reasons why the Policy of Appeasement was a Success OR Failure

Question 1

successes & failures
(must start with because)

Answer 1

successes
- gave Britain and France the moral high ground
- gave time for Britain and France to rearm
failures
- betrayal of Eastern Europe
- emboldened Hitler

Question 2

BECAUSE it gave Britain the moral high ground when war eventually started in 1939 (SUCCESS)

Answer 2

• when war began in Sep 1939, the British knew they had done everything possible to keep the peace and prevent war
• the British public felt the Germans were harshly treated in TOV and turned a blind eye when Hitler mobilised his forces into the Rhineland and in many other instances thereafter (eg. Austria, Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia)

Question 3

explanation (feelings + outcome)

Answer 3

the policy of appeasement was a success because :
- by 1939, it was clear to rest of the world that Hitler was in the wrong and a man who could no longer be trusted
- hence, when Britain declared war on Germany, Churchill had great support from the British and other countries around the world

Question 4

link

Answer 4

thus, it was a success because it revealed Hitler lacked integrity and gave them the justification that war needed to be declared on Germany

Question 5

BECAUSE it gave Britain and France more time to rearm (SUCCESS)

Answer 5

• prior to 1939, Britain lacked the military capability to fight a land war in Europe
• the powerful British navy was of little use in fighting a continental war and the army was generally trained to fight imperial wars outside Europe
• only the British Royal Air Force (RAF) could be seriously considered as being specifically designed to fight in European wars
• France was also preoccupied with internal affairs

Question 6

explanation (feelings + outcome)

Answer 6

the policy of appeasement was a success because :
- it allowed Britain and France to buy time to strengthen their defence, more so for Britain, Frace would eventually fall into the hands of German forces by Junue 1940
- in the long run, this gave Britain’s RAF addtional time to modernise its airforce sufficiently to defeat Germany’s Lutwaffe in the Battle of Britain (1940)

Question 7

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Answer 7

thus, it was a success because even though Britain and France needed USA’s aid in WWII, appeasement bought time for Britain to modernise its RAF that proved vitally important in fighting against Hitler in WWII

Question 8

BECAUSE Britain and France had betrayed Czechs (FAILURE)

Answer 8

• the Czech population was mostly made of the Slavs which Hitler considered to be an inferior race
• Czechoslovakia was a democratically-run country and Hitler disapproved of democracy
• when Hitler seized Czechoslovakia in 1938, it lost 70% of its heavy industries and most of its fortifications which were not part of Germany

Question 9

explanation (feelings + outcome)

Answer 9

the policy of appeasement was a failure because :
- this gave Germans more resources to fight the war against the Allies
- also meant Czechoslovakia was destroyed and that a small but strong democratic country had been abandoned by the Great powers
- after the betrayal of Czechoslovakia, no country in central Europe trusted Britain again

Question 10

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Answer 10

thus, proving that the policy of appeasement was a failure

Question 11

BECAUSE it emboldened Hitler and gave him the confidence to increase his demands (FAILURE)

Answer 11

• the policy of appeasement allowed Hitler to go against TOV ; reintroduced conscription and started the process of rearmament in Germany again
• many instances which showed appeasement was a mistake : eg. the mobilisation of German troops in the Rhineland (1936) was a direct violation of TOV
• Chamberlain should have told Hitler to remove forces and gather the Allies to overrun the Germans in a quick and decisive battle, as the Germans were not ready for war
• however, instead of defending the rules set out by TOV, they allowed Germany to remilitarise the Rhineland without any opposition

Question 12

explanation (feelings + outcome)

Answer 12

the policy of appeasement was a failure because :
- these instances not only showed that Britain and France’s intervention was necessary in countering Hitler, but these became strategic mistakes as it clearly boosted Hitler’s confidence in the conquest of Europe
- Chamberlain thought he was prolonging peace, but he had in fact sold Europe’s diginity to Germany
- as Hitler increased his demands, this eventually culminated to WWII

Question 13

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Answer 13

thus, Britain and France’s giving in to Hitler’s demands was a failure because it contributed to Hitler’s expansionist policy and thus, the outbreak of WWII