Appeasement in Action

Thus we begin our march into the great German future.

Hitler, speaking after the Munich Agreement in 1938.

Links

Basic account

History Learning - very clear

Spartacus - excellent site with good documents.

Assessment of Chamberlain - Learning Curve exercise

Radio Days - includes soundbites

Eden's Letter - Learning Curve exercise

The Munich Agreement - story: vital information

The Munich Agreement - text

Chamberlain's speech - how Chamberlain justified appeasement (after the event)

Key documents - difficult

Describe the events of the Sudeten crisis of 1938.

The Sudeten Crisis

Before 1938, Britain had already given way to Hitler on a number of occasions, but it was the events of the Sudeten crisis which showed appeasement in action – trying to buy off Hitler by giving way to his demands.

On 11 March 1938, Hitler invaded Austria. It was clear he wanted to do the same in the Sudetenland.

On 7 September 1938, the German Sudeten Party demanded union with Germany.

	There were riots.
	German newsreels showed ‘evidence’ of Czech ‘atrocities’ against the Sudeten Germans.
	Hitler threatened to support the Sudeten Germans with military force.

Then Chamberlain intervened.

1. Chamberlain met Hitler at Berchtesgaden

(15 September).

	Hitler promised him that this was the ‘last problem to be solved’.
	Chamberlain decided Hitler was ‘a man who can be relied upon’.
	He persuaded the Czechs to hand over the Sudetenland.

2. Chamberlain met Hitler at Bad Godesberg

(22 September.)

	Hitler made more demands.
	At first Chamberlain refused, but then he decided that Czechoslovakia was not one of the ‘great issues’ which justified war, but just ‘a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing’.

3. Britain and France met Hitler again and made a Pact with him at Munich (29 September).

They gave the Sudetenland to Germany.

On 30 September, Chamberlain returned to England with his famous piece of paper. ‘I believe it is peace for our time’, he told the cheering crowd.

Czechoslovakia was not even invited to the talks. The Czechs were free to fight if they wished, but they had no support. They chose not to fight.

On 1 October 1938, Hitler marched unopposed into the Sudetenland. He said that it was the start of a 1000-year German Reich (empire).

Germans troops entering the Sudetenland were greeted as liberators and heroes