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Hitler defied the Treaty of Versailles
*He ordered German troops to march into the Rhineland
*This took considerable risks because there was a chance that France would send troops to resist German forces and this would mean war. Hitler sent only four brigades beacuse that was all he has. The first troops into the Rhineland were ordered to retreat if they met with French resistance. -
The Anschluss
The Austrian leader Schuschnigg visited Hitler for crisis talks. However Schuschnigg was badly treated at this meeting.
Hitler demanded that Nazis be allowed to join the Austrian government and be given control of law and order. So Schuschnigg felt that he had no option and agreed to Hitler's terma -
The plebiscite
Schuschnigg made one last attempt to keep Austria independent. He announced that there would be a plebiscite, in Austria to decide whether Austrians wanted their country to remain independent. He fixewd the lowest age of voting at twenty-four so that young Nazis would not be able to vote
Hitler was enraged when he heard about the plebiscite plan -
The German army invaded Austria
Arrests began immediately of enemies of the Nazis -
Hitler crossed into Austria
He went to his own home town of Linz where he was greeted by cheering crowds -
The Sudeten Germans
Hitler met Henlein to give him instructions. He told the Sudeten leader to keep making demands that the Czechoslovak government could not possibly accept.
By dragging out the negotiations, Hitler hoped to create a crisis over Czechoslovakia -
Support from Britain and France?
As the British leaders had no treaty with Czechoslovakia, their armed services could not see any way that Britain could help
France signed a treaty with Czechoslovakia in 1925, but in April 1938 there was a change of government in France and the Primer Minister was not keen on the idea of going to war with Germany over Czechoslovakia -
Hitler prepares to act
Hitler was sure that neither Britain nor France would intervene if he attacked Czechoslovakia. In April he visited Rome and was told by Mussolini that Italy would support Germany.
On 30 May Hitler let his generals know that he had decided to smash Czechoslovakia by military action in the near future -
The Munich Crisis
Negotiations between the Sudeten Germans and Prague were broken off because Henlein ordered local Nazis to attack Czech and Jewish targets -
Chamberlain flies to Germany
Chamberlain met Hitler in Germany at Berchtesgaden. Hitler discuss with Chamberlain about the treatment of the Sudeten Germans, in which he agreed that the Sudetenland should be annexed by Germany, and Hitler asked him not using force to take control. -
The French leaders' support
The French leaders Daladier and Bonnet came to LOndon and agreed to support the partition of Czechoslovakia in return for a British promise to defend what was left of the Czechoslovakia state -
Chaberlain flies to Germany
The Czech President realised that he was powerless to resist without Allied support so he reluctantly agreed to the take-over -
Chamberlain flies to Germany
Hitler did not want a peaceful settlement. He wanted to destroy Czechoslovakia by force. He was annoyed when Chamberlain came to see him for a second time at Bad Godesberg with news that Britain, France and Czechoslovakia had agreed to his proposals. So Hitler made new demands: *the German take-over should be imediate *that there should be votes on wheter to stay in Czechoslovakia in additional areas *that the claims of Hungary and Poland to other parts of Czechoslovakia needed consideration -
War?
Chamberlain tried once again to get Hitler to find a peaceful solution. He sent Sir Horace Wilson to talk to Hitler on 26 and 27 September. Hitler was not in a ood for negotiation. He told Wilson several times that he was going to 'smash the Czechs' -
An invitation to Munich
Chamberlain was in the middle of a speech to parliament describing the negotiations when he was passed an important note. The note told him that Hitler had agreed to a conference at Munich with representatives of Britain, France and Italy. The conference would try to explore a peaceful solution to the crisis over Czechoslovakia -
Munich Agreement
Britain and France signed the Munich Agreement that broke up Czechoslovakia and gave much of it to Germany -
An invitation to Munich
German troops marched unopposed into the Sudetenland, the Czech President was forced to go into exile
