Why didn't Czechoslovakia resist the Munich Agreement? (Short Animated Documentary)

After the Munich Diktat the Czechs handed over valuable territory to the Germans. But why didn't they at least try to resist? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

A special thanks to all of these Patrons below, without whom the show wouldn't be possible:

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[trixus]

the fact, that France sold Czechoslovakia and subsequently was rolled over by Czech tanks painted in German colors is... poetic 🤔

[creatoruser]

There was actually one Czech garrison that defied orders to stand down when the Germans entered in 1939 and fought back for a few hours. It was quite a shock to them.

[TheDuchy-dh]

Fun fact: there was a short-lived state called "Carpatho-Ukraine" during the partition of Czechoslovakia which was promptly conquered by Hungary.
The territory is shown exactly at 2:43

[gugovojts]

As a czech person. What I learned as to why we didn't fight back/resist was because then we would be seen as the agressors and pointed out as the ones who started the war. It's still sad that people with appeasement and peace in our time gave us away :/

[dominov]

Czechoslovakia had very powerful military at that time. Not powerful enough to stop Germany but with France and Britain WW2 might have been just a border conflict, especially thanks to the fortifications.

Also France dug their own grave by this. Not only did Germany gain huge amount of industry but also large amount of tanks and weapons that were later used to invade France. I remember reading that roughly 1/3 of what was used during the invasion of France was originally Czechoslovak equipment. (sadly I didn't manage to find the source again so it might be wrong)

But there actually was a bit of resistance. Mark Felton made a video about that.

[oLiix]

fun fact: in the first election in czechoslovakia after ww2, the communist party gained the most votes in any post-war election in europe because many mistrusted the west for what they did in 1938

[rennor]

I heard that in Czechia the Munich Agreement is referred as:
'About us, without us'

[fireironthesecond]

The green in the British and French flags represents how loyal they are as allies

[televizetma]

In czechia we call it “Mnichovska zrada” sometimes which means munchen betrayal

[mannythemaxxx]

This is a very good example of if one person hurts you and gets away with it others might do the same.

[dawyd_cz]

Hey, Czech here, nice vid
Fun fact, few days before the Munich betrayal a general mobilisation in Czechoslovakia was declared and all the males ready for fighting arrived in less than 10 minutes, making it probably the fastest mobilisation ever
There's also this theory, that if UK and France backed us and we fought back, Germany wouldn't be able to push and Hitler's generals would overthrow him. Hitler had even stated that he suddenly understood why his generals didn't want him to be so aggresive after seeing one of Czechoslovakian forts.

[dirkgabrielbliek]

In my opinion, one of the best people who commented this betrayal was Winston Churchill. That said, “You were given a choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war.".

[adamkokocinski]

Us in the Czech Republic have a saying about the Munich agreement 'O nás, bez nás' - 'About us, without us'. Always proud to be a čech 🇨🇿

I’d be interested in a video about what life was like in sark, an island between France and England, that didn’t end feudalism until 2008

[cdntrooper]

I love what you said in another video. “Czechoslovakia wasn’t invited that would be silly, because all they would do is disagree”

[havlicekdan]

Funny, czechoslovakia bunkers had such good positions and pasarute defenses, that they could survive few months, one with really good position in Moravia. Germans wanted to attack via paratroopers, but as german commanders took closer look on those bunkers, they themselfs said, it would be disaster for Germans, if they attacked.

Yet we all know there will be always "what if"

[petrhladik]

As a Czech and a huge fan of your work, I was so moved when I saw this in the notification. Thank you for sharing our darkest days with a wider audience. I would just point out that the “conference or war” dilemma is not completely correct. There were frequent skirmishes between the Czechoslovak State Defense Guard and armed local German militias, supported by the Reich. In many places along the border, members of the State Defense Guard were the only representatives of Czechoslovak state power, as 99 % of inhabitants there were Germans. Between 1936 when SDG was created and 1939 when we lost our independence, reportedly 84 of them died in those fights and 270 were injured. They are unsung heroes of Czechoslovakia and I just feel like it would be great if more people knew about them. :) Thank you again and keep up the good work! :)

[itjustjuan]

Man, Czechoslovakia basically got stabbed repeatedly while the allies just watched.

[Wustenfuchs]

One major thing was missed here. Czechoslovakia was in a military alliance called Little Entente, which included Yugoslavia and Romania, and through Yugoslavia and Romania with the Balkan Pact (which also included Greece and Turkey). In effect that meant that Czechoslovakia was in fact in the military alliance with almost entire of South-Eastern Europe.

It wasn't France or UK that sold the Czechs out... we did. Yugoslavia and Romania, mainly, as both were turning increasingly pro-German by that time. Mussolini came in September, before the conference, to Yugoslavia to lobby Yugoslav politicians NOT to back Czechoslovakia.

France and UK had no real obligation to defend Czechoslovakia, we did. And we turned our backs. We betrayed them. We with whom they had an alliance and agreements.

Had we honored our words, Germany would face the entire South-Eastern Europe, all at once, in 1938. Could they win? Maybe. But by that point, with Germany at war with 1/3 of Europe, countries like Poland and France would most likely not sit idly. And there would not be a R-M pact.

We can discuss in hindsight... but, the fact remains - Yugoslavia and Romania betrayed their promise and international agreements first. And that is one of the reasons UK and France backed out - they saw that the closest allies of Czechoslovakia were turning their back.

Not many people talk about it, because they focus on "big players", and we tend to keep quiet (we don't want to move the spotlight to us). But truth be told, we are to blame.

For Poland, sure, blame UK and France. But for Czechoslovakia, it was Yugoslavia and Romania who betrayed them first. The first dominoes to fall, the rest just followed.

[raymondpaller]

"Now with 100% less Hapsburgs." I was on the floor rolling in laughter. Your placard one-liners are hilarious, with the additional benefit of being true.