W E S L E Y A N U N I V E R S I T YHistory 158 Spring 2011

SOPHOMORE SEMINAR: APPEASEMENT AND THE ORIGINS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

N Nathanael Greene, 215 Public Affairs Center 685-2376 ngreene@wesleyan.edu

Office hours: Mondays, 11-12, Wednesdays 1-4

BOOKS: Broad Street Books will have copies of the following books. Occasionally you may wish to choose works not listed on this syllabus and are urged to browse Olin’s excellent collection.

General introduction and interpretation: P. M. H. Bell, The Origins of the Second World War in Europe A.J. P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, France and the Nazi Threat: The Collapse of French Diplomacy, 1932-1939 Eugen Weber, The Hollow Years: France in the 1930s Gerhard Weinberg, Hitler’s Foreign Policy, 1933-1939 Reading for specific classes:

Neville Chamberlain, In Search of Peace Richard Overy, 1939: Countdown to War Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis Marc Bloch, The Strange Defeat Julian Jackson, The Popular Front in France: Defending Democracy, 1934-

1938

DOCUMENTS: Several of the documents required for each session will be found on the History 158 website [“Moodle”;] these are noted on the syllabus with the notation Moodle Documents. Others will be distributed in separate packets for particular sessions with the notation [Packet].

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Additionally students should explore published documentary collections in Olin Library, especially Documents on German Foreign Policy, The Foreign Relations of the United States, Documents on British Foreign Policy,1919-1939, and Documents Diplomatiques Français, 1932-1939. These documents are collected in multiple volumes.

P APERS: Each student will submit four brief reports and a major research paper.

The brief reports will be due in class on the date stipulated and will be devoted to topics assigned below. These reports should be very succinct, no longer than two, double-spaced printed pages, 12-point font; a third page may be used for notes and references. Reports will be required for the sessions of February 7, 14, 21, and 28. These should be submitted by e-mail.

The research paper, devoted to a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor no later than Wednesday, March 2, will be due in its final form on the second day of the examination period, Wednesday, May 11.

By March 23 each student should submit a written, detailed plan for the research and writing of the paper.

First drafts of papers must be circulated by e-mail to all members of the seminar and to the instructor no later than 48 hours prior to classes scheduled for discussion of these drafts on April 18 and 25, and May 2.

Examples and suggestions concerning research papers are offered on pages 11 - 13 of this syllabus. There is no set length for the research paper; it is expected to be a substantial work, carefully documented, with footnotes and bibliography.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS: Every student will serve at least once as one of the discussant

leaders at one or more of the classes described below in February, March and April. Discussant leaders are responsible for setting out issues, proposing questions, and directing debate.

In addition , the first draft of a research paper will receive detailed comment from a student assigned to that task at the classes of April 18 and 25, and May 2.

EXAMINATIONS : There will be no examinations in this course.

HISTORY 158, APPEASEMENT, SPRING, 2011 -3-SCHEDULE OF CLASSES, ASSIGNMENTS, AND PAPERS:

January 24: O RGANIZATIONAL M EETING

January 31: THE ORIGINS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR: FIRST THOUGHTS Choose from among the following or browse the Olin collection and select one or two studies on appeasement and the origins of the Second World War.

A. J. P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, Chapters I-VAnthony P. Adamthwaite, The Making of the Second World War, chs 1-6

P. M. H. Bell, The Origins of the Second War in Europe , Parts One and Two

Laurence Lafore, The End of Glory: An Interpretation of the Origins of World War IIGerhard Weinberg, The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis Frank McDonough, Hitler, Chamberlain, and Appeasement R. J. Overy, The Origins of the Second World War, Chapters 1-7Martin Kitchen, Europe Between the Wars Arnold Wolfers, Britain and France Between Two Wars Eugen Weber, The Hollow Years: France in the 1930’s Nathanael Greene, From Versailles to Vichy C. L. Mowat, Britain Between the Wars, chapters 8-11Andreas Hillgruber, Germany and the Two World Wars Keith Eubank, World War II: Roots and Causes R. A. C. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement, chs. 1-3Anthony P. Adamthwaite, Grandeur and Misery: France’s Bid for Power in

