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What decisions were made in the Munich Agreement of 1938?
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Czechoslovak history
Saints Cyril and Methodius, mural by Zahari Zograf, 1848; in the Troyan Monastery, Bulgaria.
The Munich Agreement, signed on September 30, 1938, by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy, was a settlement that forced Czechoslovakia to cede its border regions to Germany.1
Key decisions and outcomes included:
- Territorial Cession: Czechoslovakia was required to evacuate and surrender the Sudetenland—a region with a large ethnic German population—to Germany.1
- Implementation Timeline: The German army was mandated to complete the occupation of the Sudetenland by October 10, 1938.12
- International Commission: An international commission was established to determine the future of other disputed areas.12
- Exclusion of Czechoslovakia: The agreement was reached without the participation or consultation of Czechoslovak representatives, who were presented with an ultimatum to either submit or face Germany alone.1
The agreement effectively rendered Czechoslovakia defenseless and marked a significant failure of the policy of appeasement, as it did not prevent further German aggression. Following the agreement, other nations, including Poland and Hungary, also seized disputed territories from Czechoslovakia.123