How a peace dividend left aggressors room to act

How did Hitler and Mussolini manage to do so much damage?

Hopes for a peace dividend left other powers insufficiently prepared, allowing aggressive regimes to exploit the gap before deterrence was restored.

One interpretation is that Hitler and Mussolini could inflict so much damage partly because other states hoped for a peace dividend and delayed preparations for another major war. That hope is presented as a recurring human response after destructive conflicts rather than as simple ignorance. The wider point is that unilateral disarmament has not itself prevented an aggressor from starting a war. The heavily armed Cold War serves as the deterrence example, while the answer remains a broad strategic interpretation rather than a complete account of interwar politics.