Chamberlain's Arguement During The Great Depression

The first reason that Chamberlain appeased Hitler was due to Britain's ability to defend itself, or lack thereof. Since this was in times of the Great Depression, nations chose to focus on their own national self interest, which would include their security, rather than internationalism. Prior to the Great Depression, Britain was already suffering economically because of World War I. In 1929 when the stock market crashed and prices fell, Britain was quickly forced to cut public spending and raise taxes. Due to this and the ‘10-year-rule’ (which was put in place in 1919 subject to renewal in ten years that said Britain should not plan on fighting a major war in the next ten years), the British army, as it existed in the mid-thirties, was not

Chamberlain could not decide to go to war if he had no public support. A very large majority of the British public were completely against supporting a war in 1938. These people remembered the terrors of World War I and feared that another war of this nature had the potential to destroy civilization. Citizens were still paying high taxes in the economic ‘reboot’ as a result of World War I, if war was declared it meant it would have to have been funded. Since it was clear the British government didn’t have extra money in the budget, they money would have had to come directly from the citizens. The idea of taxes being raised from an already high rate did not please the citizens. Chamberlain was aware of the public feeling toward warm and considered Hitler's demands to be reasonable. Chamberlain thought that if he gave Hitler what he wanted, he would stop and be less demanding. Because of the very strong public opinion towards war, Chamberlain subjectively had no choice but to appease to Hitler’s demands. If he hadn’t and Britain did go to war, it would have caused an extreme discomfort within the public and placed a greater disrupt on an already damaged society. Chamberlain made a decision which he believed was in the best interest of the public to give Hitler what he

Although he was aware of the opinion of the people he represented, he still had to decide if appeasing to Hitler was going to please him and bring peace to Europe. Based on past interactions, Chamberlain was under the impression that Hitler could be trusted and that he would stay true to his word. Hitler used this as a strategy to get what he wanted. Chamberlain vastly misjudged Hitler's motives. Thinking he was a normal leader who was just seeking satisfaction, Chamberlain appeased to Hitler's demands of Czechoslovakia thinking it would restore peace in Europe. It quickly became evident just a year later in 1939 with Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, that Hitler was taking advantage of Chamberlains trust to get what he wanted and continue to build his