On September 30, 1938, the famous Munich Agreement was signed, better known in Russian historical literature as the "Munich Agreement". In fact, it was this agreement that was the first step towards the outbreak of World War II. The Prime Ministers of Great Britain, Neville Chamberlain and France, Edouard Daladier, Reich Chancellor of Germany Adolf Hitler, and Prime Minister of Italy Benito Mussolini signed a document according to which the Sudetenland, formerly part of Czechoslovakia, was transferred to Germany.
The interest of the German Nazis in the Sudetenland was explained by the fact that a significant German community (by 1938 - 2, 8 million people) lived on its territory. These were the so-called Sudeten Germans, who are descendants of Germanic colonists who settled the Czech lands in the Middle Ages. In addition to the Sudetenland, a large number of Germans lived in Prague and some other large cities in Bohemia and Moravia. As a rule, they did not define themselves as Sudeten Germans. The very same term "Sudeten Germans" appeared only in 1902 - with the light hand of the writer Franz Jesser. This is what the rural population of the Sudetenland called themselves, and only then did the urban Germans from Brno and Prague joined them.
After the First World War and the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia, the Sudeten Germans did not want to be part of the Slavic state. Among them, nationalist organizations appeared, including the National Socialist Workers' Party of R. Jung, the Sudeten-German Party of K. Henlein. The breeding ground for the activities of the Sudeten nationalists was the student environment of the university, where the division into Czech and German departments remained. Students tried to communicate in their linguistic environment, later, even in parliament, German deputies had the opportunity to speak in their native language. Nationalist sentiments among the Sudeten Germans became especially active after the National Socialist Workers' Party came to power in Germany. The Sudeten Germans demanded secession from Czechoslovakia and annexation to Germany, explaining their demand by the need for exemption from discrimination that allegedly took place in the Czechoslovak state.
In fact, the Czechoslovak government, which did not want to quarrel with Germany, did not discriminate against the Sudeten Germans. It supported local self-government and education in German, but these measures did not suit the Sudeten separatists. Of course, Adolf Hitler also drew attention to the situation in the Sudetenland. For the Fuhrer, Czechoslovakia, the former most economically developed country in Eastern Europe, was of great interest. For a long time he looked at the developed Czechoslovak industry, including military factories, which produced a large amount of weapons and military equipment. In addition, Hitler and his Nazi party comrades believed that the Czechs could be easily assimilated and subject to German influence. The Czech Republic was seen as a historical sphere of influence of the German state, control over which should be returned to Germany. At the same time, Hitler relied on the separation of the Czechs and Slovaks, supporting Slovak separatism and national-conservative forces, which were very popular in Slovakia.
When the Anschluss of Austria took place in 1938, the Sudeten nationalists were fired up with the idea of carrying out a similar operation with the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. The head of the Sudeten-German party Henlein arrived in Berlin on a visit and met with the leadership of the NSDAP. He received instructions on further actions and, returning to Czechoslovakia, immediately began to develop a new party program, which already contained a demand for autonomy for the Sudeten Germans. The next step was to put forward a demand for a referendum on the annexation of the Sudetenland to Germany. In May 1938, Wehrmacht units moved to the border with Czechoslovakia. At the same time, the Sudeten-German party was preparing a performance with the aim of secession of the Sudetenland. The authorities of Czechoslovakia were forced to carry out a partial mobilization in the country, send troops into the Sudetenland and enlist the support of the Soviet Union and France. Then, in May 1938, even fascist Italy, which at that time already had allied relations with Germany, criticized Berlin's aggressive intentions. Thus, the first Sudeten crisis ended for Germany and the Sudeten separatists with the fiasco of their plans to seize the Sudetenland. After that, German diplomacy began active negotiations with the Czechoslovak representatives. Poland played its role in supporting the aggressive plans of Germany, which threatened the Soviet Union with war if the USSR sent units of the Red Army to help Czechoslovakia through Polish territory. Poland's position was explained by the fact that Warsaw also claimed part of Czechoslovak territory, like Hungary, neighboring Czechoslovakia.
The time for a new provocation came in early September 1938. Then in the Sudetenland there were riots organized by the Sudeten Germans. The Czechoslovak government sent troops and police to suppress them. At this time, fears again increased that Germany would send parts of the Wehrmacht to help the Sudeten nationalists. Then the leaders of Great Britain and France confirmed their readiness to provide assistance to Czechoslovakia and declare war on Germany if it attacks a neighboring country. At the same time, Paris and London promised Berlin that if Germany does not unleash a war, it will be able to claim any concessions. Hitler realized that he was close enough to his goal - the Anschluss of the Sudetenland. He stated that he did not want war, but he needed to support the Sudeten Germans as fellow tribesmen persecuted by the Czechoslovak authorities.
