HITLER’S STRATEGIC ERRORS

Risking a European war in 1938

In September 1938, the German leader laid claim to the Sudetenland, the border regions of the Czechoslovak state that were populated by ethnic Germans. Over the course of three summit meetings, the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, indicated the British and French willingness to acquiesce to most of the German demands and even guarantee Czech agreement to them. Yet Hitler then went out of his way to sabotage the nascent agreement by increasing his demands again and again.

In the end, a compromise was reached through Benito Mussolini,