On The Brink of War

The Policy of Appeasement

B-D-A Learning Activity

“Tweeting Europe into War”

TTYN – Talk to your neighbor

Resources located at end of presentation

Appeasement

TTYN: What is appeasement? What does it mean to appease another person?

Definition of APPEASE

1: to bring to a state of peace or quiet : calm

2: to cause to subside : allay <appeased my hunger>

3: pacify, conciliate; especially : to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles

Appeasement

TTYN: Read the example below and work cooperatively to answer the three questions.

Issue at hand: In another school, there is a student who has achieved a legendary status for causing disruptions within the classroom.

If we were to implement a policy of appeasement, how might we remedy this situation?

1. Methods employed by school to get the student to follow school

rules

2. Demands made by the student

3. Agreement reached

***Be creative…think outside of the box

Appeasement

TTYN: In the context of what we learned during our examination

of the Interwar Period, describe how the term appeasement

relates to beliefs and thinking of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party

Appeasement

Essential Questions –

Why Appeasement?

Why was appeasement popular in the 1930’s?

Appeasement

The Principal Players

Hitler Chamberlin

Appeasement

TTYN: Why would Great Britain agree to a policy of appeasement?

Schools of Thought -

Many historians believe that appeasement was a direct cause of

WWII. Why?

It allowed Hitler to grow in power and confidence.

Other historians sympathize with politicians of the time and share

the belief that appeasement was the only viable option. Why?

It also gave Britain and France time to prepare for war.

Appeasement

TTYN: Why would Great Britain agree to a policy of appeasement?

Schools of Thought –

Trust – There were many people trusted Hitler and thought that

his demands were not unreasonable.

Unity -What was wrong with Hitler taking back German territory

or uniting with Austria if the people were happy about it?

Treaty of Versailles - There was widespread belief that the Treaty

of Versailles was too harsh and it was right for Hitler to challenge it.

Appeasement

TTYN: Why would Great Britain agree to a policy of appeasement?

Schools of Thought –

The impact of war - WWI had effected many people’s viewpoints.

They had seen the devastation war had caused and did not

want to relive another world war.

Pacifism - There was widespread support for pacifism. This was

backed up by the 1935 Peace Ballot where 11.5 M people voted

against aggression.

Appeasement

Review: The Impact of the Treaty of Versailles

TTYN: What lands, territories, and other interests did

Germany lose as the result of the Treaty of Versailles?

Appeasement

The Rhineland

The Rhineland was an area of land which belonged to Germany.

As part of the Treaty of Versailles Germany was forbidden from having a military presence in the Rhineland – this was at the insistence of the French.

It was designed to prevent any future wars from occurring on French soil.

Appeasement

The Rhineland

Appeasement

Adolf Hitler: On the defense and expansion of Germany (1924)

Historical Context –

In Mein Kampf, Hitler made clear his belief his belief that Germany must have more living space (Lebensraum) – land, of course, that could be obtained only at the expense of Germany’s neighbors. Hitler also declared that the German Reich was to include within its boundaries “all Germans,” a reference to Austria and the many Germans living in Czechoslovakia and Poland. The Reich would then lead the Germans “to a dominating position.”

Reading and assignment at end of presentation

Appeasement

The Ineffectiveness of the League of Nations

Purpose of the League of Nations - to resolve international disputes

peacefully

1931, Japan invades Manchuria

League condemns the action….but unable to stop it

1937, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China

Appeasement

The Ineffectiveness of the League of Nations

1935, Mussolini (Italy) invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

League imposed economic sanctions, but little more

1936, Hitler re-militarized the Rhineland, which was forbidden

under the Treaty of Versailles.

G.B. and France do nothing

Appeasement

The Impotence of Europe

TTYN: You’re Germany and Italy, you’re making moves, invading

countries, breaking the Treaty of Versailles, and there is no recourse

from G.B. or France. Your immediate reaction and future game plan

is?

Germany and Italy now realize that the democracies (G.B. and

France) were seeking to avoid confrontation, so both countries

continued to ‘test the limits’.

1938, Hitler’s Anschluss (union) with Austria was once again met

with Anglo-French impotence and inaction.

Appeasement

The Sudetenland

Czechoslovakia - created under the Treaty of Versailles, and included

a large German minority mostly living in the Sudetenland on the

border with Germany

Appeasement

The Sudetenland

Czechoslovakia - created under the Treaty of Versailles, and included

a large German minority mostly living in the Sudetenland on the

border with Germany; Sudetenland was a region that was ethnically

German.

Region had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The bulk of people in Czechoslovakia were Czechs or Slovaks.

