Essay On How Far Was Britain's Policy Of Appeasement
How far was Britain’s policy of Appeasement the result of popular opinion?
Britain’s policy of appeasement was partly due to popular opinion. The British people did not want to enter another war after losing 722,000 lives and having 1,676,000 people wounded. There was a widespread feeling that death and destruction should never be allowed to happen on such a scale again. However public opinion was not the only reason Britain followed a policy of appeasement to Hitler. There were other factors such as Military Weakness, German Bombers, Lack of reliable allies and economic problems which also added to why Britain followed a policy of appeasement. The size of the army decreased in the 1920s because of government cost cuttings which meant the military was weak as there was not as many soldiers available as before. In the 1930s there was a great sense of fear that German bombers would attack Britain and kill 600,000 people. Economic problems contributed to Britain following appeasement as Britain did not have enough money to support a war. The USA was in isolation and Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa did not want to fight.
Popular opinion was …show more content…
a very important factor for Britain to support a policy of appeasement. The British people did not want another war after witnessing the death and destruction of the First World War where there was a great loss of life (722,000 dead). HG Wells said that the First World War was ‘the war to end all wars’. Many people were affected by the First World War and many people lost a family member. It affected everyone even Neville Chamberlain who lost his cousin Norman which led to him being hostile towards war. Many British people were for the idea of disarmament. They believed that it would stop the possibility of war if there were no weapons to be used. The British public were also sceptical about modern warfare and were frightened at the prospect of being bombed by enemy aircraft. This widespread hostility to war was felt by most of the British public and as a result led to Britain following a policy of appeasement.
Another important factor for Britain in supporting appeasement was Military Weakness. In the 1920s the size of the army was cut back due to cost cutting and a widespread feeling that the involvement of a huge force to fight in France was a terrible mistake. This meant that if Britain went to war earlier then they would have had a smaller army to fight with and would not have been ready for war on a large scale. The officer class in the 1930s still had its problems. The officers were still being chosen from the upper-class and valued sporting instead of intellectual acquirement. This shows that the British army at the time were not as intelligent as possible and could have been more strategic. There were also drawbacks with army equipment in the 1930s due to financial austerity and because of arguments between high ranking officers about roles of mechanical units in modern warfare. Also the British government did not favour rapid rearmament but if there was slow rearmament Britain might not be strong enough to cope with an enemy attack. As a result of this Britain’s army in the 1930s did not have an adequate force and did not have ideas about modern mechanised warfare.
German air attacks were also another reason why Britain supported appeasement. The First World War had caused exaggerated worry of the potential destruction caused by German bombers. The British planners estimated that German bombers would ‘get through’ and could drop 945 tonnes of bombs each day in Britain in a future war and thought there would be 50 deaths per tonne. They also estimated that 600,000 people would be killed in German air attacks and 1,200,000 wounded in the first six months of the war. This led to widespread fear of the German bomber getting through and attacking Britain. Britain originally wanted to bomb Germany into backing down but their plans changed and in 1937 as they though they should shoot down German bombers in Britain instead. This meant that Britain was now better protected from German bomber threats.
Economic Problems were another key factor for following the policy of appeasement.
Britain was in a time of financial problems after the war. In the First World War Britain had lent £1,419,000,000 to its allies and borrowed £1,285,000,000. It did not help that Russia never paid back its debts as the communist revolution leaders refused to pay debts from the Tsarist regime. This put Britain into even more financial problems and led to cost cuttings by the government. The treasury and the government did not support rapid rearmament as they believed it would lead to a balance of payment deficits. They were scared that bold economic policies would cause problems to arise again. This shows that if Britain went to war at this time they would not be able to fund a war without becoming bankrupt within a couple of
months.
A final factor for Britain following Appeasement was that there was a lack of reliable allies. The USA being in isolation did not want to be involved in any European affairs, especially a possible war. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, made it clear that they would not take part in another war in Europe as they remembered their losses from the First World War. France was also only concentrating on her own safety. Also Britain, France and Italy signed the Stresa front so that if there was any threat to Europe’s peace they would act in close collaboration to stop it. However the Stresa front collapsed as none of the three countries were set to act without help from the others. This meant that if Britain was to oppose Germany and go to war at this time then they would have been fighting probably without much help so they saw it better to follow appeasement.
In conclusion Britain’s policy of appeasement was the result of many important issues. On the one hand most of the British public did not want another war after the death and destruction caused by the First World War. They were for disarmament and did not like the idea of modern warfare. On the other hand having a weak military was a good reason to appease Hitler as we did not have a strong enough force to fight him yet. There was also a widespread fear of the German Bomber ‘getting through’ and bombing civilians so it was better to appease than risk innocent lives. Also not having reliable allies contributed to appeasing Hitler as we would have entered a war without much support at all. On balance the widespread hostility to war from the British public was important in supporting the Policy of Appeasement and added to the other factors which influenced the British Government to follow appeasement.
