AP HW4 Appeasement

1) Identify: Lytton Report

The Lytton Report condemned the Japanese for resorting to force when in control of Manchuria.
The powers, however, were unwilling to impose sanctions. This was a form of appeasement to
those against Japan.
2) How did the League of Nations fail to deal with aggression of Japan, Italy, and Germany?
The Lytton Report failed to deal with Japan, as the powers were unwilling to impose sanctions
on Japan. Thus, Japanese aggression continued to thrive. Hitler announced his decision to rearm
Germany, an act which would disrupt the peace in Europe. The league formally condemned
Hitlers actions, but it did not take any physical steps to prevent Hitler from rearming. This
shows the reluctance and actual ability of the League of Nations to stick to their words and
actually work on problems in Europe. German aggression was growing wild and many of the
European countries, even Britain, ignored it for quite some time. France and Italy also opposed
Germanys arming, but they too, had armed themselves, and there fore had difficulty putting
down Germany. Instead, they met with Mussolini to form the Stresa Front, which promised to
use force to maintain the status quo in Europe. The show of unity by these three powers was
short lived. Britain made an agreement with Hitler that dealt with the Navy on its side. The
League of Nations failed because it simply could not get its act together. Everyone was in a race
to beat everyone else, as you can see clearly, Italy tried to out-arm Germany, Britain tried to do
the same, only in Naval capacity. Every respective country failed to see the problem at hand,
which was disunity between the European nations. Of course, long standing ideals, practices,

religions, and institutions also made it difficult for the League of Nations to pull everyone
together.
3) Why were the Western powers unwilling to stop Hitler when he began to violate the
Treaty of Versailles?
The answer to this answer is quite simple, actually. The Western powers could not stop Hitler
when he began to violate the Treaty of Versailles, and take up armaments, because many of the
countries had done the same. Italy and France had made advances in the military. Even Britain,
made a Naval pact with Hitler. Britain saw that Hitlers navy was getting extremely powerful.
Originally, Britains navy was world renowned, so pride and jealousy got in the way of Britains
true intentions. Italy and France were also in a race to take up arms, even against Germany and
everyone else. They all wanted to defend from each other and from other countries, so the right
to bear arms was in their minds. Even though a treaty was made, it was impossible to stop the
military, as the need for an army is something that is ground in every government.
4) Images:
Kennan How does Kennan criticize appeasement at Munich? Kennan claims that the lost of
the Czechoslovak state during the appeasement was not necessary. Appeasement towards
Germany had hopes that Hitler would want to stop his rampage on Europe if he was appeased to
enough. He claims that since the Czech defenses were extremely strong and capable, it was not
worth risking all the bloodshed that would follow if they had put up a fight.
Taylor The appeasers were men with real problems who sought appeasement of Germany to
solve these problems. They recognized that an independent Germany had to be included in
Germany, or else war would break loose. Military intervention at the time would have been

extremely hard. No country was ready for a war of that magnitude, especially after the Versailles
Treaty. The appeasers had many problems to face with. Keep in mind, advisers of certain
countries had been extremely worried at the time. The threat of a World War that could kill
millions was imminent. The appeasers did not particularly want to make other countries angry. It
could set off a chain reaction that would begin an entire war. As we know, the war still happened,
and it still killed millions, but at the time, appeasing seemed like the safest bet.