Appeasement – Part Two – Betrayal

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May 14, 2025

Dive into the moral complexities of appeasement during the late 1930s as Czechoslovakia faces German aggression. Discover Chamberlain's fateful Gambit and the public's mixed reactions to the Munich Agreement. Explore the internal struggles of British leadership and the rise of Churchill as tensions escalate towards war. The podcast also critiques the legacy of appeasement in contemporary politics, drawing uncomfortable parallels with today’s geopolitical challenges, including Putin’s actions in Ukraine.

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INSIGHT

Sudetenland's Strategic Importance

The Sudetenland was crucial for Czechoslovakia's defense against Germany.
Losing this territory meant losing a vital mountainous border and becoming militarily vulnerable.

INSIGHT

Appeasement Strategy & Misjudgment

British leadership avoided fresh commitments to defend Czechoslovakia and pushed for concessions to Germany.
Chamberlain and others wrongly believed Hitler's territorial ambitions were limited to uniting ethnic Germans.

ANECDOTE

Chamberlain's Misplaced Trust

Chamberlain met Hitler in private to find a peaceful solution and trusted Hitler's word uncritically.
Hitler meanwhile boasted about maneuvering Chamberlain into concessions, exposing their conflicting perceptions.

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Appeasement and rearmament

Britain 1936-1939

James P. Levy

James P. Levy's "Appeasement and Rearmament: Britain 1936-1939" examines the intertwined policies of appeasement and rearmament pursued by the British government in the lead-up to World War II. The book analyzes the complex interplay between these seemingly contradictory approaches. Levy explores the political, economic, and military considerations that shaped British policy. His work sheds light on the debates and decisions that defined this critical period. The book offers a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by Britain in the 1930s. It provides valuable insights into the complexities of international relations.

The March to Prague

The Nazi March to Prague

James P. Levy

James P. Levy's "The March to Prague" provides a detailed account of the events leading up to the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. The book examines the political and military factors that contributed to the crisis. Levy's work offers insights into the decisions made by various actors, including the Czech government and the Allied powers. It analyzes the dynamics of appeasement and its consequences. The book contributes to a deeper understanding of this critical period in European history. It challenges some conventional interpretations of the events.

Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War

Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War

Tim Bouverie

Tim Bouverie's "Appeasing Hitler" offers a comprehensive examination of the events leading up to World War II, focusing on the roles of Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill. The book analyzes the complex political landscape of the 1930s and the decisions that led to the outbreak of war. Bouverie's work provides valuable insights into the dynamics of appeasement and its consequences. It challenges conventional narratives and presents a nuanced perspective on this pivotal period in history. The book is a significant contribution to the understanding of the causes of World War II.

Warnings and Predictions

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Viscount Rothermere

Coming Up for Air

George Orwell

Written in 1938 and published in 1939, 'Coming Up for Air' is a first-person narrative by George Orwell. The story follows George Bowling, a 45-year-old insurance salesman, who wins some money and decides to visit his childhood home in Lower Binfield. Bowling's journey is driven by nostalgia for his pre-World War I childhood and a desire to escape the stresses of his current life. However, upon his return, he finds that everything has changed, reflecting the broader themes of nostalgia, the impossibility of recapturing the past, and the looming threat of World War II. The novel is characterized by its pessimistic yet humorous tone, highlighting the tension between nostalgia and the inevitability of change and war[1][3][4].

The Origins of the Second World War

A. J. P. Taylor

In this influential book, A.J.P. Taylor examines the international politics and foreign policy that led to the outbreak of World War II. Taylor argues that Hitler was an opportunist without a thorough plan, and that the diplomatic mistakes of both the Allied and Axis powers contributed significantly to the war. He challenges the traditional 'Nuremberg Thesis' that Hitler was the sole culprit, instead highlighting the complexities and responsibilities of various nations and their leaders during the interwar period.

Everything Was Go

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Dorian Lynskey

Welcome back to Origin Story and join us as we wrap up the story of appeasement. It’s 1938. After the Anschluss, Hitler makes his bid for the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia and tests the moral and strategic arguments for appeasement to breaking point. While Chamberlain insists it would be madness to go to war over “a quarrel in a faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing,” opponents like Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee are equally convinced that selling out the Czechs will only encourage Hitler to go further.

Desperate diplomacy culminates in the Munich Agreement but Chamberlain’s “triumph” is short-lived as opposition mounts across the country. The German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 destroys appeasement as a mainstream proposition, leaving only an uneasy alliance of fascists and pacifists. When Stalin chooses Germany over Britain and France, war is inevitable.

We look at the people who still wanted to make a deal with Hitler even once the war had begun, the fall of Chamberlain and the revenge of Churchill. We debunk the revisionist case for appeasement, explore how the legacy of Munich has been used and abused to justify military intervention ever since, and ask whether history is repeating itself over Putin and Ukraine.

Why did Munich’s popularity collapse so quickly? How did Chamberlain misread Hitler’s intentions so badly? What motivated the die-hard appeasers, and the historians who defend the policy even now? Are the lessons of appeasement a double-edged sword? And which of Chamberlain’s foes had the best zingers?

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Reading list

• Anonymous, ‘A New Dawn’, The Times (1 October 1938)

• W.H. Auden, ‘September 1, 1939’ (1939)

• Frederick T. Birchall, ‘Olympics Leave Glow of Pride in the Reich’, New York Times (16 August 1936)

• Tim Bouverie, Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to

War (2019)

• Cato (Michael Foot, Peter Howard and Frank Owen), Guilty Men (1940)

• Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey, Fascism: The Story of an Idea (2024)

• Martin Gilbert, The Roots of Appeasement (1966)

• Richard Griffiths, Fellow Travellers of the Right: British Enthusiasts for Nazi Germany, 1933-9 (1980)

• Cicely Hamilton, Theodore Savage: A Story of the Past or the Future (1922)

• Lucy Hughes-Hallett, ‘How the appeasement of Hitler played into his hands’, New Statesman (2019)

• Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day (1989)

• Ian Kershaw, Making Friends with Hitler: Lord Londonderry and Britain’s Road to War (2004)• James Levy, Appeasement and Rearmament: Britain 1936-1939 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006)

• Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998)

• Malcolm Muggeridge, The Thirties: 1930-1940 in Great Britain (1940)

• George Orwell, Facing Unpleasant Facts: 1937-1939, edited by Peter Davison (1998)

• ‘Policy of His Majesty’s Government’, day three of House of Commons debate on Munich, Hansard (5 October 1938)

• Martin Pugh, ‘Hurrah for the Blackshirts!’: Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars (2005)

• Stephen H. Roberts, The House That Hitler Built (1937)

• Viscount Rothermere, Warnings and Predictions (1939)

• A.J.P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War (1961)

• Things to Come, written by H.G. Wells and directed by William Cameron Menzies (1936)

• Neville Thompson, The Anti-Appeasers (1971)

• Lord Vansittart, The Mist Procession (1958)

Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Produced by Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production

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