Alternatives To Appeasement – Andrew David Stedman

have saved us from ever coming to the brink of war, and would have marked a turning point – perhaps decisive – in the hitherto aggressive career of the Dictators.76 The Yorkshire Post was a vehemently anti-appeasement paper and its editor, Arthur Mann, a long-term advocate of alliances as the best strategy to pursue. During August 1938, he wrote privately of his desire to see Roosevelt’s ‘moral and implied material support’ against the Dictators grasped by Chamberlain with both hands.77 The March 1939 Prague Coup marked a watershed in press calls for alliances as an alternative to appeasement.

Indeed, demands for a Grand Alliance were almost universal across the main dailies from now on. The Yorkshire Post promptly advocated a pact with Russia, Mann believing that the possibility of a two-front war for Germany would deter Hitler from taking any further steps.78 The Daily Express, which, as a pro-isolation paper, had traditionally urged closer relations with no one other than the USA or Dominions, now felt that France’s borders were effectively Britain’s own.

In late March 1939, it called for the Empire to be turned into ‘a vast, mighty and flexible instrument capable of offering instant and overwhelming resistance to any who may dream of attacking our heritage’.79 Unsurprisingly, the Daily Herald had favoured closer relations with the Soviets after Munich, but now came round to advocating a formal military alliance with France and Russia, as well as the closest Alternatives to Appeasement cooperation with the USA.80 The News Chronicle felt that strategically important smaller power such as Holland, Romania and Yugoslavia should be targeted first.81 Even traditionally pro-appeasement papers like The Times felt that Prague had effectively killed this policy and now urged drawing closer to other powers in a large anti-Fascist coalition.82 Examples abound of the general public writing to newspapers and MPs in favour of alliances during the Chamberlain period.

The Anschluss provided an initial spur for such letters, many of which demanded that Britain now draw closer to the Soviets or the USA. Others were more creative in the measures they suggested. F.W. Balch of Stockton wrote to Harold Macmillan on 22 March 1938, advocating not only guarantees to Poland and Romania, but also that ‘Roosevelt should be asked to take temporary charge of all our interests in the Pacific’. Moreover, he thought that a late effort should be made to rebuild the Stresa Front through inducements to Mussolini: ‘We should offer Italy …

Andrew David Stedman teaches history at Newcastle University. He holds a PhD from the University of Kingston and was awarded the British International History Group Thesis Prize in 2008. ALTERNATIVES TO APPEASEMENT Neville Chamberlain and Hitler’s Germany Andrew David Stedman BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain by Tauris Academic Studies, an imprint of I.B.

Tauris, 2011 Paperback edition published by Bloomsbury Academic 2020 Copyright © Andrew David Stedman, 2011 Andrew David Stedman has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. ix-x constitute an extension of this copyright page. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: HB: 978-1-8488-5377-5 PB: 978-1-3501-6930-2 ePDF: 978-0-8577-1906-5 ePub: 978-0-8577-3628-4 Series: International Library of Twentieth Century History, vol. 42 To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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