Month: September 2017

Today in History 09/30/17

German-speaking schoolchildren welcome Adolf Hitler in the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, in 1938 (© Central Press/Getty Images)(1938) Hitler’s Germany gains Czech borderlands
Adolph Hitler wants Czechoslovakia’s borderlands, and European leaders, still haunted by the ghosts of World War I and intimidated by the ever-growing Nazi war machine, agree to the demand. The Munich Agreement is signed by Britain, Italy, France, and Germany, allowing the Nazis to annex the ‘Sudetenland.’
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany’s annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country’s borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation “Sudetenland” was coined. The agreement was signed in the early hours of 30 September 1938 after being negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union. Today, it is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland in the face of ethnic demands made by Adolf Hitler. The agreement was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy. Sudetenland was of immense strategic importance to Czechoslovakia, as most of its border defenses, and banks were situated there, as well as heavy industrial districts. Part of the borderland was occupied and annexed by Poland.
Munich Agreement
After the summit, the British prime minister Chamberlain returned to the UK where he declared that the Munich agreement meant “peace for our time”

wiki/Munich_Agreement
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Today in History 09/29/17

A British tank breaking through wire on the Hindenburg Line in Cambrai, France, during World War I (© The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)(1918) ‘The Great War’ nears its end as German defense is smashed
Fourteen Allied divisions assault the Hindenburg Line, a series of heavily defended positions protecting a German army in semi-retreat. With help from a new weapon, the armored tank, the 30th Infantry breaks through at the Battle of St. Quentin Canal, dealing a decisive blow to the Germans.
The Battle of St Quentin Canal was a pivotal battle of World War I that began on 29 September 1918 and involved British, Australian and American forces operating as part of British Fourth Army under the overall command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson. Further north part of the British Third Army also supported the attack, whilst to the south of the twelve-mile Fourth Army front the First French Army launched a coordinated attack on a six-mile front. The objective was to break through one of the most heavily defended stretches of the German Siegfriedstellung, which in this sector utilised the St Quentin Canal as part of its defences. The assault achieved its objectives, resulting in the first full breach of the Hindenburg Line, in the face of heavy German resistance. In concert with other attacks of the Great Offensive along the length of the line, Allied success convinced the German high command that there was little hope of an ultimate German victory.
Start date: Sep 29, 1918
End date: Oct 10, 1918
U.S. II Corps in the Battle of St Quentin Canal 29 September 1918
Map showing the operations of U.S. 27th and 30th Divisions affiliated to Australian Corps as part of British Fourth Army during the Battle of St Quentin Canal, 29 September 1918. The advance shown was actually made by combined American and Australian forces.

wiki/Battle_of_St._Quentin_Canal
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