The French supported this agreement. On the 29 – 30 September 1938 the British, Italian, French and German leaders met in Munich to discuss the issue.The Allies agreed to concede the Sudetenland to Germany in exchange for a pledge of peace. The Sudetenland was annexed to Czechoslovakia.
They had tried to avoid another world war for years but when Hitler claimed the rest of Czechoslovakia and invaded Poland they no longer stood down.
As evidence of his pacific intentions, he signed in January 1934 a 10-year nonaggression pact with At the time, this was less clear as it seemed that all Germany was doing was reinstating the army in a part of its own country.The Hossbach Memorandum was a note compiled by Colonel Count Friedrich Hossbach of a secret meeting between Hitler and his top military and political leadership on the 5 November 1937.At the meeting, Hitler discussed his plans for foreign policy in the years ahead. Britain and France issued an ultimatum to Germany: to either withdraw troops from Poland or face a declaration of war from Britain and France.On 3 September 1939, having received no reply and unwilling to accept further German expansion, Britain and France declared war on Germany.In the summer of 1939, the Second World War was not inevitable.The Soviet Union was engaged in talks with Britain and France over a defensive strategy for Poland. The Policy of Appeasement led to the Second World War as Britain and France, two of the main powers in 20 th century Europe, failed to appease Hitler to the extent where war with Nazi Germany was inevitable. Here, Hitler is pictured looking out of a window of the occupied Prague Castle in March 1939.Less than half a year after it was signed, Nazi Germany broke the Munich Pact. Search Britannica He had set out his ideas in a book called Mein Kampf (My Struggle) that he had written in prison in 1924. The Admiral Graf Spee was used in the Spanish Civil War, before being sunk by the British at the start of the Second World War in 1939.Following the Anglo-German Naval Agreement in 1935, Germany expanded the number of warships produced. Hitler thought it was unlikely that Britain and France would respond militarily to an invasion of Poland, but even if they did respond Hitler’s pact with the Soviet Union would allow the German Army to retaliate.On the 1 September 1939, Germany attacked Poland.
This photograph was taken at the launch of armour-plated vessel Admiral Graf Spee, which officially joined the German fleet on the 6 January 1936. At this point Hitler was aware that the Allies were desperate to avoid war, and thought it likely that they would Hitler threatened war over the issue of the Sudetenland. To destroy the Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany after her defeat in World War One. When Hitler came to power he was determined to make Germany a great power again and to dominate Europe. British Prime Minister Chamberlain and Hitler sit down to dinner during the Munich Conference. The Nazis were keen to expand their territory, and support for the Nazis and a union with Germany among the Austrian people was high.The German Army marched into Austria on the 12 March 1938, with little to no opposition from the population or any other foreign powers.On the 13 March 1938, Austria was incorporated into the Greater German Reich.