Diplomacy of Illusion: The British Government and Germany, 1937-1939

by Keith Middlemas

This is the first detailed study of the way in which the British government confronted a resurgent Germany and how it handled the Munich crisis. Taking advantage of recently opened British archives for the year 1939, Mr. Middlemas brings to light whole new aspects of Brutish the influence of Anglo-American and Anglo-French relations; the often faulty ways in which the British Cabinet used the information it received; the pressures of public opinion, the press, and the political parties; the role of the military; and the considerable Cabinet infighting.When Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister in 1937, he changed Britain's policy towards Germany to a purely defensive one. But no settlement could be reached with Germany or Italy. After the invasion of Austria in March 1938, the British Cabinet feared that Czechoslovakia would be next, thus forcing Britain into the European war on behalf of France. While the Cabinet planned to undo Czechoslovakia and force France to betray her ally, the British armed forces clung to a defensive posture--fitting Britain for the role already sketched out by a separate sphere of influence outside Europe. But by 1938 this was too late.Munich was a bare escape from war. Yet the Chamberlain government failed to learn the lesson and pursued a strategy of appeasement right up to the invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. It also failed to rearm.Mr. Middlemas concludes that Chamberlain's foreign policy was realistic in a narrow sense, in that it fitted Britain's deficiencies. But it included no attempt to educate the public for a more active role and no attempt to rearm--and, in any event, the policy was too late to win back Hitler's earlier offers. It was an approach to the German menace that greatly underestimated British strength, as the war years would show. Mr. Middlemas's extraordinarily complete interpretation of these events makes his book an indispensable source for anyone seriously concerned with the origins of World War II.

510 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972