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How did Western democracies respond to the Axis powers' aggression in the 1930s?
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Western democracies initially responded to Axis aggression in the 1930s with appeasement, allowing Nazi Germany's territorial expansions to avoid another world war. Britain and France, fearing communism more than fascism, hoped appeasement would stabilize Hitler. The U.S. adopted isolationism, while Sweden and Switzerland remained neutral. However, after Germany's annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, Britain and France pledged to support Polish independence, realizing too late that appeasement failed to prevent war.
The most powerful Western European democracies, Great Britain and France, responded to Axis aggression with a policy of appeasement. This meant they did not interfere militarily with Nazi land grabs, hoping that if they gave Hitler what he wanted, they could avoid another devastating world war. It should also be noted that Great Britain and France were made anxious by the Russian Revolution and the potential spread of communism across the European continent. They wanted a strong Germany as a bulwark against the Soviet Union. In other words, during the mid-1930s, they feared communism more than fascism. Some in France and Great Britain, such as Neville Chamberlain, also still believed Hitler, if given what he wanted, would "settle down" and behave like a normal head of state.
Other Western democracies, such as Sweden and Switzerland, opted for neutrality, vowing to stay out of any war. The United States had retreated...
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into isolationism, despite being the rising world power. The US wanted Europe to handle its own problems, a policy that became increasingly impossible as time went on.
The Western democracies discovered too late that they had made a mistake in not stopping Hitler when it would have been easy to do so. He was bent on world domination and was not going to embrace peaceful coexistence with other states. They ended up fighting a world war they had hoped to avoid.
As the power of Germany and Italy expanded, both countries became bolder. Soon, they began making aggressive moves into other countries. In March of 1938, Germany annexed Austria with little response from the west. Encouraged by the lack of ire his move invoked, Hitler moved on the Sudentenland. This time, he was guaranteed no opposition if he stopped taking territory. This deal was struck with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, which the Prime Minster proudly concluded guaranteed “peace in our time”. Hitler of course continued his moves across Czechoslovakia eventually taking it over as well.
Alarmed that Hitler was making threats towards Poland, France and Britain guaranteed their support for Polish independence while Germany and Italy formalized their own Pact of Steel.