Appeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2

Appeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2 Free Online Research Papers When The Great War came to an end in November 1918, the suffering of the nations involved was so appalling that many hoped never to repeat such an experience again. The fact that the Second World War took place just twenty years later is indeed intriguing. Until now, the debate on who is to be blamed for causing the war is still on, with many historians coming to different conclusions. There were three prominent underlying factors from the 1920’s onwards that can be evaluated when discussing the causes of the war. They are the Treaty of Versailles, the weakness of the League of Nations and the world economic crisis of the early 1930’s. In short, these factors formed the basis for the starting of a war by providing a tense atmosphere in Europe. However, the Treaty of Versailles and the weakness of the League could only be responsible to a limited extent as Europe in the mid 1920’s was on the road to recovery, with peaceful foreign policies that could have pr evented war. Clearly, more major factors were needed in order for a war to breakout. In fact, the three main parties responsible for causing the war were the appeasers (British and French), the Soviet Union and Hitler. In addition, the different viewpoints of historians are also compared in the course of this investigation. The policy of appeasement adopted by the British and the French was a factor that played a critical role in the outbreak of the war. As the British Prime Minister, Stanly Baldwin was the first to introduce appeasement in the mid 1930’s. However, when Neville Chamberlain came into office in 1937, he took appeasement to a whole new level. According to the British government, the meaning of appeasement was â€Å"pacification through the settlement of issues by negotiation and compromise†. The British pursued this policy with great confidence as they had several logical reasons to justify their actions. It was only after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, that many British began to feel that Germany was indeed â€Å"harshly† and unjustly treated. They were also afraid that Germany would turn towards aggression once again and perhaps spark another war. Therefore, Britain was willing to give in to Hitler’s demands as it was a way of â€Å"redre ssing Germany’s legitimate grievances†. Especially after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the British were interested for various reasons in the â€Å"preservation of peace†. With a crippled economy, Britain could not afford to spend on rearming her armed forces, and therefore was in no position to wage a war against aggressor nations. Since an economically strong Germany was essential to achieve economic stability in Europe, appeasement seemed appealing as it would not only strengthen the German economy but also put an end to the political instability within Germany. Furthermore, Britain would also benefit from trading with a financially strong Germany. Besides, since most of the British still bared in mind the destruction and atrocities caused by the Great War, there was a â€Å"widespread appeal of pacifism† in Britain. Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement was therefore widely supported by the British as it was seen as a way to prevent another devastating war from taking place. Furthermore, as the League of Nations was proven to be unsuccessful in the preservation of peace, Chamberlain believed that only a personal diplomacy between leaders could resolve conflicts. Besides, as Chamberlain and other Conservatives feared Communism more than Nazism, they hoped that Hitler would stop the sprea d of Communism to the West. This was especially so during the 1930’s when Stalin’s Russia was strengthening due to rapid industrialization. Although the policy of appeasement is often associated with both the British and the French, it is important to note that in the beginning, the French did not always support appeasement. Unlike Britain, France was more interested in ensuring her national security and the suppression of Germany. The French strongly believed that in order to preserve the peace in Europe, Germany had to be severely weakened. However, as France was significantly weakened and divided as a result of much political upheaval caused by a constant change in governments, the French subsequently subscribed to Britain’s policy of appeasement. In the eyes of the appeasers, the policy of appeasement was intended strictly to preserve peace in Europe. However, this was misinterpreted by Adolf Hitler, who in turn saw it as a weakness of Britain and France. In 1933, Hitler came into power with a goal to make Germany into a great power again. Through his foreign policies, Hitler hoped to achieve this by overthrowing the Treaty of Versailles, strengthening the armed forces, recovering lost territory and uniting all Germans within the Reich. This ambition of his was another factor that played a critical role in the outbreak of the war. Hitler saw himself as â€Å"catalyst of the will to Germanic greatness†, and he believed that Germany would only become strong again through the use of aggression and war. In 1934, Hitler posed a direct challenge to the Treaty of Versailles by rearming the German armed forces. He managed to do so by reintroducing conscription and ordering the mass production of submarines, tanks and aircrafts. Upon announcing Germany’s rearmament programme in 1935, the initial response of the British and the French â€Å"amounted to little more than solemn protestations and appeals to the League of Nations†. At the Stresa Conference, Britain, together with France and Italy did not attempt to stop Hitler’s rearmaments. Instead, they only assured the protection of Austria’s sovereignty. Similarly, even the League of Nations did not attempt to restrict Hitler’s aggressive rearmament plans as there were â€Å"no economic or military sanctions imposedâ € . As a result of appeasement, Hitler’s confidence grew significantly. