Keith Eubank Appeasement Essay

Keith Eubank’s Appeasement and Appeasers and Gerhard Weinberg’s Munch after 50 Years both describe the policy of appeasement as well as the general consequences of the policy. Essentially, the League of Nations had begun to crumble and individuals sought a new means to keep the peace. The basic idea of appeasement was to give Hitler what he wanted in order to dissuade him from declaring war. Collectively, Europe saw another war as a sort of unspeakable evil, one to be prevented at all costs. Therefore, the plan was to assume that once Hitler was negotiated with, he would stop the excessive aggression that people feared would inevitably lead to another world war. Although the appeasement process had begun prior to 1938, the real key example is seen during the Sudeten Crisis. Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister at the time, believed and practiced appeasement.

The Sudetenland was the land occupied by many Germans along the borders of Czechoslovakia. The German residents began seeking a union with the rest of Germany, but the Czechs wouldn’t allow it. The Munich Agreement, which failed to take Czechoslovakia’s opinion into account, gave the Sudetenland to Germany. Appeasement was ended when Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. The invasion itself proved that Hitler had been lying at Munich and he was not solely interested in building a

Because of his businessman attitude, Chamberlain saw both Hitler and Mussolini as fellow businessmen, but he didn’t trust them. He offered them deals that would be beneficial to all involved parties. In fact, Chamberlain treated Hitler simply as a German politician with strong nationalistic beliefs in regards to the the Versailles treaty and the apparent suffering of German people. Chamberlain feared another war so much that appeasement seemed to be the best