In March 1938 Adolf Hitler annexed Austria. Emboldened
by that success he determined to destroy Czechoslovakia. That country
contained more than 3 million German-speaking people living in the Sudetenland
region and many of them, led by their leader Konrad Henlein, demanded
full se1f government. This brought atout a threat of war between Germany
and Czechoslovakia which might involve other countries.
The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, was anxious to preserve
peace at all costs, so he flew to Munich in September 1938 to attend a
Conference with the French Prime Minister, M. Deladier, Hitler and Mussolini.
A settlement of the crisis was reached on September 30th and the Sudetenland
and its population were transferred to Germany. On his return to England,
Mr. Chamberlain announced: “I believe it is peace for our time’.
On October 1st, German troops marched into the Sudetenland and on October
4th Hitler went in person to claim that new part of the Great German Reich.
On October 8th, the ILN brought out a number entitled
‘The Crisis and the Agreement’
(Appendix List No. 123) which deals with
the above events in full with graphic photographs and detailed maps. A
four page panorama shows the British Army which had been mobilised as
a precautionary measure on September 28th. Other pages illustrate other
crisis precautions - building air-raid shelters, guarding art treasures,
digging trenches, evacuating children and training the Territorial Army.
A presentation plate of Neville Chamberlain accompanied this issue.
The cover, in red, white and blue, has a full-face photograph of the Prime
Minister within an oval frame flanked by the columns and wreaths of so
many previous issues.
This is issue number 5190, vol. 193, pages 605-668, measuring 37 x 26
cm and priced at two shillings.