In the spring of 1940, Nazi Germany launched its devastating campaign into Western Europe. Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France all fell in quick succession. German forces also developed plans for Operation Sea Lion – an invasion of the British Isles. For a short while, the future of Britain, and of the Allied war effort at large, was on a knife-edge. Had Britain surrendered, or been occupied, the consequences would have been enormous.
How strong was the political and public support for making peace with Adolf Hitler during 1939-40?
During the 1930s, the appeasement of Hitler enjoyed extensive public support in Britain. However, following the Nazi invasion of the Czechoslovak rump state in March 1939, and then Poland in September, the British public generally recognised that Germany could only be stopped by force and began to face the grim prospect of another European war.
This attitude was badly shaken by the rapid German advances and the impending defeat of France in
