The Anschluss: the British Response to the Refugee Crisis

Abstract

This article, based on research at MA level, examines the period between March 1938 – marking the Anschluss – and the Evian conference in July 1938, in terms of British responses to the plight of Jewish refugees. It was a period that saw the withdrawal by the Jewish community of the declaration made in 1933 that no Jewish refugee would become a burden on the state in the face of the escalating refugee crisis. The article charts the emergence of Realpolitik in British refugee policy, examining the introduction of entry visas and the motives behind the British government’s desire to restrict immigration.