7 Comments

SWIFT DEVELOPMENTS AT BERCHTESGADEN / PRIME MINISTER RETURNING TO-DAY / CONSULTATION WITH THE CABINET / FURTHER TALKS IN GERMANY NEXT WEEK / LORD RUNCIMAN COMING TO LONDON / The Times, 16 September 1938, p. 12

So after Chamberlain's sudden departure for Germany yesterday comes his equally sudden return to Britain. As the above headlines (from The Times, p. 12) hint, it had been expected that he would be gone for several days in order to talk to Hitler. It's unclear what conclusions, if any, were actually reached, but we do have an account of the tea party Hitler hosted for Chamberlain:

The conversation over the tea table was on non-political lines. Mr. Chamberlain was able to say to Herr Hitler that he had enjoyed very much his first experience of air travel. 1

He mentioned that he had been much impressed by the beauty of the scenery, although to-day clouds and mists spoiled the prospect, and his surprise that cars could climb so easily the precipitous road leading from Berchtesgaden to the Berghof.

...continue reading

  1. It's certainly widely believed that this was Chamberlain's first flight. However, recent authors have claimed that it was only his first international flight, and that he had flown domestically on political or ministerial business. But no actual evidence is offered, and it's hard to think where he would have needed to go that he couldn't have got to just as easily by train.[]

2 Comments

DRAMATIC BRITISH MOVE FOR PEACE / MR. CHAMBERLAIN TO CONFER WITH HERR HITLER / FLYING TO GERMANY TO-DAY / A CORDIAL WELCOME FROM THE FUHRER / The Times, 15 September 1938, p. 10

Now events are moving with a startling rapidity: all the more startling because it is Britain's sober, solid, unexciting prime minister, the 69-year old Neville Chamberlain, who is pushing them along. He has stunned the press by announcing, as can be seen in today's headlines from The Times above (p. 10), that he will fly to Germany to meet with Hitler in person, to see if they can't sort out the Sudeten crisis together, face to face. This is a very novel method of conducting diplomacy -- though not quite as novel, perhaps, as is often made out: the victorious Allied leaders had become used to summit meetings after the war, beginning with the Paris Peace Conference itself. But there's no doubt that, coming at such a critical juncture, it is seen as a bold and highly imaginative attempt to cut through the darkening atmospheres of racial incidents and veiled threats, to prevent war by rational, and personal, discussion.
...continue reading

6 Comments

A SUDETEN ULTIMATUM / Prague Give Six Hours to Withdraw Martial Law / HENLEIN ACTS ON ITS EXPIRY / Dr. Hodza Told That No Further Negotiations are Possible / DAY OF 'INCIDENTS': 12 DEAD / Manchester Guardian, 14 September 1938, p. 9

Ultimatum ... martial law ... 12 dead. These are not good words to be reading in the headlines (Manchester Guardian, p. 9). Yesterday, Hitler's Nuremberg speech was interpreted as being somewhat worrying, but basically OK: after all, it could have been worse. But in the Sudetenland itself, it led to rioting, and the deaths of at least 12 people. Therefore the Czech government imposed martial law. In response, Henlein, the leader of the Sudeten German Party, demanded that martial law be withdrawn by midnight. Of course the Czechs refused to bow to such a peremptory demand from one of its own citizens, and so Henlein broke off negotiations once more. The Runciman mission is on the move again, trying to get people to talk to each other again, but it's not looking good. As the leading article says (p. 8):

Events have moved with a terrible rapidity in Czecho-Slovakia since Herr Hitler's speech and have now reached a grave crisis.

It ends by saying that the situation can still be saved, if Hitler and the Sudetens want to:

But is compromise desired? Is there a will to peace? The British Government, for its part, must remember that it will have to convince its own people, and other peoples, that up to the last minute of the last hour it did the utmost that it could, by appeal and by warning to Berlin, to avert catastrophe.

...continue reading

4 Comments

HITLER'S ANGRY SPEECH / 'Self-Determination the Right of the Sudetens / GERMAN AID, IF NEED BE / Western Fortifications 'Ready Before the Winter' / Manchester Guardian, 13 September 1938, p. 13

So, Hitler's big speech -- summarised in the Manchester Guardian (p. 11), above -- turned out to contain no new demands or proposals, nothing at any rate that was not implicit in Henlein's Carlsbad speech. But it's not so much the content as the tone which is worrying: his rhetoric was angry, violent and menacing. The demand he did make was:

I demand that the oppression of 3,500,000 [Sudetens] in Czecho-Slovakia shall end or the right of self-determination shall take its place.

