Legitimacy in the Balance : Hitler’s Rhetoric and British Foreign Policy, 1933-1938

In this essay, I develop an alternative explanation of British policy in the 1930s. I argue that it was Hitler's legitimation strategies that undercut British balancing, and led to a policy of appeasement. As Hitler mounted his program of expansion and aggression, he justified Germany's actions by appealed to shared norms of collective security, equality, and self-determination. While these legitimation strategies never convinced the British that Germany was a status quo or peaceful power, they nevertheless countered potential balancing efforts, and allowed for Germany's unopposed rise in European politics