Appeasement in Europe: A Reassessment of U.S. Policies

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This collection of essays representing new thought on US appeasement policy in 1930's Europe enlarges the traditional focus of research beyond United States - German relations by investigating American appeasement policy toward different nations. Zeroing in on the ideology of policymakers and the influences of various groups on the development of appeasement policy during the Roosevelt administration, the essays pose new questions about the role of anti-bolshevism, examine appeasement as one part of the quest for stability and peace in Europe, and provide insights not only on appeasement but also on the nature of US foreign policy prior to World War II. The scholarship presented here contributes to understanding of how the United States responded to the challenge of fascism in Europe during the 1930s. Schmitz's introduction defines appeasement and discusses why and how the policy was formulated and in what respects it differed from the policy of Great Britain. The book outlines European political conditions of the period and how US appeasement policy sought to prevent German and Italian aggression by either applying economic pressure or offering incentives for co-operation with Western democracies. In the first chapter the three distinct "schools" of historical interpretation that have emerged to explain US appeasement policy are reviewed and assessed. Douglas Little's chapter on the British and American responses to the Spanish Civil War addresses the problem of how to contain the right without aiding Soviet foreign policy. Chapter three, re-examines the cruical events leading up to the Munich agreement and its aftermath through a study of the thoughts and actions of Neville Chamberlain, Roosevelt, and Joseph P.Kennedy, and their critics. In chapter four, Schmitz investigates how prior American experience with Fascist Italy influenced US policy toward Nazi Germany and motivated attempts to use Mussolini as a moderating force on Hitler. Chapter four also deals with material that is useful for understanding American policy: the question of Roosevelt's response to British appeasement. The concluding essay examines possible US and British alternatives to Chamberlain's appeasement policies that could have been employed. "Appeasement in Europe" may be useful to students, and informed general readers in attaining an understanding of American appeasement policy within the broader context of US diplomacy during the 1930s.

Author Bio

DAVID F. SCHMITZ is Assistant Professor of History at Whitman College. He is the author of The United States and Fascist Italy. RICHARD D. CHALLENER is Professor of History at Princeton University. He is the author of many books, including Admirals, Generals, and American Foreign Policy, 1898-1914.