How did the policy of appeasement begin?
Hitler’s seizure of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 was a visible and clear failure of the Anglo-French policy of appeasing Nazi Germany. The initial terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, signed after World War I, were extremely harsh on the Germans: the country was deprived of lands bordering France and Poland, had to pay huge reparations, and was deprived of the right to continue its existence. a compulsory army, tanks and a serious navy.
Over time, conditions eased and Germany joined the League of Nations. (Predecessor of the UN, founded by the victors of the First World War) Relations with the former enemies gradually improved until Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party seized power in 1934. The Nazis were not interested in compromise – they just needed revenge at any cost, so Germany began to rebuild military power.
Hitler was a fanatic in setting goals, but a pragmatist in achieving them. He understood that Germany would face defeat if Western countries were prematurely provoked into a new war. Therefore, the essence of his policy in 1935-1938 was based on the gradual search for Franco-British determination. He first reinstated conscription, then restored the right to maintain a navy, and finally in 1936 occupied the demilitarized Rhineland region in violation of the key provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Interestingly, the first engineer battalion sent there had strict orders: When in contact with any French forces, retreat without a fight. But despite the fact that the French divisions were concentrated on the other side of the border, no one met them except the jubilant German residents.
The French government refused to fight because the economy was about to collapse, but Hitler had since become convinced that Western countries were not prepared to oppose him by force of arms. And if so, they can be tricked and pushed in without firing a single shot. The West’s reaction to deception, threats and pressure is called “appeasement policy”.
Munich Zrada
France and England made peace but were not direct victims of Hitler. In 1938, Germany decided to take advantage of the alleged disadvantageous position of the German population in Czechoslovakia, concentrated on the border with the Sudetenland. The Nazis launched a massive propaganda campaign about (fictional) Czech oppression. Hitler gave an ultimatum: the Sudetenland must be transferred to the Reich by October 1, 1938. At the same time, the Wehrmacht began to prepare for a spectacular invasion to liberate the local Germans.
This did not frighten Czechoslovakian President Edvard Benes: the German border was mountainous and well fortified, the Czech military industry was the best in Europe among the minor powers, and on September 23, a week before the end of the war. Hitler’s ultimatum declared general mobilization in the army. Czech society was filled with enthusiasm to defend the country, and in just 24 hours nearly a million mobilized people arrived at assembly points.
Things were completely different in the camp of the Western Allies. The French and British had an obligation to defend Czechoslovakia against the Germans, but they were not prepared to fight. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, the father of appeasement policies, said: “How terrible, fantastic, incredible that we have to dig trenches and wear gas masks here because of a fight in a far away country between people we know nothing about.” Understanding the mood of the British, Hitler tried to make them more conciliatory and promised that the Sudetenland was Germany’s last demand and that from now on only peace would await Europe. To create greater impact, at one point an assistant entered the meeting room and read fake news about yet another German massacre. Hearing this, Hitler shouted: “I will avenge them all. Checks must be destroyed!
The psychic attack tactic worked, and on the night of 29–30 September the delegations of Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy agreed to surrender the Sudetenland to the Reich by 10 October. The Czechoslovak side was not invited to these negotiations, and therefore in this country the agreement was called “Munich Zrada” (Mnichovská zrada), and in the USSR the Munich Agreement. The Western allies made it clear to the Czechs that if the conditions were not met, Czechoslovakia would be responsible for starting a war in Europe, in which case it could not even dream of any assistance.
The Munich Agreement was an unprecedented surrender of a much stronger enemy in the face of a more determined enemy. It is worth noting that it was primarily the German army itself that was afraid of war. Chief of Staff Ludwig Beck was sure that the Nazis were dragging his homeland into world war and destruction. Therefore he and other senior officers planned a conspiracy. As soon as the order was given to start a war with Czechoslovakia, the army needed to arrest Hitler in order to save Germany from a senseless suicidal war. To convince the German people that defeat was inevitable, Great Britain had to publicly declare its readiness to fight for Czechoslovakia, so the conspirators sent an envoy to London to negotiate this. However, the British cabinet refused to seriously consider the German generals’ offer.
