HIST 1115 Lecture Notes - Munich Agreement, Polish Corridor, Maginot Line
Appeasement
Germany’s Opponents Divided
The French saw that the TOV had never been enforced
More money is flowing into Germany due to the Dawes plan
oThey are strengthened rather than weakened
They were surrounded by weak states full of ethnic minorities
France keeps her air and
France
Understands that Germany’s natural strengths will always ensure power
Keeps her air force and army stomg
Britain refuses to give france the things that they had guaranteed
The British was willing to scale back reparations
Britain wanted Germany to be successful
France retreats to her old alliance style
oCreates a web of alliances
oWith small, new, unstable nations
oThey have enemies other than Germany
oEx. Poland and Czechoslovakia
oThey
Poland and Romania are unwilling to allow Soviet Union troops onto their land
because they feared the Red Army
They figure that wars of movement are a war of the past
oA strong defensive position is unbreakable
oThey built a massive trench along the border of Germany
They can’t put their troops in Belgium
The Maginot Line
oThey build this to wait out the German attacks
oIt is fortified
The Czechs rest their security in weaker countries
France looks like they’re shoring up the peace treaties, but really they’re not
Failure of Collective Security
The US is very isolationist
oThey are not in the LON
oThey said that they would not help ANY nation in war
oWould not sell them any stuff
The Great Powers of the world have to do something if they want to preserve the
peace
The Soviet Union
oThe other powers don’t want to cooperate with them
oStalin says that fascism is a menace and that he has to cooperate with the
democracies to get rid of them
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
oHe thougth that the democratic nations wanted to snuff out his socialism
when he does business with them
oHe is concerned with soviet security
oThey Join the League of Nations in 1934
oStalin begins purging the Red Army
Britain
They have contributed to the weakening of Germany
He is a unilateral negotiator
He learned that invoking the alliance system is not as helpful as continual
discussion and negotiations
Chamberlain knows that they can’t let the problems of little nations be the
problems of big nations
Chamberlain wants ot solve the problems before they balloon
oItaly agreed
oThey think that Germany can negotiate their problems away
Chamberlain is appeasing the dictators
oHe is the visible symbol of appeasement
Britain has an even bigger empire now
oThis is a liability
oMilitary commitments all around the world
Britain is a democracy, and Chamberlain is elected
oThe population didn’t want to go to war
oThey know how devastating war was
oThey were pasivists
There were writing a lot of Anti-Nazi literature
The British public is sceptical
oWW1 had so much propaganda
Chamberlain was democratically elected
oHe has to view public opinion as his duty
oHe is supposed to do what the public wants
The arms race is hostile
oThis predisposed people to war
Britain disarms quickly after the war
oThey stop conscription
oThey keep their army
oThey do not invest in more air resources after 1919
When Germany looks to be rearming, they didn’t want to rise to the challenge like
last time
o They wanted to do a Naval Pact
o they didn’t want to do the same thing as last time
othey asked the Germans to not use their air force
The British know that its not going to be a war of the high seas, and more a war
of the air
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The french saw that the tov had never been enforced. More money is flowing into germany due to the dawes plan: they are strengthened rather than weakened. They were surrounded by weak states full of ethnic minorities. Understands that germany"s natural strengths will always ensure power. Keeps her air force and army stomg. Britain refuses to give france the things that they had guaranteed. The british was willing to scale back reparations. France retreats to her old alliance style: creates a web of alliances, with small, new, unstable nations, they have enemies other than germany, ex. Poland and romania are unwilling to allow soviet union troops onto their land because they feared the red army. They figure that wars of movement are a war of the past: a strong defensive position is unbreakable, they built a massive trench along the border of germany. They can"t put their troops in belgium.
