The Fascist Challenge and the Policy of Appeasement: (Routledge Library Editions: WW2)

This book, first published in 1983, illustrates the domestic and internal dimension of appeasement and explores the political options open to the western powers in the run up to the Second World War. It looks at the factors pointing in the direction of a general settlement with the dictators: limitation of resources and strategic over-commitment by Britain; economic decline and financial exhaustion of France; lack of support from the United States and the Soviet Union.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Wolfgang J. Mommsen Part 1. Fascist Aggression and the West 1.1. The Crisis of the European Political Order 1. The European Civil War Donald C. Watt 2. The Failure of Collective Security in British Appeasement R.A.C. Parker 1.2. Foreign Policy Making in National Socialist Germany 3. Nazi Dynamics, German Foreign Policy and Appeasement Ronald M. Smelser 4. Conflicts Within the German Leadership on the Objectives and Tactics of German Foreign Policy, 1933–9 Wolfgang Michalka 5. The German Military Opposition Before the Second World War Klaus-Jürgen Müller Part 2. Appeasement Policies in Great Britain 2.1. The Policy-Makers 6. Chamberlain and Appeasement Roy Douglas 7. Had Baldwin Resigned in 1936: A Speculative Essay Robert P. Shay, Jr 2.2. The Domestic Dimension 8. The Domestic Background to British Appeasement Policy Gustav Schmidt 9. The British Left and Appeasement: Political Tactics of Alternative Policies? Sabine Wichert 10. Keynes, the Economics of Rearmament and Appeasement G.C. Peden 11. ‘Economic Appeasement’ – A Crisis Strategy Bernd-Jürgen Wendt 2.3. The Strategic Dimension 12. The British Military Establishment and the Policy of Appeasement John Dunbabin 13. The Continental Commitment in British Strategy in the 1930s Brian Bond Part 3. Appeasement and the European Powers 3.1. France’s Predicament 14. The Impact of the Economic Situation on the Foreign Policy of France, 1936–9 René Girault 15. Against Appeasement: French Advocates of Firmness, 1933–8 Maurice Vaïsse 16. The Decline of France and French Appeasement Policies, 1936–9 Robert Frankenstein 17. France and the Coming of War Anthony Adamthwaite 3.2. Italy and the Western Powers 18. Appeasement as a Factor in Mussolini’s Foreign Policy Denis Mack Smith 19. The Anglo–Italian Gentleman’s Agreement of January 1937 and its Aftermath Christopher Seton-Watson 3.3. Russia as a Factor in Appeasement Policies 20. Was There a Soviet Appeasement Policy? Lord Beloff 21. British Attitudes and Policies Towards the Soviet Union and International Communism, 1933–9 Gottfried Niedhart 22. British Perceptions of Soviet Military Capability, 1935–9 James S. Herndon Part 4. Appeasement in Global Perspective 4.1. The British Commonwealth and the Japanese Threat 23. Britain, the Dominions and the Coming of the Second World War, 1933–9 Ritchie Ovendale 24. British Imperial Interests and the Policy of Appeasement Reinhard Meyers 25. The Road to Singapore: British Imperialism in the Far East, 1932–42 Wm Roger Louis 4.2. The United States and the Fascist Powers 26. The Ambiguities of Appeasement: Great Britain, the United States and Germany, 1937–9 Hans-Jürgen Schröder 27. The United States, Appeasement and the Open Door Callum A. MacDonald 28. The United States and National Socialist Germany Arnold A. Offner

About the Author :
Wolfgang J. Mommsen and Lothar Kettenacker