Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 12:24:15 pm
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: FARMING FROM 6,000 YEARS AGO
http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=156622&command=displayContent&sourceNode=156618&contentPK=18789712&folderPk=87030
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

the 1938 Munich Agreement

Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: the 1938 Munich Agreement  (Read 584 times)
0 Members and 63 Guests are viewing this topic.
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« on: September 30, 2007, 11:30:46 pm »


The Munich Agreement (Czech: Mnichovská dohoda; Slovak: Mníchovská dohoda; German: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement regarding the Sudetenland Crisis among the major powers of Europe after a conference held in Munich, Germany in 1938 and signed on September 29. The Sudetenland was of immense strategic importance to Czechoslovakia, as most of its border defenses were situated there. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of Czechoslovakia in the face of territorial demands made by German dictator Adolf Hitler, and it ended up dividing that state between Nazi Germany, Poland and Hungary.

Because Czechoslovakia was not invited to the conference, the Munich Agreement is commonly called the Munich Dictate by Czechs and Slovaks. The phrase Munich betrayal is also frequently used because military alliances between Czechoslovakia and France and between France and Britain were not honoured.

The agreement is considered by many as the quintessential example of appeasement. Because Hitler soon violated the terms of the agreement, it has often been cited in support of the principle that tyrants should never be appeased.

Report Spam   Logged

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2007, 11:33:43 pm »



The Munich Agreement, 1938

Ever since Hitler came to power in 1933 he had made successive assaults on the restrictions that had been placed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. He had begun secretly the process of rearmament and felt confident enough to announce the program in 1935, the same year in which he introduced conscription to the new German army. Encouraged by England's acquiescence in German naval expansion, he next remilitarized the neutral Rhineland zone. Two years later, with the annexation of Austria, the Treaty was well and truly buried. Yet despite his reassuring falsehoods over the years since 1933--"We will never attempt to subjugate foreign peoples," "We have no territorial claims to make in Europe," and the like--by the summer of 1938 he had begun a propaganda campaign against Czechoslovakia, ally of both France and Russia, in the matter of the 3 million or so ethnic Germans in the Sudeten region of that country, a former territory of the defunct Austrian empire. Lurid threats were hurled by the Nazi propaganda machine against the alleged mistreatment of their minority Germans; the excuse for the contemplated destruction of Czechoslovakia, a state unjustifiably dubbed by Hitler as 'a Bolshevik aircraft carrier in the heart of Europe'.
During the summer the pro-Nazi elements among the Czech Germans demanded to secede from Czechoslovakia, a move that, in the absence of support from their allies or Great Britain, the Czecks could not resist. The result- -a clear example of the workings of appeasement (of which the British prime minister Neville Chamberlain, shown here upon his return from Munich with the scrap of paper that was to "ensure peace in our time"!), was the hopeful exponent)in the attempt to prevent hostilities--was the Munich Agreement, generally regarded as the shameful culmination of the Allied refusal (and inability at that time) to confront Nazi aggression.


Agreement reached on September 29, 1938, between Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy

Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, taking into consideration the agreement, which has been already reached in principle for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, have agreed on the following terms and conditions governing the said cession and the measures consequent thereon, and by this agreement they each hold themselves responsible for the steps necessary to secure its fulfillment.

1) The evacuation will begin on October lst.

2) The United Kingdom, France, and Italy agree that the evacuation of the territory shall be completed by October 10th, without any existing installations having been destroyed, and that the Czechoslovak Government will be held responsible for carrying out the evacuation without damage to the said installations.

3) The conditions governing the evacuation will be laid down in detail by an international commission composed of representatives of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Czechoslovakia.

4) The occupation by stages of the predominantly German territory by German troops will begin on October 1st. The four territories marked on the attached map will be occupied by German troops in the following order: the territory marked number I on the 1st and 2d of October, the territory marked number II on the 2d and 3d of October, the territory marked number III on the 3d, 4th, and 5th of October, the territory marked number IV on the 6th and 7th of October. The remaining territory of preponderantly German character will be ascertained by the aforesaid international commission forthwith and be occupied by German troops by the 10th of October.

5) The international commission referred to in paragraph 3 will determine the territories in which a plebiscite is to be held. These territories will be occupied by international bodies until the plebiscite has been completed. The same commission will fix the conditions in which the plebiscite is to be held, taking as a basis the conditions of the Saar [territory ceded to France by the treaty of Versailles for 15 years; returned to Germany in 1935] plebiscite. The commission will also fix a date, not later than the end of November, on which the plebiscite will be held.

6) The final determination of the frontiers will be carried out by the international commission. This commission will also be entitled to recommend to the four Powers, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, in certain exceptional cases, minor modifications in the strictly ethnographical determination of the zones which are to be transferred without plebiscite.

7) There will be a right of option into and out of the transferred territories, the option to be exercised within 6 months from the date of this agreement. A German-Czechoslovak commission shall determine the details of the option, consider ways of facilitating the transfer of population and settle questions of principle arising out of the said transfer.

