In March 1939, Germany occupied the remainder of Czechoslovakia, breaking the Munich Agreement. (a) Describe how Germany took control of the rest of Czechos...

Germany's occupation of the remainder of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 was the event that finally destroyed the policy of appeasement and transformed British foreign policy.

(a) How Germany took control of the rest of Czechoslovakia [4 marks]

• Hitler exploited ethnic tensions between Czechs and Slovaks, encouraging Slovak separatism. On 14 March 1939, Slovakia declared independence under the pro-German leader Jozef Tiso, breaking Czechoslovakia apart from within.
• Czech President Emil Hacha was summoned to Berlin and met Hitler in the early hours of 15 March. He was threatened with the bombing of Prague by the Luftwaffe if he did not agree to German occupation.
• Hacha, elderly and in poor health, collapsed during the meeting but was revived and pressured into signing a document placing the Czech lands under German 'protection.'
• German troops occupied Bohemia and Moravia on 15 March 1939, and Hitler declared them a German 'Protectorate.'

(b) Why it changed British policy [6 marks]

• Breach of Munich: The occupation proved Hitler could not be trusted. He had broken the Munich Agreement within six months, making Chamberlain's 'peace for our time' declaration look foolish.
• End of the self-determination argument: Unlike the Sudetenland, Bohemia and Moravia were ethnically Czech, not German. Hitler could no longer claim he was merely uniting German-speakers; this was naked imperial conquest.
• Shift in public opinion: British public opinion turned firmly and decisively against appeasement. The press and Parliament demanded a tougher stance.
• Chamberlain's personal reaction: Chamberlain felt personally betrayed by Hitler's broken promises. In a speech in Birmingham on 17 March, he asked whether the occupation was 'the end of an old adventure, or the beginning of a new' one, signalling a fundamental policy change.
• Guarantee to Poland: On 31 March 1939, Britain issued a formal guarantee of Polish independence, committing to defend Poland against German aggression. This was a revolutionary change in British foreign policy.
• Accelerated rearmament: Britain stepped up military preparations, including introducing conscription for the first time in peacetime (April 1939).

(c) How successfully did Britain and France respond to Hitler's aggression 1936-1939? [10 marks]

Arguments that the response was unsuccessful:

• Britain and France failed to prevent the remilitarisation of the Rhineland (March 1936), the Anschluss (March 1938), or the destruction of Czechoslovakia (1938-39). Each act of aggression went unpunished and encouraged the next.
• Appeasement gave Hitler time to rearm and expand, while systematically undermining potential allies. Czechoslovakia's army and fortifications were lost without a fight.
• The Franco-Soviet alliance was never activated effectively. The Soviet Union was excluded from Munich, pushing Stalin towards the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
• France's defensive Maginot Line strategy proved inflexible and irrelevant when Germany attacked through Belgium in 1940.

Arguments that some responses had limited success:

• Appeasement arguably bought time for British rearmament. Between Munich (September 1938) and the outbreak of war (September 1939), Britain significantly expanded its fighter production and radar network, which proved critical in the Battle of Britain (1940).
• The guarantee to Poland (March 1939) showed that Britain finally took a firm stand, and when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, Britain honoured its commitment by declaring war on 3 September.
• The Anglo-Polish alliance and Anglo-French coordination, although too late to prevent war, provided the framework for the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.

Conclusion: Britain and France were largely unsuccessful in responding to Hitler's aggression between 1936 and 1939. Their responses were consistently too slow, too divided, and too conciliatory to deter a dictator determined on expansion. By the time they finally took a firm stand over Poland, the strategic situation had deteriorated dramatically.