September 30 - Signing of the Munich Agreement

Not the Nazis again, you might say, but on a not very promising day this was the most remarkable event to report:

On September 30, 1938 the �Munich Agreement� was signed by Britain, France, Italy and Nazi-Germany. The treaty was supposed to settle a looming conflict between Hitler�s Germany and Czechoslovakia over the Sudetenland, a region on the border between the two countries that was inhabited by a large German minority.


After the �Anschluss�, the annexation of Austria through Nazi-Germany in March 1938, the next target for Hitler�s aggressive expansionism became the Republic of Czechoslovakia (CSR) that as one of the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had become independent after WW1. The second largest ethnic group inside the CSR was, after the Czechs and before the Slovaks, a sizeable German population that naturally was mostly settled alongside the long Czech/German border to the North and West of the country, in the �Sudetenland�.



Czechoslovakia at the outbreak of WW2


Although the CSR remained one of the few truly democratic countries in Central Europe throughout the period between the two wars, the country was beset by political conflicts between the many larger and smaller ethnic minorities inside its territory. Whilst the Slovaks simply resented the, real or imagined, domination by numerically larger Czech population, the German minority began throughout the 30s increasingly to demand a secession of its areas of settlement and unification with the resurgent Germany under the Nazis.
After his success in Austria, whose take-over by the Nazis the rest of Europe had accepted unopposed, Hitler in no uncertain terms demanded that the Sudetenland would be handed over to the Third Reich, and to underline his determination, in the late summer of 1938 ordered the deployment of the Wehrmacht along the Czech border.
The CSR, of course, refuted all of Hitler�s demands, and as the country was militarily allied with both Britain and France, Europe expected in September 38 nothing less the outbreak of the next war, triggered by the imminent German invasion of the CSR.
The two great European powers, Britain and France, however, were very reluctant to go to war; they didn�t feel prepared and ready, and possibly overestimated Hitler�s military capabilities. Italy, by treaty bound to Nazi-Germany, wasn�t ready for war either and through Mussolini�s mediation, the Prime Ministers of France, Eduard Daladier, and Britain, Neville Chamberlain met the Axis leaders, the� F�hrer� and his chum, the �Duce� in M�nchen at the end of September 38.

Stalin wasn�t invited, to his annoyance, and neither was the Czech government under Edvard Benes which thus wasn�t even involved in the discussions over the future of the country.
A deal between the four participants was struck in record time, France and Britain capitulated before Hitler and gave in to all his demands. On September 30, an agreement was signed in M�nchen that gave the Nazis the right to annex the Sudetenland in 10 days, by the October 10th. The CSR had no say in the matter, and, betrayed by its allies, had to yield to the inevitable, it agreed to the stipulations of the treaty on the very same day.
The outcome was celebrated in Germany, not surprisingly, and, more astonishingly, in Britain as a great victory for diplomacy over raw military power. In reality the Agreement quickly became a symbol of the Western powers' appeasement of Hitler.

The British Prime Minister Chamberlaine, in the rather misguided believe, that the war in Europe had been avoided, returned home to a rapturous welcome and uttered the immortal words:
�My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time.�



"Peace in our time"

Nazi-Germany annexed the Sudetenland in October 1938, the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939; and in September 39, less than year after the signing of the Munich Agreement, invaded Poland to start the greatest mass slaughter in human history.


What else happened on this day?

1938 In a strange coincidence, on the very same day as the signing of the Munich Agreement, the �League of Nations�, predecessor of the United Nations agrees to ban the "intentional bombings of civilian populations". Both resolutions weren�t worth the paper they were written on.

Full list:

Wikipedia



Edited by Komnenos

The "Spirit of Munich" (the mistake of placating a dangerous dictator)was to haunt US and Western European foreign policy throughout the Cold War and arguably to this day. Although some may argue that the US went too far sometimes in spearating itself from the aforementioned spirit.

Mosquito,

How ignorant of you to draw a parallel between 1933 and modern day America. If you just han an ounce of insight you would realize that Iraq is not a threat to the rest of the world, this war is about oil.

Western politicians knew very well what was going on (Mar�chal P�tin in France that collaborated with Hitler after Northern France was occupied, Chamberlain...) and were affraid of Germany so the choice was:

- Help Poland and attack Germany at the same time (which they did not do because of Poland's minimal significance).

- Let Hitler do what he wants and hope he won't attack us next.

 

Back to Iraq, do you think the country will be better off without Saddam (who was officially non-religious)? With some Shiite fanatics hooking up with Iran to be a real menace.

Think about it... for a long time if you have to...