Cool The Czechoslovak Government will, within a period of 4 weeks from the date of this agreement, release from their military and police forces any Sudeten Germans who may wish to be released, and the Czechoslovak Government will within the same period release Sudeten German prisoners who are serving terms of imprisonment for political offenses.
Adolf Hitler
Ed. Daladier
Mussolini
Neville Chamberlain
Munich, September 29, 1938



Annex to the Agreement

His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the French Government have entered into the above agreement on the basis that they stand by the offer, contained in paragraph 6 of the Anglo-French proposals of September 19th, relating to an international guarantee of the new boundaries of the Czechoslovak State against unprovoked aggression. When the question of the Polish and Hungarian minorities in Czechoslovakia has been settled, Germany and Italy for their part will give a guarantee to Czechoslovakia.
Munich, September 29, 1938

Additional Declaration

The four Heads of Government here present agree that the international commission, provided for in the agreement signed by them today, shall consist of the State Secretary in the German Foreign Office, the British, French, and Italian Ambassadors accredited in Berlin, and a representative to be nominated by the Government of Czechoslovakia.
Munich, September 29, 1938

Additional Declaration
The Heads of the Governments of the four Powers declare that the problems of the Polish and Hungarian minorities in Czechoslovakia, if not settled within 3 months by agreement between the respective Governments, shall form the subject of another meeting of the Heads of the Governments of the four Powers here present.
Munich, September 29, 1938

Supplementary Declaration
All questions which may arise out of the transfer of the territory shall be considered as coming within the terms of reference to the international commission.
Munich, September 29, 1938

http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob66.html
« Last Edit: September 30, 2007, 11:37:55 pm by Caleb » Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2007, 11:35:29 pm »


Background

The Sudetenland was an area of Czechoslovakia where ethnic Germans formed a majority of the population. The Sudeten Germans had attempted to prevent the German language border areas that had formerly been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from becoming part of Czechoslovakia in 1918. They had proclaimed the German-Austrian province Sudetenland in October 1918, voting to join the newly declared Republic of German Austria in November 1918. This had been forbidden by the victorious allied powers of the First World War (the Treaty of Saint-Germain) and by the Czechoslovak government, partly with force of arms in 1919. Many Sudeten Germans rejected affiliation with Czechoslovakia because they had been refused the right to self-determination promised by US president Wilson in his Fourteen Points of January 1918.

Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2007, 11:36:51 pm »


Hitler's demands

In March 1938 Germany had annexed Austria with the Anschluss. It was widely expected that Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, with its substantial German population led by the Nazi politician Konrad Henlein, would be Hitler's next demand. France and the Soviet Union both had alliances with Czechoslovakia, but both were unprepared materially and politically for war. Indeed, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and Soviet Russia were very wary of any capitalist alliances. The French were under the leadership of Édouard Daladier. None of the powers in western Europe wanted war. They severely overestimated German dictator Adolf Hitler's military ability at the time, and while Britain and France had superior forces to the Germans they felt they had fallen behind, and were undergoing massive military rearmament to catch up. Hitler, on the other hand, was in just the opposite position. He far exaggerated German power at the time and was desperately hoping for a war with the west which he thought he could easily win. He was pushed into holding the conference, however, by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini who was unprepared for a Europe-wide conflict, and was also concerned about the growth of German power. The German military leadership also knew the state of their armed forces and did all they could to avoid war.

In the lead up to the conference, the great powers of Europe mobilized their forces for the first time since World War I. Many thought war was inevitable and that a peace agreement that would satisfy everyone would be impossible to attain.

« Last Edit: September 30, 2007, 11:39:17 pm by Caleb » Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2007, 11:40:37 pm »

« Last Edit: September 30, 2007, 11:41:20 pm by Caleb » Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2007, 11:42:21 pm »


Resolution

A deal was reached, however, and on September 29, Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini and Édouard Daladier signed the Munich Agreement. The Czechoslovak government capitulated (September 30) and agreed to abide by the agreement. The settlement gave Germany the Sudetenland starting October 10, and de facto control over the rest of Czechoslovakia as long as Hitler promised to go no further.

Announcing the deal at Heston Aerodrome, Chamberlain said:

"...the settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine (waves paper to the crowd - receiving loud cheers and "Hear Hears"). Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you ...".

 
Later that day he stood outside Number 10 Downing Street and again read from the document and concluded:

'"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time."


« Last Edit: September 30, 2007, 11:45:20 pm by Caleb » Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2007, 11:46:48 pm »



The Führerbau, in which the Agreement was signed, is today a school, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.
Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2007, 11:50:23 pm »


Neville Chamberlain holding the paper containing the agreement. He is showing the piece of paper to a crowd at Heston Aerodrome on 30 September 1938.

Reactions

Chamberlain received an ecstatic reception upon his return to Britain. At Heston Aerodrome, west of London, he made the now famous "Peace for our time" speech and waved the agreement to a delighted crowd. Though the British and French were pleased, as were the German military and diplomatic leadership, Hitler was furious. He felt as though he had been forced into acting like a bourgeois politician by his diplomats and generals.

