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Munich Pact
Munich Pact (29 September 1938) The agreement between Britain, France, Germany, and Italy concerning Czechoslovakia. HITLER had long demanded protection for the German-speaking SUDETENLAND and shown readiness to risk war to attain his end. To avert conflict at all costs the British Prime Minister, CHAMBERLAIN, had met Hitler at Berchtesgaden (15 September), and again at Bad Godesberg (23 September), by which time Hitler had extended his demands. He now stipulated the immediate annexation by Germany of the Bohemian Sudetenland and demanded that Germans elsewhere in Czechoslovakia should be given the right to join the THIRD REICH. In a final effort Chamberlain appealed to MUSSOLINI, who organized a conference at Munich where he, Chamberlain, and Hitler were joined by Daladier, the French Premier. No Czech or Soviet representative was invited. Hitler gained most of what he wanted and on 1 October German troops entered the Sudenten-land. As part of the agreement, Poland and Hungary occupied areas of Moravia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia. In March 1939 Bohemia and Moravia were occupied by German troops, and the rest of Slovakia became an independent client state; President BENEŠ had resigned, and he left the country. Germany, which now dominated the entire Danubian area, emerged as the strongest power on the mainland of Europe.
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"Munich Pact." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Munich Pact." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-MunichPact.html "Munich Pact." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-MunichPact.html |
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Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement (29 Sept. 1938) After the Anschluss, Hitler moved to incorporate the Sudetenland and the Czech lands into German territory. The British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew to Hitler's residence in order to avert a military conflict. At their final meeting in Munich, at which an agreement was signed, Mussolini and the French Prime Minister, E. Daladier, were also present. Hitler was allowed to annex the Sudetenland, but not the entire Czech lands. War had been avoided, which led Chamberlain to proclaim ‘Peace in our time’ upon his return to Britain. The agreement reflected the general desire for appeasement at the time, while giving Britain another eleven months in which to prepare for war. Yet it also gave Hitler more time for rearmament, and his concession not to invade the Czech lands became void when German troops marched into Prague on 15 March 1939. Despite the agreement being about the carve-up of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak representatives had no say in it. Nor did the Soviet Union, a demonstration of mistrust that encouraged Stalin to conclude the Hitler-Stalin Pact without regard for Britain or France.
Teschen |
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JAN PALMOWSKI. "Munich Agreement." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAN PALMOWSKI. "Munich Agreement." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-MunichAgreement.html JAN PALMOWSKI. "Munich Agreement." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-MunichAgreement.html |
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Munich agreement
Munich agreement. ‘Munich’ has entered the English language as a synonym for betrayal and weakness, and historians continue to debate whether it would have been wiser as well as more honourable for Britain to have risked war rather than to require Czechoslovakia to surrender the Sudetenland to Hitler. At the time (30 September 1938), the commonest feeling in Britain was one of relief. Perhaps the most realistic verdict—given the national unpreparedness for war—was that it was a ‘necessary defeat’. Neville Chamberlain, however, was not negotiating primarily to buy time for rearmament but in the belief that peace was possible.
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JOHN CANNON. "Munich agreement." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Munich agreement." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Munichagreement.html JOHN CANNON. "Munich agreement." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Munichagreement.html |
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Munich agreement
Munich agreement a peace settlement reached in Munich on September 30, 1938, by leaders of France, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy to allow German annexation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. It was accepted by all parties to prevent an attack planned by Adolf Hitler on Czechoslovakia, which had alliances with France and Great Britain, who both felt unprepared to defend the country.
The agreement was introduced by Benito Mussolini, but it was later discovered to have been prepared in the German Foreign Office. |
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"Munich agreement." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Munich agreement." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Munichagreement.html "Munich agreement." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Munichagreement.html |
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Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement (September 1938) Pact agreed by Britain, France, Italy, and Germany to settle German claims on Czechoslovakia. Hoping to preserve European peace, Britain and France compelled Czechoslovakia (not represented at Munich) to surrender the predominantly German-speaking Sudetenland to Nazi Germany on certain conditions. Hitler ignored the conditions and, six months later, his troops took over the rest of the country, an action that finally ended the Anglo-French policy of appeasement.
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"Munich Agreement." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Munich Agreement." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-MunichAgreement.html "Munich Agreement." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-MunichAgreement.html |
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Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement an agreement between Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, signed at Munich on 29 September 1938, under which the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany; Neville Chamberlain, on his return, famously and erroneously declared that he believed that he was bringing back ‘peace for our time’. In extended use (and allusively as Munich), it may denote an agreement held to resemble this pact in representing mistaken or dishonourable appeasement.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Munich Agreement." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Munich Agreement." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-MunichAgreement.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Munich Agreement." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-MunichAgreement.html |
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Munich agreement
Munich agreement ‘Munich’ (the agreement signed by Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler) has entered the English language as a synonym for weakness, and historians continue to debate whether it would have been wiser for Britain to have risked war rather than to require Czechoslovakia to surrender the Sudetenland to Hitler. At the time (30 September 1938), the commonest feeling in Britain was one of relief.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Munich agreement." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Munich agreement." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Munichagreement.html JOHN CANNON. "Munich agreement." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Munichagreement.html |
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