Appeasement Flashcards
What were the disadvantages of appeasement?
- It strengthened Germany.
- It gave Hitler the opportunity to destroy the treaty.
- Only delayed the war, did not prevent it completely.
- It encouraged Hitler to be aggressive.
- Showed Chamberlain to be naïve for trusting Hitler.
- The other countries in Europe did not agree with appeasement.
What was the USSR’s part in causing the war?
They had left the League of Nations too, which she severely weakened the organisation. They also signed the Nazi-Soviet pact, which strengthened Hitler and allowed him to invade Poland, the trigger of the war. To add to this, they invaded Poland too.
How did Great Britain help to cause the war?
One of the main reasons was Chamberlain’s continuation of appeasement, which continued to fail and encourage Hitler. Within this, Great Britain had allowed Germany to leave the League of Nations, hadn’t stopped the Anschluss, the remilitarisation or the return of the Saar. They also had allowed Germany to invade the Sudetenland. It can also be argued that Britain is responsible for causing the Nazi-Soviet pact because they delayed signing one with Stalin too. Even though they did not agree with the harshness of the treaty of Versailles they had not stopped it and had signed the Munich agreement, basically signing the Sudetenland over to Germany.
What caused the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
In 1917 Russia had become communist, which automatically made them the opposition of the capitalist west, making Britain hesitant in signing a treaty with Russia. Within the community revolution, the west had sent troops to the White troops, displaying that they did not trust communism and making them the opposition of Stalin.
On the other hand, Russia signed the treaty to strengthen themselves because after the First World War and the revolution Russia was weak and struggling economically and industrially. Stalin also aimed to create a buffer zone for Russia’s protection, and Poland would be a part of this. He also wanted peace in Russia, so this would help to continue growth.
What led up to signing the Nazi Soviet pact?
Britain and France had promised to protect Poland from Germany, however at the time they were preoccupied with Germany, so Poland’s protection fell to Russia. This was problematic, In That Britain knew that Poland was Hitler’s next target due to the treaty of Versailles. As well as this, Britain had been discussing a treaty with Stalin throughout the summer of of 1939, but had been negligent to doing so, which turned the Russians against the west.
What were the details of the Nazi-Soviet pact?
Signed on the 23rd September 1939, it was a non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany which also secretly agreed to split Poland between the two countries.
Why did Stalin sign the treaty? In short…
- He lost patience with the British.
- Signing the pact gave him time to rearm against Germany and Poland for his buffer zone.
- He suspected that France and Germany were trying to direct Hitler toward the West.
What were the consequence of signing the Nazi-Soviet pact?
On the 17th the USSR invaded Poland, within weeks it was occupied and Britain could do nothing.
It also helped to bring war closer.
Why did Stalin want the Sudetenland?
- Czechoslovakia had a large military and strong defences in the Sudetenland, which bordered Germany.
- He hated Czechoslovakia’s democracy.
- It had coal factories and the Skoda armaments factories.
- Defence agreements with France and Russia.
- It was home to 3 million German speakers from the old empire.
How did Hitler seize the Sudetenland?
He urged the Czechoslovakian nazi leader, Konrad Henlein, to demand the the Czechoslovakian leader give concessions to the German inhabitants of the Sudetenland. However when hitter surrounded the area with troops, it became clear that he didn’t only want this. On the 12th, Sudetenland nazis rioted, but were stopped by the Czechoslovakians. Hitler then threatened war.
How did the Munich agreement come to be signed?
After the Nazi riots, Chamberlain stepped in, and organised a meeting in Berchtesgaden for the 15th. After this, he persuaded he Czechoslovakians to give Hitler the parts of Czechoslovakia which were mostly German. On the 22nd Hitler became aware of this agreement, but said that it was not enough, he wanted the whole Sudetenland. When chamberlain refused Hitler threatened war. So France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain met on the 29th and forced Czechoslovakia to give up the Sudetenland. By the 1st Czechoslovakia was occupied. On the 30th Hitler and Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement, promising peace.
How did Czechoslovakia become completely occupied?
The Munich agreement had severely weakened Czechoslovakia and it lost more land to Poland and Hungary in October and November some of the population of the Sudetenland and moved away due to the Germany occupation. In 1939, the Slovaks demanded more rights, leading their president, Emil Hacha to turn to hitler for help, allowing Hitler to take over on March 15th, something which the allies didn’t oppose because hitler had been invited in, but also ended appeasement, because there was no justification for the invasion of Czechoslovakia.
What are the advantages of appeasement?
- Many believed that Germany had been treated unfairly.
- It gave Britain time to rearm and recover from World War One.
- It prevented war.
- In 1938 Britain had no allies.
- The British public did not want to go to war in 1938.
