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World Response 1933-1938
"The real triumph is that it [The Munich Agreement] has shown that representatives of four great Powers can find it possible to agree on a way of carrying out a difficult and delicate operation by discussion instead of by force of arms..."With the world in the midst of an economic depression, and the memory of a world war still fresh in people's minds, most nations had little interest in concerning themselves with the atrocities in Nazi Germany.
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Political and social leaders proved to be accommodating to Hitler and his new government, and maintained relations with Germany. Nazi diplomats were received around the world even as their government withdrew from the League of Nations and began a program of military rearmament.
As early as 1934, Germany's expansionist goals were well-known. In 1935, under the supervision of the League of Nations, a plebiscite allowed the Saar region to become part of Germany. When the Nazis initiated the military draft in March of 1935 (in utter defiance of the Versailles Treaty), the United States, France, and Great Britain did nothing in response.
At the Munich Conference of 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, French Premier Edouard Daladier, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, and representatives of the Czech government met with Hitler to discuss his demands to annex the Sudetenland. The two Allied leaders unilaterally agreed to Hitler's demands without consideration. Upon his return to England, Chamberlain promised "peace in our time."
Between 1933 and 1939, many Jews fled Germany in the face of increasing repression and physical violence. More Jews might have left had countries such as the United States been more willing to admit them. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Many Jews stayed, tragically assuming they could weather the storm, or because they did not have the means to leave.