Appeasement - How the West Helped Hitler Start WW2 | BETWEEN 2 WARS I 1938 Part 1 of 4 - YouTube (1)
In hindsight it is possibly one of the biggest mistakes in human history. The appeasement
of Adolf Hitler, but at the time it looked to most people as the only choice available.
But was it?
Welcome to Between-2-Wars a chronological summary of the interwar years, covering all
facets of life, the uncertainty, hedonism, and euphoria, and ultimately humanity's
descent into the darkness of the Second World War. I'm Indy Neidell.
Now, if you have followed our series from the beginning there are several things that
you will have seen up to now in 1938.
The Great War leads to a general desire for peace, but the wars by no means end. Eastern
and central Europe are still in flames and in the far East wars continue to rage, but
there is a universal desire to find an instrument to regulate international affairs and bring
peace. But the proposed solution, the League of Nations, is fraught with weaknesses from
day one. Chief among them perhaps is the mutual assistance clause- collective security- that
demands that all members shall intervene to safeguard each other's sovereignty in case
of foreign agression. A guaranteed defensive war clause if you like. The US Senate refuses
to ratify the treaty, based mainly on this. The other powers that do enter the League,
ratify it, but there is very little support for such a clause among their public, or for
any kind of belligerence, everywhere in the 1920s. The initial exclusion of, for instance
Germany and Turkey, weakens the League and the refusal by the western powers to address
issues of colonialism and race in 1919 is constant spectre over the organization, especially
after the betrayal of all the promises made to the peoples of the Middle East during the
Great War by France and Great Britain.
But in general the nascent modern democracies face a popular demand for arms reduction - even
Germany, so armies are reduced and defense spending is slashed, especially in the US,
Great Britain and France. Any preparations, even for defensive war, are made out of the
public eye or clandestinely. Actions like the occupation of the Rhineland by France
and Belgium in 1923 do however sway some public support in Germany for a reignited defense.
Eventually in the authoritarian countries, both left-wing and right-wing, the people
have no real say, and the leaders of Japan, Italy, the USSR and later Germany profess
a desire for peace in public while they start aggressively building up their armed forces
once again. In China all of this is not even an issue - after all the state of war never
really ends here what with the endless, internal struggles..
And there is one more thing that comes out Paris in 1919 that makes enforcing peace an
uphill struggle. The new borders that were drawn, especially Germany's.
Now, we have repeatedly pointed out that if, as was the idea, a right to ethnic self determination
is to be enforced, there is no perfect solution. No matter which way you draw the border, it
will leave someone, or perhaps everyone dissatisfied. Germany refuses to just accept her truncated
size. In 1925, negotiations between Germany, the Allies, and new states of Central and
Eastern Europe take place in the Swiss town of Locarno. At first, they are pretty tense,
and Poland and Czechoslovakia are let down as Germany refuses to recognize its eastern
frontier. But there are also some successes. Germany does accept the legitimacy of its
Western borders and promises arbitration as a means of settling international disputes.
It also enters the League, marking a return to the international community.
The Soviet Union and the U.S. are also being drawn into the fold. Though technically not
a League project, the Kellog-Briand Pact inspires hope across the world when it is signed in
1928. Every significant power is a signatory, and they all agree to renounce war as a means
of policy and only to settle disputes peacefully. This, along with its other public success,
contribute towards a feeling among many that the League is after all becoming powerful
enough to ensure world peace.
But when aggressive authoritarian powers start saber rattling in the early 1930s it is now
clear that no progress can overcome the most serious imbalance that all of this has brought
about.
In the West, public sentiment has enforced disarmament and left France, Great Britain
and the US in no military position to enforce peace by force, even should they want to.
And now another inherent failing of collective security is becoming apparent. Instead of
guaranteeing peace, it threatens to escalate small regional disputes into world-wide conflicts.
This becomes painfully clear upon the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, when the League
can do little more than condemn Japanese actions and then watch as the delegation walks out.
This becomes obvious once more in 1935 when Italy invades Abyssinia.
Japan and Italy, two members of the League's permanent council, have violated the territorial
integrity of two other League members and nothing happens. Japan is not even threatened
with economic sanctions. Italy is, but they will never be fully applied. It is at this
point hard to imagine any practical route forward other than appeasement, a diplomatic
strategy of making concessions to a hostile power in the hope it will avoid further escalation.
For now, it works, but when Hitler seizes power in 1933 he sees it for the weakness
it is and begins to exploit it.
He intensively expands a German rearmament program, already secretly underway during
the Weimar Era, and on March 16th, 1935 he openly announces his plans to rearm Germany,
along with the introduction of conscription. A year later, on March 7th, he takes another
gamble and remilitarizes the Rhineland, violating the Locarno treaty his predecessors signed
less than a decade ago.
Allied responses are weak at best. France consults Britain and petitions the League,
but this goes pretty much nowhere. Despite having now started its own rearmament program,
Britain tells France that at present they simply do not have the resources to intervene.
