Hitler Brings the Pain!

p. 160-175 (Keylor)

Hitler Woos Poland to Annihilate Czechoslovakia

Hitlers Principal Aim- to accelerate Germanys tactical rapprochement with Poland and Hungary and to establish ties with Czechoslovakias two partners in the Little Entente (Yugoslavia and Romania) Principal Source of Friction between Germany and Poland- Danzig, where the Nazi municipal government caused considerable trouble for the Polish authorities
Directives from Berlin stopped anti-Polish agitation while Hitler made nice with the Polish government

Hitler Woos Poland to Annihilate Czechoslovakia

Positive Basis for German-Polish Cooperation- Teschen district of Silesia
Industrial area awarded to Czechoslovakia in 1920 Home to 80,000 Poles Working together the Polish government added this demand to Hitlers demand for the German-speaking region of the Sudetenland (Western Czechoslovakia)

Hitler Woos Romania and Yugoslavia to Annihilate Czechoslovakia

Difficulty in Negotiations No territorial land claims to reward them with like Poland Belonged to the Little Entente with Czechoslovakia Linked together with protector France

Hungary Throws a Wrench in the Works

Little Entente kept a wary eye on Hungary because Hungary had lost much land to the Little Entente at the Paris Peace Conference
Main reason the Little Entente held together

Hitler Woos Romania and Yugoslavia to Annihilate Czechoslovakia

Hitler Encourages Better Hungary-Yugoslavia Relations
Hungary and Yugoslavia reached an agreement in 1938 on the major issues of dispute between them
Dealt a serious blow to the anti-Hungary basis of the Little Entente

Hitler Drives a Wedge between Romania and Czechoslovakia

Bitter territorial struggle between Romania and Russia over Bessarabia Romania proved to be an obstacle to Russian allegiance to Czechoslovakia as they blocked Soviet access to their ally

Hitler Establishes Economic Ties with Central Europe

Campaign to isolate Czechoslovakia from its neighbors was bolstered by a series of commercial policies designed to subordinate the shaky economic systems of the nations of Central Europe to the expanding German economy

Nazi Propaganda Hits Czechoslovakia

Hitler Barrages Prague with Propaganda Campaign Summer of 1938- directed at Pragues alleged persecution of the three million German-speaking inhabitants of the Bohemian borderlands

Konrad Henlein Joins the Shenanigans

Leader of the Sudeten German party Demands political autonomy of the Germanspeaking region as a prelude to secession and annexation by Germany

Czechs Check Sudeten Secession

Two Main Reasons for Noncooperation by Prague Loss of the Sudetenland would deprive it of its defensible frontiers and the elaborate border fortifications constructed behind them leaving them defenseless against German invasion Granting of autonomy to the Germans of Bohemia would establish a precedent for similar demands by the other national minorities in the multiethnic republic
Poles in Teschen Hungarians in southern Slovakia Possibly even the Slovaks themselves

France- The Shrinking Violet

France Balks at War with Germany
Remained committed to the Franco-Czechoslovak alliance for the sake of appearances but
Deplorable condition of their air force Refusal of Belgium to allow the transit of French troops to Germanys most vulnerable industrial targets Exaggerated estimates of the size of the German army Strength of the Rhineland fortifications

Caused the failure of their nerve to fight

Britain- The Conciliatory Pansy

Britain wanted no part of a war between France and Germany in which there was no issue of national importance to them Memories of Spanish towns being hit by German bombers led Britain to exert every diplomatic effort to avert a war
Antiaircraft artillery system and radar installations were still under construction

Czech President Eduard Benes

Anglo-French pressure on Prague to reach a settlement with the Sudeten party compelled Benes to grant all of that partys main demands on September 5, 1938 Hitler, not wanting political concessions (but war instead), advised Konrad Henlein to produce a list of grievances against the Czech government

Neville Chamberlain Sells the Czech Farm

British PM Affected by Two Major Events
World War I
Believed that the Belligerents had entered into a terrible war that might well have been averted by a more skillful, active diplomacy

Paris Peace Conference

Believed that the victorious Allies had mistreated Germany at the peace conference by refusing to apply the principle of national self-determination to Germanys eastern frontiers

Neville Chamberlain Sells the Czech Farm

Chamberlain Hopes to Avoid World War II
September 15, 1938- Chamberlain boards a plane and flies to Hitlers private retreat at Berchtesgaden in order to settle the Czech problem Hitler demanded the Sudetenland on the basis of national self-determination Chamberlain returned to London and attempted to persuade France and Czechoslovakia to accept the German demands

Edouard Daladier Caves on the Issue of the Sudetenland

French PM Bristles at National SelfDetermination through Plebiscites in German-Speaking Areas in Central Europe
Backs down from this terribly true ideal as he defers to Chamberlains leadership on this issue against his own better judgment

Benes Sticks to His Guns- Sort Of

Prague Angrily Rejects the Anglo-French Proposal
Eventually forced into agreement by the threat of an end to British peacemaking efforts and a bluntly repeated refusal of French assistance in case of war

Chamberlain Returns to the Scene of the Crime

Chamberlain Returns to Godesberg, Germany on September 22, 1938
Informs Hitler of concessions Hitler declines on his own previous demands
Cited that deteriorating conditions in the Sudetenland required immediate German intervention

War Seems Inevitable

Czech Government Mobilizes for War on September 24, 1938 France Mobilizes its Army for War on September 26, 1938 Britain Mobilizes its Naval Fleet for War on September 27, 1938 Germany Orders Attack of Czechoslovakia to Begin on the Morning of September 30, 1938

Last Ditch Efforts for DtenteThe Munich Conference

Mussolini Intervenes on Behalf of Czechoslovakia on September 29, 1938
Hitler agrees to host a conference in Munich, Germany
Hesitations of Mussolini? Reluctance of his generals? Refusal of Chamberlain and Daladier to stand idly by?

Attendees- Britain, France, Italy, and Germany

The Munich Pact- September 30, 1938

Facets of the Munich Pact
Evacuation of Czech army from Sudetenland between October 1 and 10, 1938 Followed by German occupation in four stages Britain and France guaranteed redrawn borders of Czechoslovakia Germany and Italy promised similar guarantees once Polish and Hungarian territorial claims had been satisfactorily adjudicated

The Rest of Eastern Europe Falls in Line

Romania-German Economic AgreementDecember 10, 1938
Guaranteed German access to Romanian oil
Supplement to the insufficient synthetic production from domestic coal

Guaranteed German access to Romanian wheat

Supplement to the annual shortfall in German agricultural output

The Rest of Eastern Europe Falls in Line

Hungary Joins the Anti-Comintern Pact and Withdraws from the League of Nations
Germany rewarded Hungary with approval to annex Czechoslovakias easternmost province
Capatho-Ukraine (Ruthenia) Home to numerous Hungarians

Romania and Yugoslavia accept a policy of diplomatic and economic subservience to Germany Lithuania was reduced to the status of satellite
Port of Memel was annexed by Germany in March 1939 Home to many German-speaking people

Germany Breaks the Munich Pact

March 15, 1939- Hitler Marches into Prague and Military Occupation Begins
Western half of the country annexed as a German protectorate Eastern half of the country converted into the satellite state of Slovakia

Poland Retracts from German Reorientation in Eastern Europe

Poland Rebuffs Hitlers Demands for Public Confirmation of Subservience to Germany and Adherence to the Anti-Comintern Pact
Ruling elite had maintained a balance against German and Soviet control since the end of World War I and they were not about to give either a leg up within their borders in 1939 National pride kept the Poles from accepting the same fate as the Czechs or to tolerate the establishment of German hegemony in Eastern Europe

Hitler Plots Poland First

Hitler Decides Military Action Against Poland Prior to Military Action Against the Democracies in the West
Old German grievances resurfaced
Maltreatment of the Germans in Danzig Economic difficulties caused by the separation of East Prussia from the rest of the Reich

Polish Resolve Heightens

Why?
British and French foreign policy from appeasement to resistance Britain greatly accelerated rearmament and formulated precise plans for deployment on the continent France took the necessary steps to rectify the serious deficiencies in its air power by placing orders for warplanes in the US after obtaining the tacit consent of the Roosevelt Administration

Hitler Woos Stalin

Nazi-Soviet Pact- August 23, 1939
Hitler halts any immediate Soviet aggression against Germany by appeasing them with bits of Poland Stalin gains time to complete armaments buildup for the inevitable German invasion

Side Note: Hitler had to choose between a pact with Russia or a pact with Britain
He chose Russia because he believed that Britain would not be prepared to defend Poland (which was correct)