The Specter of Munich: Reconsidering the Lessons of Appeasing Hitler

Record, Jeffrey

ISBN 10: 1597970395 / ISBN 13: 9781597970396

Published by Potomac Books Inc, Herndon, Virginia, U.S.A., 2006

About this Item

Critics of diplomatic approaches to maintaining international peace often point to the "specter of Munich" to warn that appeasement does not appease aggressive dictators. This book challenges the thesis that appeasement is responsible for Hitler's aggressive policy, offering the view that Hitler could not be appeased and he could not be deterred. Sees other lessons to be drawn from British and French diplomacy of the interwar years, while rejecting the standard view of the Munich Pact. Notes, Bibliography, Index. Published @ $24.95.

Seller Inventory # 015870

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Specter of Munich: Reconsidering the Lessons of Appeasing Hitler
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc, Herndon, Virginia, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1597970395
• ISBN 13: 9781597970396
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Europe History

About this title

Synopsis

No historical event has exerted more influence on America’s post–World War II use of military force than the Anglo-French appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Informed by the supposed grand lesson of Munich–namely, that capitulating to the demands of aggressive dictatorships invites further aggression and makes inevitable a larger war–American presidents from Harry Truman through George W. Bush have relied on the Munich analogy not only to interpret perceived security threats but also to mobilize public opinion for military action.

In The Specter of Munich, noted defense analyst Jeffrey Record takes an unconventional look at a disastrous chapter in Western diplomatic history. After identifying the complex considerations behind the Anglo-French appeasement of Hitler and the reasons for the policy’s failure, Record disputes the stock thesis that unchecked aggression always invites further aggression. He proceeds to identify other lessons of the 1930s more relevant to meeting today’s U.S. foreign policy and security challenges. Among those lessons are the severe penalties that foreign policy miscalculation can incur, the constraints of public opinion in a modern democracy, and the virtue of consistency in threatening and using force.

The Specter of Munich concludes that though today’s global political, military, and economic environment differs considerably from that of the 1930s, the United States is making some of the same strategic mistakes in its war on terrorism that the British and French made in their attempts to protect themselves against Nazi Germany. Not the least of these mistakes is the continued reliance on the

About the Author

Jeffrey Record is a professor of strategy and international security at the Air War College and is the author of numerous books, including Making War, Thinking History: Munich, Vietnam, and Presidential Uses of Force from Korea to Kosovo. He also has extensive Capitol Hill experience, having served as a professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He lives in Montgomery, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia.