The Czech Example

In class, we discussed that France and England's refusal to come to the assistance of Czechoslovakia when Hitler was going to occupy parts of it is a good example of realist theory, but if one considers the event from another angle then it could be argued that this same event actually goes against realist theory. Hitler was threatening to disrupt the balance of power in the continent of Europe in an aggressive and obvious way, but due to economic domestic problems and the memories of the World War I, the most powerful states in the continent chose appeasement and thus allowed Germany to expand to the powerful force that it would soon come to be. France and England were more concerned with internal problems than the problem of maintaining their position in the world.