The Policy of Appeasement

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The Policy of Appeasement

By Omar Omar Y10A

Controversial even now, historians and war critics have been in debate whether or not the policy of Appeasement was justified enough. In this essay I will present evidence and facts for both sides before reaching a conclusion based on my understanding of the subject.

To appease means ‘to pacify and conciliate and bring peace of mind’. To British politicians at the time this may have seemed a good idea, but by all view the policy failed to either satisfy Hitler or bring peace of mind.

When Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933 he had made his intentions clear. To list a few of his aims he planned to expand German territory and restore her both politically, economically and-militarily. He had said so in his ‘My Struggle’ book when he said that ‘all our strength is needed to raise up our nation once more from the embrace of the international python’. As for gaining new territory he explicitly stated that ‘colonization of the eastern frontiers is of extreme importance’.

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Up to 1933 his plans had been made clear. That year he began rearming in secret and by 1935 held a massive rally displaying to the world the new power of Germany. At Versailles at the end of the Great War Germany had been forbidden from building up a strong army or navy, yet this was what Hitler was doing. Britain justified this act by saying that it was natural for a country to re-build its forces in case of any impending attack.  The following year Hitler again directly violated one of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles when ...

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