Similarities Between Great Britain And France

What was more damaging to the interests of Great Britain and France, the remilitarization of the Rhineland or the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War?

When looking upon the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the Remilitarisation of the Rhineland through the perspective of a 1940’s British or French politician, you can see clearly how the former was to be prioritised. This was a war that had gripped a whole nation and the rapid military intervention by Germany and Italy soon meant that a seemingly civil matter, had in fact developed into full scale warfare. This ensured that the impact of the Civil War on Britain and France could not be disregarded. The matter had become a high priority within the British government, with it debated continuously …show more content…
They believed the Remilitarisation of the Rhineland would actually have little damaging effect upon British interests as long as Germany would realign its aggressive policies. In the short term the remilitarisation would cause little harm to Britain and the view was shared by the British public who simply saw the rearmament of the Rhineland as a Country simply claiming reclaiming territory of its own. This opinion in Britain had its origins from the 1920’s, because while Britain had quite significantly reduced its armed forces, France and other Eastern European Countries had refused to follow suit. Therefore their was a deeply entrenched feeling of sympathy for Germany, as while it had been made to disarm it was surrounded by Countries that had not done so. However it is clear that Britain underrated Hitler’s larger intentions and the Remilitarisation of the Rhineland actually caused Hitler to gain a great strategic location that would benefit him largely during the