"Peace"

In her 1938 broadcast, Dorothy Thompson tells us she thinks that Germany's not-so-subtle take over of Czechoslovakia was quite appalling and should have been stopped by the governments who made the initial Treaty of Varsailles. The German's dangerous rise to power goes unchecked by England and France. Not only does Germany proceed without being stopped, but they are actually given what they want rather than being beaten back down. This was a gamble on the part of Germany's keepers. They thought Germany would stop after taking what it wanted, but instead it kept rising higher and higher until it regained its seat as a major power in the world. They believed that loosening their hold on Germany would keep it from reaching for more, but as we and Dorothy Thompson can see, they were wrong. Germany's sudden shift in power should have alerted those who could have stopped it and Germany should have been stopped dead before it could even start it's evacuation.

The so-called peace was barely a shadow. It was more an agreement not to fight over the land that the German's wanted, but instead just to give it to them and hope they don't want more. It was a risk that the other super powers in the world took without truly looking at the consequences of this seemingly minor release of power. Their "peace" was meant to loosen their hold on Germany's collar in hopes that it wouldn't bite back. This was unwise, but I don't think they could have forseen the final outcome of their actions.