. Appeasement is most often used to describe the response of British policy makers to the rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It is seen as a policy of one-sided concessions to an aggressor state, often at the expense of third parties, with nothing offered in return except promises of better behaviour in the future.
Prime minister Neville Chamberlain hoped that it would bring a quicker end to the crisis created in Europe by the Nazi clamour for revision of the Treaty of Versailles. He believed that pacification could be achieved through negotiating a general settlement that would in almost all respects replace the Treaty of Versailles, and bring Germany into satisfactory treaty relations with her neighbours.
Following the Nazis’ rise to power in 1933, Winston Churchill warned of the perils of German nationalism. But the British government ignored him and did all it could to stay out of Hitler’s way. The nation was weary of war and reluctant to get involved in international affairs again so soon.
Appeasement reached its climax in September 1938 with the Munich Agreement. Chamberlain hoped to avoid a war over Czechoslovakia by conceding to Adolf Hitler’s demands. The Agreement allowed Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland, the German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain promised it would bring “peace in our time”, but Churchill scolded him for “throwing a small state to the wolves” in exchange for a promise of peace. A year later, on 1 September 1939, Hitler broke his promise and invaded Poland. Peace was shattered. A year later, on 1 September 1939, Hitler broke his promise and invaded Poland. Peace was shattered.
