Franz Halder
was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Army (Oberkommando des
Heeres) on 1 September 1938, succeeding General Ludwig Beck.
M1
Minesweeper
Commissioned 1 September 1938
On 5 September 1938, Czechoslovakian
President Edvard Beneš invites mid-level representatives of the Sudeten Germans
to the Hradcany palace, to tell them he will accept whatever demands they care
to make, provided the Sudetenland remains part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia.
On 6 September 1938,What eventually proves to be the last of the Nuremberg
Rallies begins. It draws worldwide attention because it is widely assumed Adolf
Hitler, in his closing remarks, will signal whether there will be peace with
or war over Czechoslovakia.
On 9 September 1938, United States of America
President Franklin D. Roosevelt disallows the popular interpretation of Bullitt's
speech at a press conference at the White House. Franklin D. Roosevelt states
it is 100% wrong the United States would join a stop Adolf
Hitler bloc under any circumstances, and makes it quite clear that in the
event of German aggression against Czechoslovakia, the United States would remain
neutral.
Hermann
Göring Hermann Göring, in a speech at Nuremberg on 10 September
1938, calls the Czechoslovakians a miserable pygmy race who are harassing the
human race. That same evening, Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia,
makes a broadcast in which he appeals for calm.
Adolf
Hitler makes his much anticipated closing address at Nuremberg, in which he
vehemently attacks the Czechoslovakian people and President Beneš. American
news commentator Hans von Kaltenborn begins his famous marathon of broadcast bulletins
over the CBS Radio Network with a summation of Adolf
Hitler's address.
Adolf
Hitler met with Joachim
von Ribbentrop at Martin
Bormann's home in Munich, Germany on 13 September 1938.
On 13 September
1938, The followers of Konrad Henlein begin an armed revolt against the Czechoslovak
government in Sudetenland. Martial law is declared and after much bloodshed on
both sides order is temporarily restored. Neville Chamberlain personally sends
a telegram to Adolf
Hitler urgently requesting that they both meet.
Adolf
Hitler on 14 September 1938, departed Munich, Germany for his home in Obersalzberg
in southern Germany.
On 15 September 1938, Neville Chamberlain visited
Adolf Hitler
at Berchtesgaden in southern Germany to discuss German demands on Czechoslovakia.
Neville Chamberlain expressed his personal approval for Germany's previous demands
for Sudetenland, but would need to discuss further with his cabinet and the French.
Adolf Hitler
expressed his appreciation and promised that no military action would be taken.
Kormoran
HSK 8 Auxiliary cruiser
Launched 15 September 1938
Neville Chamberlain
on 16 December 1938, departed Germany and returned to London, England, United
Kingdom. In the evening, he held a cabinet meeting to discuss the German demands
on Czechoslovakia.
Z10
Hans Lody Destroyer
Commissioned 17 September 1938
Z22
Anton Schmitt Destroyer
Launched 20 September 1938
R31
R-boat
Launched 21 September 1938
On 22 September 1938, Seeing that
the Czechoslovakians gave in to German demands, Hungary also made demands of their
own on Czechoslovakian territory. On the same day, Sudeten Freikorps occupied
two Czechoslovakian towns close to the German border. In Prague, the Czechoslovakian
cabinet resigned. In Bad Godesberg, Germany, Neville Chamberlain met Adolf
Hitler who demanded Czechoslovakia to allow Wehrmacht troops to occupy Sudetenland
by
1 October 1938.
During
the evening, Neville Chamberlain and Adolf
Hitler met again in Bad Godesberg, Germany on 23 September 1938. Adolf
Hitler demanded Czechoslovakia to leave the Sudetenland area by 28 September
1938 Neville Chamberlain expressed frustration that Adolf
Hitler was now demanding more than what had originally been discussed; after
some heated discussion, Adolf
Hitler returned to the original demand of
1
October 1938.
On 24 September 1938, As Neville Chamberlain departed
Bad Godesberg, Germany to return to London, United Kingdom, Adolf
Hitler promised him that the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia would be
the last German territorial demand in Europe. In France, the French government
rejected the latest German demands the French military partially mobilised in
preparation for war.
Adolf
Hitler arrived in Berlin, Germany on 24 September 1938.
