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HITLER'S NEW DEMANDS / Prague Decides That They Are Unacceptable / FRANCE AND BRITAIN CONFER / Midnight Cabinet: French Army Chief In London To-day / Manchester Guardian, 26 September 1938, p. 9

Unfortunately, the situation has deteriorated since Saturday (above, Manchester Guardian, p. 9). Hitler has made new demands which are described by the Manchester Guardian's diplomatic correspondent (p. 9) as 'fantastic'. At Berchtesgaden, a week and a half ago, Hitler said he wanted only those districts where Sudetens were a majority of the population. This was the basis of the Anglo-French plan, to which Czechoslovakia eventually agreed. And now he wants:

The immediate cession of all the territories (with scarcely any considerable exception) where there are Sudeten Germans. There is no longer any question of only such districts where they make up more than 50 per cent. Districts where they are in conspicuous minorities or even where there are no Sudeten Germans at all are included.

These areas are to be handed over to Germany on 1 October, meaning that there would be no time for the Czechs to remove any factories or fortifications. This, the correspondent speculates, is part of the point of the rush. Germany will secure its rear and gain valuable natural resources, factories and military stores. And then Germany will turn west:

She would be able to present another ultimatum, demanding, perhaps, colonies, or the surrender of the Maginot Line, or a "plebiscite" in the Flemish regions of Belgium, and so on. She would be able to back this ultimatum with a vastly superior Air Force, a vastly augmented armament, and almost complete invulnerability. In other words, she would have achieved her maximum of offensive and defensive power in relation to France and Britain.

The Czechs have, of course, rejected this ultimatum. Which, it would seem, means war. Daladier and Bonnet have again flown to London to consult with their British colleagues. Yugoslavia and Romania have promised to support Czechoslovakia if Hungary attacks, under the terms of the Little Entente; but it appears that Poland is to get its territorial demands (Teschen) without a fight (Daily Mail, p. 11). Czechoslovakia has mobilised all men under 40; a million are expected to be under arms by tomorrow (Daily Mail, p. 12).
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This month is when I should be doing another of my state of the military historioblogosphere posts, but obviously I'm not. Mostly this is because I don't have time to gather the data, due to all the Sudeten post-blogging I've been doing lately. But also, once more there's only been a relatively modest growth in the number of military history blogs listed at Cliopatria, so my sense is that there wouldn't be much change to talk about anyway. I may or may not revive these posts in the future.

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CHAMBERLAIN-HITLER TALKS BREAK DOWN, PREMIER BACK TO-DAY / Czechs and Hungarians Mobilise: Order by Radio / Final 1 A.M. visit to Fuhrer / Germany Refuses Pledge On Troop Moves / Daily Mail, 24 September 1938, p. 9

It's hard to believe, but it's only a week since Chamberlain returned from his first flight to Germany. Everyone was then full of hope. He is returning from his second trip today, and hope has been replaced by despair. The above headlines from the Daily Mail (p. 9) tell us that the talks between Chamberlain and Hitler have broken down, that the Czech and Hungarian armed forces have been mobilised. On the other side of the page, Germany and France are said to be massing troops. Hitler has refused to give a pledge that German troops won't unilaterally move into the Sudetenland in response to the Czech reoccupation of Eger. And he has set a firm time limit of one week for the conclusion of negotiations -- i.e., by Saturday 1 October. After that, the implication is, he will take what he wants by force.
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TALKS TO GO ON TO-DAY / Premier and Hitler Alone for Over Two Hours / ARMY CHIEF AS CZECH PREMIER / Mr. Chamberlain's Advice: The Danger of Incidents / Manchester Guardian, 23 September 1938, p. 9

