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There is remarkable similarities with How Western Leaders failed to stop the rise of Israeli Nazis.
World War II: How Western Leaders Failed To Stop the Nazi Rise
David Carlin
Contributor
Sustainability
Helping you to understand and thrive in our changing world
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869 - 1940, left) shakes hands with German Chancellor ... [+]
GETTY IMAGES
Winston Churchill believed World War II should have been called “the Unnecessary War.” As he explained it, “there never was a war more easy to stop than that [World War II].” Instead, the world suffered the bloodiest conflict in human history. During the 1930s, the West had numerous chances to take decisive action against Hitler. They did not. Poor Western leadership allowed the Nazi menace to grow to monstrous proportions. This catastrophic failure in leadership offers important lessons for decision-makers today.
When Hitler took power in 1933, many foreign diplomats were already familiar with his violent nationalist ideology. Hitler had often announced his intention to remilitarize Germany. In his first year, he withdrew from the League of Nations and the World Disarmament Conference.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed after World War I, forbid Germany from developing an offensive military. Soon however, it became an open secret that Germany was rearming. In 1935, Hitler revealed that Germany had developed an air force and was expanding its army, both major violations of Versailles. France and Britain had full authority to take economic or military action against Germany. Given the early stage of Germany’s military preparations, Western pressure could have easily neutralized the military threat. Failing to act when the stakes were low was the West’s first mistake.
PROMOTED
In 1936, Hitler brazenly remilitarized Germany’s Rhineland border with France. Remilitarization directly threatened French national security. After World War I, the Rhineland had been left demilitarized to deter German aggression against France. With this border undefended, the French could pour into Germany. Only 3,000 Nazi troops entered the Rhineland. Hundreds of thousands of French troops stood just miles away. Germany’s generals trembled with fear, certain that a French invasion would end the Third Reich. However, facing bad economic conditions and finding few allies willing to offer support, the French government decided that military intervention was too expensive. Once again, a weak and divided West allowed the Nazi threat to increase.
In early 1938, Hitler forced Austria into the Third Reich by threatening to invade. Immediately, unprecedented anti-Semitic violence broke out across Austria. The Western Allies responded with a collective shrug. By incorporating Austria, Hitler gained millions of new citizens and access to Austria’s ample cash reserves and industrial resources. He was now more powerful than ever.
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Many British and French political leaders had staked their hopes on appeasing Hitler to avoid war. Appeasement was a fatally flawed policy. Churchill condemned appeasement as the strategy of feeding a crocodile in the hopes it would eat you last. He recognized that Hitler was insatiable, and each meal only made the crocodile more dangerous.
The infamous Munich Conference in late 1938 revealed the costs of appeasement. Hitler had demanded an integral part of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France should have supported the strong pro-Western democracy against Nazi aggression. Instead, they sold out the young nation by accepting Hitler’s claims. The Czechoslovaks were not even invited to Munich. The Western betrayal proved disastrous. Czechoslovakia lost its natural defenses and industrial areas, rendering the nation helpless against further German expansion. Additionally, Britain and France’s capitulation convinced other nations that Western leaders lacked the will to stop Hitler.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich declaring that he had obtained “peace for our time.” That peace would prove short-lived. Within a few months, Hitler had swallowed up the rest of Czechoslovakia. Then, Germany demanded territory from Lithuania and Poland. The Lithuanians gave in, the Poles did not. Hitler decided that Poland must be destroyed. On the eve of his invasion, Hitler told his generals, “our enemies are…not men of action, not masters. They are little worms. I saw them at Munich.” Appeasement had backfired, confident of Western inaction, Hitler became more belligerent.
When World War II began, the West had a good chance to defeat Hitler. While the Germans ravaged Poland, over 100 British and French divisions largely sat idle on the Franco-German border against a far smaller German force. Some Britons advocated air raids, but these were rejected from fears that Germany would retaliate in kind. Soon, London would learn that the Nazis had no such scruples. After the war, German generals expressed amazement that the Allies never attacked en masse. One even remarked that had the Allies invaded, Germany “could only have held out for one or two weeks.”
On May 10th 1940, time ran out for the West. Nearly 3 million German troops smashed into France and the Low Countries. Caught off-guard, the Allies were unprepared for the new age of mobile warfare and hampered by poor coordination. Within days the Low Countries had been overrun. Within weeks, France had been defeated and nearly 2 million French soldiers were taken prisoner. Much of Western Europe would suffer under Nazi occupation for the next four years. The continent would ultimately be liberated, but only after unimaginable death and destruction.
Western leaders repeatedly squandered chances to stop Hitler before 1940. First, their governments refused to take decisive action against the Nazis. Then, they remained divided in the face of a growing threat. Finally, they undermined their own opposition to Hitler through irresolution and half-measures. These mistakes proved disastrous. Nothing excuses the evil actions of Nazi Germany, but strong Western leadership might have contained Nazi evil before it exacted such a terrible toll.
