Appeasement is easier to criticise as an abstract concept than a concrete reality. Faced with a case study in decision-making and freed from the ‘enormous condescension of posterity’, students are confronted with the stark realities of power.  If the job of the historian is to understand the peoples of the past better than they understood themselves, then the job of a role-play is to try and recapture the difficulties faced by those without the advantage of hindsight.

Above are the key members of the British Cabinet at the time of the Abyssinian Crisis. These are the men who were faced with the difficult decision of how to respond to Mussolini’s invasion. At the end of the Second World War they were condemned as the ‘Guilty Men’, responsible through their policy of appeasement, for the failure of Britain to stand up to the dictators.

It is the 5th October 1935. The Prime Minister has called an emergency meeting of Cabinet to deal with the question of Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia two days previously. Each of his Ministers has been briefed by their department and are ready to report back to the PM. At the end of the meeting the PM will sum up what will be the government’s response.

The class will be divided into groups of four or five. (Four if the teacher plays the role of PM.) Each student is to research the attitude of their allocated Cabinet minister and his department of state and prepare their 'brief' for the emergency meeting. There are questions to guide you but these should not limit your research. Tradition dictates that the Prime Minister will call on the Foreign Secretary to speak first but after that discussion should be improvised under the guidance of the PM. When everyone has had their say, it is the job of the PM to summarise the views of the meeting and reach a conclusion that all members of the Cabinet will defend together in public. This is called 'collective responsibility'. The motivation behind collective political decision-making is multiple and complex. It is no longer enough to castigate the British Cabinet for their failure to respond adequately to the moral outrage of Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia. The Second World War is not inevitable in 1935 and Abyssinia is not a first step towards anything.

Click on your allocated character to begin your research.

Videos of previous role-plays
Print friendly versions: Activity outline, Minister briefing notes, Prime Minister notes. and Prime Minister questions