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Self-Determination and Stalin

Reader comment on item: [Appeasement Explains] Why Europe Balks

Submitted by George (United Kingdom), Mar 11, 2004 at 14:04

There are two very important reason why the allies appeased Hitler that had not been mentioned here:

1) Up until Munich, Hitler had made no territorial demands regarding territory not inhabited by Germans (ie territory which did not _want_ to be ruled by Hitler). This made it very difficult politically for the Western Allies to oppose his demands. Note how Hitler's annexation of Prague in March 1939 was an important turning point.

2) After the Communist revolution Russia had become a 'rogue state' making a 1914-style Triple Alliance against Germany impossible. Chamberlain et al were terrified of going to war against Hitler because the two evil empires of Europe were held in check only by _each other_. Hitler's evil divided the capitalist world, so it was not in Stalin's interest that he be overthrown (unless of course he was replaced by a Soviet puppet). If the Allies went to war against Hitler in 1938 and won, Stalin would occupy Poland and Eastern Germany.

This kind of democratic/communist split in Europe was bad enough for 1945, but in 1938 it would have been horrendous. The atomic bomb had not yet been developed and in America the isolationists were at the height of their power. Stalin would have probably decided to push on the Atlantic, and Britain and France, weakened by their war against Germany (given superb German tactics, talk of an _easy_ victory against Germany is fantasy), would be powerless to stop him.

For this reason the British and French decided they had to play the two totalitarians against each other and avoid war at all costs, and this is exactly what they did until the Nazi-Soviet Pact made it impossible. As it was, the European democracies survived, but not because of anything happening in Europe. They were saved by Pearl Harbor.
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Reader comments (46) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Appeasement [to Islamists] Doesn't Pay! [909 words]RobertFeb 17, 2008 18:20120427
Self-Determination and Stalin [297 words]GeorgeMar 11, 2004 14:0414172
Pax America in timespan of 100-150 years [225 words]René PoulsenJan 21, 2004 21:2113480
"Appeasement" [359 words]Alexander BoerMay 9, 2003 12:528974
One does not need to go that far ... [106 words]One Reader from EuropeFeb 20, 2003 00:546791
Europe is full of fears [160 words]Frank LukeFeb 17, 2003 17:276704
Why Germany really balks [124 words]Felix DistelFeb 8, 2003 12:076495
The Hitler of Our Time [131 words]Robert SydowFeb 4, 2003 15:516389
Grotesque over-simplification [135 words]David QuinFeb 4, 2003 04:086345
Excellent article & Hello World! [118 words]EurocitizenFeb 3, 2003 16:056333
comment to SC Panda.. [48 words]amiexpatFeb 3, 2003 07:346311
France&Germany [73 words]Cyril RohacFeb 2, 2003 22:266298
Compromise with Evil, it wins [49 words]Les JordanFeb 2, 2003 18:026285
Ah, but will Europe appease the US ? [34 words]W SeltzerJan 31, 2003 19:046210
3 Reasons [38 words]S.C.PandaJan 31, 2003 00:546159
Disturbingly accurate [478 words]RichardJan 30, 2003 10:256124
Learning from History [248 words]s.r.judahJan 30, 2003 09:196123
appeasement [188 words]tom hickieJan 30, 2003 09:106122
The French and the Islamic Bomb [219 words]Arlinda M. De AngelisJan 29, 2003 22:366117
Muslim minorities [30 words]Tom HewittJan 29, 2003 21:026114
appeasement [138 words]Mr.Daniel TobinJan 29, 2003 14:576107
Our European Friends [95 words]GeorgeJan 29, 2003 14:296104
Divide and rule [275 words]Gabriel GrossoJan 29, 2003 14:286103
Selective Memory [92 words]Shirley DobryJan 29, 2003 11:106098
Super power or Imperial Hegamon? [232 words]Glenn KlotzJan 29, 2003 09:556095
Why is Iraq a good place to start? [452 words]Calisse CansimeJan 29, 2003 09:486094
What about the Muslim factor. [14 words]Max FrancisJan 29, 2003 09:316092
America is not our Enemy [289 words]Gabriel GrossoJan 29, 2003 05:486090
WHY WAR!! [51 words]Johan EzrachJan 29, 2003 02:036084
War What's It Good For [41 words]Tom DundeeMar 13, 2010 21:456084
Psychology of Appeasement [226 words]Richard ReayJan 29, 2003 01:536083
Old Europe, "Submit to the PEACE of ISLAM" [145 words]Tim CoulterJan 29, 2003 01:046081
European "intellectual elite"? [747 words]David WolfJan 28, 2003 23:386079
The French and Germans [32 words]Bobby LoJan 28, 2003 20:496077
Europe is out of control [128 words]Thomas J. JacksonJan 28, 2003 20:256076
Axis of irrelevance [261 words]Jean MartinJan 28, 2003 18:546073
Pax Europa? [25 words]Don WoodJan 28, 2003 17:526071
Comprehensibility of Wars [152 words]Joseph SomselJan 28, 2003 15:166065
Old dreams, down but not out [146 words]Neil AbramsonJan 28, 2003 15:146064
Hitler Channel [48 words]Paul M. NevilleJan 28, 2003 14:386063
The French: Can You Trust Them? [102 words]Max MaloJan 28, 2003 14:096062
Diplomacy must have an endpoint [106 words]cookieJan 28, 2003 13:376061
Agreement [19 words]D.SokolJan 28, 2003 08:466035
Back to Thucydides [157 words]Kafka1302Jan 28, 2003 08:206033
Not all Europeans are appeasers [317 words]David RoseJan 28, 2003 07:516032
Amen! [32 words]Brennan SchweitzerJan 28, 2003 07:156030

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