So Chamberlain, having flown to Germany yesterday, is still there, talking to Hitler. There's no official word on what they talked about, but afterward Chamberlain appealed (via communique) for calm in the Sudetenland and other afflicted areas, or to be precise, he 'appeals most earnestly, therefore, to everybody to assist in maintaining from action of any kind that would be likely to lead to incidents' (this and the above headlines are from Manchester Guardian, p. 9). The situation in Czechoslovakia is indeed looking pretty bleak. The German press is reporting more of these 'incidents' (the Manchester Guardian uses scare quotes, too, p. 9), including a Czech official throwing a grenade into a crowd. They also report that the Czech army is withdrawing from the Sudetenland, blowing up bridges as it goes -- the Manchester Guardian doubts that any such thing has happened (p. 9) but the Daily Mail's own correspondent, Paul Bretherton, has apparently seen this with his own eyes (p. 11. I say apparently because my printout is very poor quality at this point!) But it does seem true that two Sudeten towns have been evacuated by Czech authorities, and taken over by Sudetens (Manchester Guardian, p. 13). The Polish minority in the border town of Teschen has taken control of the Czech police stations there (Daily Mail, p. 11), or maybe they only attacked them (Manchester Guardian, p. 9). It's very confusing, but in no sense reassuring. The British legation in Prague has instructed all British subjects to leave immediately, and an Imperial Airways H.P. 42 (Heracles, for the planespotters among you) has made a mercy dash to evacuate some of them (Daily Mail, p. 11). The other big news (Manchester Guardian, p. 9) is that the government of the Czech Prime Minister, Hodza, has resigned, to be replaced by a 'national reconstruction' cabinet under the Inspector General of the Army, General Jan Syrový, the popular one-eyed former commander of the legendary Czech Legion. It's not a military government but it's not a good look for democracy either.
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THE CZECHS GIVE WAY / 'Sacrifice for Peace Under Unprecedented Pressure' / MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S TASK TO-DAY / Poland and Hungary in Hitler's New 'United Front' / Manchester Guardian, 22 September 1938, p. 11

Chamberlain is meeting Hitler at Godesberg today (the headlines are from the Manchester Guardian, p. 11). The good news (for Chamberlain, anyway) is that the Czechoslovakian government has finally, and very reluctantly, accepted the Anglo-French plan for the transfer of German-majority areas to Germany. (Which, it seems, still hasn't been officially published.) That would mean that Hitler would get what he wants without war, which is what Chamberlain is trying to avoid. The bad news is that it's now clear that Poland and Hungary are lining up for their own pieces of Czechoslovakia: the German press is referring to a 'united front' of Germans, Poles and Hungarians. And the Anglo-French plan doesn't provide for this at all. As The Times notes (p. 10):

Czechoslovakia is faced with the loss in the near future of Western Bohemia, Northern Bohemia, German Silesia, Polish Silesia, and the Hungarian Parts in the south.

Maxim Litvinov, the Soviet Foreign Minister, has announced at the League of Nations Assembly that the Soviet Union will give Czechoslovakia 'immediate and effective assistance' under the terms of the Soviet-Czech pact, providing France (Czechoslovkia's other ally) does the same. But he criticised the Anglo-French plan as 'a capitulation which was bound sooner or later to have quite catastrophic and disastrous consequences' (The Times, p. 10).
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BACK TO GERMANY TO-MORROW / PRIME MINISTER'S DECISION / CZECHOSLOVAK REPLY RECEIVED IN LONDON / OBJECTIONS TO THE PLAN / The Times, 21 September 1938, p. 10

As indicated when he returned from Munich last week, Chamberlain is to fly back to Germany to meet with Hitler a second time. (Above headlines are from The Times, p. 10.) This time, they are meeting at Godesberg, a spa town in the Rhineland. Chamberlain will take the Anglo-French plan to Hitler, which may be a problem, because the Czech attitude to it is now characterised as 'Neither acceptance nor rejection'. It seems that the Manchester Guardian's scoop of yesterday was somewhat premature, for a later message from the Czech government was much more equivocal, asking for revisions to be made to the plan. France and Britain are pressuring Czechoslovakia to prove 'a more definite reply to the Anglo-French proposals', so that the Prime Minister and the Führer will have something to talk about.
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CZECHS TO ACCEPT / Decision Early To-day After Five Hours' Council / TO AVOID WAR AND BLOODSHED / The Next Step: Mr. Chamberlain's Second Visit To Hitler / Manchester Guardian, 20 September 1938, p. 11

This time it's the Manchester Guardian which has the scoop (p. 11): in late night meetings last night, the Czechs decided to accept the 'recommendations' of the French and British governments, albeit 'possibly with reservations'. There's still no official confirmation of what those recommendations are, but the London correspondent has some information from 'responsible quarters in London', which generally confirm the speculations of yesterday :

1. Areas in Czecho-Slovakia with a predominant German population to be ceded without a plebiscite.
2. Other areas to remain in the Czecho-Slovakian State under the federal system proposed in Dr. Benes's Fourth Plan.
3. An international commission to "rectify" the new boundaries.
4. The independence of Czecho-Slovakia within these boundaries to be guaranteed by Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, and Yugo-Slavia.
5. The neutralisation of Czecho-Slovakia and cancellation of her treaties of alliance.
6. The interchange of populations to be arranged by which German sympathisers within Czecho-Slovakia can go to the new German provinces and the population in these provinces that does not wish to remain there can go within the new boundaries of Czecho-Slovakia.

