I generally subscribe with this viewpoint. Hitler was bluffing and nobody called his bluff. Chamberlain's official policy was to avoid war as much as possible. Chamberlain sincerely believed that if the bully could be sated, then he could be persuaded to stop being a bully. Unfortunately, Chamberlain turned out to be wrong with Hitler.

Tristan Scott.

That was actually my first idea, but I abandoned it because I had a feeling it would be poo-pooed by others.

Honest!

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"One might as well try to charge at a wall."-Napoleon, regarding the British Infantry.

Well, Joe, I can't imagine why anyobne would have poo-pooed the idea. It's probably a concensus opinion among historians. I know that Liddel Hart and William Shirer believe that had Chamberlain shown resolve over the Sudetenland things would have ended up much differently.

I can't either. It is your opinion and it's open for debat, right? I gave my opinion on your what if and war is declared on me. Big deal, loads of fun. Makes it more interesting, don't you think?
Whatever your opinion, share it.

Damn it, you all making me feel like some sort of bullied kid!

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"One might as well try to charge at a wall."-Napoleon, regarding the British Infantry.

Yeah Joe feel free to voice your opionion, just be prepared for a war
That discussion was interesting though Bravo, a Good one too, I look forward to another.

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They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We shall remember them. Lest We Forget

Well, the fear of the poo-poo was enough to destroy my ideas.

I hate loosing an argument, so I thought it would be better to never have one in the first place.
Besides, I removed the statement about inevitable war in my first post so lets all shut up about it now.

An idea being poo-pooed is a very bad thing, cos it says so in Blackadder!

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"One might as well try to charge at a wall."-Napoleon, regarding the British Infantry.

I'm looking forward to it too .

Hmmm... So, if I understand this correctly: Chamberlain is persuaded to follow the French lead and stand firm, Hitler orders war against the Cezchs, France mobilizes, and the German Generals launch their coup.

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I forgot my password, can I use yours?

If Hitler had ordered the attack to begin the operation against Hitler would have begun and Hitler would have died mysteriously during the coup....All the men were in position only needed to say "Go!"...

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What I wonder is why didn't they go ahead with it anyway. They surely must have foreseen what was coming.

After Hitler got all he "wanted" in Munich Hitler´s position as the greatest leader ever in Germany was at least considered by Halder such that no coup could be accepted by the people of the Reich.

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Not clearly. long ago I did a bit of reading about the coup plotters & related events. The point of view & thinking of the Germans in that era might seem very strange and suprisingly different to people of other cultures seventy years later.

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I forgot my password, can I use yours?

20/20 Hindsight. Aint it great?

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman

Also, I think you have to realize that the plot entailed a coalition of military leaders put together under the premise that Hitler going ahead with the invasion would be disasterous for Germany. When the invasion was postponed for the Munich conference, the plot was put on hold. When Hitler's aims: the aquisition of the Sudetenland, were achieved without invasion, the coalition understandably fell apart.

This is perhaps a thread with poor wording. Chamberlain tried to thwart German invasion the Chezch, while sending onvoys to try and have Russia side, or oppose this along sides with Great Britain. When Stalin refused to take up arms for the chezch's, their fate was sealed. Russia's only chance to perhaps do this is with French also, and reluctantly the French abided, and so likewise the Russian, leaving Britain as the scapegoat for handing the Sudetenland over. Before Chamberlain left for Berlin, his meeting with cabinet, and ultimately his conversation with H.C.T. Dowding helped in his decision. Dowding expressed to Chamberlain the plight Britain was in at the time....of all the armed forces, the air-force is the most costly and time consuming to establish...with designs of planes constantly needing updating, factories,and fitter needed to construct planes, airfield built, mechanics trained, and airmen required to fly successfully a painstaking slow process. He pointed out to Chamberlain, that a war with Germany was inevitable. But to come to blows in 1938, with RAF in it's infantcy, would result in the tried, trained, and equipped Luftwaffe having little or no resistance, nay for the defense of Britain was possible as well.

The USSR was not invited to the Munich "conference", which was a big mistake if you consider that in 1939 the Western Allies tried to make negotiations with Stalin. So Chamberlain was not discussing the European politics with Stalin in 1938, I think.

In 1938 it is perhaps that Chamberlain partly believed he could do the work himself and get Hitler to agree to a deal. Also the USSR as part of its help proposal required "pathways" through countries to help the Czechs which for countries like Poland was not ok. So Stalin was left out of the negotiations for several reasons.

This was rather interesting as well:

CJO - Abstract - THE SOVIET COMMISSARIAT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE CZECHOSLOVAKIAN CRISIS IN 1938: NEW MATERIAL FROM THE SOVIET ARCHIVES

The exchanges between Litvinov in Moscow and the Soviet polpred, Alexandrovsky, in Prague show clearly that the latter was repeatedly cautioned against encouraging the Czech leaders to think that they could rely on the unilateral assistance of the USSR. They reveal, too, the degree to which Litvinov and Potemkin, a deputy commissar, felt that Fierlinger, the Czech minister in Moscow, was misrepresenting the Soviet position in this respect. Additional evidence cited here confirms earlier views that the Soviet leadership was not prepared to act independently of France or outside the League of Nations even when the opportunities for assisting Czechoslovakia were available.

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Interesting. Also it should be remembered that the USSR had no land border either with Czechoslovakia or Germany, there was at least Poland in the middle, so direct military support would be an interesting venture.

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There is an ass in my avatar.

Well, all that I've been able to find on this subject is that until Hitler broke the Munich agreement, the British and French thought the Soviet Union was a bigger enemy than Germany. Once Hitler showed his true colors, they then (too little, too late) tried to mend fences with Stalin, but by that time, Hitler was planning to make the pact with the Soviets to keep them quiet till such time as he was ready to take them on.

Comments?

A good summary

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There is an ass in my avatar.

I guess several countries feared there would be a communistic revolution due to the USSR influence , but some pacts were made and some announcements as well:

Chronology of World War II

November 29 1932
France and the Soviet Union sign a Pact of Non-Agression.

May 2 1935
France and the Soviet Union conclude negotiations for a five-year Treaty of Mutual Assistance

March 1936
Robert Vansittart, the Permanent Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Great Britain, writes a memorandum warning that Germany's rearmament program would serve Adolf Hitler's plan to annex Austria, the Sudetenland, the Baltic states, and the Polish Corridor to East Prussia.

October 1936
The Joint Planning Committee of the Chiefs of Staff in England declares: "We are convinced that Germany would plan to gain her victory rapidly. Her first attacks would be designed as knock-out blows" referring to London being heavily bombed over a few weeks."

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Perhaps the Biggest mistake Hitler had shown, was Chamberlains views to the British backing Poland...until then most deals and talks where done indoors, or behind the media spotlight...Hitler views that Britain wouldn't back a Poland failed to realize this was posted public and in speeches to the world...knowing Britains stand and reputation should have told Hitler this threat was not an idle one as had he been able to by-pass up until now...