I rather expected this thread to wander off in this direction, picking over the details of the Munich crisis. Watching the usual suspects tie themselves in knots over incomplete informations and complex interpretations. I am guessing from the discussion here the scholarship on the Czech crisis has not moved much beyond that of the 1970s. Perhaps someone here can point to something written since 1978? Which hopefully has significant new information for the English language literature.
A few questions notparticulary pursuing one direction or another:
ljadw wrote:Yes,there were persons convinced that what /if B+F would do;it would not stop the Germans to conquer CZ,and these people were the British chiefs of staff:
march 28 1938:
No pressure that we and our possible allies can bring to bear,either by sea,on land and in the air,could prevent Germany from invading and overrunning Bohemia and from inflicting a decisive defeat on the Czechoslovakian army.We should then be faced with the necessity of undertaking a war against Germany for the purpose of restoring Czechoslovakia's lost integrity and this object would only be achieved by the defeat of Germany and as the outcome of a prolonged struggle.
Source:Munich's lessons reconsidered P 183 Note 92
This was a summary of the opinions of the Brit CoS, & while I understand their PoV of the British military situation it is difficult to attach much weight as a accurate view of the French. What information I have on my shelf concerning the strength of the mobilized French army, its mobilization schedule, and how far mobilization had progressed by 25-30 September suggests the Brit CoS view of "our allies" needs verification. That is something more than the usual remarks I see concerning the French plans.
I expect the same would be useful for the German side as well. How complete were the 'fortifications' on the French frontier, how many combat ready divisions and corps artillery/engineer units there were, ect...
Gooner1 wrote:ljadw wrote:
The frontiers of the new CZ did not change in 1939,what happened was that Czechia was occupied by the Germans,and,as the Czechs did not fight,why should B+F fight ?
?! Slovakia declared independence before Germany invaded Czech(land?) in March 1939. Therefore the borders Britain and France pledged to guarantee were invalid, therefore the pledge was no longer valid.
By March 1939 the Czech army was significantly weaker, having lost much of its manpower & equipment. To say the the new border with Germany was difficult to defend is a under statement. Also as I understand the Wehrmacht had competed the establishment of a base of operations in Austria for air and ground ops, something that was incomplete in September 1938. Drawing any conclusions about Czech decisions in September 1938 from their situation in March seems to me to be a bit silly.
