Between 1936 and 1938 Hitler never actually attacked anyone. In 1936 he moved troops “into his own back yard”, in 1937 politicians were not prepared to confront Hitler over his actions in Spain and German troops were welcomed into Austria in March 1938. what was there to fight about?
Economic Reasons
In the 1930s Britain was in a depression. Jobs and better housing were priorities for the British public and Chamberlain knew that people would not support large scale military spending. They wanted “butter before guns”. Without military resources was there an alternative to appeasement?
Public Opinion and Pacifism
British politicians have to consider public opinion unlike fascist dictators. By 1928 all men and women over the age of 21 had gained the right to vote and by the mid 1930s the British electorate was huge. It was clear to all politicians that the vast majority of the British public were opposed to war.
The public had been told in 1918 that they had fought “the war to end all wars” and thousands of memorials were erected across Britain in the 1920s to commemorate the losses of the Great War still fresh in the public’s memory. Politicians could not possibly advocate a policy which would cause the children of the soldiers of the Great War to be sent to another war.
Also by the 1930s people knew “the bomber will always get through”. In the cinemas newsreels showed Spanish cities wrecked by bombing. For the first time British cities would be in the front line of enemy attack and people were terrified.
Pacifism is a fear of war and a desire to avoid conflict at any cost. In the 1930s anti-war movements in Britain were growing and by 1936 support for pacifism was at its height. However be careful not to assume that a desire to avoid war is therefore support for appeasement.
Military Weakness
At the end of the Great War Britain had disarmed hugely. Only 120 out of 130,000 serving aircraft were still in use three years later! Partly to save money, Britain wrongly believed in the 10-year rule, the belief that any possible threat would be easily spotted and would have time to get ready.
Britain’s military planners were taken completely by surprise with the arrival in Europe of fascist military dictatorships in the 1930s. Britain was simply too weak to fight. At the same time Hitler’s use of mass propaganda encouraged us to believe that Nazi forces were stronger than they really were.
Lack of Reliable Allies
By the late 1930s Germany was allied with both Italy and Japan, but Britain could only rely on the Empire which by the time was causing concern. Neither could Britain count on help from the isolationist USA.
The only other country which might help Britain was France and she had problems of her own. Its government had been brought down in 1934 and no short-term leader would want to commit France to any warlike conflict with Germany.
Concern over the Empire
Defence of the Empire was Britain's number one concern. The British Empire was huge, one quarter of the world’s population lived under British rule and the British army was already overstretched. In the Great War troops from around the world had fought for Britain, but what relevance was a European war to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa? Would they do the same again?
Fear of Communism
The big political fear for Europe in the 1930s was communism. “Better Hitlerism than Communism” was a popular phrase at the time. What was the point of fighting Nazism if the result was the spread of Communism? In any case many people believed that Hitler had brought a strong and stable government to Germany. One of the main reasons Britain had failed to support the elected government of Spain during the Spanish Civil War was that it had communists in it.
