Download Hitler`s Aims - mrblacksclasses

Crisis April-September
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Hitler instructed German Sudeten leader to demand
separation from Czechoslovakia
Czechs did not want to give up Sudetenland
Believed French would support them
Chamberlain, the British Prime
Minister, wanted to avoid war, so he
went to Germany twice
Chamberlain’s Visits
1)Sept 15:
Hitler insisted he would risk war to re-unite
the Sudeten Germans with Germany
 Chamberlain accepted to allow those areas
with a majority of Germans to be reabsorbed
into Germany
 He persuaded the Czechs and French to
agree to Hitler’s demands
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Chamberlain’s Visits
2)Sept 22:
Hitler changed his demands to include the
occupation of the entire Sudetenland by the
28th
 Hitler threatened to invade by the 1st if his
demands were not met
 Chamberlain refused 
Britain & France prepared
for war
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Munich Conference
“We must always demand so much that we
can never be satisfied.”
- Adolf Hitler on his
strategy during
negotiations at Munich
Munich Conference
“ In spite of the hardness I thought I saw in his
(Hitler’s) face, I got the impression that here
was a man who could be relied upon when
he had given his word.”
- Neville Chamberlain
prior to the Munich
Conference
Munich Conference – Sept
1938
Hitler was persuaded to postpone his plans for
war and to agree to a conference to discuss
the Sudetenland
 Mussolini (Italy), Chamberlain (GB), Hitler
(Germany) and Daladier (France) were invited
to the conference WHO WAS LEFT OUT?
 Agreement was reached that the Sudetenland
would be transferred to Germany and that the
4 powers would protect these new borders
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Munich Conference
Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini, and Ciano
Munich Conference
The day after, Chamberlain met with Hitler
alone and agreed to the Anglo-German
Declaration.
 Promised never to go to war
with each other
 All disputes would be settled by
talks
 Failure of Our Times
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Munich Conference
Munich Conference: Results
Europe had been saved from war
 Britain and France got time to build up their
armies
 Czechs lost vital resources & defenses
 Hitler was encouraged by France & Britain’s
reluctance to go to war
 Stalin was very upset about being left out of
the conference  worried that Britain would
do nothing to stop a German invasion of
USSR
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At the time, do you think Chamberlain and
the Allies did the right thing in trying to
negotiate with Hitler?
Appeasement
Definition: granting concessions to
potential enemies to maintain peace
Arguments For:
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Britain was not militarily strong enough to oppose
British people absolutely did not want a WWI
repeat
Chamberlain believed that Hitler could be satisfied
without having to go to war
Arguments Against:
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Not right: Hitler was breaking terms of legal treaties
and agreements
Allowed Hitler to grow stronger and stronger
Hitler’s aims & determination were underestimated
“By repeatedly surrendering to force, Chamberlain has encouraged
aggression. Chamberlain’s policy has always been based on a
fatal misunderstanding of the minds of dictators.” The Yorkshire
Post, Dec 1939
Imminent War
March 1939: Hitler invaded the rest of
Czechoslovakia
 Hitler’s argument that he was unifying the
German people no longer held water
 Britain & France sped up their armament
 Britain & France promised to defend the
independence of Poland
 Poland was the next target because Hitler
wanted back the Danzig passage lost in T. of V.
& to reunify Germany
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“England has been
offered a choice between
war and shame. She has
chosen shame and will
get war.”
- Winston Churchill, in
opposition to
Chamberlain’s policy of
appeasement, September
1938
Discussion Question
Do you think appeasement is
something that still goes on today?
Explain.