Lloyd George and the Appeasement of Germany, 1919-1945

Book excerpt: This book examines Lloyd George’s attitudes to Germany during the inter-war period and beyond. As Prime Minister until October 1922 and a leading player in the shaping of postwar Europe, Lloyd George maintained an active critical interest in Britain’s European policy almost until his death in 1945. After a brief survey of his role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the book considers Lloyd George’s policy towards Germany during the rest of his premiership. It then examines his interventions across the remaining inter-war years, concluding with an evaluation of his advocacy of a compromise peace with Hitler during World War Two. In 1941 Churchill likened Lloyd George’s attitude to Germany to that of Marshal Pétain. The evidence in some ways vindicates that comparison. It shows that, after 1918, Lloyd George supported appeasement on most issues involving Germany—even during Hitler’s chancellorship, and even after World War Two began. His belief that Germany had just grievances, his suspicion of French motives, his admiration for Hitler and his growing conviction that Germany had been treated unfairly at Versailles, led him to see her as a long-suffering under-dog. The book also sheds light on the evolution of the appeasement policies of successive British governments throughout the inter-war period; and, by comparing Lloyd George’s views with those of contemporary leaders and opinion-formers, it highlights ideas for alternatives to appeasement as conceived at the time rather than by historians in hindsight.