Munich agreement

Definitely, Munich agreement Can be called one of the most serious mistakes of foreign policy of the 1930s. This is a diplomatic agreement that arose as a compromise proposed by European countries to Nazi Germany in an attempt to contain its bellicose moods, but which led to the outbreak of World War II.

After the collapse and partition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from 1918 to 1938, more than three million ethnic Germans found themselves on the territory of a new state of Czechoslovakia, the border of which passed through the limits of the historical region of the Kingdom of Bohemia. They lived compactly in the Sudetenland. According to Natalia Lebedeva, a historian of the Russian Academy of Sciences, twenty per cent of Czechoslovakia was German.

The Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein founded the Sudeten German party, which served as the branch of the Nazi party and acted exclusively in the interests of Germany. By 1935, it was the second largest political party in Czechoslovakia. Soon after the Anschluss (unification with Germany) of Austria, on March 28, 1938, Henlein met with Hitler in Berlin, where he was instructed to raise demands for the Czechoslovak government, known as the Carlsbad program. Among the requirements - equal rights with the Czechs and autonomy for the Germans who lived in Czechoslovakia. If the Czechoslovak government was ready to make serious concessions to the German minority, the question of autonomy was unacceptable.

In the plans of Hitler after the annexation of Austria, the next step was the conquest of Czechoslovakia and the creation of Great Germany. In May 1938, it became known that the occupation of Czechoslovakia was in fact a settled issue for Germany. On May 20, Hitler's generals were presented with a temporary attack project on Czechoslovakia, code-named Operation Grün. In a secret directive signed by Hitler a few days later, it was said about starting a war against Czechoslovakia no later than October 1.

The Czechoslovak government hoped that France, with whom he had an alliance, would come to the rescue in the event of a German invasion. The Soviet Union also had an agreement with Czechoslovakia, which indicated a willingness to cooperate with France and Britain. However, the potential services of the Soviet Union were ignored throughout the crisis. Adolf Hitler understood that Britain and France do not want war, but they are unlikely to seek to unite with the Soviet Union, whose totalitarian system these countries hated even more than Hitler's fascist dictatorship.

Perhaps, at that stage, Czechoslovakia itself, which had a strong army, could contain the attack of Hitler's army. The Soviet Union, in accordance with the agreement of 1935, signed between the two countries, could help Czechoslovakia only if France agreed to such a step.

On September 18, the Italian duce Benito Mussolini delivered a speech in Trieste, where he stated that Italy supported Germany in the current crisis.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, a supporter of the policy of pacifying the aggressor, was determined to prevent a war. He undertook two trips to Germany without consulting the Czechoslovak leaders, offered Hitler favorable conditions, but the Führer continued to add demands, insisting that the claims of ethnic Germans in Poland and Hungary would also be met.

On September 24, speaking at the Palais des Sports in Berlin, Hitler in his speech gave Czechoslovakia until September 28 to cede the Sudetenland, otherwise Germany entered the war.

Czechoslovakia began mobilizing its troops. The Soviet Union declared its readiness to come to the aid of Czechoslovakia. However, the President of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Beneš, refused to enter the war without the support of the Western powers.

Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Edouard Deladier went to Munich to respond to Hitler's demands.

Benito Mussolini offered Hitler one way to solve the problem: to hold a conference with the leaders of four countries (Britain, France, Italy, Germany), excluding Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, to increase the opportunity to reach an agreement and undermine solidarity that might not be in Germany's favor.

The decisive meeting, known as the Munich Conference , took place on September 29-30 in the Führerau building (Führer's House). The proposals were formally introduced by Mussolini, although, as it was discovered several years later, the Italian plan was prepared by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The German army was to occupy the Sudetenland by October 10, and the international commission - to decide the future of other disputed areas. In despair, in order to prevent the outbreak of war and seeking to avoid an alliance with the Soviet Union, Neville Chamberlain and Edward Daladier agreed that the Sudetenland should cross Germany. In turn, Hitler promised that he would no longer demand any territories in Europe.

Eventually the decision was formalized: Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy signed the Munich agreement, according to which the outbreak of war was prevented, but Czechoslovakia transferred the Sudetenland of Germany. The Czechoslovak government was forced to accept it. Neville Chamberlain told Edouard Benes that Britain would not enter the war on the Sudetenland problem.

Deladier and Chamberlain returned home, where they were met by crowds of jubilant people, who were relieved that the threat of war was over. Chamberlain appealed to the British public with the words that he "brought peace to our time." But his words were immediately challenged by the outstanding politician Winston Churchill, who stated that Neville chose between war and dishonor: "You have chosen dishonor, and the war will come." The British government lost the support of the Czech government and the Czech army, one of the best in Europe, as pointed out by Winston Churchill and another famous politician, Anthony Eden. Many historians agree that the Munich agreement, perceived as the main argument in avoiding a military conflict, actually condemned Europe to a devastating war.

Deladier was embarrassed by the treacherous agreement, but Chamberlain was ecstatic. Before leaving Munich, he even signed a document with Hitler assuring that the UK and Germany will seek to resolve differences to ensure peace in the future.

The day after the signing of the pacifying pact, Germany annexed the Sudetenland. Politics Chamberlain was discredited the following year.

A little later in the section of Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary also took part, having their territorial claims. Having terminated the Munich agreement, in March 1939 Germany occupied the remaining part of Czechoslovakia. The country ceased to exist. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Second World War began. Only then did Neville Chamberlain realize that Hitler can not be trusted.

The Munich agreement has become synonymous with the uselessness of pacifying the expansionist policies of totalitarian states, although it to some extent helped to gain time for the allies to increase their combat readiness.