Adolf
Hitler and Neville Chamberlain conclude their talks on the Sudetenland on
24 September 1938 at 130 in the morning. Chamberlain agrees to take Adolf
Hitler's demands, codified in the Godesberg Memorandum, personally to the
Czechoslovakian Government. The Czechoslovakian Government rejects the demands,
as does Neville Chamberlain's own cabinet. The French Government also initially
rejects the terms and orders a partial mobilisation of the French army.
Adolf Hitler
on 26 September 1938 in a speech to the Reichstag said. And now the last problem
which must be solved confronts us. It is the claim for the Sudeten Lands is the
last territorial claim that I have to make in Europe, but it is one I will not
renounce. I assured Mr Neville Chamberlain that after this there would be no more
international problems. I promised afterwards that if Herr Benes would settle
peacefully, his problems with other minorities, I would even guarantee the new
Czechoslovakian state. We do not want any Czechs our demand for the Sudetens is
however irrevocable.
Franz
Halder on 27 September 1938, and other Wehrmacht Army officers set 29 September
1938 as the launch date of their revolt should Adolf
Hitler lead Germany into a war over the Sudetenland crisis.
On 27
September 1938, In the early afternoon, Adolf
Hitler moved several Wehrmacht divisions to the German-Czechoslovakian border.
In the late afternoon, Adolf
Hitler called for a military parade on the Unter den Linden boulevard in Berlin,
Germany to rouse a patriotic sentiment; Berlin citizens responded coolly, however.
In the United Kingdom, British military mobilised for war, school children were
evacuated from London, while trenches were dug in the city's parks. British Prime
Minister Neville Chamberlain recommended Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš
to accept a partial military occupation of Sudetenland by the Germans. In the
United States, President Franklin Roosevelt called for an international conference
in an attempt to maintain peace. The King of Sweden also attempted to calm Adolf
Hitler down, sending him a message advising him that Wehrmacht current strength
was no match for the combined strength of the opposing allied powers. Even the
chief of the Kriegsmarine Erich
Raeder attempted to convince Adolf
Hitler to not provoke war. Late in the day, Czechoslovakia finally received
some foreign support when Yugoslavia and Romania declared that they would offer
military assistance should Hungary use force against Czechoslovakia.
Adolf Hitler
on 28 September 1938, self-imposed
1
October 1938 deadline for occupation of the Sudetenland approaches, Adolf
Hitler invites Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edourd Deladier, and British
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to one last conference in Munich. The Czechoslovakian's
themselves are not invited.
On 28 September 1938, Neville Chamberlain
proposed to Adolf
Hitler a conference between European powers to resolve the issue of Czechoslovakia
Hermann
Göring convinced Adolf
Hitler to accept such an offer rather than waging war. Meanwhile, Neville
Chamberlain sent Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš a message to express
that Britain was to represent Czechoslovakia in the upcoming conference with Germany,
and Britain would keep Czechoslovakia's best interest in mind.
Franz
Halder went to see Wehrmacht Army chief Walther
von Brauchitsch on 28 September 1938, and gained some support for his planned
overthrow of Adolf
Hitler should there be a war over the Sudetenland crisis. At the end of the
day, with Neville Chamberlain visiting Munich, Germany, and thus dramatically
lessening the possibility of war between Britain and Germany, Franz
Halder called off the revolt.
On 29 September 1938, The Munich Conference
between Adolf
Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini, and Edourd Deladier took place,
during which Britain and France ceded Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to Germany
in an attempt to avoid war. The two Czechoslovakian representatives at the conference
were locked in an adjacent room, not permitted to actually participating in the
negotiations.
On 29 September 1938, Colonel Graham Christie, assistant
British military attaché in Berlin, is told by Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
that the mobilisation of the Royal Navy has badly damaged the popularity of the
National Socialist Regime, as the German public realises that Fall Grün is
likely to cause a world war.
On 30 September 1938, Shortly after midnight,
Adolf Hitler,
Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini, and Édouard Daladier signed, in
that order, the Munich Agreement which ceded Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to
Germany the actual document was backdated to the previous day, 29 September 1938.
Upon returning to the United Kingdom, outside 10 Downing Street in London, Neville
Chamberlain announced that I believe it is peace for our time.
Go
To: October Articles:
The Second
Great War.
Edited by Sir John Hamilton
The War Illustrated.
Edited
by Sir John Hamilton
2194 Days Of War.
ISBN-10: 086136614X
For a complete list of
sources