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement signed in June 1935 was Britain’s form of appeasement towards the German rearmaments. The terms of the agreement acknowledged the German rearmament of her Navy and it was limited to thirty-five percent of the British fleet. It was the first time where the British openly approved a German contravention of the Versailles Settlement. Besides, the signing of the agreement was solely made by Britain, without the consent of France and Italy. The agreement did not only undermine the mutual trust between Britain and France, but also compromised the Stresa Front. As the agreement was effective in helping Germany flout the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler felt assured that the appeasers would not stop his rearmament programmes and perhaps even his goals to overthrow the treaty. In 1936, Hitler ordered the remilitarization of the Rhineland. As the Rhineland was a strategic â€Å"military position from which the French could have struck at the heart of Germany’s power† , reoccupying it removed a serious threat to Germany’s sovereignty. Prior to the reoccupation, the appeasers were well aware of Hitler’s plans to carry out a â€Å"coup†. However, they did not attempt to stop him from taking back what was originally Germany’s. France could have stopped Hitler by sending in troops, but however she was afraid of waging a war with Germany, given the lack of British support. Germany could then deter future French aggression by building heavy defenses and deploying troops in the Rhine region. As a result, Hitler grew even bolder and he began to challenge the balance of power in Europe. The German annexation of Austria was finally successful in March 1938. Hitler saw the annexation of Austria â€Å"as a solution to the problems of Germany’s war-orientated economy†, and also as a way of uniting all Germans within the Reich. Following the demonstrations staged by the Austrian Nazis on Hitler’s order, German troops were sent to occupy Austria. As Britain believed that Austria was under the sphere of German influence, the responses of the appeasers were nothing more than protests. The Anschluss with Austria did not only strengthen the friendship between Germany and Italy, but it also provided Hitler with a â€Å"direct passage into Southeast Europe†. Appeasement from Britain and France once again gave Hitler a confidence boost to continue his conquest. Following the Anschluss with Austria, Czechoslovakia was next on Hitler’s agenda. Assured by his previous successes, Hitler demanded for the incorporation of the Sudetenland into the Third Reich. The Sudetenland was the wealthiest and the most industrialized region of Czechoslovakia, with the largest population of German minorities living outside Germany. In support of the Sudeten Nazis led by Henlein, Hitler caused a widespread political turmoil with his propaganda campaign. Afraid that a war might breakout, the appeasers called on the Czech President, Benes to make compromises with Hitler. Hoping to resolve the issues, Chamberlain met Hitler on three separate occasions. At Berchtesgaden, Hitler honored Chamberlain’s proposal that there would be self-determination for Sudetenland. However, at Godesberg, Hitler demanded the immediate impartment of Sudetenland into the Third Reich. Unwilling to compromise any further, Chamberlain returned to Britain and ordered t he armed forces to prepare for war. At the Munich Conference, the Big Four gave in to Hitler’s harshest terms. The Czechs, on the other hand were forced to sign the agreement. Chamberlain then signed another pact with Hitler, stating that the two nations would never go to war again. As Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, it was clear that the policy of appeasement was a failure. Hitler â€Å"had now reached the limits of what the appeasers were willing to tolerate from him†. Despite the rising tension, Hitler took a risk and invaded Poland. When he ignored the ultimatum issued by Britain and France to stop his invasion of Poland, the appeasers declared war on Germany. Besides appeasement and Hitler himself, there were other factors that contributed to the outbreak of the war. Firstly, the Great Depression of the early 1930’s led to the rise of a totalitarian, Nazi Germany led by Hitler. By the late 1920’s, the German economy was on the road to recovery due to excessive American investments. As a result, Germany subsequently became heavily reliant on the US backing given to them. Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, America withdrew its investments in Germany and demanded the payment of the loans given to them earlier. The German economy therefore went into a state of serious depression. Afraid of losing even more support from the people, the Weimar government was â€Å"unwilling to take the unpopular measures that would be required to bridge the gap†. Since the severe economic problems in Germany were not resolved, the masses started to look towards the Nazi Party for solutions to their woes. This significantly attributed to the rise of the Nazi Party and Hitler. Secondly, the weakness of the League of Nations made it incapable of preserving peace in the 1930’s. From the start, the League lacked the backing of the two super-powers, USA and Russia. Following the United States Senate’s rejection of both the Treaty of Versailles and the League, the USA subsequently adopted the policy of isolation. Russia on the other hand was not incorporated into the League as there was a widespread fear of Communism. Furthermore, its leading members, Britain and France each had their own self-interests. This in turn limited the purpose of collective security. This purpose of the League was severely undermined on two occasions, namely the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the Italian invasion of Abyssinia. During the Abyssinian crisis, Italy managed to conquer Abyssinia despite the economic sanctions imposed on her. As Mussolini â€Å"succeeded in flouting the League†, it was no longer seen as an effective form of collective secu rity. The League was indeed effective in resolving humanitarian crises, but however when it came to preserving peace, it was filled with flaws. In conclusion, the outbreak of the Second World War was a shared responsibility mainly between Hitler, Britain and France. The policy of appeasement which was intended by Britain and France to preserve peace was misread by Hitler as a weakness. The appeasers were partially responsible for causing the war as appeasement provided Hitler with a platform to increase his demands with each success he attained. Furthermore, they were inconsistent in their stand towards Hitler’s aggression. As the appeasers have been giving in to Hitler’s demands since 1936, Hitler assumed that they would do the same for his invasion of Poland. Unexpectedly, Britain and France declared war on Germany and this sparked off the war. Hitler himself was also partially at fault for causing the war as he misinterpreted the intentions of the appeasers and turned towards aggression. The other underlying factors such as the Versailles Settlement, the weakness of the League and the world economic c risis all played minor roles in the outbreak of the war. They were primarily responsible for creating a tense atmosphere in Europe but were too trivial to spark a war. The Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact was also partially responsible as it provided the assurance Hitler needed in order to invade Poland without having to worry about a Soviet invasion. In short, the outbreak of the war was the result of a series of misunderstandings and miscalculations made by the respective leaders. 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Is Outsourcing a Good Idea Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Is Outsourcing a Good Idea - Research Paper Example Recent developments in the global economy like the Internet have played a major role in promoting the practice of outsourcing. In the contemporary age, business entrepreneurs do not even need to always call the service providers in person abroad as the services can be provided over the Internet, thus further reducing the cost of operation and increasing the profitability of the business. â€Å"Because IT services, in the United States, from equipment to IT personnel and specialists, are expensive, there is a significant degree of financial incentive to a company when outsourcing for this reason alone† (Cadena, 2007). Outsourcing is potentially dangerous for the stability of economy and the socioeconomic system of a country. When a company outsources, it essentially plays its role in reducing the number of employment opportunities available to the local workers. As a result of this, the rate of unemployment in the country increases and people become more frustrated and dissatisfied. Outsourcing is a selfish move as the entrepreneurs make profits at the cost of the happiness of the whole society. Outsourcing poses complications when the organization feels the need of change and be more innovative. When a company produces a product with tight competition, outsourcing may reduce the company’s tendency to maintain this competition because the customers want to see and witness the provider of the product. It is crucial to retain the services domestically to land new accounts. Outsourcing is disadvantageous for the local workers but advantageous for the foreign workers, particularly when they are from the underdeveloped or developing countries. Although many people do not like the US for the role it has played in the international politics, yet they are still optimistic about working in or for America (Dutton, 2007). When the situation is considered as a whole on a global scale, outsourcing may appear to be in positive light, though

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Pride, Gender, and Inaction in Antigone Pride, Gender, and Inaction in Antigone The central theme of Sophocles play â€Å"Antigone† is the dilemma that one faces, in adhering to ones own conclusion or to abide by the existing laws of the land. The play highlights the fact that men have been bestowed with independent thinking, and have been blessed with the capacity to analyze situations; Man must therefore consult his mental faculties and think rationally before making a judgment. Therefore, the four major themes of the play Antigone are Pride, Gender, Individual versus State; Conscience versus Law; Divine Law versus Human Law, and Inaction. There is no question that pride, in Antigone, is a trait loathed by the gods, one that is punishable without mercy. Sophocles describes the type of pride that allows men to create laws that substitute for divine principles. 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Coert Voorhees Bio

