Deadbeat France--The U.S. was never repaid for saving the French in World War I.

well. appeasement is to toss him a victim, and say take no more. thus when appeasement 'failed', with the invasion of poland, war ensued.

Can you name an example of when appeasement has worked, where the line wasn't subsequently violated? At least you know where you stand with a neutral. You never know when an appeaser will chuck you out of the lifeboat.

see this is what i don't get. a neutral nation sticks to its principles allright. and so does an appeaser.

No, it doesn't. An appeaser abrogates its treaties until threatened. If they cannot be depended upon to fufill their defense treaty obligations, why sign them in the first place?

its just that an appeaser will actually help you eventually.

Maybe, maybe not. It's not something you can depend on. Like France's support in the UN, you never know if the appeaser will be there when the chips are down.

Better to know you are in it alone then to rely on "allies" like France. Maybe they'll help; maybe they'll appease the radical muslim terrorists by cutting your feet out from under you. At least you know where you stand with Switzerland.

The former Allied Powers of WW1 repeatedly let Germany violate the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, until it was too late to stop the blitz of Poland.

They drew the line at the Sudetanland; Germany crossed it. They drew the line at the Spanish Civil War; Germany crossed it. They drew the line at the Anschluss (sp?) of Austria; Germany crossed it.

The lines drawn by appeasers are worthless.

i'll say the line was drawn at poland.

Poland was years too late.

and it is quite interesting to in the same thread hear arguments that the versailles treaty is blameworthy both for its overbearingness and that it wasn't enforced.

Strange, but true. Nothing is simple. As I wrote earlier on this tread, I feel that the military constraints of Versailles should have been vigorously enforced, and the monetary reparations moderated, instead of visa-versa. Rather like our post-WW2 policy vis-a-vis Japan and the Marshall Plan.

but one bone to pick: nobody drew a line against fascist spain. it was truly a moment of western weakness, including not only the lack of support by all of the west to the democratic forces, but also the active support of some people in the west (like henry ford) for the fascist forces.

The West sat out the Spanish war largely because it was a case of neither side being PC: Commies vs Fascists. There were no "democratic" forces. But it was still the testing ground for a Nazi war machine that should never have been allowed to be built under the terms of Versailles.

If you want to think of something scary, though, imagine a Cold War era with a Communist Bloc Spain.

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