To what extent did Britains motives for pursuing a policy of Appeasing Germany change in the period from January 1933 to September 1938 Essays

To what extent did Britains motives for pursuing a policy of Appeasing Germany change in the period from January 1933 to September 1938Â   Essays To what extent did Britains motives for pursuing a policy of Appeasing Germany change in the period from January 1933 to September 1938Â   Essay To what extent did Britains motives for pursuing a policy of Appeasing Germany change in the period from January 1933 to September 1938Â   Essay Essay Topic: Claim of Policy From the day the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1919 there were many in Britain who condoned it for being far too harsh towards an already crushed and downtrodden Germany. They correctly predicted that attempting to completely cripple a proud and empirical nation such as the Germans it would only spur them on to recover speedily in order to wield the power for which they aspired. In truth it was George Clemenceau, the French Prime Minister, who was obsessively advocating an extremely harsh Treaty towards Germany and it has been revealed that Britains David Lloyd George did see the need to rather allow for Germany to be built up again. In fact much of what the French were seeking was carried out and hefty reparations were burdened upon Germany along with large territorial losses.This was because France had suffered the most terribly as a result of the First World War as well as them now enduring the greatest threat from Germany due to their border shar e. So when Hitler rose to power in Germany in the early 1930s and openly violated clauses in the Treaty of Versailles, the British government and public were accepting and understanding of Hitlers actions. Thus began what we now refer to the Appeasing of Hitler and Germany and it continued and intensified throughout the 1930s all the way up to the out brake of war on September 1st 1939. Of course, as the 1930s wore on the exact reasons and intentions for appeasing Germany altered due to developing circumstances and specific considerations for each situation and its timing.The British publics perception that the clauses stated in the Treaty of Versailles were far too harsh, as referred to above, was the primary reason for Appeasing Hitler at first. They accepted that Hitlers actions were not violations but rather necessary measures to deal with his countries issues. Like Britain and nearly all the developed world, Germany had suffered immensely at the hands of the Great Depressions w hich plagued the world following the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. Since arrangements made at Locarno in 1925, Germanys payment of their reparations to France and Britain were being funded by American loans and now with these loans being recalled by the USA administration the German economy plummeted. The sore memories of starvation and bitter poverty, due to the hyper-inflation in 1923 as a result of the re-occupation of the Saar, were embedded on the minds of the German people and they were not going to allow it happen to them again.Hence, when Hitler and Nazism promised a better economic prospect coupled with the re-creation of a powerful country that it once was, he was very popular and soon rose to ultimate power. Britain itself suffering in the Depression understood Germanys plight and was willing to overlook their violations of the Treaty and encouraged trade between the two countries as signified in the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935. However, to si mply say that Britain was willing to allow Hitler build himself up and create a dictatorship in Germany just because it had pity on them, would be foolish. As the German fire heated up and the international cooking pot started to bubble over, Britain were no longer able to merely turn a blind eye and blame on the harshness of the Treaty but rather other factors came to the fore in their Appeasing of Hitler.In the early 1930s, Britain as the figure head of the League of Nations faced contentious situations with both Japan over the Manchuria situation and later Italy over Abyssinia. Both these countries, like Germany, had fascist leanings and Britain run the risk that if they engaged in a war against Germany they would also embroil these other two powerful countries into it. Japan was an important trading partner and Britain still hoped that Italy could be swayed and used as an ally against Germany if they ended up in combat against her. Britain was in no position to fight three major powers which were spread over the face of the globe and war was a threat to her impressive Empire. Britain were keen not to upset Italy and the Hoare-Laval Pact of December 1935 highlights the extent British politicians were willing to go, even to defy the publics opinion and try cut a deal with Mussolini. This was enough of a concern not to take Britain to war as long as the threat were relatively minimal however when Hitler made his first bold move in March 1936 and sent his troops into the demilitarized Rhineland the pressure was turned up.The Rhineland was a wealthy part of Germany that they had forced to demilitarize under the Treaty of Versailles and now in 1936 when Hitler had already violated much of the Treaty of Versailles, by rearming and employing an army bigger than 100,000 men, he also