Editing Appeasement (section)

====Remilitarisation of the Rhineland====
{{Main|Remilitarisation of the Rhineland}}
[[File:Stanley Baldwin 02.jpg|thumb|right|UK Prime Minister [[Stanley Baldwin]]]]
Under the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Versailles Settlement]], the [[Rhineland]] was [[demilitarised]]. Germany accepted that arrangement under the [[Locarno Treaties]] of 1925. Hitler claimed that it threatened Germany and, on 7 March 1936, sent the [[Wehrmacht]] into the [[Rhineland]]. He gambled on Britain not getting involved but was unsure of how France would react. The action was opposed by many of his advisers. His officers had orders to withdraw if they met French resistance. [[French Third Republic|France]] consulted Britain and lodged protests with the League but took no action. Prime Minister [[Stanley Baldwin]] said that Britain lacked the forces to back its guarantees to France and that in any case, public opinion would not allow so. In Britain, it was thought that the Germans were merely walking into "their own backyard". [[Hugh Dalton]], a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] MP who usually advocated stiff resistance to Germany, said that neither the British people nor Labour would support military or economic sanctions.<ref name=Taylor>Taylor, A.J.P., ''English History, 1914–1945'', 1965</ref> In the Council of the League, only the [[Soviet Union]] proposed sanctions against Germany. Hitler, who was invited to negotiate, proposed a [[non-aggression pact]] with the Western powers. When asked for details, he did not reply. Hitler's occupation of the Rhineland had persuaded him that the international community would not resist him, and it put Germany in a powerful strategic position.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}