In 1938, after five years of relative
calm (see this
speech),
Adolf Hitler's
Germany suddenly ran amok. The
Anschluss and, more importantly, the question of
Sudetes, had led to a situation were
war seemed unavoidable.
And yet
European democracies wanted to avoid war. They wanted to avoid war at any
price. The memories of
WWI (and of its
horrors) were still painfully
acute. Thus, in September 1938, a
summit between
France,
Britain,
Germany and
Italy was held in a castle near
Munich.
The result was an outright
capitulation of old democracies : Basically, Hitler obtained everything he wanted. The western parts of
Czechoslovakia were given to Germany,
Poland and
Hungary. The
Anschluss was definitely accepted. In return, Hitler commited himself to respect the new borders, calling the Sudetes his "last territorial claim in Europe" (
Poland was invaded a few months later).
Back in their home countries,
Neville Chamberlain from Britain and
Edouard Daladier from France were acclaimed as
heroes. When Chamberlain arrived in
London, he announced that he had secured "
Peace in our time". He told people just what they wanted to
hear. They believed him.
There is a famous
prophecy attributed to
Winston Churchill, which goes : "You had choice between shame and war, you chose shame, and you will have war"
(I have not been able to find the exact transcription anywhere, and I even doubt the authenticity of this declaration - more info, anyone ?) Anyway, Churchill was one of the rare
politicians in Europe who foresaw the
catastrophe of WWII - see
this speech.
The Munich Pact has become common synonymous to
pact with the Devil in international
diplomacy. To give you an idea of its
legacy, when European leaders tried to promote the
NATO war in
Kosovo, they evoked the "Spirit of Munich" to warn their fellow
citizens against the temptation of
appeasement. Equating
Slobodan Milosevic with
Adolf Hitler was a bit rude, but the message ("We won't let ruthless dictators do whatever they want any more") was perfectly
heard.