{"id":911,"date":"2017-11-01T16:15:04","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T16:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/?page_id=911"},"modified":"2026-05-23T10:43:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T10:43:36","slug":"munich-agreement","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/world-history\/interwar-period-c1918-1945\/munich-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Munich Agreement – Peace in Our Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Munich Agreement was the final and most famous part of the policy of Appeasement. The Sudetenland Crisis had led to the threat of a German Invasion of Czechoslovakia. The Munich Agreement was based on an Italian proposal to cede land to Germany in return for a guarantee of no further territorial expansion. Excluded from these talks, the Czechs were told they must agree to the Munich Agreement. A joint proclamation from Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler was agreed, on producing it on his return, Chamberlain famously promised “Peace in our Time”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Chamberlain\"<\/p>\n

Neville Chamberlain holding aloft his copy of the Munich Agreement<\/p>\n

The Munich Agreement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following Anschluss, Hitler’s attention turned to the Czech region of\u00a0Sudetenland<\/a>. From April throughout the summer Sudeten Germans rioted and demanded that they be allowed to join\u00a0Germany<\/span>. In the\u00a0light<\/span>\u00a0of alleged atrocities by the Czech Government against these ethnic Germans, Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht into positions along the Czech border and made demands for the\u00a0safety<\/span>\u00a0of the German population.<\/p>\n

The British Government responded to the\u00a0increased<\/span>\u00a0tension through the usual diplomatic channels. In July Hitler confirmed that he wanted Sudetenland<\/a> to be ceded to\u00a0Germany\u00a0and made assurances that this was his only territorial ambition. He also promised not to invade Czechoslovakia if the\u00a0wishes<\/span>\u00a0of the Sudeten Germans were granted and the region was handed over. On September 12th the situation worsened as martial law was imposed in Sudetenland<\/a> by the Czechs as a result of rioting. Hitler made it clear that the German Wehrmacht would\u00a0act<\/span>\u00a0in defence of the ethnic Germans.<\/p>\n

On September 15th the British prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, flew to Austria to meet with Adolf Hitler. After discussions with Hitler, Chamberlain agreed that Hitler would be allowed to take control of Sudetenland and said that he would negotiate with his cabinet and other major powers to ensure that there was a peaceful solution to the crisis and a positive outcome for the Sudeten Germans.<\/p>\n

In the following week Chamberlain got the approval of his Cabinet for such an agreement to be made and persuaded the Czech government that this was the only viable option, no matter how much they disliked it. On September 22nd Chamberlain met Hitler again and told him that agreement could be made for areas of Sudetenland that were predominantly German to be ceded. Hitler’s response was to demand the withdrawal of Czech troops from the entire region by October 1st: a provocative move that would provide an excuse to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia if the Czechs failed to comply.<\/p>\n

This response was not what the International community had anticipated. War now looked like a\u00a0distinct<\/span>\u00a0possibility and initial mobilisation of troops was ordered in Britain and France. Hitler had demanded the entire region, the removal of non Germans from the area and demanded that other parts of Czechoslavakia be ceded to Poland and\u00a0Holland<\/span>.<\/p>\n

In the following week Hitler contacted the British guaranteeing the\u00a0safety\u00a0of Czechoslovakia if the Sudetenland was ceded to\u00a0Germany. This provided one last opportunity to prevent war. Chamberlain\u00a0replied<\/span>\u00a0that he would like to continue negotiations and invited the Italian leader, Mussolini, and the French Premier to\u00a0participate<\/span>\u00a0in negotiations. These negotiations, which did not involve a representative of the Czech government, were held in Munich on September 29th.<\/p>\n

At the meeting in Munich the Italians presented a solution. The Sudetenland would be ceded to\u00a0Germany\u00a0in exchange for a written assurance from the Germans that this was the end of German territorial expansion. It offered the only way to prevent a German invasion. Chamberlain and Daladier, the French Premier, agreed. The Munich Agreement was signed the following day. The Czechs were\u00a0informed<\/span>\u00a0of the agreement after it had been signed. When they said that they did not agree with the terms they were\u00a0informed\u00a0that it was binding and that if they did not comply that they would be held responsible for any war. In other words, they had no choice but to agree.<\/p>\n

Chamberlain returned to a heroes welcome and declared that he had secured ‘Peace in our time’. A joint communique was issued by both the British and Germans:<\/p>\n

“We, the German Fuhrer and Chancellor and the British Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognising the question of Anglo-German relations as of the first importance for the two countries and for Europe. We regard the agreement signed last\u00a0night<\/span>\u00a0and the Anglo-German naval agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two people never to go to war with one another again. We are resolved that the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove probable sources of difference and thus contribute to assure the peace of Europe.”<\/p>\n

International Relations in the Inter-war Years<\/a><\/h3>\n

Treaty of Versailles, 1919<\/a> – League of Nations<\/a> – The Dawes Plan, 1924<\/a> – Locarno Pact<\/a> – Kellogg-Briand Pact<\/a> – The Young Plan<\/a> – Litvinov Protocol<\/a> – Wall Street Crash<\/a> – Impact of the Great Depression<\/a> –\u00a0Manchurian Crisis, 1931<\/a> – Abyssinia Crisis, 1935<\/a> – League of Nations response to Abyssinia and Manchuria<\/a> – Spanish Civil War, 1936<\/a> – Hitler’s Aims: Lebensraum and Grossdeutschland<\/a> – Reoccupation of the Rhineland: International Response<\/a> – Anschluss<\/a> – Appeasement<\/a> – Sudetenland plebisite<\/a> –\u00a0Munich Agreement<\/a> –\u00a0Allied Pre-War policy towards Poland<\/a> – Nazi Soviet Pact<\/a> – Pact of Steel<\/a><\/p>\n

China 1930 \u2013 1976<\/a> –\u00a0Germany 1919-1945<\/a> –\u00a0USA 1919 -41<\/a> –\u00a0 History of the Soviet Union<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Munich Agreement was the final and most famous part of the policy of Appeasement. The Sudetenland Crisis had led to the threat of a German Invasion of Czechoslovakia. The Munich Agreement was based on an Italian proposal to cede land to Germany in return for a guarantee of no further territorial expansion. Excluded from… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2543,"parent":146,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-911","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t