Munich Agreement

The Munich Agreement, also called the Munich Pact, was concluded at Munich on 29 September 1938 between Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, and was signed by Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier and Benito Mussolini. Its text opens by recording that the four powers had already reached agreement in principle on the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, and it then sets out the terms and conditions of that cession. Evacuation was to begin on 1 October and be completed by 10 October, with Czechoslovakia held responsible for carrying it out without damage to installations. German troops were to occupy four marked zones in stages, and an international commission of representatives of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia was to settle the details, fix the final frontiers and decide which areas would hold a plebiscite on the model of the Saar vote. The text also gives a right of option into and out of the transferred territories within six months and requires Czechoslovakia to release Sudeten German prisoners held for political offences.