Meanwhile, provocations in the Sudetenland continued. On September 13, the Sudeten nationalists again began riots. The Czechoslovak government was forced to impose martial law on the territory of the German-populated areas and to strengthen the presence of its armed forces and police. In response, the leader of the Sudeten Germans, Henlein, demanded the lifting of martial law and the withdrawal of Czechoslovak troops from the Sudetenland. Germany announced that if the government of Czechoslovakia did not comply with the demands of the leaders of the Sudeten Germans, it would declare war on Czechoslovakia. On September 15, British Prime Minister Chamberlain arrived in Germany. This meeting, in many ways, became decisive for the further fate of Czechoslovakia. Hitler was able to convince Chamberlain that Germany does not want war, but if Czechoslovakia does not give Germany the Sudetenland, thereby realizing the right of the Sudeten Germans, like any other nation, to self-determination, Berlin will be forced to stand up for his fellow tribesmen. On September 18, representatives of Great Britain and France met in London, who came to a compromise solution, according to which the regions inhabited by Germans by more than 50% were to go to Germany - in accordance with the right of nations to self-determination. At the same time, Great Britain and France pledged to become guarantors of the inviolability of the new borders of Czechoslovakia, which were approved in connection with this decision. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its readiness to provide military assistance to Czechoslovakia even if France does not fulfill its obligations under the 1935 treaty of alliance with Czechoslovakia. However, Poland also reaffirmed its loyalty to its old position - that it would immediately attack Soviet troops if they tried to pass through its territory into Czechoslovakia. Britain and France blocked the Soviet Union's proposal to consider the Czechoslovak situation in the League of Nations. This is how the collusion of the capitalist countries of the West took place.
The representatives of France told the Czechoslovak leadership that if it did not agree to the transfer of the Sudetenland to Germany, then France would refuse to fulfill its allied obligations to Czechoslovakia. At the same time, the French and British representatives warned the Czechoslovak leadership that if it used the military assistance of the Soviet Union, the situation could get out of control and the Western countries would have to fight against the USSR. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, was trying to make one last attempt to defend the territorial integrity of Czechoslovakia. The military units deployed in the western regions of the USSR were put on alert.
At a meeting between Chamberlain and Hitler, which took place on September 22, the Fuhrer demanded that the Sudetenland be transferred to Germany within a week, as well as those lands claimed by Poland and Hungary. Polish troops began to concentrate on the border with Czechoslovakia. In Czechoslovakia itself, violent events were also taking place. Milan Goji's government, determined to capitulate to German demands, fell in a general strike. A new interim government was formed under the leadership of General Yan Syrov. On September 23, the leadership of Czechoslovakia gave the order to start a general mobilization. At the same time, the USSR warned Poland that the non-aggression pact could be terminated if the latter attacked Czechoslovak territory.
But Hitler's position remained unchanged. On September 27, he warned that the next day, September 28, the Wehrmacht would come to the aid of the Sudeten Germans. The only concession he could make was to hold new negotiations on the Sudeten question. On September 29, the heads of government of Great Britain, France and Italy arrived in Munich. It is noteworthy that representatives of the Soviet Union were not invited to the meeting. Representatives of Czechoslovakia were also refused an invitation - although it was she who was most concerned with the issue under discussion. Thus, the leaders of four Western European countries decided the fate of a small state in Eastern Europe.
At 1 am on September 30, 1938, the Munich Agreement was signed. The partition of Czechoslovakia took place, after which representatives of Czechoslovakia were allowed into the hall. They, of course, expressed their protest against the actions of the parties to the agreement, but after a while they succumbed to the pressure of the British and French representatives and signed the agreement. The Sudetenland was transferred to Germany. The President of Czechoslovakia Benes, frightened by the war, signed the agreement adopted in Munich on the morning of September 30. Despite the fact that in the Soviet historical literature this agreement was considered as a criminal conspiracy, in the end one can speak of its twofold nature.
On the one hand, Germany initially sought to protect the right of the Sudeten Germans to self-determination. Indeed, after the First World War, the German people were divided. The Germans, like any other people in the world, had the right to self-determination and to live in a single state. That is, the movement of the Sudeten Germans could be considered as national liberation. But the whole problem is that Hitler was not going to stop at the Sudetenland and limit himself to protecting the rights of the Sudeten Germans. He needed the whole of Czechoslovakia, and the Sudeten question became only a pretext for further aggression against this state.
Thus, the other side of the Munich agreements is that they became the starting point for the destruction of Czechoslovakia as a single and independent state and for the occupation of the Czech Republic by German troops. The ease with which the Western powers allowed Hitler to carry out this cunning maneuver instilled in him confidence in his own strength and allowed him to act more aggressively towards other states. A year later, Poland received retribution for its position in relation to Czechoslovakia, which itself turned out to be occupied by the troops of Nazi Germany.
The criminal behavior of Great Britain and France was not that they allowed the Germans of the Sudetenland to reunite with Germany, but that Paris and London turned a blind eye to Hitler's further aggressive policy towards Czechoslovakia. The next step was the secession of Slovakia, also carried out with the support of Nazi Germany and with the complete silence of the Western states, although they understood that the new Slovak state would actually become a satellite of Berlin. On October 7, the autonomy of Slovakia was granted, on October 8 - Subcarpathian Rus, on November 2 Hungary received the southern regions of Slovakia and part of Subcarpathian Rus (now this part is part of Ukraine). On March 14, 1939, the parliament of the autonomy of Slovakia supported the withdrawal of autonomy from Czechoslovakia. Hitler was again able to use the conflict between the government of Czechoslovakia and the Slovak leaders to his advantage. The Western powers were habitually silent. On March 15, Germany entered its troops into the Czech Republic. The well-armed Czech army did not offer fierce resistance to the Wehrmacht.
Having occupied the Czech Republic, Hitler proclaimed it a protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. So the Czech state ceased to exist with the tacit consent of Great Britain and France. The "peace-loving" policy of the powers, which, by the way, guaranteed the inviolability of the new borders of the Czechoslovak state with the same Munich agreement, led to the destruction of the Czech Republic as a state and, in the long term, significantly brought the tragedy of World War II closer. After all, Hitler got what he was striving for even before the "solution of the Sudeten question" - control over the military industry of Czechoslovakia and a new ally - Slovakia, which, if anything, could support the Nazi troops in their further advance to the east.
