Final answer:
The appeasement policy of the British and French governments allowed Adolf Hitler to annex territories like the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, and parts of Poland, contributing to the outbreak of World War II. This strategy underestimated Hitler's ambitions and escalated his territorial aggression, leading to war when Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
Step-by-step explanation:
The policy of appeasement played a significant role in allowing Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany's territorial expansion prior to World War II. This policy, primarily executed by the British and French governments, involved conceding to Hitler's demands for territory, under the hope that these concessions would satisfy Germany and prevent another devastating war. The British and French permitted the annexation of the Sudetenland as part of the Munich Agreement, believing Hitler's assurance that he would not expand further. However, this strategy backfired, as Hitler continued to seize additional territories, such as the rest of Czechoslovakia, parts of Poland, and eventually triggered the onset of World War II when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939.
The appeasement policy underestimated Hitler's ambitions and contributed to his unchecked aggression, leading European powers and the League of Nations into a false sense of security. The Western leaders were primarily motivated by the traumatic experiences of World War I and the desire to avoid another large-scale conflict, but their lack of forceful response emboldened Hitler, who interpreted their actions as weakness or indifference. This period prior to the war was marked by a series of these concessions until the full-scale invasion of Poland could no longer be ignored, and war became inevitable.