Europe, 1914-1940, Chapters 1-8

February 7. RIGHT AND LEFT IN FRANCE, 1934-1936

Report and discussion question: "Both Left and Right in France excelled in fighting imaginary enemies: the Right feared a Communist takeover, while the Left feared a Fascist seizure of power. These fears were only weakly grounded in reality, but they profoundly influenced the internal and external policies of the Right and of the Left."

Reading: Choose from among these titles, or browse Olin’s collection

for others:Eugene Weber, The Hollow Years: France in the 1930s, Chapters 1-5, orNathanael Greene, From Versailles to Vichy: The Third French Republic, 1919-1940, or, Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, France and the Nazi Threat, Preface and Chapters I-IV, or Joel Colton, Léon Blum, Humanist in Politics, [Olin Library] Chapters I-IV, or Julian Jackson, The French Popular Front: Defending Democracy, parts 1

and 2

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Moodle documents: Located with materials for class of February 21: Program of the Popular Front, January 1936 Jacques Doriot, “The France that We Want”

February 14. HITLER'S REOCCUPATION OF THE RHINELAND, MARCH 1936. Report and discussion topic: "When Hitler sent troops into the

Rhineland, the French authorities had no option save to deferto the British. The British, for their part, had no policy."

Reading:Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, France and the Nazi Threat, Chapters V-IX, andIan Kershaw, Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis, “1936: Hitler Triumphant,” andGerhard Weinberg, Hitler’s Foreign Policy, 1933-1939, Chapters 1, 2, 7-10, andA.J. P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, Chapter VI

and read documents:British diplomatic documents [Packet]

Edmond to Foreign Office, 3/4/36 Vansittart conversation with Corbin, 3/13/36 Vansittart conversation with Massigli, 3/14/36 G. Clerk telegram to Eden, 3/15/36 Eden to G. Clerk, 3/15/36 Beaumont-Nesbitt to G. Clerk, 3/14/36 Eden to G. Clerk, 3/16/36 Lord Cranborne’s memorandum to Eden, undated, pages 156-158 Phipps to Eden, 3/18/36 G. Clerk to Eden, 3/18/36 Eden to G. Clerk, 3/18/36 G. Clerk to Eden, 3/19/36 G. Clerk to Eden, 3/28/36

German diplomatic documents [Packet] Forster to Berlin, 3/9/36 Hoesch to Berlin, 3/13/36

Forster to Berlin, 3/13/36 Forster to Berlin, 3/19/36 Forster to Berlin, 4/9/36

Moodle Documents: Policy Memorandum of the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, 3/8/36 P-E Flandin’s meeting with representatives of Locarno powers,

3/10/36 Report of a meeting of the Haut Comité Militaire" "French military leaders discuss Germany's reoccupation of the

Rhineland, 8

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March 1936" "André François-Poncet on the Franco-Soviet Pact 3/25/36 The Quai d'Orsay takes stock of France's alliances 6/30/36

February 21. NON-INTERVENTION IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR.

Report and discussion topic: "France, led by men of the Left,wandered down the road to appeasement, following reluctantleaders who knew in their hearts that non-intervention wasdangerous. The French statesmen who feared war over aid to the Spanish Republic were frightened by hobgoblins out oftheir own imagination."

