Were Contemporaries Correct in Viewing Chamberlain as a Peacemaker?

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Were Contemporaries Correct in Viewing Chamberlain as a Peacemaker?

        After the First World War had ended in 1918, most of Europe was struggling to survive. The Treaty of Versailles was created because of the war, as countries such as France and Italy wanted to get revenge on Germany for the war, but it’s harsh terms caused Germany to become vengeful. Neville Chamberlain became the prime minister in 1917, and he felt that the Treaty’s terms were much too harsh. He decided that the best option was to follow appeasement to best comply with Germany.

        The majority of Europe (especially France and Britain) and America were angry towards Germany for the war, and therefore created the Treaty of Versailles. The main points of the treaty blamed Germany for the war (article 231), made Germany harshly cut down their military forces, forced Germany give much of their land to different countries and finally Germany had to pay £6,600 million in reparations.

        Woodrow Wilson created the fourteen points to stop himself and America from getting into war again. The fourteenth point was to create a League of Nations to stop future wars. Any aggressive countries would be sanctioned by all the League’s members and would be attacked as a last resort. As America didn’t join the league, it failed pretty quickly, as it had no real structure or power.

        One of the policies the British followed was appeasement. The aim of appeasement was to avoid war with powers such as Japan, Italy and Germany by giving in to some of their reasonable demands. The policy was based on the League of Nations dealing with any countries, which were too powerful, but as the League of Nations failed, so did the idea of appeasement.

        During the 1920’s – 30’s, Adolf Hitler was starting to rise to power. He left the army in 1919 and joined the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis). He quickly established himself as the party’s leader, and used forceful means to take power, resulting in his arrest for nine months. After the Wall Street Crash and depression following it, many Germans turned to the Nazis for help, and Hitler eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933.

Within this essay I will be looking at the effects of the First World War, appeasement, the League of Nations, the Sudetenland and the problems in Czechoslovakia and Poland. There are many reasons for both Chamberlain being a peacemaker, and having hidden objectives. I will study all the available information to me, and conclude whether or not Chamberlain truly was a peacemaker or if he was simply a highly paid coward.

        At this time, some contemporaries’ felt that Chamberlain was right to be regarded as a peacemaker, and that his policy of appeasement backs this up. Others felt that Chamberlain was using appeasement for other reasons (e.g. to rearm Britain) and this is the point that I will be discussing within this essay.

        Firstly I will be discussing the reasons why contemporaries were correct in viewing Chamberlain as a peacemaker. First of all, the First World War had had a large effect on Chamberlain. As he had fought in this war, he had seen its horrors and had a deep hatred of war. He would then have wanted to avoid war at all costs, as he had seen the damage that it caused and also feared the idea of a future war and so would never want to witness it again.

        The Treaty of Versailles was created to get revenge on Germany, for the First World War and its results. When the treaty was originally created, the Germans despised it and its contents, whereas the rest of Europe and America thought it was a good idea, as it would prevent future wars due to Germany fearing Europe and America. Unfortunately, this reaction soon changed, as some countries began to realise why Germany despised the treaty. Chamberlain especially thought that the Treaty was far too harsh, and was using appeasement to try to comply with Germany. Germany was far from fearing the treaty. The below source describes their attitude:

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        “Vengeance! German nation! Today at the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles a disgraceful treaty is being signed. Never forget it… There will be vengeance for the shame of 1919.” – From a German newspaper, 1919.

        The above source shows that Germany was obviously disgusted by the Treaty, and was planning to get revenge for it. A future war was a probability, and the below source from the 1919 May issue of the Daily Herald shows:

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