Munich: The Edge of War
is the story of two young men
embroiled in one of the most crucial moments
in 20th century history.
Adapted from Robert Harris' novel,
the film is set in the autumn of 1938,
as the British Prime Minister desperately tries
to broker a peace.
As long as war has not begun,
there is always hope that it may be prevented.
Meanwhile, one of his civil servants
connects with an old German friend,
carrying an all important document
that could change the course of history.
Don't look at it, just put it under your arm,
-God damnit. -Right.
-Make a terrible spy, Hugh. -Sorry.
While the film and the book are fiction,
they are rooted in real events in history.
So, let's take a look at the true story
behind Munich: The Edge of War.
Adolf Hitler rose the power
in the latter half of the 1930s
and was determined to invade neighbouring countries
to reclaim lost German territories.
Having already marched into Austria,
Hitler, set his eyes on Czechoslovakia,
specifically, the Sudetenland,
which bordered Germany,
and where many Germans lived.
The Czech government at the time
was against annexing
these borderlands to Germany.
Meanwhile, the British and French were intent
on avoiding another war and adopted a policy
of appeasing Hitler's Germany.
It was then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain,
portrayed by Jeremy Irons in the film,
who took the lead on the growing crisis.
He met with Hitler a total of three times.
The first, on 13th September, 1938,
at Hitler's residence in Berchtesgaden.
The second took place in Bad Godesberg
on the 24th,
resulting in the Godesberg memorandum,
which demanded that Czechoslovakia
give up the Sudetenland to Germany
by 28th September.
If they did not agree, Hitler threatened
to take the territories by force.
Mere hours before the deadline passed,
Chamberlain managed to convince Italy's leader,
Benito Mussolini, to enter the negotiations
and urge Hitler to delay any hostilities.
If Herr Hitler is not going to listen to me,
maybe he'll listen to his great friend,
Benito Mussolini.
Hitler agreed to a delay
and an emergency meeting
between Britain, France, Germany, and Italy
was set for 29th September in Munich.
Even though this meeting was about Czechoslovakia,
their government had no input.
As we see in the film,
Chamberlain received news of this conference
from his personal secretary
while he was addressing parliament.
I am able to report to the House,
that I have just received news from Berlin
that Herr Hitler has postponed mobilisation.
Given the urgency of the situation,
it's not surprising this meeting
did not take long to reach a resolution.
As pictured here,
those in attendance included Chamberlain,
Hitler, Mussolini,
and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier.
In the small hours of 30th September,
the Munich Agreement was signed,
agreeing to German occupation
of the Sudetenland,
as well as de facto control of the rest of the country,
on the agreement Hitler would go no further.
Which, we know now,
was not what he intended to do.
Czechoslovakia had no option but to accept,
knowing they could not fight the Nazi army
without the support of Britain or France.
Shortly after the Munich Agreement was signed,
Chamberlain approached Hitler
to sign a non-aggression statement,
symbolic of the desire of the two countries
to never go to war with one another again.
I want him
to publicly commit himself to peace.
The news of a diplomatic resolution
was met with relief.
with Europe still scarred by the First World War,
then known as the Great War,
the prospect of another conflict
weighed heavily on the leaders of the time.
I fear
for the spiritual wellbeing of our people,
if they don't see their leaders
doing everything, absolutely everything,
to prevent another conflict.
As Chamberlain returned to London,
waving the non-aggression pact
signed by himself and Hitler,
it seemed like war had been averted.
He was met in London with scenes of jubilance,
cheered by thousands
as he arrived at Buckingham Palace
to give a first-hand report to King George VI.
Chamberlain later addressed a similarly cheering crowd
from a second floor window at Number 10,
declaring, "I believe it is peace for our time".
But that wasn't the case.
By March, 1939,
Hitler had annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia
and in September
the Nazi army marched into Poland.
The next time Chamberlain addressed the country,
it was to call for a declaration of war
against Germany.
Shortly afterwards,
he was forced to resign
and was replaced by Winston Churchill.
While the Munich Declaration went on to be seen
by many of Churchill supporters
as an unnecessary appeasement of Hitler,
some historians have argued
Chamberlain bought much needed time
to bolster British military defences
by delaying the war.
Either way, the war Chamberlain sought to avoid
did eventually come to pass.
To find out how
this pivotal moment in history pans out
for the characters of Munich: The Edge of War,
make sure you catch the movie
now streaming on Netflix.