Answer:
In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany, and they quickly began to take aggressive actions towards their neighbors. One term often used to describe the policy of the Western powers towards Hitler's actions during this time is "appeasement." Appeasement refers to the strategy of giving in to an aggressor's demands in order to avoid conflict. Many leaders in Europe believed that this approach would prevent another devastating world war like the one that had just ended in 1918.
One example of appeasement was the Munich Agreement of 1938, which allowed Hitler to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, despite the fact that it violated previous agreements and treaties. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain believed that this concession would satisfy Hitler's territorial ambitions and prevent a war in Europe. Another example was the Anschluss, or the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, which was met with little resistance from the international community.
French and British leaders at the time, such as Chamberlain and French Premier Édouard Daladier, were eager to avoid another war and believed that appeasement was the best strategy. They were also dealing with economic and political instability at home and did not want to spend resources on another war. Additionally, many in the West were still recovering from the trauma of World War I and were hesitant to enter into another large-scale conflict.
However, others at the time, such as Winston Churchill in Britain, opposed appeasement and argued that it would only embolden Hitler to take further aggressive actions. They believed that it was necessary to confront Hitler and his expansionist agenda, even if it meant going to war.
In hindsight, it is easy to criticize the appeasement strategy as shortsighted and ultimately unsuccessful. While it did temporarily avoid conflict, it also allowed Hitler to continue his aggression, leading to the invasion of Poland in 1939 and the start of World War II. In hindsight, the Western powers should have been more proactive in confronting Hitler's aggression and challenging his territorial ambitions earlier on, possibly preventing the catastrophic loss of life and destruction that followed.