Appeasement Policy Essay

The passive approach of the policy of appeasement was responsible for the severity of the World War. Hitler’s expansionist ideologies of lebensraum made war inevitable, however the appeasement was unnecessary since Germany did not have the military strength to oppose Britain and France. The appeasement policy allowed the formation of the ‘Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression’ Pact, which undermined Brittan and France’s reliance of Soviet intervention. The League of Nations was intended to resolve international disputes peacefully, however its concept of appeasement demonstrated its place as a ‘toothless tiger’ in events such as the invasion of Manchuria (1931.) The appeasement policy allowed for the testing of technology in the Spanish Civil war (1936),

The appeasement allowed fascist countries to take advantage of their pacifist intentions as demonstrated the failure of the League of Nations. The League of Nations was intended to resolve international disputes peacefully, however its concept of appeasement demonstrated its place as a ‘toothless tiger’ in events such as the invasion of Manchuria (1931.) Allied intervention in Russia in 1919 was ignored by the League, Italy ignored the League in 1923, the League failed to deal with issues outside of Europe and several issues were not allowed to be presented to the league such as: Allied debts, relations between Britain and Egypt, and between China and the great powers. Due to the appeasement policy, Germany and Italy now realised that the democracies were seeking to avoid confrontation, so both countries continued to ‘test the limits.’ As a result of the appeasement, the impact of Abyssinia proved the concept of collective security and the Stresa front had failed. Consquently, this motivated war as it encouraged Hitler that he could get away with acts of aggression, transformed Italy into Germany’s partner as furthermore the Hoare-Laval plan made it clear Britain and France preferred to seek peaceful resolutions rather than engage in conflict. Hence, the appeasement policy was responsible for

The appeasement was an unnecessary course of action as due to the weakness it imposed on the Allies, as it gave Hitler the impression they were too morally weak to oppose him. This advocated the possibility of war as the appeasement allowed Hitler to challenge the Versailles settlement with bold initiatives: withdrawing from the League of Nations (1933), canceling war debt payments (1933), beginning a program of public rearmament (1935), and moving troops into the demilitarized German Rhineland (1936). By 1931 Britain’s vengeful mood of 1919 had shifted to one of guilt for the excesses done to punish Germany.That sentiment, coupled with a loathing and fear of a repeat of the “Butcher’s Bill” of World War I, drove British politicians to the mistaken belief that “righting” the wrongs of Versailles would ameliorate the situation and restore calm. However, when Hitler reoc-cupied the Rhineland in defiance of the treaties of Versailles and Locarno (1925). The Germans could not as yet have resisted any British and French military response, but Britain did nothing and France, which mobilized 150,000 troops behind the Maginot Line, would do nothing more without British support. Hitler later confessed that if the French army had advanced into the Rhineland in response to his actions, the Germans would have had to withdraw as they were incapable of mounting real