1938: March 13 Anschluss: Austria is annexed to the "Greater German Reich."
1938: September 30 Munich Conference: Britain and France grant Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland to Hitler to avoid war; Hitler gives Chamberlain his personal word on future cooperation (the height of the policy of Appeasement).
1939: January 30 In a speech to the Reichstag, Hitler predicts that a war in Europe would lead to "the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe."
1939: March 15 Hitler's forces invade "rump" Czecho-Slovakia in violation of Hitler's pledges to Chamberlain.
1939: March 31 Formal Anglo-French guarantees are presented to Poland.
1939: August 23 Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact (& secret protocol dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence) is signed in Moscow.
1939: August 31 Hitler gives final orders for the invasion of Poland.
1939: September 1 German invasion of Poland (In response, Britain & France declare war on Germany and begin the Sitzkrieg in the west; in six weeks, Poland falls--no effective outside aid is rendered.)
http://www.vwc.edu/~dgraf/chronol.txt
Three and a half years after the appeasement began with the Rhineland, England and France finally realizes that they were at war.
Gee, maybe World War II could have been prevented if the Europeans had just worked with Hitler. Maybe the true responsibility for six million Jews killed is really the fault of the Europeans who refused to 'work' with Hitler. If they just tried a little hard to 'understand' Hitler and not attack him World War II could have been prevented.