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Artist:
David Low (1891-1963)
Published:
Evening Standard, 24 Sep 1938
Format:
Newspaper
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Record details
Reference number:
LSE2565
Caption
"Mein Kampf"
Embedded text
Peace Reason Concessions
Notes
After Germany's Anschluss with Austria in March 1938, Hitler turned his sights on
Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia had been created from the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
after World War I. Many Germans lived within its boundaries, in the area known as the Sudetenland
and Hitler sought to bring this area into the Reich. Britain and France continued to
over-estimate Hitler's military capability, in reality far inferior to even their depleted
resources. Thus they sought to avoid military conflict over Czechoslovakia, despite the fact that
Hitler's European expansion was in contravention of the 1919 Peace Treaties that, as members of
the League of Nations, they had sworn to uphold. This policy of acquiescing to Hitler's demands
is known as 'appeasement'. On 15 September 1938 Chamberlain and Hitler met at Berchtesgaden.
Hitler demanded the surrender of those areas of the Sudetenland that had voted to unite with
Germany. Hitler claimed that agreement to this demand would secure the safety of the rest of
Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain's agreement signified the surrender of Czechoslovakian interests to
Hitler. On 22-23 September at a second meeting with Chamberlain at Bad Godesberg, Hitler
increased his demands, insisting on an immediate surrender of the entire Sudetenland. Chamberlain
again agreed. These two meetings were the precursors of the infamous 'Peace of Paper', the Munich
Pact of 29 September 1938 which, without consulting Czechoslovakia, surrendered the Sudetenland
entirely to Hitler. This left Czechoslovakia vulnerable, as its principal border defences were
situated in the Sudetenland. It was therefore an easy matter for Hitler to annex remaining Czech
territory in March 1939.
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Archival reference number
LSE2565
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Copyright contact details
Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT solo@solosyndication.com
Fax: 02075660388
