Appeasment: The Dirty word

The unofficial start of WWII in 1931 is disregarded in most Japanese history books because they deny their invasion of China. This event also started a war of betrayal, lies, denial, and an awful way of exterminating human beings. Too many huge events in our history have been covered over, diluted, or simply kept from the public. One of these blatant scandals was the appeasement of Hitler.

In 1935, Hitler announced he was going to break the treaty. The German people were filled with nationalist pride and a glimmer of hope. The moment he got the support from his people, he knew his plan would work. In 1936, he grew his army and marched into Rhineland against the Treaty of Versailles Hitler had agreed to before. France and Britain were worried about the bold moves Hitler was making, but they were in no way ready to start a war. They both knew that making Hitler mad was not a good idea either, so they began to give leeway to the rules they had given him in the first place. This is what the world calls appeasement, and it is frowned upon in any kind of situation, especially war.

During the 1930s, many politicians in both Britain and France came to see that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles had placed restrictions on Germany that were unfair. Hitler's actions were seen as understandable and justifiable. However, these powerful empires did not see beneath the words of Hitler himself. They didn't see the liar behind the signature, or the lethal motivation barely hidden within his reassuring smile. Britain and France blindly trusted Germany and their extreme leader, and that was a huge mistake on their part. Every promise Hitler made that later got in his way, was broken, and his instability did not bother the other countries enough.

In September 1938, the Munich Agreement was issued to Hitler to keep the peace in the world. Many believed it would stop Hitler's rampage through Europe and make a friendly compromise between the higher powers. The Munich Agreement, signed by the leaders of Germany, Britain, France and Italy, agreed that the Sudetenland would be given back to Germany and that no further territorial claims would be made by Germany. The Czech government was not invited to the conference and protested about the loss of the Sudetenland. Less than seven months later, the Germans invaded that territory, and then Poland. France and Britain finally declared war on Germany once they realized that it was their only hope to potentially stop Hitler in his tracks.

The appeasement of hitler is still a shaky subject to speak about. Many do not see it as a wrong thing to do in the situation they had. However, the failure to keep the peace in Europe brings the scandal to the surface. France and Britain treated Germany like a disobedient little child who wouldn't stop breaking his sibling's toys. Mother France and Daddy Britain didn't take the action they should have to discipline their child, and so Germany ended up "destroying all of the toys". I personally think that people in power at that time should have thought over what they were doing. Even though they felt like there was nothing else to do about it, appeasing Hitler was not the way to go. The child was smarter than they thought, and he destroyed the trust between the major powers in Europe. They should have know this was what Hitler would do, and they should have seen the pattern. The way Europe handled Germany was wrong, and their mistakes were paid for in WWII with the deaths of millions of innocent people.