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The Sudetenland was an industrial and fortified area that, historically, had never been attached to the German Empire. In Germany a campaign begins for the annexation of the area. In the week of May 20, 1938, Czechoslovakia mobilized its army claiming that Germany was massing tanks on its border. The declarations of France, the USSR and Great Britain momentarily stopped Hitler. The tension reappeared in September, after a speech by Hitler on the 12th in Nuremberg. The Prague Government decreed Martial Law. France accepted English mediation in this matter, Czechoslovakia also had to accept it. The USSR wanted to be intransigent with Germany, but the Western powers had little confidence in the Russian military force, and their situation was not the most suitable for defending Czechoslovakia. Poland, for its part, was not in favor of letting Russian troops pass through its territory to defend Czechoslovakia.
Negotiations began on the issue. Chamberlain went to Germany (September 15) seeking a peaceful settlement, there Hitler told him that the incorporation of the Sudetenland was the only honorable way out for the Reich. The USSR was suspicious of this meeting because it believed that England would feed the German wishes on the USSR in order to avoid the German threat on the European continent. Chamberlain persuaded the Frenchman Daladier to hold a meeting to discuss the Sudetenland question. Both powers convinced Benes to accept. In a new meeting (September 22-23), Hitler announced to the British premier that he was not willing to negotiate and gave him three days to hand over the Sudetenland.
HITLER AND THE QUESTION OF THE SUDETES
"Here we are now in the presence of the last problem that must be and will be solved (prolonged applause in the room). It is the last territorial claim that I have to formulate in Europe, but it is a claim that I do not renounce ".
(...) "For twenty years, the Germans of Czechoslovakia and the German people of the Reich have had to watch this spectacle. Rather, they have been forced to remain spectators:it is not that the German people accepted this situation, is that without arms, it could not help them against those who tortured them.
And the world of democracies is outraged!We have learned in these years to despise world democracies.Throughout Europe , we have only found a single State that was a great European power and, at the head of that State, a single man who has been understanding of the sufferings of our people:my great friend Benito Mussolini! (People shout:Heil Duce!)
Benes is in Prague, and he is convinced that nothing can happen to him because he has France and England behind him (prolonged hilarity). Fellow citizens, I think the time has come to speak out. The title of peaceful cannot be denied to those who have endured such shame for twenty years. Benes has a people of seven million individuals behind him, and here is a people of seventy-five million men." (Enthusiastic applause)
(...) "I have assured you, what I say again here , that once this problem is solved there will be no more territorial problems in Europe... I declare to the German people:as far as the Sudetenland question is concerned, my patience is at the limit. Benes has peace or war in his hand. Either he accepts this offer and finally gives the Germans their freedom, or we will go in search of that freedom. Let the monde know". Excerpts from a speech by Hitler delivered at the Berlin Sports Palace, 26.9.1938.
The war seemed imminent, the English prepare their fleet and the French complete the Maginot line. The USSR encouraged Benes to resist by promising military aid and, in parallel, began to pressure the League to act to maintain the integrity of Czechoslovakia. When everyone expected war at any moment, Mussolini (picking up an idea from Chamberlain) proposed a conference to discuss the subject. This idea was accepted by Hitler. It was to be held in Munich.
COMMENTS BY CHAMBERLAIN BEFORE THE MUNICH CONFERENCE
"It is horrible, incredible and fantastic that we have to dig trenches and prepare anti-gas chambers because of a dispute in a distant country between peoples we know nothing about (...) I would not hesitate to make a third visit to Germany if I believed that it could do any good (...) I am peaceful to the depths of my soul. It is a nightmare for me to think of an armed conflict between nations; more so if I believed that a nation had resolved To dominate the world by terror and force, I would think that it had to be resisted. Under such domination, existence would not be worth living for people who believe in freedom. But war is terrible, and before we enter it we need to make sure that that we do it because something very big is at stake.Chamberlain's radio address on September 27, 1938.
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THE MUNICH PACT
"Germany, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Italy have agreed, with regard to the cession of the territory of the Sudetenland:
1. The evacuation should begin on October 1.
2. The United Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Italy agree that the evacuation must be completed by October 10, without the dismantling or destruction of any kind of facilities having been carried out.
3 The details related to the evacuation will be fixed by an international commission (...).
4. The staggered occupation will begin on October 1 and 2.
5. The international commission to which reference is made in paragraph number 3 will visit the territories in the streets a plebiscite must be held These territories will be occupied by neutral troops until the end of said plebiscite (...).
6. The international commission will immediately set the line border between the annexed territories and the power that takes over sion of them (…).
7. The Czech Government, within four weeks, will discharge from its military and police units all Sudeten Germans who wish to separate from them (…)."
Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier and Mussolini. Munich, 29th September 1938
The Czechs were not present at the Conference, nor was the USSR. Stalin concluded that the USSR did not count in the game of powers and continued to fear that his country would be the next bargaining chip as Czechoslovakia had been in Munich.
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"The agreement on the Czechoslovak problem, which has just been achieved, is, in my view, only the prelude to a broader agreement in which all Europe will be able to find peace . This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Mr. Hitler, and here is the document, carried by your man and mine. Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains, but I would like 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 peoples not to go to war with each other again.' by Chamberlain as soon as he landed at the airport (September 30, 1938)
Daladier, when he returned to Paris, was received with enthusiasm, he thought he would be stoned.
Churchill described the Conference as a disaster and a prelude to war and pronounced a prophetic phrase: "You have been given the choice between indignity and war. You have chosen indignity and now you will have war."
TWO VISIONS OF THE MUNICH CONFERENCE
"In France, there is not a man or a woman who will deny N. Chamberlain and E. Daladier their just tribute of gratitude. The war has been ruled out. The ghost departs. Work can be recovered and the sleep. You can enjoy the beauty of the autumn sun." Leon Blum:Le Populaire, October 1, 1938
"We are facing a catastrophe of the first magnitude, which has just surprised Great Britain and France. Let us not close our eyes to this spectacle. Now we must make ourselves to the idea that all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will deal with Germany as best they can. The system of alliances in Central Europe on which France based her security has been ruined." Churchill's speech after the Munich agreement.
These two newspapers of September 30 are an example of the two positions towards the Conference
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Churchill was right. Czech President Hacha was called to Berlin, in a tense meeting, Hitler demanded the free entry of German troops into the country with the threat of bombing Prague. Hacha, who suffered a heart attack during the interview, agreed to prevent a massacre. On March 15, 1939, German troops occupied Prague. Hitler then dismembered Czechoslovakia:he established a protectorate in Bohemia and Moravia and, to satisfy Slovak nationalism, declared Slovakia independent under a pro-Nazi regime. Czechoslovakia was broken into more parts:Poland occupied Teschen and Hungary occupied the southern part of Slovakia and then Ruthenia.
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Hitler was not content with this:he annexed Memel (March, 1939) and announced his demands on Danzig and the Polish corridor.
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Faced with so many demands and violations of the agreements, Great Britain announced that it was willing to go to war in the face of the next aggression. Chamberlain declared that the appeasement policy had passed, in a speech on March 17 he acknowledged having been systematically deceived by Hitler.