| the pact signed by Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany on September 29, 1938, by which the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany: often cited as an instance of unwise and unprincipled appeasement of an aggressive nation. |
An agreement between Britain and Germany in 1938, under which Germany was allowed to extend its territory into parts of Czechoslovakia in which German-speaking peoples lived. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain negotiated on behalf of Britain, and Chancellor Adolf Hitler on behalf of Germany. Chamberlain returned to London proclaiming that the Munich Pact had secured “peace in our time.” The Germans invaded Poland less than a year later (see invasion of Poland), and World War II began.
Note: In later years, the Munich Pact was denounced as pure appeasement of Hitler.