StMU Research Scholars

Featuring Scholarly Research, Writing, and Media at St. Mary’s University

March 23, 2018

The Treaty That Never Was: Prospects of Peace with the Nazi Regime

Winston Churchill assumed the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 10 May 1940, just one day after Adolf Hitler marched his German forces into Denmark.1 What followed was a month of brutal bloodshed and agonizing uncertainty throughout the European continent. During this time, Churchill would find his nation on the brink of destruction, Hitler would see victory within his grasp, and a little known historical figure named Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax would beseech his new Prime Minister to seek peace with the Nazi regime.2

Before Churchill took the job, Britain’s Prime Minister was a man named Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain’s answer to the growing Nazi threat was the path of appeasement. He was not willing to throw his country into conflict so soon after World War I, and so he placated Hitler rather than openly opposing him. One of the most famous examples of this appeasement was the Munich Agreement. This pact, signed by France, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain in an effort to preserve peace on the European continent, effectively forgave Hitler for invading Czechoslovakia. Signed on 29 September 1938, the Munich Agreement stipulated that Hitler would not invade anymore countries; a promise he broke six months later. Blamed for the failure that was the appeasement strategy, Chamberlain was forced to step down from his position as Prime Minister. His successor was widely expected to be none other than his Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax. Halifax declined the position. Though no one is exactly sure why, it is likely that Halifax felt that he was not suited to lead the country in time of war. 3 Therefore, the nation chose instead to turn to the man who had been the most vocal critic of appeasement: Winston Churchill. 4

Neville Chamberlain (left) shakes hand with Adolf Hitler (right) after signing the Munich Agreement | Courtesy of Spartacus-educational.com

Churchill had a daunting task before him as he took the office. Denmark had fallen, and all signs pointed to France following closely behind. One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to appoint a War Cabinet to advise him moving forward. As part of the Cabinet, Churchill appointed Neville Chamberlain as Lord President of the Council and asked Lord Halifax to keep his position as Foreign Secretary. 5 Churchill then sent the British Expeditionary Forces into France to help repel the Nazi invaders. Unfortunately, this move grossly underestimated German military capabilities, and British forces were in full retreat within a matter of weeks.

Since we know how the war ended, it is hard for us to fathom now just how dire Britain’s prospects were at the time. The Expeditionary Force was pinned on the Dunkirk Beach in France with seemingly no way of crossing the channel to get back to England. If the Germans managed to wipe out this force, which seemed imminent, Britain would have lost over 400,000 men and with them any hopes of ever stopping the Nazi conquest. In the face of utter annihilation, Churchill chose to stand firm. He ordered the commandeering of civilian boats to cross the channel and retrieve his soldiers, betting his country’s future on the long odds that these vessels could arrive before it was too late.6 Members of The War Cabinet did not share Churchill’s staunch optimism, most notable among them Lord Halifax.7 Halifax proposed a different tactic: a peace treaty with the Nazis. Halifax, being the skilled diplomat that he was, made contact Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy. Mussolini was willing to act as mediator so that Germany and the U.K. could sit down and negotiate terms for a peace agreement.8 From Halifax’s perspective this was the only way to ensure the survival of the troops trapped at Dunkirk, and the only way to save his beloved country. Though it seemed foolhardy at the time, Churchill refused to even consider peace negotiations.9  Luckily for him, and for our world, the civilian rescue mission succeeded, managing to bring most of the British troops home. Despite terrible odds, the United Kingdom lived to fight another day.

A map showing Dunkirk in Northern France, just across the Straight of Dover from the United Kingdom | Courtesy of hydrocarbons-technology.com

Assuming things had gone differently, and Churchill gave Halifax the go-ahead to broker a peace agreement, what might the treaty have looked like? The first thing to remember is, by all accounts, Britain was at the time posed to fall to German invasion. This meant that Halifax would have essentially been going to the negotiating table on his knees, making it unlikely that he could produce any favorable terms. Undoubtedly, Hitler would have used his advantageous bargaining position to get everything he wanted out of the deal. In exchange for safely getting the men out of Dunkirk,  Nazis would have demanded that they be allowed to keep their conquered claims throughout Denmark, France, and other countries. Hitler also could have insisted that Britain not get further involved in the European conflict, allowing him to march towards Russia without worrying about the possibility of an active western front. Though it is impossible to measure whether 400,000 souls are worth such demands, it is important to keep in mind what precedent this would have set had the U.K. signed a peace treaty with Germany in Munich. Hitler took advantage of the Munich Agreement and disregarded it the moment he saw a tactical opportunity. Surely, no treaty Halifax could draft would have quelled the lust for power harbored by Hitler who stopped at nothing to establish a German world order. 10

Dr. Seuss about Nazi appeasement | Courtesy of drseusspoliticalcartoons.weebly.com

All this we know thanks to well preserved historic records and the many biographies written since the war. We know that Churchill’s plan to resist at all costs did indeed pay off in the long run. But, looking at the events of the month of May 1940 through the eyes of the 1st Earl of Halifax, couldn’t one have concluded that the only hope for the United Kingdom was a final attempt at appeasement?

