Question

Why did Hitler attack Czechoslovakia in 1938?

Answer 1

1. Hitler attacked Czechoslovakia in 1938 primarily to expand German territory and unite all German-speaking people under one Reich, as part of his aggressive nationalist and expansionist foreign policy.
2. His first goal was the Sudetenland, which is a region in Czechoslovakia that had a significant German population. Hitler said that the native Germans were being mistreated as an excuse to demand that the area be taken over. 
3. However, the true motivation was strategic, as capturing the Sudetenland, which housed Czechoslovakia’s primary border defences, would weaken the country’s strategic position.
4. As part of their strategy of appeasement, Britain and France agreed in September 1938 to let Germany take over the Sudetenland without talking to Czechoslovakia first. 
5. This gave Hitler more confidence, and in March 1939, he broke the deal by taking over the rest of Czechoslovakia. His actions showed that his goals were bigger than just uniting Germans; he wanted to take over more land.