Great Britain and the Third Reich: From Pacification to Confrontation

Abstract

The article presents the dynamics of Anglo-German relations in the 1930s, the distinguishing feature of which was the encouragement of the daring and aggressive initiatives of the Third Reich by Great Britain. Examining the political and diplomatic position of Great Britain, the author comes to the conclusion that it was dictated by the fact that through concessions and appeasement of Nazi political and diplomatic ambitions Hitler's foreign policy interests had to be redirected exclusively to the East, thereby securing the West from Nazi aggression. The British, based on anti-Soviet views, were guided solely by the categories of blind national egoism and opportunism; with the help of Nazi Germany, they sought to build a new world order without the USSR. In this political and diplomatic game that unfolded in the pre-war period Hitler outplayed the British. The article focuses on the transformation of the position of Nazi Germany towards Great Britain from anglophile to confrontational views, which was dictated by the understanding of the Nazi political elite that generous British concessions helped Hitler achieve tremendous diplomatic success, and therefore he no longer needed the "services" of the British. British political and diplomatic strategies of the 1930s were doomed to failure, and the result of this short-sighted policy was another world catastrophe, which could have been avoided by creating a collective security system initiated by the Soviet Union. The article analyzes the nature of political and diplomatic initiatives and maneuvers used by the British and Germans to achieve their foreign policy goals.