appeasement and acceptance of Adolf Hitler's various violations of the Versailles Treaty and his demands at Munich in 1938. Prime Minister of France Édouard Daladier was under no illusions about Hitler's ultimate goals and initially opposed Chamberlain's policy and told the British in a late April 1938 meeting that Hitler's real aim was to eventually secure "a domination of the Continent in comparison with which the ambitions of Napoleon were feeble.... Today it is the turn of Czechoslovakia. Tomorrow it will be the turn of Poland and Romania". However, in the end, Daladier could not stand without Chamberlain's support and let him have his way with the appeasement of Hitler at the Munich Agreement. The prime ministers of France between the World Wars were generally frightened about German intentions, as France sustained more casualties in the First World War than any other Western country, approximately 1.4 million military and 1.6 million total casualties. Accordingly, French policies towards Germany, more specifically the Nazis, were more aggressive than that of other Western nations. Relations were very poor at the time, and French leaders were also acutely aware that the population of Germany (64 million) exceeded that of France by a considerable margin (40 million), a major strategic vulnerability. The vulnerability and France's proximity to Germany caused French leaders to take a harder stance on Germany than the British. The French occupation of the Rhineland and France's desire to collect reparations, owed by Germany under the Versailles treaty to France, caused British leaders to see French leaders as pushing for war with Germany. The predecessor of Daladier, Léon Blum, was acutely aware of the dangers Germany could pose. He even considered military assistance to the Spanish government during the Spanish Civil War (the Germans were supporting the Nationalists) but reluctantly decided otherwise, as some Nationalist sympathizers in France openly threatened civil war, just like in Spain. Also, the predecessor of Chamberlain, Stanley Baldwin, and his staff, including Anthony Eden, strongly opposed any aid for fear both of communism (the Soviet Union was supporting the Republicans) and of the war escalating into another world war. In 1940, the military defeat of the French Army, after only a month, caused much disillusion across Europe. As a consequence, the image and the reputation of France as Europe's military superpower were seriously compromised, even after the war ended. Vichy France collaborated with Germany, which included anti-Jewish legislation