A. J. P. Taylor and his critics in Great Britain

Résumé ou Introduction

A.J.P. Taylor’s The Origins of the Second World War and his
critics in Great Britain
In 1961 A.J.P. Taylor, described as “an enfant terrible among historians” 1 by Ian F. D.
Morrow, discombobulated peer historians with his publication The Origins of the Second
World War. In this book Taylor disputed the orthodox school of war historiography. Taylor's
thesis of the origins of the Second World War has received some support, but primarily
critique. His thesis may be briefly stated. According to Taylor, Hitler was not a demonic
warlord, who had plans of world conquest but was only an ordinary man “who was no more
wicked and unscrupulous than many other contemporary statesman” . Hitler followed a
foreign policy like “that of his predecessors, of the professional diplomats at the foreign
ministry, and indeed of virtually all Germans”. Adolf Hitler was not a “a system-maker,
deliberately preparing from the first a great war which would destroy existing civilisation and make
him master of the world” Hitler's purpose was to liberate Germany from the Treaty of
Versailles that “lacked moral validity from the start” and “to make Germany the leading
Power in Europe from her natural weight.” In fulfilling his goals, Hitler was supported by
appeasers such as Neville and Chamberlain, who believed that Hitler would become pacific if
his demands were met. Hence, all Hitler had to do was waiting for concessions. Taylor
presents Hitler as a passive Fuehrer, without clear intentions. Regarding Danzig and Poland,
Hitler didn't intend its destruction. On the contrary “he had wished to solve the question of
Danzig so that Germany and Poland could remain on good terms.”

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