Harold Macmillan and appeasement: implications for the future study of Macmillan as a foreign policy actor

Harold Macmillan opposed appeasement, but the precise nature of his involvement remains unclear. It is straightforward enough to note that his assessments proved to have been perceptive, and that the pro and anti-appeasement divide remained influential within the post-war Conservative Party; but his close alignment with anti-appeasement sentiment before the war has been treated with a degree of scepticism that this article believes to be wholly unfair, and which it seeks to address by arguing that, throughout the period in question, Macmillan followed a logically consistent and sincere path based upon a nuanced understanding of the situation that was intrinsically linked to the economic policy preferences for which he was better known. From this, Macmillan can be portrayed as having been a credible opponent of appeasement, which has potentially interesting implications for future studies into the post-war Conservative Party, and how he approached the Cold War as Prime Minister.