Page 72 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

The British Diplomats 59

although the Peace Pledge Union’s central concern was the avoidance
of war, it often resorted to controversial political arguments to bolster its
case for pacifism. For example, it expressed sympathy for the plight of Ger-
many after it lost the war in 1918, in particular its loss of territory in europe
and africa. One of the Union’s pamphlets urged Britain “to win German
friendship by surrendering african territories taken from Germany at the
end of World War i.” this is not to suggest that the pacifists looked with
favor on Nazi ideology, but in their eagerness to prevent a military clash
with Germany, they at times went so far as to overlook the most distasteful
aspects of Nazism, such as the persecution of the Jews. they also took at
face value the frequent pronouncements by Hitler that he was determined
to avoid war. 108
sheppard’s plan for the organization of a peace movement was simple
and amazingly successful. On October 16, 1934, he placed a “peace letter”
in three daily newspapers asking readers who agreed with his views to send
him a postcard indicating their support. He received so many cards—eighty
thousand in one year—that he moved to a more ambitious plan, to conduct
what might be called a referendum on the kind of foreign policy the gov-
ernment should adopt. during an eight-month period, from November
1934 through June 1935, close to 11.2 million citizens of Great Britain and
Northern ireland (roughly 40 percent of the eligible voters) took part in
the National Peace Ballot. although controversy surrounded the wording
of the questions on the ballot, the results revealed that an overwhelming
majority of the participants (over 90 percent) favored “all-round reduction
of armaments by international agreement” and that about 87 percent of the
signatories favored “economic and non-military measures” against nations
committing aggression. When asked whether they favored military action if
that became necessary, slightly over 50 percent voted in the affirmative, but
the pacifists, zealous in their pursuit of their goals, ignored this particular
result and vigorously campaigned for the adoption of their policy, avoid-
ance of war under all circumstances. 109
to what extent Foreign Minister simon was influenced by this wide-
spread rejection of a forceful foreign policy is not known. But it is known
that despite the fiery language of his memorandum of May 17 and his en-
dorsement of temperley’s even stronger denunciation of Nazism, he fa-
vored negotiations with Hitler in the hope of signing an “air-Pact” with
Germany to outlaw, in the event of war, the bombing of areas outside the
battle zones and the conclusion of agreements that would place limitations
on the size of the navies of both Germany and Britain. eden believed that