ABSTRACT
In 1933, the British Defense Requirement Committee, a subcommittee of the Committee of Imperial Defense, debated the possibilities of a future war. Germany, Japan, and Italy were seen as the most probable potential enemies. The threat potential of each, however, was perceived differently. 1 While Admiral Ernle Chatfield regarded Japan as the most dangerous threat to the British Empire, Sir Robert Vansittart, the permanent undersecretary of state, argued that it was Germany. The compromise formula of the committee, proposed by Sir Maurice Hankey, saw Japan as the greater immediate danger, but Germany as “the ultimate potential enemy.” There was unanimity that the most difficult constellation for the British Empire would arise if all the three powers were expanding simultaneously. To avoid such a crisis scenario, an appeasement policy was devised—designed to use compromise as a means of reducing the tensions of one or two potential enemies. France and the United States followed Britain’s lead in this: each also tried to avoid a war that was seen as a threat to the world economy and to domestic welfare.
