhetoric, calling them an “Evil Empire” and challenging Soviet leadership to “tear down” the Berlin Wall. More than any other American president, Ronald Reagan took saber-rattling to a whole new level. Many at the time of his administration viewed him as a warmonger; he restarted weapon system projects previously canceled, carried out a massive military buildup, and deployed American intermediate range nuclear missile in Western Europe. This paper will seek to answer the following question; how and why did Ronald Reagan’s views of the Soviet Union change from his early days in politics to his last day as president of the United States? By 1985, after Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power in the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan's anti-Communist views of the 1970s and early 1980s changed to focus on a new era of friendship and cooperation between the two superpowers. This change in rhetoric led to policies that resulted in Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks. Mikhail Gorbachev’s openness with the United States and America’s position of military strength were the most important factors in this change of policy. Reagan's distrust of the Soviet Union and...
However, when confronted with a strict policy of appeasement, by both the French and the English, the stage was set for a second World War. Taylor constructs a powerful and effective argument by expelling certain dogmas that painted Hitler as a madman, and by evaluating historical events as a body of actions and reactions, disagreeing with the common idea that the Axis had a specific program from the start. The book begins with the conclusion of the First World War, by exploring the idea that critical mistakes made then made a second war likely, yet not inevitable. Taylor points out that although Germany was defeated on the Western front, “Russia fell out of Europe and ceased to exist, for the time being, as a Great Power. The constellation of Europe was profoundly changed—and to Germany’s advantage.”
The Cold War hindered social reform in the United States because of the increase in the separation between individuals and the failure of the government to resolve the issue of inequality within the United States. Social reform can be defined the use of common goals to bring about change within the political and social aspects of society. From the 1940s to the 1990s, the Cold War was the main focus of society. This conflict was a systematic response to various pressures and fears that had not been resolved by World War II. The government shifted its focus away from dealing with the social issues that already existed in the United States to focus on the nuclear threat and the communist threat that existed abroad.
The Second War World changed the scope of American foreign policy dramatically. The United States had historically sought to stay out of disputes in continents outside North America. The nation had sought isolationism during the Great War of 1914-1918 until it became necessary to protect innocent American lives. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was also inclined to remain uncommitted in the struggle that began in Europe in 1939. It was not until the end of 1941 that a direct attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor drew the United States into the conflict raging throughout the rest of the world.
As we approach the next Presidential election the topic of American foreign policy is once again in the spotlight. In this paper, I will examine four major objectives of U.S. foreign policy that have persisted throughout the twentieth century and will discuss the effect of each on our nation’s recent history, with particular focus on key leaders who espoused each objective at various times. In addition, I will relate the effects of American foreign policy objectives, with special attention to their impact on the American middle class. Most importantly, this paper will discuss America’s involvement in WWI, WWII, and the Cold War to the anticipated fulfillment of these objectives—democracy, manifest destiny, humanitarianism, and economic expansion.
In the spring of 1940 Europe was enveloped in war. The German military machine had already conquered Poland, Denmark, and Norway. However, not content with northern and eastern expansion, Adolf Hitler wanted to control the western countries in Europe. Hitler had long been obsessed with attacking and controlling France. After their defeat in World War I, the German people, government, and military were humiliated by the enormous post war sanctions leveraged against them from the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler wanted to defeat and humiliate the French people in the same way that his country had to experience. For him, revenge was necessary. The German plan was to swing into France using a new tactic know as Blitzkrieg or “Lightning War”. Blitzkrieg used speed and surprise along with highly concentrated tank corps, supported by mechanized infantry and airplanes.
Many people argue that the USA was the pre-eminent superpower throughout the Cold War and since this time the only true global power. While it is seen that the USA was the pre-eminent superpower during this period the USSR’s power cannot be denied. The Cold War is defined as a battle of ideologies with communism and capitalism battling to become the dominating world view.
In order to stop the fighting between countries, Europe needed to put some actions into effect because appeasement was not working. Germany proved that by disregarding the Versailles Treaty. According to Hitler after disregarding the Versailles Treaty, “I look upon this day as marking the close of the struggle for German equality status…the path is now clear for Germany’s return to European collective cooperation” (Document 3, 1936) This quote explains a vast difference between Hitler’s and the other European countries' views. With Hitler’s affirmation to make Germany equal and even more powerful than the other European countries, the other European countries would have to set up collective security because they would have very little insight on what Hitler would be planning; leading to more destruction. Now, Europe would be more prepared if Hitler decided to attack. A quote from Winston Churchill explaining why collective security is the right answer is, “…I think all of the opportunities to stop the growth of Nazi power which have been thrown away. The responsibility must rest with those who have control of our political affairs. They neither prevented Germany from rearming, nor did they rearm us in time…Thus they left us in the hour of trial without a strong national defense or system of international security” (Churchill). That quote explains how collective security is the best answer to stop war and the destruction Hitler is
The Cold War had an impact regarding Americans socially and culturally. What was the Cold War? The Cold War was a small war between the US and the Soviet Union. It ended up to be that the Soviet Union ended after this.What specifically in social and cultural life did it impact? It impacted how people bonded and they got closer with different cultures, such as African Americans.
Hitler was able to use his countries momentum and his negotiation skills to achieve what he wanted for Germany and make a deal he knew that he was not going to honor and eventually lead to WWII. Prime Minister Chamberlain also needed to be aware of possible deception that he was likely going to face when dealing with Germany. “When German troops invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1929, Hitler’s promise that Sudetenland was his ‘last territorial demand’ was revealed for the lie it has always been. At best Chamberlain’s summit diplomacy has bought Britain another 11 months to prepare for war at the considerable expense of Czechoslovakia’s freedom”(Rathbone 19). In fairness, Chamberlin had avoided war for a period of time, but the consequences were much greater in the sense that war was inevitable and his people’s lack of faith.