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The road to WWII
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Invasion of the Rhineland
Under the terms of Versailles, the Rhineland had been made into a demilitarised zone. Germany had political control of this area, but she was not allowed to put any troops into it. Therefore, many Germans concluded that they did not actually fully control the area despite it being in Germany itself. -
The conference between Hitler and Schuschnigg
On 12th February, 1938, Ribbentrop attended the conference between Hitler and Schuschnigg at which Hitler, by threats of invasion, forced Schuschnigg to grant a series of concessions designed to strengthen the Nazis in Austria, including the appointment of Seyss-Inquart as Minister of Security and Interior, with control over the Police. Ribbentrop was in London when the occupation of Austria was actually carried out and, on the basis of information supplied him by Goering, informed the British G -
The plebiscite
The made it known that he would order a plebiscite about whether the people of Austria wanted a free Austria or not. Hitler demanded that the plebiscite should not take place and that Schuschnigg should resign. Schuschnigg could not take this risk and he resigned. As the sole member of the Austrian government, he invited German troops into Austria in March 1938. On March 15th 1938, Hitler entered Vienna in triumph. Schuschnigg was arrested and imprisoned and the Austrian Jews lost their rights -
The Anschulss
The events in March 12, 1938 are part of the expansionist aspirations of Adolf Hitler for Germany. They were preceded by the return of the Saar in 1935, after the plebiscite that ended the control of the League of Nations by the Treaty of Versailles had given him for a period of fifteen years, and followed by the Sudeten crisis, the occupation of 1939 Czechoslovakia after the Munich Agreement, and the invasion of Poland, finally, was the trigger for World War II. -
The Sudeten Germans
Hiter met Henleim on 28 March 1938 to give him instructions. He told the Sudeten leader to keep making demands that the Czechoslovak government could not possibly accept. -
Intervetion of Hitler
On 30 May Hitler let his generals know that he had decided to smash Czechoslovakia by military action in the near future. From a speech given by Hitler that day
“I shall only decide to take action against
Czechoslovakia if I am convinced that
France will not march and that Britain
will not intervene in the situation.” -
Chamberlain flies to Germany
In September 1938 he turned his attention to the three million Germans living in part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. Sudeten Germans began protests and provoked violence from the Czech police. Hitler claimed that 300 Sudeten Germans had been killed. This was not actually the case, but Hitler used it as an excuse to place German troops along the Czech border. -
Meeting between British embassy and Hitler
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain held secret talks with Hitler's henchmen to work out ways of making the Nazis look more sympathetic to ordinary. The cloak-and-dagger meetings in London came shortly after Chamberlain signed his disastrous appeasement deal with Hitler in Munich The meetings were held without the knowledge of the Cabinet and Foreign Office. Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax only learned of them later because of an MI5 mole in the German embassy -
The Munich Conference
On 29 September 1938 the Munich Conference was called. Here Hitler met with representatives of the heads of state from France, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
An agreement was reached that Hitler could annex the Sudetenland provided he promised not to invade anywhere else. All four countries signed the agreement: Adolf Hitler (Germany), Neville Chamberlain (UK), Edouard Daladier (France), and Benito Mussolini (Italy). -
Munich and the destruction of Czechoslovakia
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia's areas. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich,without the presence of Czechoslovakia. The agreement was signed in the early hours of 30 September 1938.The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland in the face of ethnic demands made by Adolf Hitler. The agreement was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. -
The speach of Chamberlain
The phrase "Peace for Our Time" was spoken on 30 September 1938 by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his speech concerning the Munich Agreement and the Anglo-German Declaration. The phrase echoed Benjamin Disraeli, who stated "I have returned from Germany with peace for our time." It is primarily remembered for its ironic value, as the German occupation of the Sudetenland began on the following day.
