This memory aid covers Memory Aid within Appeasement for GCSE History. Revise Appeasement in Conflict and Tension 1918-1939 for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic appears less often, but it can still be a useful differentiator on mixed-topic papers. It is section 13 of 16 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.
🧠 Memory Aid
Reasons FOR appeasement — "FUBFC":
- Fear of war (WW1 memories, public opinion, Peace Ballot)
- Unready militarily (rearmament only started 1936, RAF weak)
- Believed Versailles was unjust (Hitler seemed to be correcting grievances)
- Feared Communism (Hitler as bulwark against USSR)
- Couldn't rely on allies (USA isolationist, France weak, USSR distrusted)
Reasons AGAINST appeasement — "EMBM":
- Encouraged Hitler — each success made him bolder
- Made Germany stronger — gained industry, resources, fortifications
- Betrayed Czechoslovakia — not even consulted at Munich
- Missed chances — Rhineland (1936) was the best moment to stop Hitler cheaply: only 22,000 German troops with retreat orders vs ~250,000 French
The key quote to learn: Chamberlain, September 1938: "Peace for our time" — six months later, Hitler seized all of Czechoslovakia.
Practice questions for Appeasement
What is the term for the policy of giving in to Hitler's demands in order to avoid war?
At the Munich Conference in September 1938, Britain and France agreed to give which territory to Germany?