Reading:Julian Jackson, The French Popular Front: Defending Democracy, part 3,

orJoel Colton, Leon Blum, [Olin Library] chapters V-VIII, andJean-Baptiste Duroselle, France and the Nazi Threat, Chapter X, andEugene Weber, The Hollow Years, Chapter VI, andGerhard Weinberg, The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany, chapters 11

and 12and read documents:

British diplomatic documents [Packet] G. Clerk to the Foreign Office, 8/7/36 G. Clerk to the Foreign Office, 8/8/36 G. Clerk to the Foreign Office, 8/11/36 Thomas to Cadogan, 8/11/36 Minute by Sargent, 8/12/36 Eden to G. Clerk, 8/24/36

German diplomatic documents [Packet]

Welczeck to the Foreign Ministry, 8/6/36 Welczeck to the Foreign Ministry, 8/10/36 Welczeck to the Foreign Ministry, 8/21/36 Forster to the Foreign Ministry, 12/11/36 Welczeck to the Foreign Ministry, 12/24/36

Moodle documents concerning France in 1936 and the Spanish Civil War

Program of the Popular Front, January 1936 Jacques Doriot, “The France that We Want” Léon Blum, Speech at Luna Park, August 1936

The American Ambassador in France on the reasons why the Blum government refuses to supply arms to the Spanish Republic, 27 July 1936"

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“Sir George Clerk warns Yvon Delbos of the dangers of French intervention in the Spanish Civil War" Manifesto by General Francisco Franco, 7/17/36 General Millán Astray, “Long Live Death”

February 28. FROM VIENNA TO MUNICH: HITLER AND CHAMBERLAIN IN 1938.

Report and discussion topic: "Our policy is not one of dividing Europe into opposing blocs of countries,

each arming against the other amidst a growing flood of ill-will on both sides, which can end only in war. That seems to us to be a policy which is dangerous and stupid."

-- Neville Chamberlain. "It is my unalterable decision to smash Czechoslovakia by military action in the near future. It is the business of the political leadership to await or bring about the suitable moment from a political and military point of view.”– A. Hitler, May 30, 1938

Reading: [For February 28 and March 21]

Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, France and the Nazi Threat, Chapters XI and XII, and

Neville Chamberlain, In Search of Peace, andA.J. P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, Chapters VII and VIII,

andGerhard Weinberg, The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany, Chapters 23-

25, or Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis, Chapter 2, or P. M. H. Bell, The Origins of the Second World War in Europe, chapter 14

and read Moodle documents for February 28: "The Hossbach Memorandum," November 10, 1937 Neville Chamberlain, speech to the House of Commons, March 24, 1938 Hitler’s Instructions to Henlein, March 28, 1938 "Halifax to Nevile Henderson in Berlin, May 21, 1938 "Halifax to Phipps in Paris, May 22, 1938 "Hitler's directive for “Operation Green,” May 30, 1938 "Halifax to Newton in Prague, July 18, 1938 Nevile Henderson to Halifax, August 22, 1938

March 21. Munich

“The settlement at Munich was a triumph for British policy, which had worked precisely to this end; not a triumph for Hitler, who had started with no clear intention. Nor was it merely a triumph for selfish or cynical British statesmen, indifferent to the fate of faroff peoples or calculating that Hitler might be launched into war against Soviet Russia. It was a

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triumph for all that was best and most enlightened in British life." -- A. J. P. Taylor.

Moodle documents Neville Chamberlain, radio broadcast, 9/27/38 Hitler’s speech, September 26, 1938 Neville Chamberlain, “Peace for Our Time,” 9/30/38 Speech by Neville Chamberlain after the Munich Conference The Munich Accords House of Commons by Harold Nicholson Hodgson writing about Chamberlain in 1938 Winston Churchill, Speech to the House of Commons

and British diplomatic documents [Packet distribution] Minutes of conversations between Hitler and Chamberlain at

Berchtesgaden, September 15, 1938 ( notes by Chamberlain and Schmidt)

Record of Anglo-French Conversations held at No. 10 Downing Street, September 18, 1938

Notes of a conversation between Hitler and Chamberlain atGodesberg, September 22, 1938

Phipps to Halifax, September 24 and 25, 1938 Note from the Czechoslovak Minister to Viscount Halifax, September 25,

1938

Record of Anglo-French conversations held at No. 10 Downing Street, September 25 and 26, 1938

Notes of a Conversation between the Prime Minister and Herr Hitler, September 30, 1938

WAR OVER POLAND, SEPTEMBER, 1939.

