大象传媒

Key points

  • Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. He had aggressive and ambitious foreign policy aims.

  • Britain initially pursued a policy of appeasement, seeking to give Hitler some of what he wanted in order to preserve peace.

  • When Hitler broke the agreement made at the Munich Conference, it became clear appeasement had failed, and war broke out following the invasion of Poland in September 1939.

Back to top

Hitler鈥檚 foreign policy aims

Hitler's three main foreign policy aims starting on the left with uniting all german speakers, achieving leabenstraum in the centre and destroying the treaty of versailles on the right.

Hitler had three main aims in his foreign policy:

  • To unite all German-speaking people.

  • To achieve , which was more living space for the German people. This was based on the racist policies, which were rooted in the idea that people were 鈥榮uperior鈥 to Eastern Europeans.

  • To destroy the Treaty of Versailles, the peace document that was signed in 1919 following World War One. It placed much of the blame for the events of the war on Germany.

These aims, and carrying them out, was one of the major contributing factors to the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939.

Back to top

The Rhineland and the Anschluss

Hitler had already broken some terms of the Treaty of Versailles by 1938. He sent soldiers into the Rhineland area of Germany in 1936, which was supposed to be a area. Britain did nothing, saying that Hitler was 鈥榤arching into his own backyard鈥. This showed that Britain saw the Rhineland as German land anyway, so they were not too concerned.

A black and white photo of German troops marching over the River Rhine into the Rhineland.
Image caption,
German troops marching into the Rhineland in 1936, breaking the Treaty of Versailles

In 1938, Hitler united Germany and Austria. This was known as the . Again, this broke the Treaty of Versailles, but Britain and France did nothing. They saw Austria as a German-speaking country and were not willing to risk war over this.

Back to top

Appeasement

The British Government, led first by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and by Neville Chamberlain from 1937, followed a policy of . This was a belief that, if Hitler was given some of what he wanted, war could be avoided. There were several reasons for Britain following this policy:

  • The British people did not want another war so soon after World War One.

  • Britain had not been , so was not prepared for war.

  • Many British Government officials believed that the communist Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, was a greater threat to Britain than Nazism. Britain saw Hitler and Nazi Germany as a barrier against the further spread of throughout Europe.

  • Some people felt the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh in the terms it imposed on Germany, and that it was reasonable for Hitler to want to reverse some of it.

  • Britain was still suffering the effects of the , so did not want to be spending money on preparing for, or fighting, a war.

Video about Chamberlain and appeasement

Back to top

The Munich Conference

In September 1938, Germany threatened to invade the Sudetenland, a region of that bordered Germany. Hitler claimed that the 3 million German-speaking people who lived there were being poorly treated by the Czech government.

On 15 September, Neville Chamberlain met Hitler at Berchtesgaden, southern Germany. Hitler assured Chamberlain that the Sudetenland was the last territory that he wanted. Chamberlain believed this, and persuaded the Czechoslovakian leader, Edvard Bene拧, to agree to Hitler鈥檚 demands.

When they met again at Bad Godesberg, on 22 September, Hitler made further demands, and threatened to declare war if these were not met.

Chamberlain returned home to Britain and made plans for war. Italian leader Benito Mussolini persuaded the leaders of Britain, France and Germany to meet at Munich.

At the Munich Conference, it was agreed that Hitler could occupy the Sudetenland as long as Germany guaranteed they would take no further territory.

Chamberlain returned to Britain and was warmly greeted in London. He famously told waiting crowds that the Munich Agreement had achieved 鈥榩eace in our time鈥.

A black and white photo showing Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler and Mussolini standing side by side at the Munich Conference, 1938.
Image caption,
(From left to right): Neville Chamberlain meets the French Prime Minister 脡douard Daladier, leader of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and the Italian foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano at the Munich Conference, 1938
Back to top

Activity - Munich Conference cartoon

What can you infer from this cartoon?

Key context:

  • This cartoon was produced by David Low for a British newspaper, the London Evening Standard.
  • It was published on 30 September 1938. This was one day after the Munich Conference had finished.

Back to top

The outbreak of war

In March 1939, Hitler broke the agreement made at Munich and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France were in no position to try and defend them, as Czechoslovakia was quickly conquered. Chamberlain realised that had failed. He made a guarantee that if Poland was invaded, Britain would go to war to protect them.

A consequence of the Munich Conference was that the Soviet Union, led by Stalin, felt Britain and France were trying to push Hitler east. Hitler hated communism, and Stalin felt threatened by the German advance. To give himself more time to rearm, Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany on 23 August 1939. They agreed that they would both invade and share territory in Poland and that they would not go to war with each other.

On 1 September, Hitler invaded Poland. Britain and France said that, if Germany did not leave, they would declare war. Hitler continued with the invasion, not believing that Britain would stick to their commitment to protect Poland. He was taken by surprise on 3 September 1939, when Chamberlain declared war on Germany.

World War Two had begun.

Was appeasement a mistake?

Back to top

Test your knowledge

Back to top

Play the History Detectives game! game

Analyse and evaluate evidence to uncover some of history鈥檚 burning questions in this game.

Play the History Detectives game!
Back to top

More on World War Two and the Holocaust

Find out more by working through a topic