To what extent did Britain's motives for pursuing a policy of Appeasing Germany change in the period from January 1933 to September 1938?

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(C2)  To what extent did Britain’s motives for pursuing a policy of Appeasing Germany change in the period from January 1933 to September 1938?

From the day the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1919 there were many in Britain who condoned it for being far too harsh towards an already crushed and downtrodden Germany.  They correctly predicted that attempting to completely cripple a proud and empirical nation such as the Germans it would only spur them on to recover speedily in order to wield the power for which they aspired.  In truth it was George Clemenceau, the French Prime Minister, who was obsessively advocating an extremely harsh Treaty towards Germany and it has been revealed that Britain’s David Lloyd George did see the need to rather allow for Germany to be built up again.  In fact much of what the French were seeking was carried out and hefty reparations were burdened upon Germany along with large territorial losses.  This was because France had suffered the most terribly as a result of the First World War as well as them now enduring the greatest threat from Germany due to their border share.  So when Hitler rose to power in Germany in the early 1930’s and openly violated clauses in the Treaty of Versailles, the British government and public were accepting and understanding of Hitler’s actions.  Thus began what we now refer to the Appeasing of Hitler and Germany and it continued and intensified throughout the 1930’s all the way up to the out brake of war on September 1st 1939.  Of course, as the 1930’s wore on the exact reasons and intentions for appeasing Germany altered due to developing circumstances and specific considerations for each situation and its timing.  

The British public’s perception that the clauses stated in the Treaty of Versailles were far too harsh, as referred to above, was the primary reason for Appeasing Hitler at first.   They accepted that Hitler’s actions were not violations but rather necessary measures to deal with his countries issues.  Like Britain and nearly all the developed world, Germany had suffered immensely at the hands of the Great Depressions which plagued the world following the Wall Street Crash of October 1929.  Since arrangements made at Locarno in 1925, Germany’s payment of their reparations to France and Britain were being funded by American loans and now with these loans being recalled by the USA administration the German economy plummeted.  The sore memories of starvation and bitter poverty, due to the hyper-inflation in 1923 as a result of the re-occupation of the Saar, were embedded on the minds of the German people and they were not going to allow it happen to them again.  Hence, when Hitler and Nazism promised a better economic prospect coupled with the re-creation of a powerful country that it once was, he was very popular and soon rose to ultimate power.  Britain itself suffering in the Depression understood Germany’s plight and was willing to overlook their violations of the Treaty and encouraged trade between the two countries as signified in the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935.  However, to simply say that Britain was willing to allow Hitler build himself up and create a dictatorship in Germany just because it had pity on them, would be foolish.  As the German fire heated up and the international cooking pot started to bubble over, Britain were no longer able to merely turn a blind eye and blame on the harshness of the Treaty but rather other factors came to the fore in their Appeasing of Hitler.

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In the early 1930’s, Britain as the figure head of the League of Nations faced contentious situations with both Japan over the Manchuria situation and later Italy over Abyssinia.  Both these countries, like Germany, had fascist leanings and Britain run the risk that if they engaged in a war against Germany they would also embroil these other two powerful countries into it.  Japan was an important trading partner and Britain still hoped that Italy could be swayed and used as an ally against Germany if they ended up in combat against her.  Britain was in no position to fight three ...

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