Appeasement and World War II
WWII and Appeasement Essay The Second World War was a culmination of conflicts in Europe, which many argue resulted from the First World War itself. After the Treaty of Versailles condemned Germany to a multitude of reparations that needed to be paid, the country’s people were in need of a strong leader, which they soon found in Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. Hitler started as a mere war veteran but rose in ranks, eventually taking all power over Germany for himself. He started strengthening the army with plans to expand his empire, which he did, starting with the invasion of Czechoslovakia. If Britain and France had joined forces during this invasion, World War II would have likely still taken place. After all, its path had been set in motion by previous events and would probably have remained true to Hitler’s intentions regardless of any intervention. It all started when Britain and France started negotiating with Hitler on the matter of Czechoslovakia and whether its occupants should accept the new German rule of their land. The leader of the Nazi Party eventually convinced both Chamberlain and Daladier, representatives of England and France, respectively, that refusal to cooperate would result in certain war. With no other way out in sight, the two countries retreated, convincing the Czechs that submission was the only safe alternative. At the Munich Agreement, Britain and Germany signed a peace treaty, which resulted in Hitler’s occupation of what would soon be a dismantled Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain returned home, claiming to have secured “peace for our time”. Truthfully, he could not have been more mistaken. As time passed, Hitler continued to strengthen his army and gain more support from the people of Germany, which led to his increasing confidence in his desired expansion of the empire. On the first of September 1939, German forces under Hitler’s command invaded Poland. This event officially marked the beginning of the Second World War
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