The Sudeten Crisis

1. The Sudeten Crisis Czechoslovakia 1938 to 1939

2. Aims of the lesson By the end of this lesson you will • Describe the causes and events of the Sudeten crisis of 1938 • Evaluate the importance of the Munch Agreement and appeasement as a policy • Evaluate the importance of the annexation of the Czech lands in 1939 in discrediting appeasement as a political policy

3. The position of Czechoslovakia

4. Appeasement • This was the response of Britain and France to German aggression in the 1930s • It basically means giving the aggressor what he wants in order to keep peace • It is most closely identified with Neville Chamberlain – the British PM from 1937 to 1940

5. In favour of appeasement • Germany had some legitimate grievances and up to 1938 was only seeking to put these right • People feared another war only 20 years after the slaughter of the trenches • It gave Britain and France time to build up her forces in preparation for war • Was it worth going to war over small countries that no one had heard of

6. Against appeasement • The policy relied on Hitler acting honourably and keeping his promises • Britain and France were seen as being weak as a result and letting down their friends • With every conquest Hitler got stronger and more difficult to defeat • The bully was seen as getting away with picking on her weaker neighbours

7. The Sudeten Crisis • Three million German speakers lived in Czechoslovkia – area also contained the Skoda Tank factory and coal deposits • An ideal place for Hitler to take • Hitler encouraged the Sudeten Germans to claim that they were being maltreated in order to give Hitler and as an excuse to invade Czechoslovakia

8. April 1938 • German troops began to mass on the Czech border. Benes (Czech President) ordered his men to stand and fight • Britain and France asked Benes to make concessions but it was clear that Hitler would accept nothing less than the annexation of the Sudetenland • 121th September – Hitler promised his support for the Sudeten Germans

9. September 1938 • Sudeten Germans rioting in the streets – crushed by the Czech government • 15th September – Hitler and Chamberlain met at Bertesgarten – forced the Czechs to accept the transfer of parts of the Sudetenland where the majority were German speakers • Met again on the 22nd – Hitler demanded the whole of the Sudetenland

10. Preparing for war • Chamberlain returned to Britain and prepared for war – trenches dug etc • In the meantime Mussolini persuaded Hitler to host a four power conference at Munich on the 29th September to solve the crisis once and for all • Leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Italy invited but not the Czechs or Russians

11. The Munich Conference • It was agreed that the whole of the Sudetenland become part of Germany immediately • Czechs forced to accept this and German troops invaded on the 1st October • On the 30th September Chamberlain and Hitler agreed to discuss all matters and not to go to war with each other • Agreement was criticised by the likes of Winston Churchill but avoided war