Coert Voorhees Biography Coert Voorhees is an author and I am going to talk about his life, his philosophy and his hobbies. Voorhees was born and raised in New Mexico, where he developed a weakness for Hatch green chile. He still lives with his family in Huston. A former Fulbright Scholar, Coert has lived all over the world and now resides with his family in Houston, Texas, where he received an MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston.Coert made a web site called www. grammaropolis. com were parents can help their children learn faster and better at English. Next, Coert philosophy is an author. He graduated in Middlebury College and a former Fulbright in Chilean theatre. His screenplays goes on different competition, and went in the semi-finalist in final drafts 2008 big break, and his a 2009 new American voice nominee. Coert has currently received his MFA in fiction at the University in Huston.He is has written two books his first novel is â€Å"The Brothers Torres† and â€Å"Lucky Fools† a second book he made in 2012 it is also book I just read. Voorhees was a smart adult in college he was always trying to get in to collage since he was little. This relates to a book he wrote called â€Å"Lucky Fools†, a quote from the book stated â€Å"it turns out the an act of defiance such as the one I perpetrated makes for the subject of a spectacular college essay, so long as one’s narrative coach is able to frame it the right way. (Coert Voorhees pg. 290). Then, come his hobbies Coert Voorhees that are quite interesting his favorite NFL team is the DENVER BRONCOS, baseball team is ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOES. Favorite things about Coert, first his favorite movie the REAL GENIUS, native dwelling HOGAN, government agency NASA, role model OPTIMUS PRIME, burger BEACK PRIME, Latin America country is Chile, mexican food is stuffed sopaipilla, operating system he uses is OSX, singer/songwriter RICH PRINCE.Authors that Coert has always liked Denis Joh nson, George Saunders, Don Delillo, Antonya Nelson, Tim O’Brien, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marion Downs, David Wolman, Sara Voorhees, Will Clarke, and finally David Yoo are his best author and book writers. Second Voorhees went to PINEWOOD high school in California. To conclude, after reading about Coert Voorhees I realized that it takes hard work to get to where you want to be.

Life in the Orange Prison Essay

I never really liked that eerie-looking building that always stood towering over me. Its orange walls and antique framework did not give me an comfortable feeling, although my imagination of a 5 year old told me that it did try to present a fai ade of spurious geniality with those wide welcoming staircases leading to the front door and the colourful flowers skirting the yard. My inner self sent a shiver down the spine as I reluctantly followed my parents through Hell’s gates. I sincerely believed that the building, which was to be my school for the next six years, was not much better than an internment camp. So, on the first day of school, I was directed to my cell. The classroom was filled with a group of children of my size sitting on a circular carpet. The sight was peculiar – the collection of boys and girls from all over the world gathered in a room no bigger than my flat back in Hong Kong. It was like a tossed salad, with potatoes from Japan, cabbage from Australia, lettuce from Canada, tomatoes from Europe, and now there’s me – rice from China. I sat on the floor among the other fidgety bodies. In front of us sat a tall woman with blond hair and a pointy nose. She pointed at a board with apples and numbers on it and asked a question, which I identified because of the raised pitch towards the end of the phrase. Oh no, and then her watery blue eyes smiled at me. She’d chosen me! I could feel heat rushing towards my face and for a moment I thought tears would betray my composure. But I simply stared back at her; looking from the numbered apple to her face, then from her face back to the apple. â€Å"What does she want? † My gaze at her yelled for help, pleading for excuse. It wasn’t after a few weeks of continuous pointing to a new numbered apple on the board that I realized the whole thing represented a calendar. Then, it made all sense to me. Day school was not the worst part yet, because eventually I learned to speak English fluently with other students. We never had homework to do and the challenge in school was really to have fun. At first I struggled hard, as I lacked the means of communication. But eventually the language was programmed into my head and subconsciously I became a fluent English speaker. As I have mentioned, there was another part of my childhood which was even gloomier than day school. And that also took place in the very same building that I sensed to become the bane of my young carefree life. Upon arriving in Vancouver for 6 months, my mom introduced me to Chinese school. The idea baffled me. We were black haired people moving to a white skinned territory learning the yellow