Munich Pact:
The Conference of Four Big Nations began in Munich on September 29. In this conference, Hitler and Ribbentrop represented Germany, Chamberlain and Harris Wilson, England, Daladier and Lenger, France and Mussolini and Cinao, Italy. Russian and Czech delegates were not invited to participate in this Conference. The four nations reached an agreement which is known as the Munich Pact and had the following clauses.
(1) The Czech government would vacate the Sudetenland beginning on October 1 and finishing on October 10. But while vacating this territory no railway lines, factories, fortifications or other buildings would be pulled down.
(2) The terms and conditions for vacating the Sudentenland would be decided by an international commission having one representative each from Germany, Britain, Italy, France, and Czechoslovakia.
(3) The territories where the plebiscite would be conducted would be decided by the above-mentioned five-member commission. The date for the plebiscite would also be decided by the commission but that should be not later than the end of November.
(4) The people would be free to decide within six months whether to stay in the transferred territories or vacate them.
(5) The Czech government would set free all German political prisoners within four weeks.
(6) Britain and France guaranteed the security of the new borders of Czechoslovakia.
The Munich Pact greatly shocked Czechoslovakia. She had to cede to Germany an area of 11,000 square miles, strong fortifications, a huge ordnance factory at Skoda, important railway lines, and other industrial establishments.
Taking advantage of this Pact, the German troops occupied Sudetenland on the morning of October 1, 1938, and on March 16, Hungary took over the Magyar districts from Czechoslovakia. The plebiscite proposed in the terms and conditions of the Pct was held nowhere. The German forces arbitrarily captured all the areas they liked including some where the population was mostly Czech. The International Commission was reduced to a sham.
Thus Czechoslovakia was dismembered. This was a defeat of several states and a diplomatic victory for Hitler. On this occasion, the Czech President Dr. Bennes said that he had to yield under pressure which was unprecedented in history, and that too in the presence of Chamberlain and Daladier. Churchill, the Conservative leader of England said about this Pact, “The division of Czechoslovakia under the pressure of Britain and France is tantamount to the Western nations yielding to the Nzai aggression. ‘In the words of Schumman,’ This Pact created a rift between the European states. Germany occupied Sudetanland. The International Commission demarcated the new boundaries of Czechoslovakia. Everyone welcomed the Pact but it was humiliating for Czechoslovakia.’ Schumman further writes,’ This pact was the culmination of the policy of appeasement and a death warrant for Western democracies. It symbolized the ruin of the system of collective defense. ‘About this Pact, David Thomson writes,’ Instead of providing collective security to Czechoslovakia, the Allied Powers collectively blackmailed her and forced her to cede her territory to Germany.’ The Munich Pact added a lot to the prestige of Hitler in Germany. Prof. Schumman writes,’ It was the greatest victory of his diplomatic policy based on terrorism.’ In a statement about this Pact, Churchill clarified,’ The end of the power of Czechoslovakia would mean that Germany could use 25 divisions of her army on the western front (against France), and together with other things get access to the Black Sea.’ This Pact performed the funeral ceremony of the order brought about by the Treaty of Versailles and put an end to faith in collective security.
Comments (No)