Appeasement Policy: What it was and its characteristics

We explain what the policy of appeasement was during the interwar period, its main protagonists and its consequences.

After signing the Munich Pact, Neville Chamberlain declared that he had achieved “peace for our time.”

What was the policy of appeasement?

The policy of appeasement was a foreign policy that sought to resolve conflicts between countries by peaceful means and compromise instead of resorting to war. The policy of appeasement It was promoted by the British and French governments in response to German expansionism in the last years of the interwar period. Its main representative was the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

The policy of appeasement consisted of give in to some of the demands of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in order to calm his militaristic impulses and prevent the outbreak of a new war in Europe. Highlights of the policy of appeasement were Franco-British passivity in the face of the German annexation of Austria in March 1938 and the signing of the Munich Pact in September 1938, which allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia.

The policy of appeasement failed in its intention to avoid a new world conflictsince in March 1939 Hitler broke the Munich Agreement and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. A few months later, Hitler invaded Poland and both the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany, which led to the start of World War II (1939–1945).

The historical context

Following the Allied victory in the First World War (1914-1918), Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles (1919). In the British public opinion, Germany was considered to have been mistreated, especially for two reasons:

• The exorbitant war reparations that were imposed on Germany.
• The application of the principle of nationalities in Austria, Danzig or the Sudetenland, which involved the loss of territories with Germanic population which had previously belonged to the German and Austro-Hungarian empires.

This led many Britons to support a revision of the treaty. This was coupled with the desire to avoid a new world war and the awareness that Britain’s power to meet international challenges was declining.

Before Neville Chamberlain’s appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the British government’s attitude towards international crises and the militarism of Adolf Hitler’s Germany (who had come to power in 1933) anticipated the policy of appeasementThe clearest examples were:

• The lack of reaction to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931.
• The German-British Naval Agreement of 1935, by which the United Kingdom agreed to ignore the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles that prevented German rearmament
• The lack of response to the German military reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1936.
• The British adherence to the policy of non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

When Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister in May 1937, he only continued and deepened this policy.

The consequences of the policy of appeasement

The attitude of the United Kingdom and France allowed Hitler to annex Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938.

Neville Chamberlain’s application of the policy of appeasement is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that I thought Hitler was a political leader with whom agreements could be reachedand on the other hand, because he distrusted the Soviet Union (USSR), which at that time was at odds with Nazi Germany.

This explains why he did not react to the Anschluss.the agreement by which Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. He also explains that when the Sudetenland crisis broke out in 1938, he assumed that the British people would not go to war “over a dispute in a far-off country between people we know nothing about”.

The signing of the Munich Pact in September 1938 was the logical consequence of this approach. Hitler succeeded in getting Chamberlain and the President of the Council of Ministers of France, Édouard Daladier, to agree accept the German annexation of the Sudetenland on the grounds that the population in that region was predominantly GermanMuch of the British public cheered Chamberlain on his return from Munich, when he declared that he had achieved “peace for our time.”

The policy of appeasement ultimately failedas the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 demonstrated. Appeasement had come to an end and Both the United Kingdom and France promised to support Poland if it was attacked.The German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact signed in August 1939 cleared the way for a German attack on Poland.

On the other hand, far from satisfying Hitler and calming his expansionist impulses, the policy of appeasement promoted by Chamberlain persuaded the German government that France and the United Kingdom would remain inactive if he invaded Poland. The invasion took place on September 1, 1939, and two days later the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany..

Protagonists and critics of the policy of appeasement

Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940)

Neville Chamberlain was the main promoter of the policy of appeasement.

Neville Chamberlain was a British businessman and politician. After managing his father’s plantations in the Bahamas and prospering in the steel industry, he began his political career in David Lloyd George’s cabinet during the First World War. He was a Conservative MP from 1918 to 1920. He was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1937.

Faced with the expansionism of Nazi Germany, applied the policy of appeasementrelated to the traditional British position in favour of revising the Treaty of Versailles. This policy culminated in the signing of the Munich Pact in September 1938.

Following the signing of the Munich Agreement, Chamberlain returned to Britain and was hailed by many as a hero. The subsequent German invasion of Czechoslovakia proved that the policy of appeasement had failed.

Chamberlain reversed his position and declared war on Germany after the invasion of Poland. in September 1939. The German invasion of France in May 1940 precipitated his replacement by Winston Churchill as Prime Minister. He died a few months later.

Anthony Eden (1897-1977)

Anthony Eden was British Foreign Secretary on three occasions: between 1935 and 1938, between 1940 and 1945, and between 1951 and 1955. He was a member of parliament for the Conservative Party from 1923 and culminated his political career as Prime Minister between 1955 and 1957.

In his first term as Foreign Secretary, he served first under Stanley Baldwin and then under Neville Chamberlain. He resigned in February 1938 in protest at Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement..

In May 1940, When Winston Churchill replaced Chamberlain, he returned to government and served again as Foreign Secretary until July 1945, when the electoral defeat by Labour ended Churchill’s government.

After another period as Foreign Secretary between 1951 and 1955, again in a government headed by Churchill, Eden became Prime Minister in 1955.He had to face the Suez Crisis, precipitated in 1956 by the nationalization of the Suez Canal by the President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser.

On November 5, Anglo-French forces attacked Egypt, days after Israel launched an attack on the country. The backlash from the United States and Soviet governments forced the withdrawal of Anglo-French troops.

Eden He resigned in January 1957, stating that he did so for health reasons.

Edward Halifax (1881-1959)

Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, was the fourth son of Viscount Halifax. He was a leading figure in the Anglican Church and was elected as a Conservative MP in 1910. He was subsequently elected as a member of Parliament He held various government positions.

Was appointed Foreign Secretary by Neville Chamberlain after the resignation of Anthony Eden in February 1938. His acceptance of the post was controversial because it meant supporting the “policy of appeasement” that Chamberlain had been implementing.

When France’s defeat by Germany precipitated a change of government in May 1940, the new prime minister, Winston Churchill, kept him in office for a short time. In December 1940 Churchill appointed Halifax ambassador to the United States..

His tenure as ambassador, which lasted until May 1946, was the highlight of his career. His work was instrumental in strengthening ties between the United Kingdom and the United States during the Second World War.

Albert Sarraut (1872-1962)

Albert Sarraut was a French politician from the Radical PartyHe was a member of parliament between 1902 and 1924 and held various ministerial posts. He stood out for his liberal policies as governor of Indochina (1911-1914 and 1917-1919), where he expanded the rights of the indigenous population.

He was a senator between 1926 and 1940, Minister of the Interior on several occasions and President of the Council of Ministers twice: between October and November 1933 and between January and June 1936.

In his second term as President of the Council of Ministers, had to face the German remilitarization of the Rhineland ordered by Adolf Hitler. Despite Sarraut’s harsh statements against the German threat, the French government took no action. He resigned from his post in June 1936.

Édouard Daladier (1884-1970)

Édouard Daladier adhered to the British policy of appeasement and signed the Munich Pact.

Édouard Daladier was a French history professor and politician who served as a radical-socialist deputy between 1919 and 1940.

He was President of the Council of Ministers of France between January and October 1933 and took office again in January 1934 but was forced to resign a few days later following riots organised by far-right groups.

Between 1934 and 1936 he worked in the organisation of the Popular Front, and after the triumph of this left-wing coalition, he held the post of Minister of War in the government of Léon Blum. After the fall of the Popular Front…