The Munich agreement arose from a significant amount of pressure from the Germans directed at the Czechoslovakians. Hitler, in a similar mindset as employed in the German expansion into Austria, wished to seize Sudetenland, the region of Czechoslovakia bordering Germany. His justification for this was the three million Germans residing in Sudetenland. Hitlers plans became public knowledge in May of 1938. Although the Czechs hoped for military reinforcement from their allies in France and the Soviet union, Hitler’s propagating and rallying suggested war in the near future, and doing what ever they could to avoid engaging in battle with Germany, their allied countries were less than forthcoming in their defense. British prime minister Neville Chamberlain called for a meeting with Hitler in hopes of convincing him to revaluate. On September 21, after discussion between the Germans, French, and Brits, they came to an agreement. All regions where the german population was 50% or higher were fair game. Czechoslovakia was not consulted in the creation of this agreement. Although they were not pleased, they were greatly pressured by the prospect of war, and ended up giving in. The very next day, hitler, undermining the entire agreement, declared that all Czechs must evacuate Sudetenland within the next week, and Germany would be seizing the entirety of it. The four powers reconvened and wrote a new proposal to accommodate this, and upon presenting it to the Czechs, stated that they could either accept, or stand alone in war against the Germans. Backed into a corner, Czechoslovakia accepted.
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british statesman neville chamberlain |