The Sudeten Germans did not like being the minority group and

wanted to be in a German speaking nation.

Appeasement

The Sudetenland

1931, Sudeten German Party was formed

Goal of Party: to bring the region under the control of Germany

Organized protests

Hitler would eventually fund the party and it grew in size and

strength.

Hitler promoted and encouraged the Sudeten German Party to

begin a program of unrest

Hitler and the Sudeten propaganda campaign

Appeasement

The Sudetenland

1938, Hitler ordered German troops into positions along the border

with Sudetenland.

Designed to intimidate the Czech government

Czech response: mobilized and stationed in defensive positions

along the border

TTYN: Any of this sound familiar??

The call for international intervention

The Munich Conference

Appeasement

The Sudetenland and the Munich Conference

G.B. steps in - British prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, meets

with Adolf Hitler.

Chamberlain agreed that Hitler would be allowed to take control of

Sudetenland

Hitler demands that the Czech army withdraw from the region or be

invaded

International community of "pins and needles”

Appeasement

The Sudetenland and the Munich Conference

G.B. and France begin mobilization

Mussolini invited to the party

No Czech's invited

The Italian Solution: The Sudetenland would be ceded to Germany

in exchange for a written assurance from the Germans that this was

the end of German territorial expansion.

Appeasement

The Sudetenland and the Munich Conference

Chamberlain and Daladier agreed

The Munich Agreement was signed

Czechs were informed of the agreement after it had been signed

Czechs said that they did not agree with the terms

Czechs informed that it was binding and that if they did not comply

that they would be held responsible for any war

TTYN: You’re the Czechs, what do you do?

G.B. in the back says to France…..“Why should we take a stand about someone pushing someone else when it’s so far away”

ADOLF HITLER: ON THE DEFENSE AND EXPANSION OF GERMANY (1924)

Germany today is no world power. Even if our momentary military impotence were overcome, we should no longer have any claim to this title. What can a formation, as miserable in its relation of population to area as the German Reich today, mean on this planet? In an era when the earth is gradually being divided up among states, some of which embrace almost entire continents, we cannot speak of a world power in connection with a formation whose political mother country is limited to the absurd area of five hundred thousand square kilometers.

From the purely territorial point of view, the area of the German Reich vanishes completely as compared with that of the so called world powers. Let no one cite England as a proof to the contrary, for England in reality is merely the great capital of the British world empire which calls nearly a quarter of the earth's surface its own. In addition, we must regard as giant states, first of all the American Union, then Russia and China. All are spatial formations having in part an area more than ten times greater than the present German Reich. And even France must be counted among these states. …..

Thus, in the world today we see a number of power states, some of which not only far surpass the strength of our German nation in population, but whose area above all is the chief support of their political power. Never has the relation of the German Reich to other existing world states been as unfavorable as at the beginning of our history two thousand years ago and again today. Then we were a young people, rushing headlong into a world of great crumbling state formations, whose last giant, Rome, we ourselves helped to fell. Today we find ourselves in a world of great power states in process of formation, with our own Reich sinking more and more into insignificance.

We must bear this bitter truth coolly and soberly in mind. We must follow and compare the German Reich through the centuries in its relation to other states with regard to population and area. I know that everyone will then come to the dismayed conclusion which I have stated at the beginning of this discussion: Germany is no longer a world power, regardless whether she is strong or weak from the military point of view…..

If the National Socialist movement really wants to be consecrated by history with a great mission for our nation, it must be permeated by knowledge and filled with pain at our true situation in this world; boldly and conscious of its goal, it must take up the struggle against the aimlessness and incompetence which have hitherto guided our German nation in the line of foreign affairs. Then, without consideration of 'traditions' and prejudices, it must find the courage to gather our people and their strength for an advance along the road that will lead this people from its present restricted living space to new land and soil, and hence also free it from the danger of vanishing from the earth or of serving others as a slave nation.

The National Socialist movement must strive to eliminate the disproportion between our population and our area-viewing this latter as a source of food as well as a basis for power politics-between our historical past and the hopelessness of our present impotence. And in this it must remain aware that we, as guardians of the highest humanity on this earth, are bound by the highest obligation, and the more it strives to bring the German people to racial awareness so that, in addition to breeding dogs, horses, and cats, they will have mercy on their own blood, the more it will be able to meet this obligation.

Assessment

Short-answer ID’s

Select four of the following id’s and provide a summary that describes the historical significance of each.

Policy of Appeasement

Sudetenland

Chamberlin

League of Nations

Munich Agreement

Rhineland

Appeasement

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WWII