| Administrative History | The Munich Agreement was signed on 29 September 1938 by the leaders of the United Kingdon (Neville Chamberlain), France (Edouard Daladier), Germany (Adolf Hitler), and Italy (Benito Mussolini), Under the pact, Czechoslovakia was compelled to surrender its Sudeten-German districts (the Sudeten) to Germany, whilst its Teschen district was given to Poland, and parts of Slovakia went to Hungary. Significantly, representatives of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were not invited.
Chamberlain boasted after the conference that they had achieved "Peace in our time," but the Agreement quickly became a symbol of the western powers' appeasement of Hitler, which led to the outbreak of World War Two one year later |
| Description | Address delivered following the signing of the Munich Agreement, expressing 'thankfulness for respite from war' and 'gratitude to [the] Prime Minister', September - October 1938. Doubt is expressed over the hope of achieving 'peace in our time', and the 'shame of saving ourselves at expense of Czechoslovakia' and the 'question of refugees' are both raised as issues. The test of Hitler's sincerity will be found in his 'willingness to discuss problems not only with Italy, France, and Britain, but also with Czechoslovakia and Russia' and in his 'willingness to disarm forthwith and then stop mad race in armaments.' |