HW 22

HW 22 -
1. Read Hitler's Germany Chapter 11 and answer questions A-C.
2. Read Modern World History pages 77-87 and be prepared to answer the following questions in class:
1. Define "Appeasement"
2. How could appeasement be justified? Put it in historical context!
3. To what extent did appeasement help cause WWII?
4. How did Hitler use propoganda to justify his invasion of Czechoslovakia?

A)
Dearest Friend,
I write to inform you of the terrible things that are happening in Czechoslovakia; you have been gone a long time, and you do not know what suffering we are going through here. I am sorry to say that I believe Czechoslovakia is being slowly taken over by the despicable Germans and Hitler, and France and England do nothing about it! It started when the riots did; Hitler was planning to invade to stop all the riots in Sudetenland, but I believe he purposely riled up the Germans who were living there. At any rate, when we found out that the German army was gathering on the borders, of course we Czechs got ready to fight, and he backed off. I thought perhaps then we were safe; but then only months later, Hitler was practically given permission to take Sudetenland by Neville Chamberlain of Britain. The filthy appeaser! He was so frightened of what Hitler might do, that he forgot his duty to protect the sovereignty of people all over the world. He agreed with France that Hitler should indeed have our land, and our representative was never so much as consulted! I cannot describe the rage and sorrow that our country feels right now, my friend. I fear that the future hold more of this; Hitler knows now that Chamberlain will not stop him, and the greedy man already has his eyes on the rest of Czechoslovakia. I can only watch and wait and hope. I wish sincerely that things might not be so bleak for you where you are now: and for the first time, I hope that you don't come home to this ruined shadow of your beloved homeland.
Sincerely,
Rabushnygiva Vodianova

B)
1. The Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 - An agreement between Germany and Russia that they would not fight each other, and that they would secretly attack Poland and divide it amongst themselves. This meant that Hitler could invade the Polish Corridor without fear of attack from Russia.

2. People were likely surprised by this political maneuver because the Nazis and Communists hated each other. Hitler had spent years trying to eradicate Communists entirely from Germany, and surely the Soviet Union could not have taken kindly to this. I do not think that any country would have suspected the two to team up to work around their inability to attack Poland without retaliation from England and France; the handout describes Russia as Hitler's "hated enemy".