skinned language. Like many things that were beyond my comprehension and control, I complied with my mom’s decision. For whatever reason I was learning Chinese in Canada, I loathed the idea and did not look forward to the classes. My instincts did not lie to me. After the first 2 hours of class I was determined that I would never ever spend another minute with that old, squeaky voiced teacher, with that cheesy pictured book, and with those curvy, criss-cross, inscrutable characters. I absolutely despised Chinese. But, with as much conviction a little of girl of my size could hold, I did in the end return to that very intimidating classroom, pick up that very unattractive book, and learned those very perplexing characters. Once a week we would have dictation of the chapter we learned the previous class. The teacher would simply read out a paragraph while we tried to write down each word perfectly. To put it bluntly, we were to learn the chapter verbatim. As pointless as it may sound, it was not an easy thing for me to do. In fact, it was painful. Absolutely flesh pinching. Each night before the dictation, I’d be sitting at my crowded desk with a lamp shining precisely over my head, and staring at the jumble of words. Sitting there, I would circle all the words that I didn’t know how to write, and copy it over and over again until I could trace the word with my eyes closed. It was a tedious task for me because the chapter usually ended up with circles around every other word, if not every word. Worse yet, my mom would be sitting right next to me. With each mistake I made, either forgetting a simply word or missing a dot on the line, she would scorn at me. Of course, with that kind of chaperoning, I only became more frustrated and angry – both at myself for being dumb, and my mom for being impatient. Now, looking back I don’t blame her; it took me over one hour to learn one single paragraph. Dictation was not the toughest part of Chinese class because what I wrote and what mark I received would only remain between the teacher and me. However, reading aloud in class was a different story. It was like stripping in front of the entire class and exposing the most embarrassing flaws of my body to them for scrutiny. Whenever it was reading time, my stomach would lurch, and as each student finished his or her part, my intestines would tie yet another knot – until finally when it was my turn – my body would be so tangled that I could no longer work my diaphragms properly to speak. I made as little noise as possible, thinking that if I spoke quiet enough the teacher would condone my mistakes and let me pass. However, the teacher was not easily satisfied; she made me read again, this time only louder. Protruding my voice in front of the class was as hard as asking a five year old to lift a 50 pound dumbbell. My hands became clammy and I felt as if a furnace was working inside me. I could imagine other students seeing lucent flames embodying me. Once the teacher asked me to stop, the relief was indescribable – everything seemed to stop, the flames ceased to burn me and nothing else around me mattered anymore. I was done reading; I was out of the spotlight. My aversion for Chinese school never alleviated. As the paragraphs in the chapters grew longer and the characters more complex, my understanding of the language only became more dubious. I was like a defeated salmon that could not swim against the current and as a result was pushed backwards. But a lucky salmon I was, a savior from my class rescued me. Her name was Katy. Each time we received our dictation marks, I would be grateful if hers was less than 20 marks higher than mine. As the older girl, she was very bossy in front of me. And I, always been the submissive one, yielded to her, but I did not mind because I thought what I got in return was worth it. Katy helped me with my Chinese homework. She would help me copy those hand killing notes, and during dictation she would peek at what I didn’t get and write the answer on a scrap piece of paper and inconspicuously nudge it over. I was indebted to her. As life in that confinement became easier, an unsettling sense of guilt started to stir inside me. Once every year, the Chinese school principle would organize a dinner party at the school cafeteria. There were lots of fun at those parties; there was a magician pulling ribbons from hat, gift exchanges between anonymous people, long tables of homemade spaghetti, chicken wings, sausages, cookies, and pudding. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could never fully enjoy myself at the party. Throughout the party I would be worrying about the closing speech that the principle would make. I was tormented by the fear that he might expose my cheating to my fellow classmates and most importantly, to my mom. A part of me really anticipated this humiliation or devastation. Each time the principle spoke my stomach flinched as a natural reflex, but of course, not once did he mention my name or the notion of cheating on tests. Call me gullible, nai ve or whatever you want, but that instinctive feeling of being exposed really haunted me. At the end of the six years spent in Van Horne Elementary School, now head overlooking other heads, voice overcoming other voices, I once again stepped through the gates of Hell. Only this time, I stepped into the blinding sunlight and the honking of cars. I no longer felt the building towering over me.

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