January 1, 1970

Introduced by Richard M. Langworth

The 1938 Munich agreement, which dismembered Czechoslovakia, has been cited both as a strategic delay that allowed Britain more time to arm and a fatal mistake that made Germany stronger when war broke out in 1939. Churchill took the latter view, arguing that in 1938 Britain and France were better prepared to fight and that the Czechs were far more formidable than the Poles, whom Hitler quickly defeated in 1939.

Two powerful articles reconsider Churchill’s case. Using German and British archives, Williamson Murray notes the enormous changes in the balance of power that favoured Germany after Munich: ‘a modest lesson for scholars and others who are contemptuous of military and strategic history, but happy to comment on it when the occasion suits them.’ Michael McMenamin examines the 1938 plot against Hitler, concluding: ‘Only one man could prevent Hitler’s assassination and the forcible overthrow of his regime. That man was Neville Chamberlain.’ A subsequent article by Churchill himself cites his case from his 1948 book, The Gathering Storm.

Read the full articles by Williamson Murray (‘The Case for Resistance’), Michael McMenamin (‘Did Chamberlain “Miss the Bus”?’) and Winston S. Churchill (‘This Guide Is Called Honour’) here: Finest Hour 162, Spring 2014, scroll to pages 12, 20, 30.