When do you plan to join the nazi party?

[DeistPaladin]

The failure on the British side can be simply outlined under the name Chamberline, the then Britsh primeminister who thought one can "negotiate" with nazi Germany, which was completly idiotic, Churchill never wanted to give up Czechoslovakia.

I have my own theory on Chamberlain and the real reason for "appeasement".

First, a few observations to explain why I don't quite believe that Chamberlain was as weak-kneed as history has painted:

1. In a democracy, one doesn't reach the highest office in the land by being either wimpy or overly accommodating. Whether we call the highest office "president", "prime minister" or "chancellor", clawing your way up the political ladder is often a vicious process and the ultimate goal of election to the highest office is usually only reached over top the smoking remains of the people who thought they were your friends. I therefore would be astounded if Chamberlain really did make a regular habit of giving things away to adversaries.

2. With all due respect to the English, when I think of the "English" and "negotiations" in the same thought, I usually think of velvety voices and razor sharp teeth. To the English readers, don't get me wrong, I love you guys as friends but when I'm across the negotiation table, I've learned (the hard way) to be on guard. Looking at their history, it seems if you're going to sit across the negotiation table with the English, you'd best have either a strong bargaining position or plenty of lube.

So what was Chamberlain thinking? I have an idea expressed in three words:

Bulwark against Communism.

I think Chamberlain was convinced of the old saying "my enemy's enemy is my friend" and spuriously assumed a more powerful Nazi Germany would be a strong force against Communist Russia. There was, after all, a red scare that swept through the capitalist Western nations in the 1920s as the Soviet Union went communist. And if the Czechs and Slovaks had to be sacrificed to create this bulwark, apparently he was fine with that.

Essentially, he created a Frankenstein's monster.

Who could have foreseen the alliance between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union?

It was only when Germany not only invaded Poland, but did so with an alliance with the Soviet Union, clearly showing that the whole bulwark strategy wasn't going to work, that the policy of appeasement was abandoned.

In sum, I think he was trying to create a monster that would fight the communists and the monster turned on him. Still a foolish and tragic decision but for different reasons.