 Complete the following phrase:  Chamberlain believed passionately in peace for many reasons, most of which are discussed in the article appeasement, and thought his duty to be Britains leader to maintain stability in Europe. Like many people in Britain and elsewhere, he thought that the best way to deal with Germanys belligerence was to treat it with kindness and to meet its demands. He also believed that the leaders of people are essentially rational beings and so Hitler must be rational as well. Most historians believe that Chamberlain, in holding to these views, pursued the policy of appeasement far longer than was justifiable, but it is not exactly clear whether any course could have averted war and whether the outcome would have been any better had armed hostilities begun earlier. France was also unwilling to commit its forces, and there were no other effective allies. Italy had joined the Pact of Steel, the Soviet Union had signed a 