Sudetenland Quotes
The reference to Munich was to the famous appeasement of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. See {585941}.
In 1938 Germany had rearmed and resumed its aggressive designs of expansion. Hitler wanted the Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia and threatened an invasion of that country. England had France had a treaty obligation to militarily support Czechoslovakia if it were attacked. British Prime minister Neville Chamberlain and the French were desperately trying to avoid war, not realizing that with Hitler, that position was the very thing that would bring on war. So they agreed to Hitler’s demand and allowed Czechoslovakia to be partitioned and the Sudetenland was annexed to Germany. This craven appeasement emboldened Hitler who then decided to conquer all of Europe as he had no serious opposition from France and England—the two powers that might have stopped him. (At the time, the French had a larger army than the Germans.)
Attlee was in opposition to the Chamberlain Conservative government at the time
This telegram was one of the more bizarre episodes leading up to WWII. The “solution” that Rothermore was praising was the German Army seizing and occupying a large part of Czechoslovakia – the Sudetenland -- in violation of the WWI Peace Treaty that Germany had signed. Further, Rothermere knew perfectly well that England and France were bound by treaty to come to the military aid of Czechoslovakia and war between Britain and Germany could break out at any moment. Yet he sent the telegram encouraging Hitler in his aggression. The Daily Mail, Rothermore’s very conservative newspaper supported English Fascist Oswald Mosley and wrote articles favorable to Mussolini and Hitler. There was a small but powerful part of English Aristocracy who were pro German and pro Fascist including the King, Edward, Duke of Windsor {584507} who was persuaded to abdicate and relegated to the Bahamas where his views were not so public. The Daily Mail catered to that part of the English Aristocracy.
