cancelled the proposed plebiscite in Austria and formed a Nazi government there. Thereupon the German army entered Vienna to take control of the country. (iv) Occupation of Sudetenland Encouraged by the lack of resistance from major European powers, Hitler turned his attention towards Czechoslovakia. In June , Hitler sent directions to his army about his intention of invading Sudetenland.
A systematic Nazi propaganda that their German subjects were being subjected to harsh treatment in Sudetenland was launched. The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, after consulting the French and the Czechs, eventually agreed to cede to Germany all territories where more than half the inhabitants were German. But to the warmonger Hitler, this proposition was unacceptable. He was keen to avoid any plebiscite in this matter.
So he wanted his army to occupy Sudetenland before such a plebiscite could take place. Munich Agreement The mood in London was in favour of a war against Hitler. But Chamberlain and his counterpart in France were bent on buying peace at any cost – a policy called ‘appeasement’. A conference was held at Munich where the British, French, German and Italian premiers agreed that the German army should occupy the Sudetenland, as demanded by Hitler, on October and that parts of Czechoslovakia should go to Poland and Hungary.
Munich Agreement (v) Aggression against Czechoslovakia The Czechs felt betrayed. The new frontiers of Czechoslovakia had been guaranteed by the four powers at the Munich Conference. Chamberlain claimed that the deal had averted another massive European war. But using the conflict between the Slovaks and the Czechs as an excuse, Hitler sent German forces to occupy the conflict zone.
Outbreak of World War II and its Impact in Colonies