Winston Churchill denounced the Agreement in the House of Commons:

We have suffered a total and unmitigated defeat...you will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi régime. We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude...we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road...we have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been deranged, and that the terrible words have for the time being been pronounced against the Western democracies: "Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting". And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.

Hitler now regarded Chamberlain with utter contempt. A British diplomat in Berlin was informed that Hitler viewed Chamberlain as "an impertinent busybody who spoke the ridiculous jargon of an outmoded democracy. The umbrella, which to the ordinary German was a symbol of peace, was in Hitler's view only a subject of derision". Also, Hitler had been heard saying:"If ever that silly old man comes interfering here again with his umbrella, I'll kick him downstairs and jump on his stomach in front of the photographers".

Joseph Stalin was also very upset by the results of the Munich conference. The Soviets had not been represented at the conference and felt they should be acknowledged as a major power. The British and French, however, mostly used the Soviets as a threat to dangle over the Germans. Stalin concluded that the West had actively colluded with Hitler to hand over a country to the Nazis, causing concern that they might do the same to the Soviet Union in the future, allowing the partition of the USSR between the western powers and the fascist powers. This fear influenced Stalin's decision to sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany in 1939.

The Czechoslovaks were also very angry with the Munich settlement. With Sudetenland gone to Germany and later southern Slovakia (one third of Slovak territory) taken by Hungary and the area of Cieszyn Silesia by Poland (the disputed area west of the Olza River, so-called Zaolzie - 801.5 km˛ with a population of 227,399), Czecho-Slovakia (as the state was now renamed) lost its border defences with Germany and without them its independence became more nominal than real. In fact, Edvard Beneš, the then-President of Czechoslovakia, had the military print the march orders for his army and put the press on standby for a declaration of war. Czechoslovakia also lost 70% of its iron/steel, 70% of its electrical power, 3.5 million citizens and the famous Škoda Works to Germany as a result of the settlement



Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2007, 11:55:59 pm »



Invasion of the remainder of Czechoslovakia

Germany stated that the incorporation of Austria into the Reich resulted in borders with Czechoslovakia that allowed Germany to be encircled by the Western Powers. In 1937, the Wehrmacht had formulated a plan called Operation Green (Fall Grün) for the invasion of Czechoslovakia which was implemented as Operation Southeast on 15 March 1939--Churchill's prediction was fulfilled as Nazi armies entered Prague and proceeded to occupy the remainder of Bohemia and Moravia, which was transformed into a protectorate of the Reich. The eastern half of the country, Slovakia, became a separate pro-Nazi state.

Prime Minister Chamberlain felt betrayed by the Nazi seizure of Czechoslovakia, realising his policy of appeasement towards Hitler had failed, and immediately began to mobilize the British Empire's armed forces on a war footing. France did the same. Italy saw itself becoming a second-rate member of the Axis, and started its own Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939. Although no immediate action followed, Hitler's move on Poland in September started World War II in Europe.

Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2007, 12:02:43 am »



Soviet poster of the 1930's by Kukryniksy on the Munich agreement. Source:http://www.staratel.com/pictures/ruspaint/big/310-2.htm

Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2007, 12:05:42 am »


In Chamberlain's own words

"My good friends, for the second time in our history a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time." Chamberlain's reference is to Beaconsfield's return from the Congress of Berlin in 1878.

"I asked Hitler about one in the morning while we were waiting for the draftsmen whether he would care to see me for another talk….I had a very friendly and pleasant talk, on Spain, (where he too said he had never had any territorial ambitions) economic relations with S.E. Europe, and disarmament. I did not mention colonies, nor did he. At the end I pulled out the declaration which I had prepared beforehand and asked if he would sign it. As the interpreter translated the words into German Hitler said Yes I will certainly sign it. When shall we do it? I said "now", and we went at once to the writing table and put our signatures to the two copies which I had brought with me." (Chamberlain in a letter to his sister Hilda Chamberlain, 2 October 1938)
« Last Edit: October 01, 2007, 12:09:49 am by Caleb » Report Spam   Logged
Caleb
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4333



« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2007, 12:08:58 am »



Lesson of Munich


In international relations, the Lesson of Munich asserts that adversaries will interpret restraint as indicating a lack of capability or political will or both. The name refers to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany in negotiations toward the eventual Munich Agreement. Many scholars argue that Neville Chamberlain's capitulation to German demands guaranteed eventual war as Hitler believed he could do as he pleased without the other Great Powers going to war to stop him. Steven Chan describes the moral as "appeasement discredits the defenders' willingness to fight, and encourages the aggressor to escalate his demands."

These lessons were learned when the Korean and Grenada conflicts occurred and when Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait.(89)


References

Robert J. Beck. "Munich's Lessons Reconsidered". International Security, Vol. 14, No. 2. (Autumn, 1989), pp. 161-191.
Steven Chan. International Relations in Perspective. New York: Macmillan, 1984.
J. L. Richardson. "New Perspectives on Appeasement: Some Implications for International Relations". World Politics, Vol. 40, No. 3. (Apr., 1988), pp. 289-316. Especially pp. 290-292
Report Spam   Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy