Policy British toward Nazi Germany in Neville Chamberlain Period, 1937-1940
Table of Contents
Abstract 3
Introduction 4
Purpose of the Study 6
General Question of the Study 6
Problems of the Study 6
Research Methodology 8
Data Collection 8
Reasons for the British Policy of Appeasement 8
World Depression 8
British Army 9
Unpopularity of War 9
Fear for Communism 10
The Treaty of Versailles 11
Weakness of League of Nations 12
Influence of the USA 12
Conclusion & Recommendations 12
Bibliography 14
Abstract
In the period between the latter half of the nineteenth century and late 1930s, appeasement of aggressors became a key element of British foreign policy. The policy became synonymous with the conservative British Prime Minister Chamberlain who, in the effort to avert another world war, used appeasement towards Germany as Hitler broke the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles of 1919, heavily rearmed Germany, annexed Austria in 1938, and invaded some countries such as Czechoslovakia in 1939. Criticism of the policy was championed by President Roosevelt in 1940 terming it as “fundamentally flawed”. However, proponents of appeasement have held that it is a major component of government policy for preventing aggression. This proposal aims to research the justification for Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s use of appeasement policy towards Nazi Germany in the period 1937-1940.
Introduction
Since the late 1930’s when Neville Chamberlain was Prime Minister of Britain to present day, there has been debate on the use policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany. To a large extent, commentators and researchers have expressed negative criticism of the policy with some terming it as a cowardice and ill-informed strategy bound to fail in dealing with aggressors such as Adolf Hitler (Stern, 1985, p.1124). However, most of the critiques have overlooked the justifiable reasons why Britain adapted this non-aggressive policy at the time. As such, there is a gap in the studies given that much literature has been largely partial by attacking the policy probably for the dislike of the Nazis and their leader, Hitler.
The motivation for this project is based on the fact there seems to be resurface of the tense conditions that existed in the world at the time Neville Chamberlain was Britain’s Prime Minister, something that places key world leaders in the same position warranting use of policy of appeasement against aggressors and enemies. With the likely shift in the world order, both politically and economically, and the increasing levels of tensions in and among countries, together with the growing religious intolerance and the great threat of terrorism, the policy of appeasement seems to be a viable remedy irrespective of its shortcoming in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
At the time Neville Chamberlain was Prime Minister of Britain (1937-1940), Britain was faced by three major threats from three fronts. From Europe, Britain faced major threat from Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler; in the Far East from Japan; and from fascist Italy in the Mediterranean (Murphy, 2011, p.1). At the time Britain was at odds following the devastating effects of the depression after the end of the World War I. In fact, the British Empire had come to the brink of bankruptcy in 1931. Adolf Hitler had risen to power in Germany following the fall of the Weimar Republic owing immense inflation that crippled the German people. From the onset, Hitler was on an aggressive mission to restore Germany to its previous position among world leaders (Anievas, 2011, p.605). This meant that Hitler had to reclaim colonies that Germany lost after signing the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler’s plan to rebuild the German nation would place the country at loggerheads with Britain, Europe’s main power at the time. However, the ill economics of Britain could allow it to mount a military confrontation against the aggressor (Woods, 1993, p.611). The situation in the rest of the world in terms of the British Empire’ collective security against aggression by the Japanese in China and Italy in Africa and Spain did not favor Britain engaging the enemies in war. It is for this reasons that Prime Minister Chamberlain opted to avoid war at all costs on grounds of social and economic considerations, leading to the adaption of the controversial foreign policy of appeasement (McKercher, 2008, p.392). His decision to adopt the policy has been controversial ever since.
Therefore, this research aims to explore and investigate the following:
i) To examine the situation of Britain, Europe and the world at the time Chamberlain was in power (1937-1940)
ii) To identify and examine the justifying factors/reasons for the of the appeasement policy by Britain towards Nazi Germany during the period
iii) To identify and examine the applicability of the policy of appeasement as a likely foreign policy of choice for modern governments in averting conflicts and outbreak of another war.
Purpose of the Study
The subject matter of this research stems from the researcher’s interest in the diplomatic foreign policy of appeasement. This research builds on the few previous researches that have defended the appropriateness of the appeasement policy as a foreign policy for countries in the interwar period and in modern day.
The main purpose of this research is therefore to attain a change of perception towards the policy of appeasement and recommend its use in solving intra- and inter-state conflicts that are widespread at the moment.
General Question of the Study
The general question of this study is to explore how Prime Minister Chamberlain was justified in using appeasement as the official British foreign policy towards the Nazi Germany in the late 1930s.
Problems of the Study
It is feared that this study would encounter a couple of major limitations. First, it is the insufficiency of objective historical literature that clearly paints the picture of the late 1930s which necessitated the use of appeasement by the British government towards Nazi aggressors. Following the unflattering depiction of Hitler throughout history (following the Holocaust), most literature is indifferent with anyone who tried to appease him or the Nazi Germans in general (Smith, 2009, p.841).
Another problem is expected in the form of majority being against the concept of appeasement in the modern day. This is due to the much favored stance of great nations, where negotiations with extreme aggressors or enemies is almost ruled out as evidenced by the policy of “never negotiating with terrorists.”
