This Day in History: 15 March 2020
15 March 1939
81 years ago, today, Hitler's forces invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia. On September 30 of the previous year, Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier, Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, signed the Munich Pact, sealing the fate of Czechoslovakia, thus handing it over to Germany, in an attempt to secure peace. However, the agreement was only to give Hitler Sudetenland, the part of Czechoslovakia where 3 million German lived. It also permitted the Nazis' 66% of the country's coal, and 70% of its iron, steel and electricity. Without these resources, the nation was left vulnerable to Germany's domination. Rumours continued to circulate around Czechoslovakia of this possibility, no matter what their government did to please Hitler.
Slovakia declared its independence, and complete German dependence, on March 14, after Hitler had made it clear in a speech a few months prior that he had intended to force the Czechoslovakian government to give Slovakia this independence. The next day, during a meeting with Czech President, Emil Hacha, who was considered weak and old, Hitler threatened to bomb Prague, unless he was given free passage for German troops to enter the Czech borders, which he received. The same day, German troops immediately stormed into Bohemia and Moravia, and were met with no resistance. A few hours later, Hitler victoriously entered Prague. Hitler's invasion of the country made it clear that the Munich Pact was not for peace but was in fact a negotiating ploy for Hitler.
Want to find out more about Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia? Click here to read more, or click here to watch a video on the event.
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