What was the Munich Conference about?
The Munich Conference was a meeting held between the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy to debate the German interest in annexing the Sudetenland region, then belonging to the Czechoslovakia. The agreement was part of the failed policy of appeasement carried out by the British and French with Nazi Germany during the 1930s.
German expansionism and the policy of appeasement
One of the pillars of the Nazi ideology developed by Adolf Hitler was the lebensraum, known as german “living space”. This idea, which had been developed during the 19th century in Germany, was appropriated and expanded by Hitler aiming to annex all territories that owned ethnic Germans, mainly in the East European. Therefore, this Nazi living space not only included the territories lost by Germany after World War I, but also encompassed a vast region in Europe.
The construction of this ideal was not only based on Hitler's political and economic interests, but his ideology also carried a strong racist principle. For more details on the ideological construction of the lebensraum,
Click here.From these conceptions, Hitler began the policy of territorial expansionism and, to achieve his goals, he needed to strengthen Germany militarily. However, this would only be possible if he ignored the Treaty of Versailles. This agreement, signed by the Germans after the surrender in the First World War, prohibited the country from having more than 100,000 soldiers.
In order to carry out the Nazi territorial expansion, Germany began to reformulate its army by calling in new soldiers and modernizing its structure. Thus, with the restructuring of the German army, the country began its expansionist project, in which the first targets were Austria and Czechoslovakia.
The stance of the United Kingdom and France in view of the German actions was known as appeasement policy, as both countries only made complaints through diplomacy without, however, taking any more energetic stance. Furthermore, as part of this policy, some concessions were made to curb German ambition. This was mainly due to fears that a new war might break out in Europe.
annexation of austria
Hitler's first step was the annexation of Austria. In 1938, the Nazi leader, who was Austrian by birth, began to coerce the Austrian leadership to accept the annexation of his country to German territory. In the 1930s, Austria already had considerable support for the Nazi Party, however, Austrian leaders did not welcome this intention to annex their territories.
After the German invasion in March 1938, a referendum in April ordered, with the approval of the Austrians, the annexation of Austria to Germany. This event was known as Anschluss. The Nazi invasion did not generate any reaction from France and the United Kingdom.
Sudetenland Question and Munich Conference
By allowing the invasion and annexation of Austria, France and the United Kingdom imagined that Hitler's territorial ambition would come to an end. However, this did not happen, and the German leader turned to the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia that had a population of Germanic ethnic origin. This action was seen as Hitler's interest in ensuring control of the strong industrial network existing in that area.
Hitler's ambition led the European powers to meet to discuss the Sudetenland situation in Munich Conference. This meeting was attended by adolf hitler (leader of Germany), nevillechamberlain (British Prime Minister), Édouard Daladier (French Prime Minister) and BenitoMussolini (Italy leader).
As the French and British were imposing the appeasement policy to avoid a new conflict, its leaders eventually accepted Germany's demands and forced Czechoslovakia to relinquish its sovereignty over the Sudetenland. In return, they demanded an end to Hitler's territorial ambitions and Germany's demonstration of peacekeeping.
Munich Conference Balance
The Munich Conference is seen as a major failure of the appeasement policy, as it sacrificed Czechoslovakia's sovereignty to the detriment of Hitler's pretensions. However, the agreement was seen by Chamberlain as a great victory and defended as a measure to guarantee peace in Europe. History, however, has proven otherwise.
Hitler came out of Munich morally victorious and saw in the weakness of French and British actions a reason to continue his territorial expansion. Shortly thereafter, Germany invaded Czechoslovakia completely and then carried out the invasion of poland, an act that led to the start of World War II in September 1939.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/historia/o-que-foi-conferencia-munique.htm