To what extent was was the appeasement of Germany before to WW II motivated by anti-soviet or pro-fascist?

Question

feeling in France and England ? Is the following quote supported by evidence?

"If the Soviet Union had not been a communist regime, or if British and French socialists had governed for most of the decade instead of conservatives, British and French foreign policies most likely would have very different. In either of these cases, Britain and France would likely not have appeased Germany, but instead would have pursued deterrent polices akin to those adopted before the First World War."

Answer 1

Hmm. A challenging question.

Proving what COULD have been done is a very difficult thing because there is NO Evidence of what did not happen.

Without a doubt, the Fascists in Italy and especially in Germany were tolerated because they were clearly anti-communists. In particular, Germany, as the birthplace of Communism, was seen as a bulwark against Communist expansion well before the end of World War II.
Bismark's social welfare programs were specifically designed to undercut the Communist party in Germany by taking care of the workers. When Hitler also made moves in that regard to solidify his left side politically, He was seen as a model for the rest of Europe and even some North America (Henry Ford for example).

The key question then, is not whether the Conservatives were anti-Communists and supported Fascist governments against the Soviet Union, that is a fact beyond debate. Instead the real question is whether the Socialists would have behaved differently.

I believe the answer is no, they would have been forced by political necessity to lean to the right.

Remember, historical actions don't happen in a vacuum. The reason the Socialists were not elected to power is the wave of anti-left feelings that followed the Soviet revolution and unilateral pullout of World War I. The Red Scare and the Palmer raids were the particularly virulent US variant of this Western response.

To gain power, the Socialists would have to compromise and disavow the government in Moscow, and at least tacitly support the Fascist regimes in Italy and Germany. In fact, the Anti-Soviet credentials of the Conservatives allowed them greater flexibility in dealing with the Nazis and Stalin, just as Nixon's strong anti-Communist credentials gave him the flexibility to recognize Communist China (Humphrey, as a liberal would NEVER have been able to do this).

The real tragedy is that the Conservatives in England and France were trapped by their views of the world in which alliances and war were political means to an end. Their views had calcified right after the Napoleonic wars when Germany was nothing, England and France ruled the west, and all other countries were either tributary or colonies.

Hope this helps,
Good luck!

Answer 2

I don't think this is supported by the evidence. For a start Hitler had had a non-aggression pact with Russia so supporting Hitler could not be seen in any way as fighting communism. In the UK there was some pro-fascist feeling, but Moseley and his black shirts really didn't get that much support from the ordinary person in the street and none from the government, though they were Conservatives. People admired Hitler for putting Germany back on its feet and, as is so often true, just turned a blind eye to the parts of his policy they didn't like. People used to say of Mussolini, "Well at least he made the trains run on time." The other thing you must remember is that neither France nor Britain were ready for a war. France showed this in its rapid defeat once the war started. The last reason for them not going into war quickly was the memory of the first world war, millions of young men dead, millions more injured. War for any party was not something to be entered into lightly. Neville Chamberlaine said, when Hitler occupied the Sudatenland, "Do we want to go to war over people who live so far away and we don't know?" (a paraphrase). It wasn't because he supported Fascism. One last reason for the great delay in acting was that Germany had been so badly treated by the Treaty of Versailles and so the British govt, especially felt that the occupation of Sudantenland and other places were only fair. They truly thought that once Hitler had the greater Germany back he would stop. This was a foolish hope but we are back to ignoring what we don't want to see.

Answer 3

I think pro-fascist is too strong a term, sympathetic might be a better term.
Neville Chamberlain thought that Germany had been mistreated by the allies after their defeat in WW1. He thought the German government had genuine grievances about the Treaty of Versailles and that these needed to be addressed. He also thought that by agreeing to some of the demands of Hitler and Mussolini, he could avoid another European War.
Anthony Eden was Chamberlains foreign secretary and didn't agree with appeasement and resigned in Feb. 1938. He was replaced with Lord Halifax, who fully supported appeasement. Halifax developed a good relationship with the German government and was quoted as saying " he liked all the Nazi leaders and was much impressed, interested and amused by his visit to Berlin, he thinks the regime absolutely fantastic. "
In March 1938 Austrian Chancellor Arthur Seyss-Inquart INVITED the German Army to occupy Austria and proclaimed union with Germany. The union of Germany and Austria was specifically forbidden in the Treaty of Versailles and some members of the British House of Commons called on Chamberlain to take action against Hitler and his Nazi government. Tension increased when Hitler began demanding that the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia should be under control of the German government. To solve this crisis Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier (France) and Mussolini signed the Munich Agreement which transferred the Sudetenland to Germany, when the Czechoslovakia head of state protested, Chamberlain told him Britian would be unwilling to go to war over the issue of the Sudentenland.
In March 1939, Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia and Chamberlain now realized that Hitler could not be trusted and his appeasement policy ended.
To answer your question, would British and French socialists have adopted a different policy than conservatives, probably.

Answer 4

There were many admirers of Hitler in both the French and British ruling classes because of his opposition to communism and the way he dealt with jews and homosexuals.

Answer 5

What? Can you rephrase your question? I don't even understand the question.