World War II: How Western Leaders Failed To Stop the Nazi Rise
David Carlin
Contributor
Sustainability
Helping you to understand and thrive in our changing world
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869 - 1940, left) shakes hands with German Chancellor ... [+]
GETTY IMAGES
Winston Churchill believed World War II should have been called “the Unnecessary War.” As he explained it, “there never was a war more easy to stop than that [World War II].” Instead, the world suffered the bloodiest conflict in human history. During the 1930s, the West had numerous chances to take decisive action against Hitler. They did not. Poor Western leadership allowed the Nazi menace to grow to monstrous proportions. This catastrophic failure in leadership offers important lessons for decision-makers today.
When Hitler took power in 1933, many foreign diplomats were already familiar with his violent nationalist ideology. Hitler had often announced his intention to remilitarize Germany. In his first year, he withdrew from the League of Nations and the World Disarmament Conference.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed after World War I, forbid Germany from developing an offensive military. Soon however, it became an open secret that Germany was rearming. In 1935, Hitler revealed that Germany had developed an air force and was expanding its army, both major violations of Versailles. France and Britain had full authority to take economic or military action against Germany. Given the early stage of Germany’s military preparations, Western pressure could have easily neutralized the military threat. Failing to act when the stakes were low was the West’s first mistake.
PROMOTED
In 1936, Hitler brazenly remilitarized Germany’s Rhineland border with France. Remilitarization directly threatened French national security. After World War I, the Rhineland had been left demilitarized to deter German aggression against France. With this border undefended, the French could pour into Germany. Only 3,000 Nazi troops entered the Rhineland. Hundreds of thousands of French troops stood just miles away. Germany’s generals trembled with fear, certain that a French invasion would end the Third Reich. However, facing bad economic conditions and finding few allies willing to offer support, the French government decided that military intervention was too expensive. Once again, a weak and divided West allowed the Nazi threat to increase.
In early 1938, Hitler forced Austria into the Third Reich by threatening to invade. Immediately, unprecedented anti-Semitic violence broke out across Austria. The Western Allies responded with a collective shrug. By incorporating Austria, Hitler gained millions of new citizens and access to Austria’s ample cash reserves and industrial resources. He was now more powerful than ever.
MORE FOR YOU
Even Less Incentive For Pharma To Innovate Threatens Global Health & Our Economy
Why Do Diversity And Inclusion Initiatives Fail? The Cautionary Tail Of Basecamp.
'Destiny 2' Warns Not To Push Vault Of Glass Bosses Off Edges, And They're Serious
Many British and French political leaders had staked their hopes on appeasing Hitler to avoid war. Appeasement was a fatally flawed policy. Churchill condemned appeasement as the strategy of feeding a crocodile in the hopes it would eat you last. He recognized that Hitler was insatiable, and each meal only made the crocodile more dangerous.
The infamous Munich Conference in late 1938 revealed the costs of appeasement. Hitler had demanded an integral part of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France should have supported the strong pro-Western democracy against Nazi aggression. Instead, they sold out the young nation by accepting Hitler’s claims. The Czechoslovaks were not even invited to Munich. The Western betrayal proved disastrous. Czechoslovakia lost its natural defenses and industrial areas, rendering the nation helpless against further German expansion. Additionally, Britain and France’s capitulation convinced other nations that Western leaders lacked the will to stop Hitler.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich declaring that he had obtained “peace for our time.” That peace would prove short-lived. Within a few months, Hitler had swallowed up the rest of Czechoslovakia. Then, Germany demanded territory from Lithuania and Poland. The Lithuanians gave in, the Poles did not. Hitler decided that Poland must be destroyed. On the eve of his invasion, Hitler told his generals, “our enemies are…not men of action, not masters. They are little worms. I saw them at Munich.” Appeasement had backfired, confident of Western inaction, Hitler became more belligerent.
When World War II began, the West had a good chance to defeat Hitler. While the Germans ravaged Poland, over 100 British and French divisions largely sat idle on the Franco-German border against a far smaller German force. Some Britons advocated air raids, but these were rejected from fears that Germany would retaliate in kind. Soon, London would learn that the Nazis had no such scruples. After the war, German generals expressed amazement that the Allies never attacked en masse. One even remarked that had the Allies invaded, Germany “could only have held out for one or two weeks.”
On May 10th 1940, time ran out for the West. Nearly 3 million German troops smashed into France and the Low Countries. Caught off-guard, the Allies were unprepared for the new age of mobile warfare and hampered by poor coordination. Within days the Low Countries had been overrun. Within weeks, France had been defeated and nearly 2 million French soldiers were taken prisoner. Much of Western Europe would suffer under Nazi occupation for the next four years. The continent would ultimately be liberated, but only after unimaginable death and destruction.
Western leaders repeatedly squandered chances to stop Hitler before 1940. First, their governments refused to take decisive action against the Nazis. Then, they remained divided in the face of a growing threat. Finally, they undermined their own opposition to Hitler through irresolution and half-measures. These mistakes proved disastrous. Nothing excuses the evil actions of Nazi Germany, but strong Western leadership might have contained Nazi evil before it exacted such a terrible toll.
