Germans march into the Sudetenland

© U.S. National Archives & Records Administration The tragedy of this Sudeten woman, unable to conceal her misery as she dutifully salutes the triumphant Hitler, is the tragedy of the silent millions who have been „won over“ to Hitlerism by the „everlasting use“ of ruthless force, ca. 1938

On 1 October 1938 German soldiers occupy the Sudetenland soon after Czechoslovakia withdraws its forces. Much earlier than planned and without the use of military force, Adolf Hitler achieves both of his most important foreign policy goals – the „annexation“ of Austria and the Sudetenland into the new „Greater Germany“. More than any other factor, the „appeasement policy“ of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has made Hitler’s work easy. Whatever the circumstances, Chamberlain wants to preserve peace in Europe – even at the price of painful concessions to the German dictator. From now on Hitler pretends, for the sake of world opinion, that he harbours no further territorial claims.