 

  1. Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1948).
  2. Chris Hasting, “Lord Halifax tried to negotiate peace with the Nazis.” The Telegraph (August 30, 2008).
  3. Andrew Roberts, The holy fox: a life of Lord Halifax (London: Papermac, 1992).
  4. Ian Kershaw, Fateful choices: ten decisions that changed the world, 1940-1941 (London: Penguin Books, 2008).
  5. Churchill, Winston. The Gathering Storm. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1948), and Andrew Roberts, The holy fox: a life of Lord Halifax (London: Papermac, 1992).
  6. Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1948).
  7. Andrew Roberts, The holy fox: a life of Lord Halifax (London: Papermac, 1992).
  8. Andrew Roberts, The holy fox: a life of Lord Halifax (London: Papermac, 1992).
  9. Ian Kershaw, Fateful choices: ten decisions that changed the world, 1940-1941, (London: Penguin Books, 2008).
  10. Arnold A Offner, “Appeasement Revisited: The United States, Great Britain, and Germany, 1933-1940.” The Journal of American History 64, no. 2 (1977): 373-93.

Tags from the story

1940

Churchill

Dunkirk

Hitler

Lord Halifax

Treaty of Munich

United Kingdom

Recent Comments

Natalie Childs

This was a really good article. I liked that the author took the stance of ‘what if,’ because it gave something for the reader to ponder at the end of the article. With that said, I had never realized that this had even ever been an option, considering the devastating consequences that it may have allowed to occur. Finally, I really liked the inclusion of the Dr. Suess political cartoon, because it definitely drives home just what the negotiations of this treaty would have been.

reply

24/03/2018

12:42 am

Julio Morales

I never knew that Germany and Great Britain were this close to signing a peace treaty, so good job on selecting a topic in which not many people know about. This article informed me very well, I just wish the reason why Lord Halifax would not accept the Prime minister position was known. If he had accepted the position, the war could have gone a totally different way. Since his belief was to make peace instead of confronting the Germans. Germany would have violated any treaty just like they violated the Munich agreement. I think Churchill did a good job of not backing down and confronting the Germans despite the risk of losing his men.

reply

24/03/2018

12:42 am

Tyler Thompson

This article was very informative, it was an interesting strategy to have a question at the end, but I don’t think Halifax’s thinking was wrong since Hitler did not abide by the Munich agreement. Luckily, Winston Churchill was able to successfully not give into Hitler’s plans and waited out the war before going into agreement with him again. It was a very nice article.

reply

24/03/2018

12:42 am

Iris Henderson

This was a really great article. It painted an accurate picture of how difficult political decisions can be during times of war. While one choice may seem so easy to pick the other may be the better choice for everyone involved, clearly it isn’t so cut and dry. Fortunately, Britain appointed Churchill as their Prime Minister who was against appeasing the Nazi Regime, leading them to victory in the end.

reply

25/03/2018

12:42 am

Peter Coons

The debacle at Dunkirk for the British really outlined just how unprepared the world was for the new and improved German war machine. With the Blitzkrieg in Europe and Rommel taking hold of northern Africa, it seemed as if there was only one option, and that was to surrender. It is my assumption that Churchill knew that the German navy was rather weak compared to their sizeable ground forces. This is probably why Operation Dynamo was a success. With no German naval forces to harass the evacuation, the British could safely withdraw and regroup, posing a threat of a western front and hampering Hitler’s plans for Operation Barbosa. This article is a great examination of the British stance on foreign policy at the time, and begs the question of how different the world would be with the British essentially capitulating.

reply

25/03/2018

12:42 am

Michael Thomas

I found this article interesting because of how it details the failed peace agreement between Great Britain and Nazi Germany. Neville Chamberlain thought making peace with the Nazi’s would end their conquest in Europe. However, that was not the case. The Nazi’s went back to their conquest after six months. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain, he took a more aggressive approach against the Germans.

reply

25/03/2018

12:42 am

Isaac Rodriguez

I really enjoyed this article, and the image used to visualize the Munich Agreement. In my opinion, Winston Churchill was a great leader. Had he chose to not take action, the outcome of World War II may have been a lot different. I liked that the author chose to mention the “what if’s” it really helped explain the effects of his decisions.

reply

25/03/2018

12:42 am

Anthony Robledo

This was a great informative article! I jumped from an article saying Hitler was stealing art, to this article about peace between Germany and Great Britain. The imagery by Dr. Suess really bolstered the overall message of your article. Imagine the world we would be living in had the peace treaty actually happened. I feel like everything that we know would be different. Great job amd keep up the good work.

reply

25/03/2018

12:42 am

Anais Del Rio

This was a very interesting and informative article to read. Reading the process of creating a peace treaty with Nazi Germany and the thought process of the leaders seemed too real to believe and what made the section even better was mentioning the fact of Hitler agreeing to a treaty and disregarding it at an opportunity. During this age we would be thinking that it would be crazy to create peace with Nazis because of how power crazy they were but at the time there was not many options at the table the leaders could turn to.

reply

25/03/2018

12:42 am

1 3 4 5

Leave a Reply