As a result of the Munich Agreement, Hitler made a clear assessment in a speech. (Roger Parkinson, Peace in Our Time: From Munich to Dunkirk – The Inside Story) Actions of Chamberlain and his cabinet: “Thank God there are no such politicians in our country!”
Nazis don’t keep their promises
The Czechs had to submit to the decision of the Western countries, which led to the complete demoralization of society and the fall of the Benes government. The new authorities, led by Emil Gakha, realized that they were left without fortifications, a significant part of military factories and a combat-ready army. Therefore, Gakha tried to follow a pro-German policy, complying with all instructions sent from Berlin.
But Hitler did not even consider taking seriously his promise to stop territorial expansion. In the new year of 1939, Germany faced a financial crisis linked to excessive rearmament costs. At first, the government wanted to solve the problem of foreign currency shortage by increasing exports, but Hitler suddenly remembered a simpler option. The Czech National Bank held a reserve of gold that could be seized and put into circulation immediately. Additionally, Czech raw materials and industry were needed to continue rearmament.
Therefore, in March, he began negotiations with Tiso, the leader of the fascist Slovak People’s Party, and instructed him to declare Slovakia’s independence. He complied with the instructions on March 14. In response, the British suggested that Gakha go to Hitler and negotiate everything with him. There, Gakha declared from the threshold that “he had long wanted to meet a man whose wonderful thoughts he had often re-read and studied.”
The meeting with the Führer turned out to be very simple; The Czech president was presented with two options. It was possible to cooperate with Germany, in which case the entry of German troops would be as smooth as possible and the Czechs would be given “some autonomy and the opportunity to live a prosperous life.” The second option is to break the resistance by using force in any way possible. Hermann Goering had a heart attack when he frightened Hacha by promising to bomb Prague. The Nazis called a doctor so that no one would think that the president was killed in the Reich Chancellery.
Haha stated that this was the most difficult decision in his life, and then signed a document stating that he “confidently surrenders the fate of the Czech people and country into the hands of the Führer of the German Reich.” (Joachim Fest. Hitler. Biography) . He hoped that such a choice would be understood within a few years, and that it would be considered a blessing 50 years later. Immediately after the negotiations, Hitler flew into the secretaries’ office and shouted: “Guys, Gakha signed. This is the best day of my life. “I will go down in history as the greatest German.” (Joachim Fest. Hitler. Biography)
On the morning of March 15, 1939, the Wehrmacht crossed the border and occupied the remaining Czech lands almost without a fight. The battle took place only in the city of Mistek, near the Chayankov barracks, due to the fact that German troops cut the Czech lines of communication too early and the garrison did not receive the order to surrender.
Therefore, when the soldiers of the SS division “Adolf Hitler” began to approach the barracks, the Czechs under the command of company commander Karel Pavlik began to respond by occupying the trenches. They withstood three attacks, killing about a dozen Germans and disabling their armored vehicles, losing only two wounded. At night, when the defenders ran out of ammunition and the commander began calling and threatening the court, Captain Pavlik decided to surrender. The Germans immediately released him, but in later years he joined the Czech resistance, was captured by the Gestapo, and executed.
Germany received at its disposal some gold, large military factories, confiscated many weapons and was convinced that Hitler was right. The Czech Republic became the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
According to German plans, the Czechs were to be Germanized, freed from their Slavic roots, and integrated into the population of the Reich. It is characteristic that the Nazis directly named people like the Hacha scum and considered those most suitable for Germanization as those who resisted and clung to Czech identity. The head of the Nazi security service of the Czechs, Reinhard Heydrich, most respected the head of the protectorate, Alois Elias, and believed that he had German blood because he actively defended Czech interests and was not afraid to confront the Germans.
The capture of the Czech Republic did not cause an immediate reaction from Great Britain and France, but it did influence future policies. In the summer of 1939, when Hitler tried to repeat the Munich success and began to claim the city of Danzig from Poland, the Allies supported the Poles unconditionally. This is how World War II began; If it had happened a year earlier, Germany would have been defeated within a few months without suffering millions of casualties.