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Definition of appeasement

Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, was keen to avoid war. He believed this could be achieved through the use of negotiation, agreements and diplomacy. His policy was to appease Hitler, which usually meant giving in to Hitler’s territorial demands.

Examples of appeasement

It is suggested that this included Britain not ‘getting tough’ on Germany when it rearmed and invaded the Rhineland, and its invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The most famous example of appeasement is Chamberlain signing the Munich agreement which resulted in Germany taking the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain hoped this would be the end of Hitler’s demands, although other politicians such as Churchill warned otherwise.

Popularity of the policy of appeasement

Chamberlain was popular, and was welcomed by cheerful crowds who believed he had avoided war. He was invited by the King and Queen to Buckingham Palace.

Appeasement was initially popular because:

• people wished to avoid conflict - memories of the Great War and its suffering were still present
• Britain in the 1930s was struggling with the impact of the Depression, and so the country could not afford another war and heavy rearmament
• many felt that the Treaty of Versailles had been too strict, and that Germany had a right to try and regain lost lands and to rebuild its weakened forces

War breaks out – September 1939

Due to the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Hitler knew that the Soviet Union would not stand in his way over Poland. German forces crossed into Poland on 1 September 1939.

Britain had earlier given assurances to Poland and so sent an ultimatum that stated that Germany had to withdraw from Poland. Britain received no reply and so on 3 September 1939 Chamberlain declared that Britain was at war with Germany.