Events Between 1936 And 1939

In Bell’s explanation of the events between 1936 and 1939 there were four integral affairs that spoiled the prospects of peace in Europe: namely, the German reoccupation of the Rhineland, the Austrian Anschluss, the Czechoslovakian Crisis, and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. These consecutive events ultimately culminated in the Invasion of Poland on the September 1st 1939, but were foreseen well in advance and were of no surprise to anyone when they transpired. The proliferation, from crisis to crisis, of Hitler’s ego would make, with each mounting event, the chance of peaceful coexistence exponentially less likely and, therefore, making each affair exponentially more important. The events between 1936 and 1939 built upon each other, and that …show more content…
Bell puts a great deal of emphasis on the Sudeten issue and its immediate effects. He explains that similar to the Austrian Crisis, the Czechoslovakian project was destined to fail from the outset. The slapdash construction of Czechoslovakia out of the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, an empire which was almost torn apart by its own hyper-diversity, would prove culturally unsustainable. The ethnic Germans, Czechs, Slovaks, and Poles would tear the country apart. Hitler already had his eyes set on reunifications of all German people and the oppression of ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland provided him with another testing ground for his policies. Bell states that the Heimatfront in the Sudetenland, led by Konrad Henlein, began calling for Sudeten autonomy and the acceptance of Nazi ideology in Czechoslovakia after the Austrian Anschluss. Hitler convened with Henlein in March of 1938 and instructed him to raise his demands. The demands that Henlein leveled to Benes, the President of Czechoslovakia, if accepted, would have led to the truncation of the Czechoslovakian government and demands for autonomy from other ethnicities in the country. The British and French, keen on avoiding war with Germany, advised Benes to accept Henlein’s demands; he later met the majority of them under the mediation of the Lord Runciman and through the issuance of his Fourth Plan. Negotiations between the Germans and British, and subsequently pressure from the French on the Czechs to capitulate, increased as Hitler threatened war over the Sudeten issue. In a last ditch attempt to salvage peace, Chamberlain appealed to Hitler for a conference. The Munich Agreement was signed as a result on September 28th and the Sudetenland was ceded to the