Appeasing Fascism

This volume contains six new articles by scholars on appeasement during the 1930s. It is still an important issue with international leaders, who referred to the lessons learnt at Munich as they plotted their strategies during the Gulf Crisis and War of 1990-91. Political scientist J. David Singer introduces the volume with an examination of the concept and explains the differences between appeasement and conciliation in diplomatic negotiations. Nazi history expert Gerhard Weinberg, who concentrates on German motivations in 1938 in his article, contends that we still misunderstood Hitler's foreign policy. Political scientist Otto Feinstein then shifts the focus to London, where he sees a British leadership that is opposed to culturally plural and democratic responses to the forces of industrialization and modernization. Historian Arnold Offner explores the not altogether innocent role played by Franklin Roosevelt and the Americans in appeasement at Munich. Historian Douglas Little also focuses his attention on Washington with his analysis of American policy in the Spanish Civil War.
Finally, Melvin Small offers a new way to interpret the actions taken at Munich and reveals how the history of that event has affected America's Cold War diplomacy.