He did not exclude negotiation; indeed, he said that it's up to Prague to make an agreement with the Sudetens. But he also said:

If the democracies should be convinced that they must protect with all their means the oppressors of the Germans, then this will have grave consequences.

Although it could be read a number of ways, this sounds like a clear warning that Germany is willing to risk war with Britain and France over the Sudetenland. But still there is nothing definite: as the diplomatic correspondent says, 'The question "war or peace" remains unanswered.' And that's the big question, isn't it?
...continue reading

1 Comment

Goring's 'Our Arms are Strongest' / HITLER & 'AUSTRIA ONLY A BEGINNING' / Daily Mail, 12 September 1938, p. 7

I'm cheating slightly today; the above headlines -- from the Daily Mail (p. 7) -- aren't, strictly speaking, about Czechoslovakia, but refer to speeches made by Nazi leaders at the Nuremberg rally on the weekend. But of course they were always going to be interpreted in the light of the continuing Sudeten crisis.

Hermann Goering was of course the head of the Luftwaffe as well as, at this time, probably second only to Hitler himself in terms of the Nazi hierarchy. Among other things, he called the Czech government 'ridiculous dwarfs' who were backed by 'Moscow -- the eternal, Jewish Bolshevist demons of destruction'. And he reassuringly noted that:

Germany's air fleet is the strongest in the world. Never before in history has Germany been so strong and united as now.

Hitler didn't refer directly to Czechoslovakia, but referred to the Anschluss of Austria in March, and added:

But this is only the beginning of our task. There are many great tasks before us which must still be solved.

Conflating these bits -- which the Daily Mail has done by referencing them together in the headline -- makes them sound like a threat. 1 Which, let's face it, they almost certainly were, but let's not forget the power of selective editing to fabricate apparent meaning.
...continue reading

  1. The Mail subeditor's habit of saying ‘So-and-so's "Thing that they said"’ or ‘So-and-so & "Other thing that they said"’ in their headlines really gets on my pip. I couldn't even say why, it's just annoying.[]

9 Comments

One of my favourite posts here was one I wrote almost two years ago, about a claim that a certain well-known photo of the London Blitz was faked. Not only for the post itself, but for the ensuing discussion, which led me to change my mind on the issue more than once. My tentative conclusion is still that the photo is indeed a fake, and I'm not going to rehash that here. What I want to do here is show just how pervasive the image is.

When I was in London last year, I went to three museums where one would expect to find some sort of display about the Blitz: the RAF Museum, the Imperial War Museum, and the Cabinet War Rooms. Let's see what images they each used to represent the Blitz ...

RAF Museum:

RAF Museum

Imperial War Museum:
...continue reading

5 Comments

BRITAIN AND THE CZECHS / AMBASSADOR SEES RIBBENTROP / CONFERENCES IN LONDON / MR. ATTLEE ASKED TO NO. 10 / PRAGUE TALKS TO BE RESUMED / The Times, 10 September 1938, p. 10

Good news, bad news in these headlines from The Times (p. 10) ... On the positive side, the Sudeten leaders have agreed to resume negotiations with the Czechoslovakian government. This may be related to a report into the Mährisch-Ostrau incident by a British observer, Major Sutton-Pratt, who concluded that it had been blown out of all proportions: clearly not a very good reason to break off talks. The situation in Prague is described as 'a little easier'.

But the German press is now fuming over 'the alleged cruelties perpetrated in the dungeons of Prague against the Sudeten Germans, which makes extremely unpleasant reading', in a spirit expressed 'with a unanimity which has ceased to be surprising'. And Hitler, in an address at Nuremberg to his Gauleiters (supposedly 180,000 of them) is talking tough:

In these long years you have been tried out and hardened, and have experienced for yourselves what strength there is in a community indissolubly bound together and determined to capitulate to none. You make it easy for me to be your Leader to-day. All those who count on the weakness of Germany to-day will find themselves just as mistaken.

And he's due to make another speech at Nuremberg on Monday, specifically on foreign policy. There's understandable nervousness about what he's going to say.
...continue reading

1 Comment

SUDETENS REFUSE / Why They Cannot Negotiate at Present / PRAGUE NOT IN CONTROL / Premier Promises to Deal With Ill-Treatment of Germans / Manchester Guardian, 9 September 1938, p. 11

The headlines from the Manchester Guardian (p. 11) indicate that the situation is the same as yesterday, or a bit worse. The Sudeten leadership is still refusing to negotiate with the Czechoslovakian government, ostensibly because of the latter's inability to maintain order in the country. This is despite a meeting between the Sudetens and the Czech Premier, Hodza, who promised that those responsible for the incident at Mährisch-Ostrau (reported yesterday) would be punished severely, and an official Czech investigation confirming that Sudetens have indeed been mistreated in the area. According to the Guardian's diplomatic correspondent (p. 11), incidents like this could be used by the Sudeten German party to declare that the breakdown of law and order has forced them to assume control of the Sudetenland, which in turn could be a prelude to secession and union with Germany.

The view from London is grim (p. 11):

The fear is growing here [presumably in the Foreign Office] that Hitler does not desire a genuine settlement, and if there is a settlement of any sort it will only have the purpose of tiding over the period that will lead to the long-anticipated and long-prepared attack on Czecho-Slovakia.

Chamberlain is back from Scotland, and Halifax has put off his trip to Geneva (presumably something to do with the League of Nations), which was planned for tomorrow. There will be a Cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the crisis. On the other hand, there is evidence of resistance to war inside Germany, as information given to the Geneva correspondent (p. 11) from a German source suggests that General Ludwig Beck, the Chief of the Staff of the German Army, has resigned because of his belief that 'an attack on Czecho-Slovakia would involved Germany in a war with England, France, and Russia, and perhaps other countries'. (True: Beck did resign for just this reason.) Also, 'There is reason to believe that General Beck's opinion is shared by other German military leaders'. Maybe Hitler can be restrained by his own army's unwillingness for war?
...continue reading

5 Comments

SUDETENS' NEW MOVES / Czech Offer Accepted as Basis of Negotiation / THEN HITCH OVER INCIDENT / Finally Agreement to Consider Resuming Talks / Manchester Guardian, 8 September 1938, p. 8

These headlines from the Manchester Guardian (p. 9) could be summarised: Yeah, but no, but yeah … The Sudeten leadership agreed to accept the Czech autonomy proposals (as revealed yesterday) as the basis for negotiations. Which sounds very promising! But at that point, news was received of an incident at Mährisch-Ostrau, where two Sudeten deputies (i.e. MPs in the Czech parliament) were insulted by a Czech mounted policeman during an attempt to break up a demonstration regarding Sudetens who had been arrested for possession of illegal firearms. One of the deputies claimed to have been kicked and struck by a horsewhip. The Czechs claim this was an accident, as the policeman attempted to restrain his horse. Whatever the real truth, the Sudeten leaders used this incident as a reason to break off the negotiations before they had even begun, as their communique explains:

The incident at Mährisch-Ostrau demonstrates that the Government does not control the situation sufficiently to begin the discussions in detail in the present circumstances with any success or with a possibility of bringing them to a peaceful conclusion.

Perhaps I’m cynical, but this seems like an attempt by the Sudetens to have their cake and eat it too. Even The Times, in its leading article today, calls this move ‘childish’ and a ‘pretext’ (p. 13).
...continue reading

10 Comments

TERMS OF CZECH OFFER / Nine Points Conceding Most Sudeten Demands / EXTENSIVE SELF-GOVERNMENT / Proposals Would be Put in Force as Soon as Possible / Manchester Guardian, 7 September 1938, p. 9

At last, after all the endless reports of meetings to seemingly no end: actual details! As the above -- from the Manchester Guardian (p. 9) -- shows, the Czech autonomy proposals (first reported yesterday) were pretty generous. The Sudetens (and presumably other minorities) would get self-government, language equality, their own civil servants and police. I'm not sure what the 'Protection for citizens against denationalization' means -- more likely something about the right to a passport than maintaining state ownership of industry!

The proposals also include 'Guarantees for the integrity of the frontier and the unity of the State', which seems reasonable enough. But a (later to become infamous) leading article in The Times suggests an alternative (p. 13):

In that case it might be worth while for the Czechoslovak Government to consider whether they should exclude altogether the project, which has found favour in some quarters, of making Czechoslovakia a more homogeneous State by the secession of that fringe of alien populations who are contiguous to the nation with which they are united by race. In any case the wishes of the population concerned would seem to be a decisively important element in any solution that can hope to be regarded as permanent, and the advantages to Czechoslovakia of becoming a homogeneous State might conceivably outweigh the obvious disadvantages of losing the Sudeten German districts of the borderland.

There it is: the first time (at least in my sources) that the idea of the annexation of the Sudetenland by Germany -- the solution eventually adopted at Munich -- was raised in the British press. The Times was often thought, somewhat unfairly, to be especially close to the British government, so a suggestion like this will make people sit up and take notice.
...continue reading