Signing of the „Munich Accord“

In late September 1938 worried looks by so many people of the world are directed toward Munich: In a crisis meeting held there, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier and Italian „Duce“ Benito Mussolini attempt to avert a war by the German Reich against Czechoslovakia.

© Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin The signatories of the „Munich Accord“ (left to the rigth): Neville Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler - postcard, 1938

Adolf Hitler has stringently rejected the participation in the negotiations by a Czech government delegation. Ultimately the Western powers give in to Hitler’s pressure. On 30 September 1938 the „Munich Accord“ is signed: It requires Czechoslovakia – without being asked if it agrees – to cede to the German Reich the province of Sudetenland, where a German majority lives. In return Hitler agrees to refrain from attacking the country. Great Britain and France take charge of security guarantees for the part of the country remaining Czechoslovakian. For the government in Prague the Munich Accord equals the „choice between being murdered and committing suicide“.

Source: http://sudetengermans.freeyellow.com/ Overview over Bohemia and Moravia: the Sudeten German territories are marked red