In the spring of 1938, Hitler openly began to support the demands of the German-speaking people of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia for closer relations with Germany. Hitler had recently annexed Austria to Germany, and the conquest of Czechoslovakia was the next step in his plan to create a “Greater Germany.” The Czechoslovak government hoped that Britain and France would come to the rescue in the event of a German invasion, but British Prime Minister Chamberlain was anxious to avoid war. He made two trips to Germany in September and offered Hitler favorable deals, but the Führer continued to increase his demands. We have suffered a total and absolute defeat. You will find that Czechoslovakia will be involved in the Nazi regime in a period that can be measured by years, but also by months. We are dealing with a disaster of the first magnitude. We have suffered a defeat without war, the consequences of which will accompany us far on our way. We reached a terrible milestone in our history when the whole balance of Europe was disturbed and the terrible words were first uttered against the Western democracies: `You weighed in the balance and found them deficient`. And don`t assume it`s the end. This is just the beginning of billing. This is only the first sip, the first taste of a bitter cup that is offered to us year after year, unless, through a supreme restoration of moral health and warrior power, we stand up again and defend freedom as before.
An agreement was reached on 29 September and at around 1.30 p.m. .m .m on 30 September. In September 1938,[43] Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini and Édouard Daladier signed the Munich Accords. The agreement was officially introduced by Mussolini, although the Italian plan was almost identical to Godesberg`s proposal: the German army was to complete the occupation of the Sudetenland by October 10 and an international commission was to decide on the future of the other disputed territories. One aspect of the enormous turmoil of the past two weeks must affect anyone thinking about its history. In the three most powerful states of Central and Eastern Europe, people were not allowed to know what was being said and done outside. In Russia, there seems to have been very little news. In Germany and Italy, news was deliberately falsified if it was not suppressed. The German people were not allowed to know President Roosevelt`s message. The Italian people were led to believe that Chamberlain agreed with Hitler and was only concerned with putting pressure on Benes. They were given a bad version of one of his speeches.
When Chamberlain returned from Munich, he told an excited crowd at Heston Airport, “This is peace for our time,” waving the agreement he had signed with Hitler. This was the culmination of the policy of appeasement. Six months later, Hitler broke his promises and ordered his armies to invade Prague. In less than a year, Britain and France were at war with Germany. Citing Munich in foreign policy debates is also common in the 21st century. [107] During Secretary of State John Kerry`s negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal, a Texas Republican lawmaker called the negotiations “worse than Munich.” Kerry himself had invoked Munich in a speech in France, in which he advocated military action in Syria saying, “This is our Munich moment.” [108]. The solution to the Czechoslovak problem, which has just been found, is, in my opinion, only the prelude to a broader settlement in which the whole of Europe can find peace. This morning I had another conversation with the German Chancellor, Mr Hitler, and here is the newspaper that bears his name, as well as mine. Some of you may have heard what`s in it, but I just want to read it to you: “.
We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German naval agreement as a symbol of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with each other again. [96] September 29 and 30. In September 1938, an emergency meeting of the major European powers is held in Munich, excluding Czechoslovakia or the Soviet Union, allied with France and Czechoslovakia. On Hitler`s terms, an agreement was quickly reached. It was signed by the leaders of Germany, France, Britain and Italy. Militarily, the Sudetenland was of strategic importance to Czechoslovakia, as most of its border defenses were located there to protect themselves from a German attack. The agreement between the four powers was signed in the context of an undeclared german-Czechoslovak war of low intensity, which had begun on September 17, 1938. Meanwhile, after September 23, 1938, Poland moved its army units to its common border with Czechoslovakia. [2] Czechoslovakia yielded to diplomatic pressure from France and Britain and agreed on 30 September to cede territories to Germany on Munich terms. Fearing the possible loss of Zaolzie to Germany, Poland issued Zaolzie with an ultimatum with a majority of ethnic Poles that Germany had accepted in advance and that Czechoslovakia had accepted on 1 October. [3] After successfully accepting Austria into Germany proper in March 1938, Adolf Hitler seemed desirable in Czechoslovakia, where about three million people in the Sudetenland were of German origin. In April, he discussed with Wilhelm Keitel, the head of the Bundeswehr`s high command, the political and military aspects of “Case Green,” the code name for the planned Sudeten takeover.
A surprise attack on “clear skies with no reason or justification” was rejected because the result would have been “hostile world opinion that could lead to a critical situation.” Decisive action would therefore take place only after a period of German political turmoil in Czechoslovakia, accompanied by diplomatic disputes which, as they became more serious, either built up war excuses themselves or created the occasion for a lightning offensive after an “incident” of German creativity. In addition, there had been disturbing political activities in Czechoslovakia since October 1933, when Konrad Henlein founded the Sudeten German Home Front. The Munich Accords (Czech: Mnichovská dohoda; Slovak: Mníchovská dohoda; Munich Agreement) or Munich Betrayal (Czech: Mnichovská zrada; Mníchovská zrada) is an agreement signed on 30 September. It was closed in Munich in 1938 by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic and the Kingdom of Italy. He granted Germany the “cession of the Sudeten German territory” from Czechoslovakia. [1] Most European countries celebrated the agreement because it prevented the war threatened by Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland, a region in western Czechoslovakia inhabited by more than 3 million people, mostly German-speaking. Hitler proclaimed this was his last territorial claim in Europe, and the choice seemed to be between war and appeasement. Hitler`s expansionist goals became clear in 1936 when his troops invaded the Rhineland. Two years later, in March 1938, he annexed Austria. At the Munich Conference in September, Neville Chamberlain seems to have avoided a war by agreeing that Germany could occupy the Sudetenland, the German-speaking part of Czechoslovakia – what became known as the Munich Agreement. London, FridayThe Munich Accords give Hitler everything he wants (at first), except that they may not allow him to get it as quickly as he would have done under Godesberg`s uncircumcised ultimatum.
He will begin tomorrow the invasion of Czechoslovakia, as he threatened in his speech of 12 September. It is free to occupy all regions where Sudeten Germans are in the majority, and to do so in rapid stages. On the 22nd. Chamberlain, who was about to board his plane to go to Bad Godesberg in Germany for further discussions, told the press who met him there: “My goal is peace in Europe, I am confident that this journey is the path to that peace.” Chamberlain arrived in Cologne, where he was generously received with a German band playing “God Save the King” and Germans giving flowers and gifts to Chamberlain.[32] [32] Chamberlain had calculated that full acceptance of the German annexation of all sudetenland without reductions would force Hitler to accept the agreement. [32] When Hitler learned of this, he replied, “Does this mean that the Allies accepted Prague`s approval of the Sudetenland`s surrender to Germany?” Chamberlain replied, “Exactly,” to which Hitler responded by shaking his head, saying that the Allied offer was insufficient.