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B: Appeasement and public opinion: documents
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B: Appeasement and public opinion
Follow the links to these documents, then return to this page for our question section.
- Document A: A. D. Lindsay's election address
- Document B: Quintin Hogg's election address
- Document C(1): Letter to Quintin Hogg from Elizabeth Whitley
- Document C(2): Reply from Quintin Hogg to Elizabeth Whitley
- Document D: Letter to Quintin Hogg from Arthur Pillans Laurie
- Document E: Letter to Quintin Hogg from Jimmy Langle
- Document F: Extract from the Daily Mail
- Document G: Extract from the Daily Mirror
- Document H: Letter to Quintin Hogg from Sir Denys Page
Tasks
1. Having looked at the documents in this unit, which ones can be used to support any of the following statements? Can any of them be conclusively demonstrated or disproved by the evidence in this unit? You should refer to specific documents to support your answer.- Oxford is an inherently unreliable indicator of the mood of the British public in the 1930s
- Baldwin and Chamberlain took careful note of public opinion in conducting foreign policy
- Opposition to Chamberlain was weak and divided
- Chamberlain's policy of appeasement was sound and sensible
2. Looking at the evidence in this unit:
- How useful is the Peace Ballot as evidence of public support for appeasement?
- List the main reasons why Hogg won the Oxford by-election
- How important were feelings of a) patriotism and b) internationalism in determining public attitudes towards appeasement?
3. Reflect and discuss
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of votes and elections as a guide to public opinion?
- To what extent should historians be influenced that people at the time gave to particular events like the Oxford votes?
- What importance should a historian give to public opinion in reaching a judgement about the policy of appeasement as a whole?