Appeasement
World War I was so horrendous that it was universally believed another world war would mean Armageddon, the end of life on Earth. Imperialist conquest was one thing, but another world war had to be avoided at all cost. The way to settle conflicts was by talking, not shooting. An Austrian corporal, gassed and be-medalled, disagreed that the Great War was the War to End All Wars. Arguing that the Versailles Treaty ending it gave Germany — his new country of citizenship — a raw deal, he set about disclaiming it. Though talking peace, he set about arming the Third Reich.
France and Russia appeared to have formidable forces, but the Chancellor/Führer reckoned it was only a matter of time before he could take them. His first order of business was to make the continent Aryan, handcuffing German-speaking territories to his own, starting with Austria. Screaming that Germans were being discriminated against, he demanded Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. Needless to say, Prague refused. Berlin threatened to bomb it back into the Stone Age, which might well have resulted in the dreaded World War II. Couldn’t negotiations — appeasement — persuade Hitler to stand down?
The prime ministers — Britain’s Neville Chamberlain, France’s Édouard Daladier and Italy’s Benito Mussolini — met for a peace conference in Munich with Hitler. The Sudetenland was the Führer’s non-negotiable demand. When a hungry dog is growling, give it a bone by all means, but not your bone. Anyway, he got what he wanted. Highly respected UK author Robert Harris spent years researching that meeting, interviewed the survivors on all sides and penned this new novel Munich. Hindsight is 20/20; Chamberlain was blamed for the fiasco. In 1938, however, he had the support of the vast majority of people who feared another world war, not least the German populace. However, evil Hitler brought it on.
Sociopath, megalomaniac, existing in a parallel world, descendant of Attila the Hun, monster — Hitler was all those things. No ifs, ands or buts. Russia’s Stalin and China’s Mao were from the same mould. This reviewer can’t help wondering if they were sent to kill the global population. To better understand the 20th century, I heartily recommend reading the works of Robert Harris.