Literature Review
The historiographical assessment of the 1930’s British foreign policy of appeasement has been intense, and largely negative. According to Kennedy (1983), the policy of appeasement is defined as a policy in which international quarrels are resolved through admission and satisfaction of grievances by means of rational negotiation and compromise, which rules out the need for expensive, bloody and possibly dangerous armed conflict. Mee (1998) explains it as a diplomatic or foreign policy purposed to avert war through concessions with an aggressor. In the years between 1937 and 1940, Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement was widely perceived as positive for a number of factors (Campbell et al, 1999, p.45).
According to Duncan (nd), the British policy of appeasement has its roots at the time immediately after Hitler’s rise to the Chancellorship back in January 1933 and continued until he occupied Prague in early 1939. Most of the early appraisals are highly critical of the policy as they lambast the British government of the late 1930’s of failing to build a defensive Britain able to hold off aggressors like Hitler. In an early inquiry into the contributing factors of World War II, Winston Churchill criticizes Britain for not opposing Hitler’s re-occupation of Rhineland and failure to join forces with Russia and France to resist Nazi aggression (Foster, 1999, p.18).
Few authors have expressed sympathetic opinions of the British appeasement policy. A.J.P. Taylor (1961) termed the Munich agreement as a “triumph for British Policy. Historian E.H. Carr argued the benefits of Chamberlain trying to appease Hitler, holding that Germany had legitimate grievances against the terms of the Versailles Treaty. Levy (1993) presented Neville Chamberlain as a leader who despised war and strived to avoid through a blend of deterrence and diplomacy. The author further stated that while the leaders who followed appeasement were not blameless as such, what they pursued was logical, rational and humane (Hicks, 2011, p.515).
Research Methodology
The methodology for this study has been chosen because of its suitability to gather sufficient supportive information to argue the point that Britain under Chamberlain was justified in following the policy of appeasement on its aggressors, particularly the Nazi Germany.
This research adopts an exploratory approach. This is for the reason that there is insufficient knowledge on the situation of the day or reasons that made Britain to pursue the so-called fearful approach in dealing with the enemy of the day – Hitler and his Nazi Germany (Levy, 2012, p.339). The aim to arouse understanding about the dilemma that Prime Minister Chamberlain faced that informed his diplomatic approach, a situation that faces many world leaders today.
Data Collection
In order to achieve the set out objectives, this research will use both secondary and primary data. Secondary information is retrieved from general reference works, books, articles, conference papers, and other Internet sources. Primary sources for this research include: archival sources, official sources, collected documents, government publications, relevant statements and speeches, academic sources, and journals.
Reasons for the British Policy of Appeasement
There are a number of factors/reasons that strongly justify Chamberlain’s pursuit of the policy of appeasement towards the aggressive Nazi Germany under their dictatorial leader, Adolf Hitler.
World Depression
Chamberlain favored the policy of appeasement towards the Nazi Germany as a Self Interest tactic. In the wake of the world war and the crash of Wall Street in 1929, many countries including Britain were weakened economically and thus lacked resources for any form of armed conflict (Caputi, 2000, p.151). The economy of Britain had suffered a great deal as key sectors such as iron and steel, shipbuilding, and coal were hit hard. As a result, Chamberlain perceived rearmament as suicidal to the fragile economy and thus reduced spending on the military. Furthermore, Britain was the major European power and other countries followed her lead, translating that they would not act unless Great Britain did. In view of this, it was only viable to act in self interest and avoid war even if it meant appeasing the aggressors through concessions (Witherell, 2012, p.514).
British Army
Prior to being elected Prime Minister of Britain in May 1937, Neville Chamberlain was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He had spent significant amounts of money to improving housing and welfare in Britain at the expense of the British army (Uldricks, 1999, p.626). This meant that at the time he became Prime Minister the British Army had significantly shrunk and thus ill prepared to match the relatively large and strong Nazi Army that Hitler had thrown in everything to build since ascending to power in Germany.
Unpopularity of War
War was very unpopular among the British and other countries at the time Chamberlain was Prime Minister. This was as a result of the wounds of the World War I, where many innocent people and soldiers had lost their lives (Thompson, 2007, p.413). To many people, therefore, engaging in another war meant that the lives had been lost in vain. Prime Minister Chamberlain was keen to pursue the policy of appeasement towards the Nazi Germany in the belief that Hitler would bring Europe into another world war. Appeasement thus represented the widespread British desire to get healing of the pains of World War I in addition to correcting what was perceived as injustices of the Versailles Treaty among many British officials (Cross, 1985, p.323).
Furthermore, majority of self-governing British Dominions were against the idea of entering a war against the Nazi Germany. Britain’s contingency plan was founded on the assumption of Dominion support, which meant that Britain could go to war because the Dominions were hesitant to enter any military arrangements with Great Britain (Sloane, 2008, p.67). This was crucial considering that the Dominions were very essential to British strength because they provided capital contributions to the British Army as well as the Allied forces. Dominions such as Canada are known to have placed immense pressure on the British government not to be party to a conflict that would plunge them in another unnecessary war (Thompson, 1993, p.603).