Britain’s policy of appeasement was partly due to popular opinion. The British people did not want to enter another war after losing 722,000 lives and having 1,676,000 people wounded. There was a widespread feeling that death and destruction should never be allowed to happen on such a scale again. However public opinion was not the only reason Britain followed a policy of appeasement to Hitler. There were other factors such as Military Weakness, German Bombers, Lack of reliable allies and economic problems which also added to why Britain followed a policy of appeasement. The size of the army decreased in the 1920s because of government cost cuttings which meant the military was weak as there was not as many soldiers available as before. In the 1930s there was a great sense of fear that German bombers would attack Britain and kill 600,000 people. Economic problems contributed to Britain following appeasement as Britain did not have enough money to support a war. The USA was in isolation and Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa did not want to fight.
Popular opinion was …show more content…
a very important factor for Britain to support a policy of appeasement. The British people did not want another war after witnessing the death and destruction of the First World War where there was a great loss of life (722,000 dead). HG Wells said that the First World War was ‘the war to end all wars’. Many people were affected by the First World War and many people lost a family member. It affected everyone even Neville Chamberlain who lost his cousin Norman which led to him being hostile towards war. Many British people were for the idea of disarmament. They believed that it would stop the possibility of war if there were no weapons to be used. The British public were also sceptical about modern warfare and were frightened at the prospect of being bombed by enemy aircraft. This widespread hostility to war was felt by most of the British public and as a result led to Britain following a policy of appeasement.
Another important factor for Britain in supporting appeasement was Military Weakness. In the 1920s the size of the army was cut back due to cost cutting and a widespread feeling that the involvement of a huge force to fight in France was a terrible mistake. This meant that if Britain went to war earlier then they would have had a smaller army to fight with and would not have been ready for war on a large scale. The officer class in the 1930s still had its problems. The officers were still being chosen from the upper-class and valued sporting instead of intellectual acquirement. This shows that the British army at the time were not as intelligent as possible and could have been more strategic. There were also drawbacks with army equipment in the 1930s due to financial austerity and because of arguments between high ranking officers about roles of mechanical units in modern warfare. Also the British government did not favour rapid rearmament but if there was slow rearmament Britain might not be strong enough to cope with an enemy attack. As a result of this Britain’s army in the 1930s did not have an adequate force and did not have ideas about modern mechanised warfare.
German air attacks were also another reason why Britain supported appeasement. The First World War had caused exaggerated worry of the potential destruction caused by German bombers. The British planners estimated that German bombers would ‘get through’ and could drop 945 tonnes of bombs each day in Britain in a future war and thought there would be 50 deaths per tonne. They also estimated that 600,000 people would be killed in German air attacks and 1,200,000 wounded in the first six months of the war. This led to widespread fear of the German bomber getting through and attacking Britain. Britain originally wanted to bomb Germany into backing down but their plans changed and in 1937 as they though they should shoot down German bombers in Britain instead. This meant that Britain was now better protected from German bomber threats.
Economic Problems were another key factor for following the policy of appeasement.
Britain was in a time of financial problems after the war. In the First World War Britain had lent £1,419,000,000 to its allies and borrowed £1,285,000,000. It did not help that Russia never paid back its debts as the communist revolution leaders refused to pay debts from the Tsarist regime. This put Britain into even more financial problems and led to cost cuttings by the government. The treasury and the government did not support rapid rearmament as they believed it would lead to a balance of payment deficits. They were scared that bold economic policies would cause problems to arise again. This shows that if Britain went to war at this time they would not be able to fund a war without becoming bankrupt within a couple of
months.
A final factor for Britain following Appeasement was that there was a lack of reliable allies. The USA being in isolation did not want to be involved in any European affairs, especially a possible war. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, made it clear that they would not take part in another war in Europe as they remembered their losses from the First World War. France was also only concentrating on her own safety. Also Britain, France and Italy signed the Stresa front so that if there was any threat to Europe’s peace they would act in close collaboration to stop it. However the Stresa front collapsed as none of the three countries were set to act without help from the others. This meant that if Britain was to oppose Germany and go to war at this time then they would have been fighting probably without much help so they saw it better to follow appeasement.
In conclusion Britain’s policy of appeasement was the result of many important issues. On the one hand most of the British public did not want another war after the death and destruction caused by the First World War. They were for disarmament and did not like the idea of modern warfare. On the other hand having a weak military was a good reason to appease Hitler as we did not have a strong enough force to fight him yet. There was also a widespread fear of the German Bomber ‘getting through’ and bombing civilians so it was better to appease than risk innocent lives. Also not having reliable allies contributed to appeasing Hitler as we would have entered a war without much support at all. On balance the widespread hostility to war from the British public was important in supporting the Policy of Appeasement and added to the other factors which influenced the British Government to follow appeasement.