54 David Thomson
now about 1936, one can argue indefinitly with “if”, the fact was that Germany debt was already paid since 1930, and as the Versailles treaty conditions were a bit severe, France felt that opposing Germany in 1936 would be too much to add into the bill, and only protested with UK, (also the non aggression alliance from the Poles and Germany of 1934, weakened their pression, seemed that Sudetednland was seen as an inner german “business” .
Besides, Leon Blum, our socialist prime minister was harvesting the benefits of the “front populaire” and had other things in mind, though he should have been worried as a Jew. None knew what was the real Hitler intentions, or just one, De Gaulle, he warned many times about what was going on in Germany, but unfortunately he wasn’t listened.
and as far as the US, they washed their hands :
“By the mid-1930s, events in Europe and Asia indicated that a new world war might soon erupt and the U.S. Congress took action to enforce U.S. neutrality. On August 31, 1935, Congress passed the first Neutrality Act prohibiting the export of “arms, ammunition, and implements of war” from the United States to foreign nations at war and requiring arms manufacturers in the United States to apply for an export license. American citizens traveling in war zones were also advised that they did so at their own risk. President Franklin D. Roosevelt originally opposed the legislation, but relented in the face of strong Congressional and public opinion. On February 29, 1936, Congress renewed the Act until May of 1937 and prohibited Americans from extending any loans to belligerent nations
The Neutrality Act of 1937 did contain one important concession to Roosevelt: belligerent nations were allowed, at the discretion of the President, to acquire any items except arms from the United States, so long as they immediately paid for such items and carried them on non-American shipsthe so-called “cash-and-carry” provision.”
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/id/99849.htm
