British Foreign Policy (1918-1945)

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Britain's foreign policy from the end of World War I until the end of World War II - specifically 1918 to 1945. It particularly focuses on the rise and fall of their power in the political world. The paper looks at Britain's relationship with various other powers in the world through this period of history and discusses how its policies affected their position within the international community.

Table of Contents:
The Locarno Era (1918-1931).
Advantages and Drawbacks of a Victory
Peace as a National Mood
Peace as an Electoral Necessity
The Foreign Policy of British Governments Between 1918 and 1931
The Emergence of Perils (1931-1937).
The Perils
Toying with Rearmament
The Obstacles to an Alternative Policy
Facing New Perils
Chamberlain in Office: Appeasement at its Peak? (May 1937-March 1939)
Appeasement: Some Problems of Terminology and Interpretations
The Motives of the appeasers
The Events in Europe from February 1938 to March 1939
The March to War
The Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Mood of the Government and the Nation Changes
The Quest for Allies in Eastern Europe and the Balkans

From the Paper:

"Their main preoccupation was what was going to happen in Czechoslovakia, which could be attacked from the north and the West as well as from the South. There was a mounting crisis in Czechoslovakia between the Germans and the Czechs because of the plight of a numerous group of people known as the Sudeten Germans. They were Germans living in Czechoslovakia, in the Sudeten land which was the hilly region which forms the border between Germany and Czechoslovakia. This part was till 1919 part of Austria and the Sudeten had been Austrian citizens in 1919. Czechoslovakia was politically dominated by the Czechs, 75 million, but it was ethnically speaking extremely heterogeneous, (in spite of the principle of self-government). Besides the Czechs, there were also several ethnic minorities, in particular 2.5 million Slovaks, half a million Hungarians, half a million Ruthinians, today Northern Ukrainians, 80,000 Poles, and above all 3.2 million Germans."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Addison, P., The Road to 1945: British Politics and the Second World War, Pimlico, 1994.
• Aster, Sidney. British foreign policy, 1918-1945: a guide to research and research materials. Revised edition. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1991.
• Bennett, Ralph F. Ultra and Mediterranean Strategy, 1941-1945. New York: Viking Penguin, 1989, paper. 496 p.
• Craig, Gordon Alexander and Felix Gilbert, eds. Diplomats: 1919-1939. New York, Atheneum, 1967, 1953. 2 volumes
• Guide to American foreign relations since 1700. Ed. Richard Dean Burns. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1983.

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