Was it fair to denounce Nevile Chamberlain's appeasement policy towards Germany as an act of cowardice?

Question

I mean we cannot ignore the fact that to the very last minute he still send the ultimatum wanting Hitler to withdraw his troops from Poland, consider the fact that Chamberlain know very well that a war will lead to death of millions.

Answer 1

Chamberlain's appeasement policy was enormously popular with the British electorate at the time. But, even Chamberlain knew that war was inevitable. It was under his auspices that British re-armament was accelerated. In effect Chamberlain's appeasement policy bought a little time to prepare Britain for war.

Answer 2

Ppl today have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. At the time, I would imagine that Chamberlain thought that he could avoid war by giving into Hitler's demands. Remember, the whole world suffered greatly in WW1 and not many ppl wanted to fight another war. I have heard that if all the dead British soldiers from WW1 marched past Trafalgar's column (in London) and the parade was 11 men abreast, the parade going nonstop would last nearly 2 weeks. Really a sobering number.

I never got the impression that historians attacked Chamberlain as a human being or for being a coward. Rather, they tend to point out that appeasement was a mistake and that it should not be repeated. It basically comes down to: how much should a person (or country) give in? In this world, we all compromise and give in to some extent. It's just a question of how much and when we should do so.

Answer 3

No, we cannot ignore the fact that Chamberlain did what he did in 1938 was not the right thing but to call it an act of cowardice I think is a bit extreme. We must remember that neither England nor France in 1938 was ready for war but after Hitler had broken his promise concerning Czechoslovakia, the British and French were beginning to ready themselves for war. We must also remember that England and France were an ally of Poland and by now Chamberlain was in a fix and had to bring his country unfortunately to war. Chamberlain showed poor judgment but he was also listening to his people who clamored for appeasement as well in 1938. In fact, I do not believe if Chamberlain gave him the ultimatum it would have made any difference. Hitler knew what he wanted and he and his compatriots weaved a successful scheme that kept England and France at bay while Germany was building up its massive amount of armaments. Nor can we blame Chamberlain for doing what he did in 1938 with the events of August 1939 when Stalin stabbed them in the back when he signed a non-agggression pact with Germany. I do believe Chambelain thought in 1938 that the USSR would make sure that Germany would come and he defend Poland and not partitioned it off with Germany. Of course we know how Germany repaid them for their agreement of non aggression.

Answer 4

Definitely not an act of cowardice.

Chamberlain really did not want to involve Britain in a war that really did not concern them against what had become a major military force in Europe. At the outset, Hitler was also quite keen to avoid war with Britain.

I am sure Chamberlain realised what the outcome of a war with Germany would entail in human as well as economic cost, and therefore tried to avoid it.

I think its a little unfair to call him delusional - there was no reason at all in 1939 for anyone to believe that Hitler was not a man of his word. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it is easy to criticise someone when we all know what the outcome was.

Answer 5

It cannot be denied that Chamberlain was a ridiculous figure with his umbrella at Munich. You can see in old newsreels that the Germans were laughing at him. But he had inherited an awful situation. His predecessor, Stanley Baldwin, was against Britain rearming enen though everyone knew that another war was coming. Public polls in Britain showed that the British people were against getting involved. They hoped that the League of Nations would handle the situation on the continent. So that when he became prime minister Germany was again the stongest nation in Europe. They had thousands of planes and tanks and everything else. Britain was demiliterized. He had no choice but to give in to Hitler's demands on Czechoslavakia. But it should be noted that it was he who gave the order that Britain should start re-arming secretly. Unfortunately he is the scapegoat for British unprepredness.

Answer 6

The often overlooked fact was Great Britain was losing a grip on her empire. At the time it looked like Hitler was a smaller thing. Chamberlain boasted of "Peace in Our Time" and allowing Austria to fall when he had authority and retired. He never calculated the forthcoming war or its costs. Poland was the tipping point into the war.

Answer 7

It is difficult to tell what the outcome of the war would have been if England had entered the war in 1938 already, being rather unprepared for war.Chamberlain started a huge armament program, mainly focusing on the airforce.Who knows what the Battle of Britain would have been like without those extra planes.

Furthermore, he thought that his ally France would not prove a considerable threat to Hitler (as we know, he was right).While he was chancellor, rearmament expenses almost tripled and were finally (in 1939) bigger than those of every other democratic country.

Answer 8

Not cowardice. More on the side of delusion.