There doesn't seem to have been any reaction from the German side, yet. It appears that Chamberlain's planned second visit to Germany is going ahead, though the date is not yet set. But Henlein's 'Free Corps' of Sudeten Germans is going to continue raiding Czech border posts from German territory (last night they attacked a customs post near Grumbach). The international news section (p. 15) reports that Poland and Hungary are lining up to press their own claims on Czechoslovakian territory. The American press is disgusted by the British and French plan: the New York Post says that it seems 'like the world's greatest betrayal' and says that if this is collective security then the United States is lucky to be well out of it: 'Thank God for the Atlantic Ocean!'
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ANGLO-FRENCH PLAN / Complete Agreement Announced at Midnight / 'POLICY FOR PEACEFUL SOLUTION' / Hope of More General European Settlement Later / Manchester Guardian, 19 September 1938, p. 11

Another week of crisis begins. How much longer can this go on? The most significant news from the weekend concerns another round of shuttle diplomacy -- this time it's the French Premier, Édouard Daladier, and Foreign Minister, Georges Bonnet, who have flown to London to consult with their British counterparts. The official communique, which can be read above (Manchester Guardian, p. 11) is pretty bland and just says that France and Britain are in complete agreement as to their policy over Czechoslovakia, without saying just what that is. But the Manchester Guardian's diplomatic correspondent has some more information. It seems that they are cooling on the idea of a plebiscite of the Sudeten people to see what they want to do, and warming to the idea of ceding at least part of the Sudetenland to Germany. Of course, the Czech government hasn't been consulted at this stage. No decision has been made on the question of an international guarantee of Czechoslovakian guarantee after a settlement. Henlein, in exile in Germany, has called for his followers to take arms and rebel against their Czech oppressors, but (perhaps surprisingly) they seem to have ignored him (p. 14).
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The 17th Military History Blog Carnival has been posted at Military History and Warfare. (It was posted nearly a week ago, but I've been busy ...) The most interesting post for me this week is on the Maginot Line, by the carnival host. He points out that, though much-maligned, the Maginot Line did its job: the Germans generally avoided a frontal assault in 1940. Even at the time of the Armistice, most of the Line still held out. Of course, that raises the question of what would have happened if the Line had been fully extended to protect the border with Belgium? Would the Germans have tried to penetrate it? Or would the Sitzkrieg have lasted for years instead of months? Even if successful, a German Army exhausted from battering its way through would not have been able to even think about invading Britain in 1940, and maybe the USSR would be off for the following year, also. Which could, paradoxically, have been very bad for Britain ... Rommel might have gotten more resources and so goodbye Egypt and Suez. Or maybe Sealion would happen in 1941. Ah, the pleasures of counterfactual history and just making stuff up!

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PREMIER PLANS NEUTRAL STATE FOR CZECHS GUARANTEED BY POWERS / Hitler Asked for Plebiscite At Once / MR. CHAMBERLAIN SEES THE KING / Full Cabinet Meets To-day / Daily Mail, 17 September 1938, p. 9

Once again, the Daily Mail has big news (p. 9) that The Times and Manchester Guardian aren't carrying (they merely have rather anodyne reports that Chamberlain has returned and has been meeting with colleagues); again I suspect it's because we're looking at an afternoon edition. The banner headline is truncated above, so here's the full text:

PREMIER PLANS NEUTRAL STATE FOR CZECHS GUARANTEED BY POWERS

Chamberlain is reported to be 'fresh, vigorous, and calmly optimistic' after his 1200-mile round air trip. He went to Germany 'with the determination to preserve the peace of Europe by drastic measures to reorganise the Czecho-Slovak State'.

First among these proposals was cantonisation of the Sudeten district. The second, and probably most important of them all, was his suggestion that Czecho-Slovakia should become a neutral State, under guarantee of her immediate neighbours and with an overriding guarantee by Britain, France, and Italy.

Thirdly, Mr. Chamberlain was in favour of the principle of the self-determination of the people of Czecho-Slovakia who he believed should have the right, but not necessarily immediately, to state what form of government they would prefer.

It is further stated that 'there was not much difference of opinion between Mr. Chamberlain and Herr Hitler'. So this all sounds very encouraging.
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