everyone seems to be forgeting about 1 country in this arguement. ie Poland. There is some thought that if the germans had invaded czechoslovakia in 1938 poland may well with the help of the britsh and french attacked germany's eastern frontiers thus nullifying any german agression at the outset. If this was 2 have happened it would have been game over.
...and to be fair to the Allies, if it wasn't for them Russia would have lost the war. One thing that does get to me is the increasing tendency to over-credit the Soviet Union for "Winning the war". It has been said on this forum before and no doubt will again; between the British Empire/Commonwealth/Dominion (Plus the associated and often overlooked "Free" forces), the United States and the Soviet Union, the Allied effort in WW2 was a team effort. It is doubtful in my mind whether any two Allies could have won without the third. OK, during the Cold War era the tendency naturally was to play down the role of the Soviets, but let's not compound this error by over-compensating now. On the subject of Czechoslovakia, if they had fought rather than being told to just give in, how much would the destruction the Czechoslovak armour have hurt the German Panzer armies in 1940? I am aware that they were quite reliant on using captured Czech tanks and am asking because I would be genuinely interested to know.
Actually Poland actively participated in the dismembring of Czekoslovakia, as they annexed a part of it too in late 1938. But yes, maybe they would have joined in a war against Germany in 1938, but it's highly debatable.