Suchergebnisse

This article is concerned with British foreign policy and the legacy of the Munich Agreement during and after the Second World War. It argues that contemporary policy requirements necessitated an unapologetic attitude to the past that often entailed the adoption of evasive legal formulae. Thus, while West Germany and Czechoslovakia achieved a modus vivendi in 1973, the British refused to repudiate Munich ab initio and applauded the West German decision to do likewise. London steadfastly maintained this position until 1992, three years after the end of the Cold War. This article explores the reasoning in British policy formulation and demonstrates that while historians discussed the 'shame' of Munich, policymakers rarely experienced feelings of guilt – seeking instead to derive the maximum possible benefit from the continuing significance of Munich. Furthermore, many of the actions of the British government during the Second World War, not least with regard to the Katyń massacres and the Yalta Conference, reinforced the idea that Munich had been a creature of its time and a 'necessary evil'. Drawing extensively on primary sources, this article will make a contribution to the historiography of British foreign relations and that of collective institutional memory and appeasement.

The book In the Shadow of Munich. British Policy towards Czechoslovakia from the Endorsement to the Renunciation of the Munich Agreement (1938 to 1942) analyses the varying attitudes and gradual change of British policy towards Czechoslovakia in the period from the Munich Conference in September 1938 to August 1942 when the British government proclaimed the Munich Agreement as dead and thus having no influence whatsoever on the future territorial settlement. The key focus of this work lies in the influence of 'Munich' upon the British political scene and upon the resulting British policy towar.

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Aims and methodology -- Bibliographical essay -- Structure of the book -- British foreign policy and Czechoslovakia before Munich 1938 (Historical introduction) -- British strategies in the inter-war period -- The 'Czechoslovak year': 1938 -- Britain and the crumbling of Czechoslovakia (30 September 1938 - 15 March 1939) -- The implementation of Munich and its immediate impact upon British politics -- The question of the Munich guarantee -- Britain's policy towards Central Europe between Munich and 15 March 1939 -- Towards the March ides -- Towards the outbreak of war (15 March - 3 September 1939) -- The immediate repercussions of the March ides in British politics -- British international efforts between 15 March and the outbreak of the war -- Military and economic implications of the German subjugation of Czechoslovakia -- 'The Czech gold scandal' -- Britain and independent Slovakia -- Britain's de facto recognition of German annexation and the question of the Czechoslovak balances (a -- The problem of the Czechoslovak Legation in London -- Conclusion -- British attitudes towards the development of Czechoslovak political representation in exile (October -- Britain's assistance to refugees from Czechoslovakia, 1938-1939 -- Britain's attitudes to the formation of Czechoslovak political representation abroad before the outb -- Czechoslovakia and the British war aims -- The recognition of the Czechoslovak National Committee -- Towards the Provisional Government -- Conclusion -- The other life of Munich and the 'unbearable lightness' of provisional status (July 1940 - July 1941 -- The legacy of Munich and the battles for history -- Establishing the governing structures in exile -- The thorny way to full recognition - stage 1 -- The thorny way to full recognition - stage 2 -- Conclusion.