Appeasement
History: OCR A GCSE Cold War & International Relations, topic 2.1.1
Views on Appeasement in the 1930s and 1940s
In the 1930s, most people were in support of appeasement, however, by the time the 1940s had come around, many had changed their minds.
Support
- Many people supported appeasement in the 1930s when it was practiced in relation to Hitler and Mussolini. This was because they could remember the horrors of WWI or had experienced it themselves.
Opposition
- Churchill was a strong opponent of appeasement, believing that it would lead to war, which turned out to be true.
'Guilty Men'
- A book was published by three historians, under the name Cato, in the 1940s, called Guilty Men, blaming Chamberlain and his supporters for the outbreak of war.
- The book also criticised Britain’s lack of preparation for war.
- Given the threat posed by Nazi Germany after it had conquered France, this view was most prevalent during the 1940s.
Continuing Arguments on Appeasement
Different views have emerged among politicians and historians around the issue of appeasement since it was practised in relation to Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930s.
The 'orthodox' view
- In the two decades following WWII, a more moderate view emerged among historians, which argued that appeasement had been an error but the intentions of the leaders were good.
- Personal attacks on Chamberlain were avoided under this new ‘orthodox’ view.
The 'revisionist' view
- Chamberlain’s legacy was further rehabilitated under the ‘revisionist’ view, which held largely from the 1960s to 1990s, which said that:
- He was in an impossible position and did the best he could.
- This view arose partly because classified documents from the 1930s became available in Britain to historians such as Donald Cameron Watt and Paul Kennedy after 30 years.
- The 'revisionist' view is the only one held by historians which advocated for appeasement as the best policy option at the time.
The 'counter-revisionist' view
- More recently, a ‘counter-revisionist’ view has emerged:
- Chamberlain was a fair politician but his views on appeasement were inexplicable.
- This view was influenced by releases from the Soviet archives after 1990.
- Robert Parker pointed out in 1993 that Chamberlain did not listen to those who told him to stand up to Germany, and that he had betrayed his promise to Czechoslovakia, who had had no representation at the 1938 Munich Conference.
Test yourself on Appeasement
Which political figure in the UK was a strong opponent of appeasement in the 1930s?
What was the name of the book published by three historians under the name Cato in 1940 that blamed Chamberlain and his supporters for the outbreak of war?
What new evidence came about in 1990 that influenced the development of the 'counter-revisionist' view on appeasement?
When were different views on appeasement widely held?
The 'revisionist' view was influenced by historians in which country gaining access to classified documents from the 1930s?