MUNICH AGREEMENT (1938)

Abstract

This chapter discusses the Munich Agreement. The agreement marked the formal close of the Sudeten crisis of 1938 and must be seen in this context. After the annexation of Austria, which seriously impaired Czechoslovakia's strategic and political position in relation to Germany, Adolf Hitler's intention to eliminate Czechoslovakia as a power factor rapidly became apparent. In declarations annexed to the Agreement, the United Kingdom and France offered an international guarantee of the new boundaries of the Czechoslovak State, which was to be binding on Germany and Italy once the question of the Polish and Hungarian minorities in Czechoslovakia had been settled. If this problem could not be settled within three months by agreement between the governments concerned, a further meeting of the four government leaders was planned. Munich Agreement was acclaimed throughout Europe at the time of its conclusion but later universally condemned. In France, public opinion soon split into “munichois” and “antimunichois”. In England, Munich at first seemed to be the apogee of the policy of appeasement aimed at achieving “peace in our time”. However, it was not long before appeasement came to be associated with the idea of abject capitulation.