Final steps to war
The German occupation of Czechoslovakia was the final concession of the policy of appeasement. Hitler's pacts with Italy and the Soviet Union gave him the confidence to invade Poland. This act led Britain to declare war.
Partition of Czechoslovakia, 1938 - 1939
- Germany entered the Sudetenland on 1 October. Hitler now had control of the Czech fortifications and this would make his next act of aggression much easier
- Hitler and Chamberlain signed a piece of paper promising never to go to war with each other
- Czechoslovakia was further divided when, encouraged by Hitler, Hungary took control of the region of Ruthenia and Poland claimed Teschen
- Czech military effectiveness had been fatally weakened. Britain and France had lost the help of a strong ally for the sake of a few months to rearm their forces
- Russia was offended at being left out and more suspicious of Britain and France
The British public celebrated their relief that war had been, for the present, avoided.
However, there was growing concern that Hitler was not, as Chamberlain believed, just another politician who was open to negotiation. Instead, increasing numbers of people believed that he would continue to behave aggressively and that war would come, sooner or later. Even Chamberlain began to build up British forces against that possibility.