On October 1, 1938, German troops cross the border and begin the occupation of the Sudetenland - a border territory of Czechoslovakia, populated mainly by German-speaking residents. The transfer of the area to Nazi Germany had been agreed days earlier in Munich, and the Wehrmacht's entry itself took place in stages until October 10.
The Munich Agreement was signed on September 29 and 30 by Adolf Hitler, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier. The Czechoslovak government was not allowed to participate in the negotiations, although its territory was the subject of the agreement. Under strong pressure from Britain and France, Prague accepted the terms.
The crisis preceding the agreement
After the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938, Czechoslovakia found itself almost surrounded by Germany. Adolf Hitler used the discontent among the Sudeten Germans and the political actions of Konrad Henlein, leader of the Sudeten German Party, to increase the pressure on Prague.
On April 24, the party adopted the so-called Carlsbad Program, which included broad autonomy rights for the German population. The German Historical Museum points out that the implementation of these demands would have effectively meant the end of the Czechoslovak state. On 30 May, Hitler ordered the German armed forces to be ready for an operation against Czechoslovakia on 1 October.
Chamberlain met Hitler first at Berchtesgaden on 15 September and then at Bad Godesberg on 22 September. As the crisis reached its most dangerous phase, Mussolini proposed a conference in Munich. As a result, the four countries agreed that the Sudetenland would be handed over to Germany without a war being fought over the territory.
Border, defence and forced displacement
The Sudetenland covered approximately 22,500 square kilometres and included the main Czechoslovak fortifications on the border with Germany. About 690,000 Czechs remained in the ceded territory. According to the German Historical Museum, nearly 400,000 Czechs left their homes after the border change.
The German troops first entered one of the five designated zones. The exact border between Germany and Czechoslovakia was not fully specified when the agreement was signed, and its final demarcation was carried out on October 7 by an international commission without Czechoslovak representatives.
Persecutions against Czechs, Jews, and political opponents of the Nazi regime began in the Sudetenland. The territory was made part of the German Reich, and Konrad Henlein was appointed head of the newly created Reichsgau Sudetenland.
„Peace for Our Time“
Great Britain and France presented the agreement as a way to prevent an imminent European war. Chamberlain returned to London convinced that he had secured "peace for our time". Just a few months later, however, Germany broke its commitments.
On 5 October 1938, Winston Churchill warned in the House of Commons that his country had suffered "a complete and irrevocable defeat". According to the official parliamentary record, he described Munich as a humiliating retreat that increased German influence in Europe.
On 15 March 1939, the German army occupied Prague. The Czech Republic was transformed into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and Slovakia declared itself a separate state under German influence. Thus, the occupation of the Sudetenland, presented in 1938 as a limited territorial solution, turned out to be the first step towards the final destruction of Czechoslovakia and the outbreak of World War II.