The British public don't really seem too fussed about it all either. Some newspapers even
rationalise Hitler's actions. Foreign Minister Anthony Eden will write in his memoirs that
at the time of the crisis he asked his taxi driver his thoughts on it, who simply responded:
"I suppose Jerry can do what he likes in his own back yard cant he?".
But it does lead to an escalation of rearmament programs. In May 1936, the Popular Front government
is elected in France. They have no desire to be caught off guard again and really ramp
up militarisation by nationalizing the country's war industries. Across the channel, there's
a growing sentiment to increase British military security. The RAF ‘Scheme H' in January
1937 kicks off pre-war expansion, expanding the number of squadrons from 124 to 146, with
the nation's total number of aircraft at 2422. The following month, Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin puts forward a £400 million budget for national defence. The ethos of
disarmament has broken down. The Great Powers are gearing up for conflict.
But none is actually ready for war yet and appeasement continues as the official policy.
Neville Chamberlain replaces Baldwin as Prime Minister in May 1937. His early career as
a businessman influences his leadership. He believes a country's economic stability
can assure harmony with its neighbours. He permits Hitler to take what he needs to allow
for Germany to prosper. We can see this mentality in action in November 1937 when the Earl of
Halifax pays a visit to Hitler's Berchtesgaden retreat. He is personally assured that Germany's
sole desire is peace and Halifax accordingly promises the Führer that Britain will not
“block reasonable settlements ... reached with the free assent and goodwill of those
primarily concerned” and returns to England content peace is secured.
Satisfied with the Allies weak response, Hitler sets his sights on his next objective.
Now, Hitler is a Pan-Germanist, meaning he believes all German-speaking peoples should
be incorporated into a single nation-state. Many hoped after the Great War that Austria
could unite with Germany, but this was promptly shot down by Allies. Hitler now sees his chance
to do what no-one else has done – forge a Greater Germany. Beyond purely ideological
reasons, Austria is a pretty attractive region to incorporate into the Reich. Despite its
downsizing after the Great War, it still has abundant natural resources, taking the Nazis
one step closer to economic self-sufficiency.
But Hitler is faced with a little problem. There is a strong current of pan-Germanism
there, but Austria is currently ruled by Austrian Nationalists. If you've seen our 1934 episode
on Austria, you'll already know about the anti-Nazi, Austrofascist regime installed
by the late Engelbert Dollfuss. You'll also know that he was assassinated in a Nazi-backed
coup. But it failed to topple the government, and Fascist Italy's threat of military intervention
means that Hitler has stepped back from such radical actions for now.
But Hitler instead slowly undermines the autonomy of the Austrian state and cozies up to Italian
Dictator, Benito Mussolini, to pull him away from supporting the struggling Republic. In
November 1936, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy enter into an official alliance, leaving Austria
isolated and Hitler with a free hand.
He decides to suddenly up the ante on February 12, 1938. When Dolfuss' successor Kurt Schuschnigg
accepts an invitation to visit him at his Berchtesgaden retreat, Hitler shows the Austrian
Chancellor a map for his planned occupation. The Fuhrer then offers an ultimatum: Austria
must align its foreign and domestic policies with Germany; grant a general amnesty to all
Austrian Nazis; appoint Nazi politician, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, as Interior Minister with unlimited
police power; and appoint another, Edmund Glaise-Horstenau, as minister without portfolio.
Hitler promises Schuschnigg that if he refuses, the Wermacht will invade Austria.
Schuschnigg is pretty much forced to agree, but he tries to seize the initiative. On March
9 he announces that a referendum is to be held on the German question in four days.
Not wanting to risk seeing what the result will be, Hitler orders preparations for invasion.
On the morning of March 11, Seyss-Inquart and Glaise-Horstenau order Schuschnigg to
drop the referendum, and Hitler promises that any resistance will be broken “with the
greatest ruthlessness through force of arms”. Schuschnigg capitulates and cancels the referendum.
But things don't stop there. Seyss-Inquart then demands the resignation of the Austrian
cabinet, an order which Schuschnigg refuses. But by late afternoon, National Socialists
have seized power in major towns and provinces, and both London and Paris have made clear
they can do little to stop what is happening. Schuschnigg is forced to resign, announcing
the news in a radio address in the evening and ordering the army not to resist if an
invasion does still happen. That night Seyss-Inquart becomes Chancellor. The following morning,
the 12th, the invasion goes ahead anyway. The original plan is to keep Austria as a
puppet government, but Hitler has been so successful and seen so much enthusiasm from
Austrian crowds that he decides to pursue full Anschluss. On the 13th, Seyss-Inquart
ends his 2-day reign by signing away Austrian independence and declaring it a "land of the
German Reich."
Hitler has taken another gamble, and again it's paid off. The Allies brush it all under
the carpet. London very quickly converts its embassy in Vienna to a consulate, an implicit
recognition of Austria now being a part of Germany. In a statement to the House of Commons
on March 14, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, R.A. Butler declares that:
‘We have received reports that the German army will be withdrawn after a certain period
… I sincerely hope that the assurances we have received will be carried out.'
A controlled referendum is held in Austria to legitimise the land grab on the 10th of
April. 99.7% of voters allegedly declare they support the action.