While it can not be stated that Chamberlain took up the Dominion stand as the sole reason to placate the dictators, it is evident that the response of the Dominions to the Mother Country’s foreign policy was one of the key elements that influenced the adoption of the appeasement policy (Meisel, 2011, p.401). This is especially evident from the Imperial Conference of 1937, where the Dominion Prime Ministers supported Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement and strategy to seek a viable adjustment to German grievances. Even when the appeasement of Nazi Germany was unfruitful to safeguard European security when war broke out, the Dominions did not relinquish their support for Britain foreign policy of appeasement, a further evidence of the unpopularity of war among the British and its affiliates (Sloane, 2008, p.68).
Fear for Communism
In the 1930’s, Britain regarded communism as its principle threat as compared to Nazism. While Nazism was aggressive, it was limited and did not injure left capitalism unless the enterprises were Jewish. On the other hand, communism was blamed for destroying the established order besides causing famines and Red Towers (Crowson, 2000, p.164). The USSR under Stalin had long promised to form a common front with democracies like Britain against Fascist dictators but still agitated for world revolution. As such, Chamberlain, the British and other Eastern Europe countries could not trust the USSR. Furthermore, there was widespread fear for revolution and war among the conservative circles followed the previous experiences in 1917-18 (Strang, 2008, p.490). Therefore, Britain regarded Communist USSR as its principle threat rather than fascism, believing that authoritarian right-wing regimes were bulwarks against its spread. Many commentators have expressed opinion that in adopting the appeasement policy towards Nazi Germany, Chamberlain and Great Britain hoped that Stalin and Hitler would fight and weaken each other significantly (Strang, 2006, p.76).
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles created in 1918 after the end of World War I greatly informed Britain’s decision to follow the policy of appeasement under Prime Minister Chamberlain. Britain felt that Germany had been forced to accept the peace treaty, whose terms were rather harsh (Dockrill & McKercher, 2002, p.157). Germany was ordered to pay major reparations for damage caused during the war, surrender overseas territories, undertake large scale disarmament, and limit their troop numbers in the army and navy. A strong feeling to appease Germany became popular among the British as a result of growing feelings of guilt seeing how much Germany was struggling to fulfill the terms of the treaty (Murphy, 2011, p.15). The British fear for Germany resorting to aggression and sparking another war rendered Britain willing to give in to Hitler’s demands as a means of redressing Germany’s legitimate grievances (Dutton, 2008, p.800).
Weakness of League of Nations
The League of Nations was formed during the Treaty of Versailles to resolve all international disputes peacefully through negotiation and sanctions. However, the league was ineffective owing to the lack of its own independent army. The reliance of the League of Nations on countries agreeing failed during and after the economic depression of the 1930s as it had during the prosperous 1920s (Steven, 2007, p.77). By 1938, the League only relied on Great Britain and France. More so, France would take action without the express support of Great Britain. Thus, Britain followed the appeasement policy towards Nazi Germany as the League was largely tasked to enforce the demands of the Versailles Treaty that were considered harsh and unjust to Germans (Mee, 1998, p.347)
Influence of the USA
Like all other foreign policies, the British foreign policy of appeasement did not exist and operate in a vacuum because they are influence and are influenced by the foreign policies of other states. This means that the British foreign policy towards Nazi Germany in 1937-40 was not played out with a free hand as it was greatly influenced by the United States (Flint, 1997, p.468). At the time, the American foreign policy was that it kept off from interfering in European politics. As such, the British could not rely on the support of the United States were they to impose sanctions or go to war against Nazi Germany under Hitler (Marshall, 2009, p.93).
Conclusion & Recommendations
In summary, the interpretation of the British policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany under Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has been both positive and negative (Hucker, 2012, p.415). Debate among historians has ranged from criticism for letting Hitler to gain excessive power to the argument that Chamberlain had no option and acted in Britain’s best interest. Distinguished critics of the policy such as US president Roosevelt, J.W. Wheeler-Bennett, L. B. Namier, Allan Bullock, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill argued that appeasement is a shameful policy informed by naiveté, cowardice and weakness in the face of challenge from dictators (Churchill, 1989, p.26). Their opinions were reinforced by the collapse of Chamberlain’s desire for “peace for our time” following the outbreak of the World War II (Hoffman, 1996, p.84).
The proponents of the policy of appeasement, this research being a case in point, argue that Chamberlain was right to use it considering the unfortunate economic, military and public opinion on war that Britain faced at the time. In addition, it is argued that if appeasement was misplaced in this instance, it cannot be discarded altogether (Smith, 2009, p.842).
In view of the war-like atmosphere that characterizes the present times in the world, it is highly necessary for nations to make use of the benefits of appeasement as a foreign policy. The many countries that still have boarder disputes, nations with problems of insurgency and terrorism can find solutions by discussing peacefully with the enemy. The policy is overly suitable where a government is fully satisfied that the aggressor would buy the idea of a peaceful outcome if their legitimate grievances are satisfactorily addressed diplomatically (Graebner, 2011, p.254).
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