“The weakness of collective security was the main reason for Chamberlain’s signing of the Munich Agreement.” Discuss.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the reasons Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement. Some may agree with the statement arguing that collective security as a policy had been weakened since the early 1930s and that nations only cooperated when it suited their own national agenda. This had been demonstrated over the Abyssinian Crisis. Other reasons could include how Britain was unwilling to back French support of Czechoslovakia because Britain feared Soviet expansion into western Europe in the wake of the Franco-Soviet Pact of 1935. Neither Britain nor France were militarily strong enough to prevent an attack on Czechoslovakia. Others may argue that Chamberlain was still committed to the policy of appeasement and he was convinced that he could avoid a war if he reached a settlement with Hitler. A third line of argument could be that Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement because he had no other option, he needed to buy time for Britain and France to prepare for war. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

The question required that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that the weakness of collective security was the main reason for Chamberlain's signing of the Munich Agreement. This was a popular question. Stronger candidates were able to argue for and against the statement successfully with detailed, relevant knowledge. Weaker candidates tended to give narrative accounts of the 1920s and 1930s with limited focus on the question.