walked his troops into the Rhineland. With retrospect as historians we know that Hitler lacked a strong army, which would have been quickly crushed by the Allies, but Hitler took this o pportunity to temp his luck and test the Allies resolve towards him. We know he stroke lucky and he was left to do what he wanted as Britain claimed that in fact it was rightfully his and as one Foreign office official put it, We cant stop Hitler walking into his own backyard.At the time, Frances political system was in turmoil and it had a caretaker government which meant that even though they had ground troops they could have committed they were not willing to make an advance on their border with Germany without British support. Britain whose power was in their navy and had no ground forces to send in assistance refused to send support stating that Hitlers actions did not deem fighting over. France therefore took no action and as Hitler later revealed had the French merely sent troops to the border he would retreated, as he could ill afford to fight in his weak state.This story of the lack of strong allies for Britain was one of the main catalysts for the policy of Appeasement. Th eir strongest ally during the First World War was the USA who had thereafter become isolationist and took no interest European affairs especially if it entailed them having to send troops and armaments. America had been hard hit during the Great Depression and was going through a process of rejuvenation under its dynamic President Roosevelt and his New Deal and interest in foreign affairs had been lost. Britains other allies in WW1 were Russia who were economically bust having gone the through the turmoil of the Bolshevik Revolution and the consequential Civil War besides for now being at ideological loggerheads with Britain. Now the only people to turn to were the Dominions who besides for being relatively weak were also unreliable to come to Britains aid. This left only France, who British diplomats thought little of as Lord Curzon is reported to have said in 1921, in almost every quarter of the globe..the representatives of France are actively pursuing a policy unfriendly to Brit ish interests. Without being to fight Germany alone, Britain had little choice but to Appease Germany until it was no longer able to.The horrors and tragedy of the First World War were vivid in the memories of nearly all Britons and the thought of another such event sent shivers down their spines. British public opinion was fervently anti war and the wish to Appease Hitler could be felt on the streets of Britain. This was certainly true in the early 1930s however in 1938 post the Munich conference, public opinion swung and 74% of people asked said they would side with communism rather than fascism. Even in 1937 Chamberlain would have not had the publics support for a full out war on Germany so strong were the anti war feelings. After the establishment of the League of Nations in the aftermath of the First World War, British people put a lot more faith in diplomatic solutions and felt that the crises with Germany could be sorted the same way.After all, it was Britains military incapa bility and lack of strength that forced Baldwins and Chamberlains hand in the years 1935 through 1938. By the end of the First World War, Britain had stockpiled an immense amount of weaponry however immediately started to disarm and minimise munitions production. The core reason for this was that it was a huge drain on the budget and through the tough times between the wars when money was scarce the public far preferred to see it spent on domestic matters such as healthcare and housing. Britains cover story for disarming was that it was in line with Wilsons 14 points and that morally it was only correct to also disarm just as they had enforced upon Germany. It was only in 1935 did Britain start to rearm at all and then only seriously under Neville Chamberlain in 1937 to 1939.When faced with the crisiss of the Rhineland and Anchluss although Britain may have been dismayed and un-nerved they were in no position to thwart Hitler using force and hence were trapped into a situation where the only action they could take was to Appease Hitler through diplomacy. Chamberlain himself later admitted that the only achievement of the Munich Conference in September 1938 was to buy Britain another year to rearm. Statistics from the time show us that Germany also rapidly rearmed in that year and that military the Allies together were far superior up to early 1938 and would have speedily defeated the German army. However, at the time they were not convinced about this and only knowing their own military weakness they chose the safer option to not engage in warfare.In the 1920s and most of the 1930s the strong anti war feeling in Britain coupled together the inability to fight meant that Appeasing Germany was always going to be the preferred course of action. Sympathy over the harshness of the Treaty of Versailles was another underlying motive to pursuing the Appeasement of Germany in the period January 1933 through September 1939. These reasons did falter out when Germany beca me persistently more threatening in the late 1930 years and then more specific reasons such as the fear on entangling Japan and Italy into a war as well as the lack of solid allies for Britain meant that war in Europe only erupted in September 1939.