History of Oceania

What does the policy of appeasement mean and how did it apply to World War 2?

Appeasement is a foreign policy of making concessions to an aggressor nation in order to avoid conflict. The policy of appeasement was used by the Western powers, particularly Great Britain and France, in the 1930s in an attempt to avoid war with Nazi Germany.

How did appeasement apply to World War 2?

1. The Munich Agreement of 1938

The most infamous example of appeasement is the Munich Agreement of 1938, in which Great Britain, France, and Italy agreed to allow Germany to annex the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia. The Munich Agreement was widely seen as a failure of appeasement, as it emboldened Hitler and led to the outbreak of World War 2 the following year.

2. The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939

In 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, which divided Poland and the Baltic States between the two countries. The pact was a major blow to the policy of appeasement, as it showed that Germany was willing to work with the Soviet Union, a communist country, in order to achieve its goals.

The failure of appeasement

The policy of appeasement ultimately failed to prevent the outbreak of World War II. In fact, it may have actually made war more likely by giving Hitler the impression that the Western powers were weak and would not stand up to him. The lessons of appeasement are still relevant today, as countries continue to face the challenge of dealing with aggressive regimes.