WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Instituted in the hope of avoiding war, appeasement was the name given to Britain’s policy in the 1930s of allowing Hitler to expand German territory unchecked. Most closely associated with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, it is now widely discredited as a policy of weakness.

Detailed explanation-2: -An example of appeasement is the infamous 1938 Munich Agreement, in which Great Britain sought to avoid war with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy by taking no action to prevent Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 or Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Policy of Appeasement led to the Second World War as Britain and France, two of the main powers in 20th century Europe, failed to appease Hitler to the extent where war with Nazi Germany was inevitable.

Detailed explanation-4: -The policy of appeasement convinced Hitler that western democracies had neither the intention nor the capacity to stand in front of Germany. He was greatly emboldened by the appeasing attitude. Eventually, the policy of appeasement drove Hitler to attack Poland on 1st Sep 1939 and with this World War II commenced.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.