Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Appeasement '38 - Lacking Context? (Patreon)

Published:
2018-07-20 17:00:01
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:
haven't archived this post yet. have a subscription? use the importer!

Content


Files

Previews only

(No title)

Comments

Tim Joy

No worries. Keep up the good work. The first footnote has a list of about ten historians that all say Chamberlain was, basically, a naive fool who thought he had won peace (including Churchill). The article says British rearmament commenced in earnest in 1935 and was accelerated in 1938 after the Anschluss. (As early as 5 March 1933 the cabinet was warned war was coming and Britain wasn’t ready.) The figures on defence spending are dramatic 1934 £113.9 million (14% of gov. expenditure) ... 1935 15% 1936 21% 1937 26% 1938 38% ... 1939 £719.0 million (48% of gov. exp). The largest share, £294 m., went to the RAF. They were also concerned that the rapid militarisation was damaging the economy and sought to slow the growth. The article does support what you said about Chamberlain’s backing of air power. The appeasement over the Sudetenland was approved by the cabinet before hand, with some dissent, on the argument they didn’t have forces necessary to fight a war with Germany but within two years they thought they would. The article quotes a warning that the RAF would not have been able to stop bombing of British cities, “something no government could accept” although in the conclusion they cite Wesley Wark who said British intelligence over estimated the capacity of the Luftwaffe in 1938. The other factor was being psychologically ready. The paper quotes from meeting Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax had with union leaders stating that war was inevitable. It’s not mentioned in the article and I haven’t seen it elsewhere but I would suspect Chamberlain’s melodramatic speech an return to Britain was quite deliberate. On the slim chance there was no war he was right. On the high probability there was a war because of German aggression it would show Hitler could not be trusted this negotiations were pointless and everyone had to get behind the war effort. Chamberlain’s “shame” was great propaganda.

Military History Visualized
>>14477539

yeah, too much spending can have various impacts on the economy. Something I will mention a bit in an upcoming video. interesting, sounds quite odd that nobody brought up the cabinet approval yet. I know it was mentioned that Chamberlain didn't asked the Czech!

Tim Joy

Just to be clear here the Cabinet approval I’m talking about here was made on May 22 1938, well before the final agreement, which agreed to make concessions to Germany to avoid war. Obviously there was no basic change in September. The paper doesn’t mention a cabinet decision at that time but I know Chamberlain flew back to Britain to consult with the cabinet after the first meeting with Hitler.

Military History Visualized
>>14509192

well, I wouldn't call giving away the Sudentenland, which contained a majority if not basically all fortifications without talking to the Czech a "concession", more like a blood sacrifice.