Discussion topic: "It is unlikely that Hitler intended the actual war against Great Britain and France which broke out in 1939. The war of 1939, far from being welcome, was the result of diplomatic blunders on both sides."Reading:

Richard Overy, 1939: Countdown to War, andA. J. P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, Chapters IX- XI, andJean-Baptiste Duroselle, France and the Nazi Threat, Chapters XIII-XV, andGerhard Weinberg, The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany, chapters 26-

29, orIan Kershaw, Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis, chapters 3-5, orP. M. H. Bell, The Origins of the Second World War in Europe, chapter 15

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and read documents [Packet]: “Daladier’s Opinions on Britain, Germany and Italy, 2/6/39 "Maxim Litvinov distrusts Britain and France," 2/19/39 "Litvinov on Bonnet, 11 April 1939" “A meeting of the military missions of Britain, France, and the Soviet

Union, Moscow, 14 August 1939 "The Obersalzberg speech, 22 August 1939" "France examines her alliance obligations to Poland, 23 August 1939" “Mussolini decides on neutrality and proposes a conference, 31 August

1939”Documents in Moodle:

Neville Chamberlain – September 1, 1939 Neville Chamberlain, letter dated September 10, 1939 Memoir by Georges Bonnet Adolf Hitler, November 23, 1939

March 28: THE FALL OF FRANCE, 1940.

Discussion topic: How would you evaluate the conclusions drawn by Marc Bloch and Eugene Weber in explanation of France’s defeat in 1940?

"The generation to which I belong has a bad conscience. From laziness and

cowardice, we let things take their course. . . . It was entirely owing to our ministries that we were ill-prepared for war. . . "--Marc Bloch

Eugene Weber writes about “the inexorable march to war of a society that was, and was not, helpless to affect its own fate. For men and women . . . are not objects of history – playthings of ideas, currents, laws that they can’t inflect. They are responsible subjects: actors who write and rewrite their script while moving from one decision to the next, or, failing to decide, resign the script to others. Each choice, each failure to make a choice commits them to a course and sets the limits of their future choices. Decisions and events are not the work of fate . . . . Not individually, but taken as a whole, the French of the 1930’s would not, and could not decide. They allowed others to forge their destiny and had to pay for this abdication.”

Reading:Marc Bloch, The Strange Defeat, andEugene Weber, The Hollow Years, Chapters IX and X, orJulian Jackson, The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion 1940, orJoel Colton, Léon Blum, Humanist in Politics, Chapters XI-XIII

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Excerpts from speeches and writings of Léon Blum, Charles Spinasse, Pierre Laval, and Philippe Pétain

____________________________________________________________________

April 4: THE ORIGINS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR: REVISIONS?

April 11: NO CLASS: PREPARATION OF RESEARCH PAPERS.

April 18: FIRST DRAFTS OF RESEARCH PAPERS.

April 25: FIRST DRAFTS OF RESEARCH PAPERS.

MAY 2: FIRST DRAFTS OF RESEARCH PAPERS.

THE FOLLOWING ARE EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS:

Pacifism in thought and action in Britain and France.

Anthony Eden, British Foreign Secretary: Facing the Dictators.Georges Bonnet, French Foreign Minister: Defender of Peace?Edouard Daladier: the "Mystery of the Bull of the Vaucluse”British Labour's Foreign Policy: Apostles of Appeasement?Studies of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. The British (or French) Press in the 1930's.Ambassadors in Berlin and Rome, e.g., Neville Henderson, AndréFrançois-Poncet.British Fascism and foreign policy.King Edward VIII (a/k/a the Duke of Windsor) and foreign policy.Winston Churchill in the 1930's

