Word: czechoslovakia
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...soon began ranting about the Czechs. He said he would not "tolerate any longer that a small, second-rate country should treat the mighty thousand-year-old German Reich as something inferior." Shocked, Chamberlain threatened to leave. Hitler, who had never ) previously asked to take over part of Czechoslovakia, now claimed that he wanted "the principle . . . of self-determination...
Chamberlain said he would have to consult with his associates, which amounted to seeing whether either the British or the French were ready to fight for Czechoslovakia. They were not. Chamberlain then had to persuade Bene to give Germany every area inhabited more than 50% by Germans. That would mean the surrender of the entire Sudetenland, which represented not only one-fifth of Czechoslovakia's territory but also its industrial heartland and its defensible natural frontier. Bene at first refused, but when the British and French told him that he would have to fight alone, he gave...
...next day Chamberlain returned to Germany to tell Hitler he could have everything he asked. "Do I understand," asked the Fuhrer, "that the British, French and Czech governments have agreed to the transfer of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to Germany...
...addressing Parliament when he received Hitler's invitation to Munich the following day; he almost gasped with relief as he announced his acceptance. The Czechs were not even invited, so it took only twelve hours for the four leaders to agree on Sept. 30 on the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. And they were pleased with what they had done. When Chamberlain returned to London, he proudly uttered his most famous and most tragically mistaken declaration: "I believe it is peace for our time." The crowds outside 10 Downing Street sang, "For he's a jolly good fellow...
...into exile after Munich). Hacha was 66 and suffering from heart trouble, so it did not help to have the meeting begin at 1:15 a.m. on March 15, 1939. Hitler told his guest that the Czechs were still guilty of "Bene tendencies," and therefore the Wehrmacht would invade Czechoslovakia at 6 that morning. The only question was whether the Czechs would resist and be "ruthlessly broken" or cooperate and gain a certain "autonomy." Hacha and his Foreign Minister "sat as though turned to stone," said a German witness. "Only their eyes showed that they were alive...