The Sudetenland Crisis (September 1938)

Background Content
  • Following the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War, three million ethnic Germans found themselves living in the newly-formed Czechoslovakia, mostly concentrated in the Sudetenland.
  • When Adolf Hitler came to power, one of his aims was to unite all Germans into one nation, turning his attention in September 1938 to the ethnic Germans living in Czechoslovakia.
  • The Sudeten German Party, led by Nazi sympathiser Konrad Henlein, demanded autonomy for the Sudeten-German areas, and a plebiscite regarding annexation with Germany.

Steps to:

The Munich conference
​Czechoslovakia - The Plan

12-13 September 1938
  • Hitler encourages Konrad Henlein, leader of the Sudeten Nazis, to rebel, and demands a union with Germany.
  • When the Czech government declares martial law, Hitler threatens war.

Three Conferences
​
15 September 1938
  • Chamberlain goes to see Hitler at Berchtesgaden.
  • Without consulting Czechoslovakia, he promises to give Hitler all the areas where more than 50 per cent of the population is German. Then he persuades France to agree.
22-23 September 1938
  • Chamberlain goes to Bad Godesberg to tell Hitler about the decision, but Hitler now demands ALL the Sudetenland. Chamberlain refuses - it looks like war.
  • Chamberlain calls the crisis 'a quarrel in a faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing'.
30 September 1938
  • At Munich, France and Britain agree to give Hitler the Sudetenland.
  • Chamberlain waves 'a piece of paper' with Hitler's statement that he does not want to go to war. German troops march into the Sudetenland and are welcomed as heroes.