Appeasement

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Answers are in chronological order. Fill in the answers as you finish each
paragraph
Appeasement- Making concessions to an aggressor in order to avoid war /
conflict
Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister of Britain on 28th May, 1937. Over the next
two years Chamberlain's Conservative government became associated with the foreign
policy that later became known as appeasement.
Chamberlain believed that Germany had been badly treated by the Allies after it was
defeated in the First World War. He therefore thought that the German government had
genuine grievances and that these needed to be addressed. He also thought that by
agreeing to some of the demands being made by Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito
Mussolini of Italy, he could avoid a European war.
Anthony Eden, Chamberlain's foreign secretary, did not agree with the policy of
appeasement and resigned in February, 1938. Eden was replaced by Lord Halifax who
fully supported this policy. Halifax had already developed a good relationship with the
German government. After his first visit to Nazi Germany he told his friend, Henry (Chips)
Channon: "He (Halifax) told me he liked all the Nazi leaders, even Goebbels, and he was
much impressed, interested and amused by the visit. He thinks the regime absolutely
fantastic."
In November, 1937, Neville Chamberlain sent Lord Halifax to meet Adolf Hitler, Joseph
Goebbels and Hermann Goering in Germany. In his diary, Lord Halifax records how he
told Hitler: "Although there was much in the Nazi system that profoundly offended British
opinion, I was not blind to what he (Hitler) had done for Germany, and to the
achievement from his point of view of keeping Communism out of his country." This was
a reference to the fact that Hitler had banned the Communist Party (KPD) in Germany
and placed its leaders in Concentration Camps.
In February, 1938, Adolf Hitler invited Kurt von Schuschnigg, the Austrian Chancellor, to
meet him at Berchtesgarden. Hitler demanded concessions for the Austrian Nazi Party.
Schuschnigg refused and after resigning was replaced by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, the
leader of the Austrian Nazi Party. On 13th March, Seyss-Inquart invited the German Army
to occupy Austria and proclaimed union with Germany.
The union of Germany and Austria (Anschluss) had been specifically forbidden by the
Treaty of Versailles. Some members of the House of Commons, including Anthony Eden

and Winston Churchill, now called on Neville Chamberlain to take action against Adolf
Hitler and his Nazi government.
Hugh Christie an MI6 agent working based in Berlin, met with Hermann Goering on 3rd
February 1937. He immediately reported his conversation with Goering and included
information that Germany intended to take control of Austria and Czechoslovakia. He
also told Christie that Germany mainly wanted "a free hand in Eastern Europe."
In March 1938 Hugh Christie told the British government that Adolf Hitler would be
ousted by the military if Britain joined forces with Czechoslovakia against Germany.
Christie warned that the "crucial question is 'How soon will the next step against
Czechoslovakia be tried?'... The probability is that the delay will not exceed two or three
months at most, unless France and England provide the deterrent, for which cooler heads
in Germany are praying."
International tension increased when Adolf Hitler began demanding that the Sudetenland
in Czechoslovakia should be under the control of the German government. In an attempt
to to solve the crisis, the heads of the governments of Germany, Britain, France and Italy
met in Munich in September, 1938.
On 29th September, 1938, Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier and
Benito Mussolini signed the Munich Agreement which transferred to Germany the
Sudetenland, a fortified frontier region that contained a large German-speaking
population. When Eduard Benes, Czechoslovakia's head of state, who had not been
invited to Munich, protested at this decision, Chamberlain told him that Britain would be
unwilling to go to war over the issue of the Sudetenland.
The Munich Agreement was popular with most people in Britain because it appeared to
have prevented a war with Germany. However, some politicians, including Winston
Churchill and Anthony Eden, attacked the agreement. These critics pointed out that no
only had the British government behaved dishonorably, but it had lost the support of
Czech Army, one of the best in Europe.
One staunch critic of appeasement was the journalist Vernon Bartlett. He was
approached by Richard Acland to stand as an anti-Chamberlain candidate at a byelection in Bridgwater. Bartlett agreed and in November, 1938, surprisingly won the
previously safe Tory seat. Henry (Chips) Channon , a junior member of the government
wrote in his diary: "This is the worst blow the Government has had since 1935".
In March, 1939, the German Army seized the rest of Czechoslovakia. In taking this action
Adolf Hitler had broken the Munich Agreement. The British prime minister, Neville
Chamberlain, now realized that Hitler could not be trusted and his appeasement policy
now came to an end.

Name ________________________ Appeasement (Answer Sheet)

1. Who became Prime Minister of Britain in 1937? What term was
associated with British
foreign policy?
2. Why was Chamberlain sympathetic Germany? Why would he agree to
demands of Hitler &
Mussolini?
3. Who replaced Eden as foreign secretary? What were his views of
Germany & the Nazi's?
4. What were Lord Halifax views of Hitler concerning the Communist Party
(KPD)?
5. Why did Kurt von Schuschnigg resign? Why was this resignation key to
Nazi expansion?
6. What is an Anschluss? What treaty did the Anschluss violate?
7. Besides Austria, what other area did Hitler want to control in Eastern
Europe?
8. What would happen (according to Christie) if Britain & Czechoslovakia
joined forces?
9. What area of Czechoslovakia did Hitler want to take?
10. Who were the four leaders (and countries) that met to solve a possible
conflict? (top 2 paragraphs)
11. What was agreed upon during this Munich Agreement?

12. Who was the Czechoslovakian leader at this time?

13. Who were 2 British politicians who criticized the Munich agreement?
Why were they opposed?
14. Who was a staunch critic of Chamberlain? What did Channon mean
when he said, "This is the worst blow the Government has had since 1935"?
15. How did Hitler break the Munich Agreement? How does this change
Chamberlain's view of Hitler?
16. After reading this article, did appeasement work? Explain