French gears and intransigence were always the foundations between relations between them and Germany. This was originally made clear at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, where Clemenceau made it clear that he wished to weaken Germany so that they could never threaten France again. As a result, Clemenceau was determined the uphold the treaty of Versailles. As stated in the Paris peace conference, France was not interested in maintaining the peace. They didn’t want to negotiate with Germany; they wanted to cripple their economy so that France could feel secure for years to come. As stated by Clemenceau, Wilson’s 14 points bored him, suggested that he wanted a much more rapid way of diminishing the threat of Germany. The Ruhr crisis also established France’s beliefs that the treaty of Versailles should be upheld. France wished to tip the economic balance into its favour by placing over-severe reparations on Germany. Britain, however, believed that it was necessary to maintain peace and links through addressing French attitudes and German desires, hence the Locarno Pact. However, it has been suggested that pacts such as Locarno were only made due to Britain’s selfish interests, and were nothing to do with pacifying France’s fear. Instead, is has been suggested by Keynes that if Germany were to be crippled by France, Britain, its second largest trading partner, would have gone down with it. Therefore, although very often French fears were considered in dealings with Germany, Britain’s self interests were always considered as well. However, French fears were not the only problems which may have accounted for a change in attitude towards Germany.
A decline in the economy was closely linked to the Treaty of Versailles, mostly because of the economic consequences of peace, as suggested by Keynes, who suggested that as a result of peace, the economy is in such a poor state that it leads to war. It can be argued that the Treaty of Versailles failed as Germany was not included within the European economy, and as a result, lost many trade links. However, at the time of economic difficulties, Britain was facing its own problems at home, such as the overwhelming number of unemployed people, especially after 1929. However, at this point, as Britain was facing more difficulties at home, they did not have the opportunity to help Germany out in their crisis. However, by the end of the year, the Hoover Moratorium suspended Germany’s reparation payments. It has been said that if more were done to attain economic appeasement, it may have encouraged more moderates in Germany, reducing the influence of extremists, such as Hitler. Therefore, obviously the chance in economy had an effect on the attitude towards Germany. On one hand, it led to closer links as more pacts were made between Britain and Germany, in particular, Dawes and Locarno. However, on the other hand, it made Britain withdraw slightly from world politics and pacifying Germany as they had their own domestic problems and didn’t have much opportunity to think of others. However, as stated earlier, the economy can encourage the rise of extremists which could completely change links between two countries.
Hitler was not seen as an immediate threat at the start of 1933; in fact chamberlain described him as a man Britain could do business with. Britain, as well as the German public thought that he would solve all the problems of Germany, such as the economy and the threat of bolshevism. Chamberlain, similarly to Baldwin, wanted to help relieve Germany’s problems so that trade could continue. Attitudes towards Hitler, and Germany as a whole, began to change by October 1938 when Hitler walked out of disarmament talks and the League of Nations. Attitudes continued to change in 1938 as the Nazi regime was revealed to be increasingly violent with events such as the Night of the Long Knives and Kristallnacht. The Nazis were no longer seen as a desirable regime. It was at this point that Britain accepted that Hitler was a threat and their attitudes changed. It was also at this point that Britain’s attitude towards Germany became reactive to their demands, such as the desire for Sudetenland. Therefore, in conclusion, although many saw Hitler as an asset at first, his true colours, as it were, were not revealed until the late 1930s. therefore, it was at this point that Britain’s attitudes towards Germany changed as they had no choice but to give in to Hitler’s ‘needs’ or face more difficulties. Furthermore, direct changes to the treat did not occur until 1935, further suggesting that Britain became reactive. However, Britain’s attitudes also turned to defence, especially when Germany were identified as Britain’s largest threat in 1934.
After the ten year rule was dropped in 1932 because of Japanese opposition, Britain’s position in the Far East was threatened. Rearmament was started in late 1935 as a form of defence to meet the threat posed by Hitler. Even more money was put into the programme in 1936 through extra taxes places on tea. However, public opinion was against it. Even though they did not condone Hitler’s actions, they felt that the increase of taxes on tea was an attack on the working class. However rearmament continued, and whenever intelligence, mostly obtained by the DRC, suggested that Britain was falling behind Germany, more emphasis was placed on rearming. Shadow factories were constructed in the event of the need for rapid rearmament. However, it cannot be said that it was a turning point in attitudes as by this time, Britain’s attitude towards Germany had already been reinforced as a result of Hitler’s previous actions. Furthermore, it did not change Britain’s position in world relations, as it only gave Britain time to negotiate and did not affect appeasement. This is a further example of how Britain became much more reactive to the ‘needs’ of Germany, and instead of collectively punishing Germany for ignoring the sanctions of the treaty of Versailles, they just defended themselves from further possible danger.
Therefore, in conclusion, changes in interpretation of Versailles were the driving force for change in British attitudes to Germany. Changes were brought about by the attitude of France, the economic situation and the rise of politicians. However, all of these factors occurred as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. France no longer wished to be threatened by Germany, and this could be prevented as a result of the treaty. The economic situation was brought about by the many sanctions and reparation payments placed upon Germany from the treaty of Versailles. The rise of certain politicians, Hitler in particular was a result of the treaty who opposed it in times that extremism would have been welcomed by the desperate Germany people. Therefore, the major issue dominating Anglo-German relations was definitely the Treaty of Versailles. Although there were different factors, they were all a result of the treaty.
