Nazi Aggression and Appeasement

1930’s

•The Nazi Party controlled the majority of the seats of the legislature

1933

•Hitler was offered the Office of the Chancellor

1935

•Through a series of political moves and legislative acts Hitler would become the dictator (Fuhrer) of Germany

Hitler’s rise to Power

Nazi Aggression and the Policy of Appeasement

1936- Germany moves its army into the Rhineland (DMZ) between France and Germany (Brun 454)

1938- Germany annexed Austria (Brun 454)

1938- Hitler demands that Germans in Czechoslovakia be given the right to vote on whether or not they want to join Germany

(Brun 454)

1939- Germany invades and takes over Czechoslovakia

(Brun 454)

1939- Germany invades Poland and Great Britain and France declare war(Brun 454)

Assignment

Complete SOAPSTone

Restate the question

Provide evidence from the text

Document #5

In this speech to Parliament, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain explains why he favored a policy of appeasement in dealing with Hitler .

“With a little good will and determination, it is possible to remove grievances and clear away suspicion… We must try to bring these four nations into friendly discussion. If they can settle their differences, we shall save the peace of Europe for a generation.”

“And, in The Times (London): I shall not give up the hope of a peaceful solution. We sympathize with a small nation faced by a big and powerful neighbor. But we cannot involve the whole British Empire in war simply on her account. If we have to fight, it must be on larger issues than that… I am a man of peace… Yet if I were sure that any nation had made up its mind to dominate the world by fear of its force, I should feel that it must be resisted… But war is a fearful thing.”

(Noonan 117)

Sources

Henry Brun: Essential World History, Amsco School Publications 2006

Noonan, Theresa C: Document Based Assessment Activities for Global History Classes, J. Weston Walch Publisher, 1999