The Godesberg Memorandum is a document issued by Adolf Hitler in the early hours of 24 September 1938 concerning the Sudetenland and amounting to an ultimatum addressed to the government of Czechoslovakia.
It was named after Bad Godesberg, where Hitler had met Neville Chamberlain for long talks on 23 September continuing into the next day.
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Main article: Sudeten Germans |
At the time of the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Sudetenland was a German-speaking part of the Empire which fell to the new state of Czechoslovakia, itself dominated by the Czechs. Initially, many Sudeten Germans wished to become part of the new German-speaking state of German Austria, and later they hoped to join Austria. However, the Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1919 confirmed the inclusion of the German-speaking territories within Czechoslovakia. By the beginning of 1938 most Sudetens aspired to be integrated into Nazi Germany, which was fast advancing in economic success and international prestige.
Following an active propaganda campaign, Adolf Hitler began publicly to demand the "return" to Germany of a large part of the Sudetenland containing some three million German speakers.[1]: 61 In March 1938 France and the Soviet Union gave guarantees of military support to Czechoslovakia if Hitler began to use military force to seize the Sudetenland, but on 24 March Neville Chamberlain refused a French request to give the same pledge.[1]: 61–62
In early September 1938, Chamberlain sent Lord Runciman to attempt to negotiate a settlement of the crisis between the Germans and the Czechs. On 7 September the Sudeten Germans, led by Konrad Henlein, broke off the talks with Runciman, and on 12 September Hitler publicly advised the Sudetenlanders to stand firm for union with Germany. On 15 September Chamberlain flew to Berchtesgaden to meet Hitler, who demanded self determination for the Sudetenland. Upon his return to London after his Berchtesgaden summit, Chamberlain told his Cabinet that Hitler's aims were "strictly limited" to the Sudetenland and he felt it was quite possible to avoid war provided everyone played their part.[2]: 438 He also had discussions with the French, in which he agreed with them a joint proposal to all parties for the gradual transfer to Germany of the areas which had a majority of Sudeten Germans.[1]: 62
Chamberlain returned to Germany, meeting Hitler on 22 and 23 September at Bad Godesberg to propose this solution.[1]: 62 In presenting their peace plan for the transfer of the Sudetenland, the British delegation was most unpleasantly surprised to hear Hitler reject the terms he had himself presented at Berchtesgaden as now unacceptable.[3] Hitler now demanded an immediate transfer, including occupation of the Sudetenland by German forces, and he quickly issued the "Godesberg Memorandum" to clarify his public position.[1]: 62
In his Memorandum Hitler proposed a plebiscite, without identifying the exact area for it, and provided for the plebiscite areas to be occupied by both German and Czech forces, pending the outcome of voting. German forces should enter the Sudetenland by 1 October.[4] Hitler demanded the Sudetenland be ceded to Germany no later than 28 September 1938 with no negotiations between Prague and Berlin and no international commission to oversee the transfer; no plebiscites to be held in the transferred districts until after the transfer; and he also declared that Germany would not abandon war as an option until all the claims against Czechoslovakia by Poland and Hungary had been satisfied. This was seen as a signal that Hitler had decided to put an end to Chamberlain's peace-making efforts.[2]: 447 The arrangements for the transfer were to be decided bilaterally between the Germans and the Czechs and by no one else.[5]
The "memorandum" stated an ultimatum for Czech acceptance of it, expiring at 2 pm on 28 September 1938. If the Czech government would not agree to Hitler's demands by then, Germany would take the Sudetenland by force.[6] Chamberlain protested about being presented with an ultimatum, to which Hitler replied that the document was entitled "Memorandum", so could not be called an ultimatum.[7]
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Main article: Munich Agreement |
The Czechs announced on 28 September that they rejected the Memorandum, and the French ordered the mobilization of 600,000 men. The Royal Navy was also mobilized the same day.[1]: 62
Although Hitler was angry at the rejection of his memorandum, he also feared a war against both Britain and France.[8] He did not order an invasion on 28 September, having instead agreed to Chamberlain's proposal for a further meeting the next day, now at Munich, between four heads of government, Chamberlain for Britain, Hitler for Germany, Prime Minister Daladier for France and Mussolini for Italy, with no Czech or Soviet participation. On 1 October, a pact was signed which provided for possession of the Sudeten Province to be transferred to Germany, with Britain and France seeking to sweeten this bitter pill for the Czechs by guaranteeing the new borders of Czechoslovakia. There was also a separate agreement between the British and the Germans that stated that all future disputes between them would be the subject of negotiation.[1]: 62
On 1 October, German troops marched into the Sudetenland, which was immediately incorporated into Germany. Some 115,000 Sudeten Czechs and 30,000 Sudeten Germans, including Social Democrats, Communists and Jews, fled to what was left of Czechoslovakia. By 1 March 1939, the number of refugees, as reported by the Institute for Refugee Assistance, stood at almost 150,000.[9]