1a) This source is useful as evidence about Hitler's foreign policy because it shows us his motivations for wanting to embark on an expansionistic policy. According to Source A: Hitler claims that the aims of our foreign policy are not unlimited. They are based only on a determination to save the German people." Hitler claimed that his actions were motivated by a desire to free the Germans in Czechoslovakia from child mortality and unemployment. Although Hitler does not give evidence that the ethnic Germans were mistreated, it is true that he wanted to unite all the Germanic people in Europe into a Greater Germany. This is reflected in Source A and as such it is useful in telling us his motivations. However, Hitler's claim that he only wanted the Sudetenland does not reveal his true intention. Even back in 1924 when he wrote Mein Kampf, Hitler had advocated attacking other countries to provide lebsensraum (living space) for the Germans. As such, his claim to want peace and assurance about the Sudentenland being "the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe" is dubious.
b) Rothermore wrote this letter to tell Churchill to desist from public criticism of Chamberlain. According to Rothermore, "Chamberlain is Prime Minister and the leader of the Party to which you too belong. Any member of his Party who criticises runs the risk of making themselves very unpopular with the people of the country." In other words, Rothermore feels that Churchill's approach would be bad for him (Churchill) and as such he should stop. Rothermore also suggests that he finds appeasement distatseful, for he wrote: "I always knew the public had no desire to stand up to the Dictators and I always knew that when it came to choosing between peace or war ninety-five per cent of the electors would rally to the peace policy, however humiliating such a policy might be." However, he feels that Churchill was being imprudent in his criticism of Chamberlain and does not want Churchill to be harmed politically. "If you became so unpopular that you lost your seat and were no longer in Parliament, it would be a loss to the nation."
c) Source D proves that Chamberlain's sympathy for Czechoslovakia, as expressed in Source D, was hollow and futile. In Source C, Chamberlain said: "There is also a deep feeling of sympathy for the Czechs, a small and gallant nation, in the hour of their national grief and loss. But I have done nothing to be ashamed of." However, Source D proves that such sympathy was wrong in the sense that it was rebuffed by the Czechs. Source D quoted a Czech perspective: "‘It sounds like a mockery,’ wrote a Czech newspaper, ‘when the British Prime Minister declares that Czechoslovakia was saved from disaster. It is as though one should say after cutting off a man’s arms and legs that he has been saved from death. This sort of logic is incomprehensible.’
However Source D does not disprove that Source C's claim that the Munich Agreement had averted war in Europe. This is because in November 1938 when Source D was written, the writer could not have known that Hitler would overturn the Munich Agreement in March 1939. Also, the source is from a pamphlet produced by the leading Opposition party in Britain and is bound to oppose Chamberlain's policy of appeasement. As such, the source is loaded with partisan bias and cannot be seen as a reliable proof.
d) The cartoonist would not have approved of Chamberlain's policy of appeasement. The cartoon shows Hitler standing with a sign which says "The All Germans Everywhere Are Mine Idea". This is a mockery of Hiter's self-proclaimed desire to save ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland. The cartoon also shows many hooded figures carrying signs such as "Polish-German Crisis", "Hungarian-German Crisis", "Rumanian-German Crisis", etc. This suggests that if Hitler is appeased, he would go on making the case that he had a duty to save Germans in other countries and this would escalate war in Europe. The cartoonist is David Low, who was a well-known critic of Hitler. As such, his cartoon was drawn to persuade public opinion in Britain that appeasing Hitler would only embolden him to create more crisis in Europe.
e) Source A agrees with the statement. Hitler said: "I am grateful to Mr Chamberlain for his efforts. I assure him that the German people wish only for peace." This was a reference to Chamberlain's resort to diplomacy, which was an extension of his policy of appeasement.
Source B does not approve of appeasement. In his letter, Rothermore described the policy as "humiliating" but it had to be followed for political reasons because "...the public had no desire to stand up to the Dictators and I always knew that when it came to choosing between peace or war ninety-five per cent of the electors would rally to the peace policy."
Source C agrees with the statement. Chamberlain believed that "through discussion instead of by force of arms.", the European powers (mainly Britain and Germany) have "averted a catastrophe which would have ended civilisation as we have known it." Chamberlain was the chief proponent of the appeasement policy and it was only natural and self-serving that he would agree with it.
Source D does not agree with the statement. The sources believes that Hitler's assurances that he would not pursue further territorial expansion are "utterly worthless." The writer also believes that if frontiers of European countries can be changed "whenever the Nazi Party, by propaganda and threat of war, has caused disturbance in another country, there is not a state in Europe that is secure." This source sees appeasement as bringing about danger to Europe instead of peace.
Source E does not agree with the statement. The source shows Hitler holding a banner which says: "All Germans everywhere are mine." The cartoon also shows phantoms holding signs referring to "Polish-German Crisis", "Hungarian-German Crisis", etc. The cartoonist is suggesting that Hitler would use the issue of ethnic Germans to provoke future crisis. The cartoon is a satirical source mocking appeasement for bringing about more problems than solutions.
Of all the sources, the first source is the least reliable because Hitler was making a speech which was completely contrary to his true intention of creating a Greater Germany (uniting German people outside of Germany's border) and lebensraum by attacking other frontiers. The words: It (the Sudetenland) is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe. The aims of our foreign policy are not unlimited." are inconsistent with Hitler's ultranationalist and militant ideology and as such it is not a reliable source.
Answers written by Lee Yue Heng, w/o relying on ChatGPT