alternatehistory.com

Just a quick post to judge interest.

Black October



[From L to R] Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain, Édouard Daladier of France, Adolf Hitler of Germany, Benito Mussolini and Galeazzo Ciano of Italy.
Excerpt from Black October: The Month that Changed History, by James Turtledove

The Conference was ambitious in its objectives, objectives many experts now deem impossible to achieve. It was called in the wake of increased calls by Adolf Hitler to secede the Czech Sudetenland, a majority German province given to the nation in the wake of the First World War, back to Germany, Hitler spoke of atrocities committed by the Czechs against the Sudetenland Germans, much to the ire of both Prague and Paris. As September proceeded tension rose to a fever pitch. War seemed to be inevitable. However, in a last ditch effort Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain, called for a conference in Munich. Neville even boarded a plane for the first time in his life to meet the German leader.

When the Conference opened hopes seemed high that war would be averted. The first day Great Britain seemed eager to concede the contested land. However, as the group convened after lunch, Chamberlain and Daladier suddenly grew very steadfast in their opposition.* They refused the German proposal and it is said that Hitler flew into a rage. He ranted about the French cowing to the British's every command and that the British were trying to provoke war. Hitler then stormed out of the meeting. When the leaders met for the third and final day they met for a scant half an hour. From a British aide who was in the room:

"Mr Hitler was the angriest probably anybody had seen him. Judging by the German aides's reactions not even they had seen him that angry. His face was as red as a trolleybus and he could barely keep from screaming. Amazingly he didn't and instead spoke the most violently anti-British and anti-French rhetoric I had ever heard. He called the French 'British lap dogs' and slaves to the 'dastardly Jews in London'. After a full 10 minuets of ranting on the French, which almost killed Edouard, poor man, he turned on Neville. He called him a Jew and 'dirty backstabber' who wanted war. Those above expressions are the tames of the many things he called the British and French leaders. After that Hitler finally sat down, wiping spittle from his chin, to a room that was so silent, I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. The room was silent for no more than two minuets before the French and British delegations got up and left, without another word"

The failure of the Munich Conference was the deathblow to peace in Europe. When Chamberlain got off his plane in London he held his hand up and uttered the now famous line "We are now entering a very black October."

* At the time the turn around in attitude seemed entirely strange and unwarranted, Joseph Kennedy even calling it the "damnedest thing". However, now we have found documents proving they
were contacted by the Oster conspirators
.

Top