The Crisis over Czechoslovakia
History: Cambridge International GCSE The Twentieth Century (Option B), topic 3.5.11
Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1939
In October 1938 Germany invaded the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.
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German speaking
- Hitler invaded the Sudetenland as he saw it as another area of land that was German.
- There were 3 million German speaking people in the Sudetenland.
Resources
- It was also rich in natural resources and had important factories in it.
- These factories, such as Skoda, could be used to build tanks.
Germany GB talks
- Hitler had been unopposed at taking land before so thought he could do the same.
- The British Prime Minister Chamberlain flew to meet Hitler in 1938 and they signed the Munich Agreement.
Chamberlain's peace
- Chamberlain thought he had secured ‘peace in our time’ as by giving Hitler land he wanted in Czechoslovakia he would be pleased and not want any more.
- The British people were pleased that war had been avoided.
Popular attitude
- They also thought much of what Hitler was doing was acceptable because the land housed German speaking people and the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh.
- People believed Hitler’s promise of peace if he got what was set out in the policy of appeasement.
Weakness
- Britain also knew they weren’t strong enough to fight another war, they hadn’t the money and knew the USA wouldn’t support them.
- However, internationally the country looked weak against Hitler so lost support from France and the USSR.
Test yourself on The Crisis over Czechoslovakia
Where is the Sudetenland?