Appeasement

Appeasement is a strategic manoeuver, based on either pragmatism, fear of war, or moral conviction, that leads to acceptance of imposed conditions in lieu of armed resistance. Since World War II, the term has gained a negative connotation, in politics and in general, of weakness and cowardice.

Appeasement's effect on the Second World War

It has been argued that if an overly bellicose war-enthusiasm had produced the mass slaughter of World War I, then the resulting determination to avoid war at all costs in the 1930s proved equally counterproductive, with Europe's failure to oppose Hitler leading the German Führer to believe that he could do as he pleased and no-one would threaten war in response. In this view the delay caused by appeasement increased the number of people killed when war ultimately became unavoidable. Another view argues that there were elements within the German Army who would have removed Hitler from power if he had backed down in the face of Allied opposition. Finally, some have argued that had the Allies put a hard line on Czechoslovakia, Germany would have had less time to rearm and the resulting war would have been less destructive.

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However, these views are not without critics. It has also been argued that a strong stand by Britain and France would not have caused Hitler to back down, and that in the Sudeten crisis, Hitler was fully intent on going to war with Britain and France and seizing control of Czechoslovakia. Furthermore, the idea that an early war would have prevented a general war has also been criticized. Long before the Czech crisis, Hitler had revealed his intent to become master of Europe if not the world, and many historians feel that it is unlikely that a strong stand over Czechoslovakia would have caused him to permanently renounce such ambitions. In addition, it has been pointed out that there were some in the German Army who detested Hitler and were actively looking for an excuse for a coup (for example General Beck), there is no reason to believe that a loss of face over Czechoslovakia would have triggered a coup or that a coup would have been successful. Finally, it has been argued that there is no reason to believe that a war over Czechoslovakia would have been less destructive than the war over Poland. Both Britain and France, although bound by their respective military alliances with Poland to start a major air and land offensive against Germany within 15 days of the outbreak of the war, again followed their appeasement policy and engaged in the phony war instead. This, after the collapse of the Polish army, only gave Germany several additional months to rearm and pick their convenient timing to invade next countries.

Related Topics:
Sudeten - Poland - Phony war

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Another example of appeasement could be American and British position in Teheran Conference

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and later in Yalta conference, where both Roosevelt and Churchill eagerly accepted all Stalin's demands even if there was not any immediate risk of confrontation. Later, Winston Churchill considered that it might well have been worthwhile to continue World War II after VE Day by fighting the Soviet army. The move by Western consensus to draw the line at this possibility was perceived by some as appeasement by the West towards Josef Stalin which led to the Cold War.

Related Topics:
Yalta conference - Winston Churchill - World War II - VE Day - Soviet - Josef Stalin - Cold War

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