Yellow Test – Question 60 –

In a speech given on March 17, 1939, the English Prime Minister at the time, Neville Chamberlain, supported his political position: “I do not need to defend my visits to Germany last autumn, what alternative was there? Nothing we could have done, nothing France could have done, or even Russia, would have saved Czechoslovakia from destruction. But I also had another purpose in going to Munich. It was to continue with the policy sometimes called ‘European appeasement’, and Hitler repeated what he had already said, that is, that the Sudetenland, a German-populated region in Czechoslovakia, was his last territorial ambition in Europe, and that I didn’t want to include people other than Germans in Germany.”

Internet: (with adaptations).

Knowing that the commitment made by Hitler in 1938, mentioned in the text above, was broken by the German leader in 1939, it is inferred that

a) Hitler aimed to control more territories in Europe beyond the Sudetenland region.

b) the alliance between England, France and Russia could have saved Czechoslovakia.

c) the breach of this commitment inspired the policy of ‘European appeasement’.

d) Chamberlain’s policy of appeasing the German leader was contrary to the position taken by the Allied powers.

e) the way Chamberlain chose to deal with the Sudeten problem led to the destruction of Czechoslovakia.

Answer key: A

Resolution:

b) False. German political pressure in Poland led France and England to sign a military aid agreement in case German troops invaded the country. Through the agreement, Russia felt threatened by the Franco-British alliance and, therefore, signed a non-aggression pact with Adolf Hitler. Therefore, it would be impossible to try to think that any of these nations alone could prevent Adolf Hitler’s intentions.

c) False. The policy of appeasement, advocated by Neville Chamberlain, was a clear attempt to contain German opulent politics without having to declare war against Hitler. Therefore, appeasement occurred before the political split that would begin World War II.

d) False. The rapid industrial and military development achieved by Hitler forced the Allied powers not to oppose the prominent II German Reich. Therefore, Chamberlain’s position was established with the clear support of the great powers of the time.

e) False. Chamberlain cannot be hastily judged as responsible for German domination over Czechoslovakia. German diplomatic and military pressure did not offer conditions for the British Prime Minister to have better alternatives to resolve the political discomfort caused by Adolf Hitler.

The correct one: a) True. Even assuming the commitments outlined at the Munich Conference, Hitler refused to fulfill the agreements and put political pressure on Poland to incorporate the Danzig region and create a railway that gave access to the “Polish corridor”. Furthermore, reaffirming his pretentious expansionist project, Hitler fully incorporated the territories of Czechoslovakia at the beginning of 1939.

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