Munich Agreement
On 29–30 September 1938, the leaders of Britain (Chamberlain), France (Daladier), Germany (Hitler), and Italy (Mussolini) met in Munich and agreed to transfer Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland region — home to 3.5 million ethnic Germans and the country's defensive fortifications — to Germany. Czechoslovakia was not invited to the conference. Chamberlain returned to London waving the agreement and declaring 'peace for our time'; the crowds that greeted him reflected genuine relief that war had been averted. Winston Churchill's response in the Commons was unsparing: 'We have suffered a total and unmitigated defeat.' Hitler had privately told associates that he was disappointed — he had wanted a military campaign. He occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, demonstrating that his ambitions were not limited to uniting ethnic Germans. Munich became the byword for the catastrophic consequences of rewarding aggression.
- Year: 1938 CE
- Category: Diplomatic
