Five Brothers and a War

Czechoslovakia

Neville Chamberlain’s initial reaction was dumbfounding. He argued that because Slovakia had declared its independence from Czechoslovakia on March 14, the day before Hitler acted, there was no nation called “Czechoslovakia” when Hitler took over—it had ceased to exist. Therefore, Britain’s previous treaties with Czechoslovakia were null and void, and England had no requirement to defend this non-existent nation. Therefore, Britain did not react. However, Chamberlain was pilloried in Britain for his milquetoast actions. Two days later, apparently upon reflection, Chamberlain finally stood up to Hitler and declared that it was time to do something. What they did, other than meaningless diplomatic protests about Czechoslovakia, was to tell Germany that Hitler’s likely next target, Poland, would be protected by both Britain and France. In the next months, nations began preparing for war, both through mobilization and through the creation of mutual-aid treaties. The taking of sides took predictable turns— Britain with France, with the hope of the United States. All of the British Commonwealth, of course, stood with Britain. On the other side, Germany and Italy concluded a treaty, though only through connivance on the part of Germany. Hitler needed more, and so worked with Russia to secure an alliance. While Soviet Russia’s leader, Josef Stalin, courted both Germany and Britain, he was moved to sign on with Hitler after Britain refused to negotiate with him. When Chamberlain finally decided to negotiate with Stalin, it was too late. In late August, Germany and Russia agreed to a non-aggression treaty whereby Russia promised not to fight Germany in exchange for Germany’s support of Russia’s post-war annexation of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and eastern Poland. This allowed Hitler to only fight on one front. The mindset of Hitler was made clear in a speech he gave in Salzburg on August 22, where he made war an endeavor against the entire population of a nation, rather than against the military of that country: “The object of the war is ... to physically destroy the enemy. That is why I have prepared, for the moment only in the East, my 'Death's Head' formations with orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need.”

nazi germany

Five Brothers and a War

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