Studies of particular figures, for example:Pierre Laval in the 1930'sMarcel Déat, Robert Brasillach, and/or Jacques Doriot, French "fascists"Charles Maurras and the Action Francaise in the 1930'sMarceau Pivert and left-wing socialism in FranceAlbert Speer, Hitler's architect and Armaments MinisterPaul Reynaud, next-to-last Prime Minister of the Third French RepublicAndre Malraux and the Spanish Civil WarYvon Delbos, French Foreign Minister, 1936-1938 Charles de Gaulle and French war preparations

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Labor unions in France and foreign policyFrench military planningItaly as a factor in international relations.The Vatican in European diplomacy The Spanish Civil War as a "prelude to World War II".French Communism and the Soviet Union.Various key pacts, such as the Franco-Soviet Pact of 1935 or the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939.Ideology and foreign policy: the cases of Germany, Britain, and the USSR.

STUDENTS HAVE CHOSEN THESE TOPICS PREVIOUSLY : The crisis over Poland in 1939.Communism and the French Press.Great Britain and the Spanish Civil War.The Pacifism of Léon Blum.Non-Intervention in the Spanish Civil War: France and Italy.Pacifism in Great Britain.The French Communist Party and the Soviet Union.Hitler and Czechoslovakia.Churchill in the 1930's.Chamberlain's motives.

Léon Blum as Political Leader and Statesman.British Military Thinking and British Foreign Policy.The Roots of the Vichy Regime.Stalin's Foreign Policy in the 1930's.The Nazi-Soviet Pact.Italy and Great Britain: The Breakdown of the Relationship.Spanish Neutrality in World War II.Antisemitism in France and Britain.Mussolini.The Nazi Economic Recovery in the 1930's.British Rearmament and Foreign Policy.Chamberlain and Munich.Charles Maurras in the 1930's.German Rearmament.British Intelligence Services and Munich.The German Victory of 1940.The Sudeten Question.Soviet Foreign Policy in the 1930's.Economic Developments: France in the early 1930’sVon Neurath and German DiplomacyMussolini, Hitler, and Spain

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Daladier, Chamberlain, and CzechoslovakiaMussolini and Hitler: the RelationshipFrench Communism, 1932-1936French Fascism, 1934-1936The British Foreign Ministry: the ProfessionalsPoland, 1938-1939The Nazi-Japanese AllianceComparative RearmamentNeville ChamberlainNon-Intervention in the Spanish Civil WarIntervention in the Spanish Civil WarHungary in International Affairs in the 1930sWinston ChurchillThe Spanish Civil WarThe German Military and Hitler’s PlansBenes, France, and Britain Churchill in the 1930sThe Hitler-Mussolini RelationshipThe Formation of the French Popular FrontHitler’s SymbolsPolicies of AppeasementThe Nazi-Soviet PactVansittart and the British Foreign Office

Mussolini and HitlerAmbassador Joseph KennedyTeachers and Pacifism in FranceThe German-Japanese AllianceVon Neurath and the German Foreign MinistryHitler’s Invasion of the Soviet UnionManual Azaña and the Spanish RepublicBritish Perspectives on the USSRHitler and the AnschlussSpanish Neutrality during World War IIChamberlain and ChurchillThe Fall of France 1940Chamberlain and Hitler 1938Planning Hitler’s Invasion of PolandGeorges Bonnet, French Foreign Minister 1938Stalin and the Spanish Civil WarChurchill's Naval StrategyJournalism and the Spanish Civil WarFrench Film and the Popular Front

HISTORY 158, APPEASEMENT, SPRING, 2011 -12-British Labour and AppeasementHungary in the 1930sMussolini and the Spanish Civil WarMussolini and HitlerHitler's Invasion of Poland, 1939Lord Halifax, 1937/1938French AlliancesThe Vatican and Hitler French Views of DisasterChamberlain and ChurchillChamberlain and EdenBritish FascismEdward BenesStalin and HitlerHitler's Propaganda