After watching a thousand movies, documentaries and books on World War 2, its unbelievably refreshing that I'm simultaneously rolling in the aisles and at the edge of my seat to hear what comes next! Bravo, you guys are spectacular historians!
@@btd0ja Tom also described the experience of an innocent man during the French revolution who got dragged through the streets and then chopped up with his head put on a stake as 'a little bit unfortunate'.
Been listening to your podcasts for some time now (and loved every bit), but I particularly appreciate this one as a Czech. Thank you so much, gents. Not only for this but also for being so informative and yet entertaining, it quite literally makes my everyday life more enjoyable and I get to learn a lot. Cheers!
Lord Hume attended Munich as a low level assistant. He recalls walking behind Hitler and seeing him walk like an ape with his arms moving together rather than moving opposite.
Not going to lie - my heart sank when I saw that you were doing more WW2 content, but you've worked your magic and now I'm hooked! Thank you - this is excellent.
Not really. Listen to AH talking to Marshsal Mannerheim in the car. Tom would simply be unable to speak at all like that : far too deep & slightly husky.
18:30, I can’t recall which history book I read it from, but I recall the “chew the carpet” is slang in Germany rather than any kind of rumor (although non-Germans did take it literally). Love the podcast!
I bet Tom was one of those kids (I include myself) who used to love being asked to read books out loud in class at school, he clearly relished reading NCs letter at the beginning of the podcast .
The Chamberlain family were actually from Birmingham so they were Brummies like Ozzie Ozbourne, But I can’t quite imagine Tom giving the speech doing an Ozzie impression. ‘Eh Sharon this Hitler bloke wants to tek over Central Europe’ lol 😃
Love your podcast. Is there any chance of proper subtitles being included, the auto-generated ones are not very good. I'm slightly hard of hearing and subtitles are useful to provide clarity on certain words, but the difference between human-made subtitles and the auto ones is night and day.
Wow I was thinking I had to wait till next week to hear this. Absolutely vivid and totally compelling! This is like a Greek tragedy… you know more or less what will happen yet it is the ‘reveal’ of the twists and turns which fascinates. As Shelley wrote of the human condition in ‘To a Skylark’: ‘We look before and after And pine for what is not…’
You had me at ".... Like two curates entering a pub for the first time." As you have mentioned,, Munich 1938 (rightly or wrong) is regarded as the most critical moment of the 20th century. I can hear George Santayana saying "Aha!" from his grave.
2:41 Awesome: It wonderful to hear the detailed and precise description of Uncle A., to what social class he must belong &c. Bring's to mind the short but informative film by Greyson and commented on by him and Mr. Miles Chomondley-Warner. The chaps back then really outperform anything produced by Britain to-day.
0:29 feels a little tedious/tiresome/laborious to have poor Tom lipsync the great Chamberlain. Why not just play this recognizably original voice recording by itself?
Excellent. Highly informative. I think you were pretty fair about Chamberlain giving both his good points and his less than satisfactory points. He had been an effective Chancellor who had done much to get Britain back on the road to economic recovery and had advocated rearmament as a policy for the 1935 general election but was overruled by Baldwin. The best description that I have come across of him was said by Duff Cooper about his life experience had never prepared him for a Hitler character and this was a serious flaw of Chamberlain. There was a logic to appeasement namely to accede to reasonable German demands whilst rearming as a means of providing an effective deterrent against further German demands. Interestingly, what is often forgotten, is that it was the French who had the alliance with Czechoslovakia not the British. In the aftermath of the Anschluss with Austrian back in March 1938 France had reaffirmed its support for the Czechs. However, by the summer the US Ambassador to France, William Bullit, was signalling back to Cordell Hull, the US Secretary of State, that France was seeking to renege on that agreement which in turn suited the British as they feared being dragged into a war over Central Europe. A final point, and trust this is not a spoiler, but as Dominic described, Hitler was incredibly despondent about not getting his war in 1938. Dictating his last will and testament to Martin Bormann in the bunker in the spring of 1945 he said as much and blamed the ‘bourgeois’ Neville Chamberlain.
"Under no circumstances would Poland become involved in protecting French satellites in central Europe", to add to the French military's warning of "Guys we'll lose if war breaks out now", and of course Britain's non-existent air force or air defence. The Munich Agreement was perhaps Germany's first major blunder.
I read that Woodrow Wilson felt deceived by Benes who told him that the Sudeten Germans wanted to be Czechs. Czechoslovakia wasn't a real country, it was created at Versailles. The Czech elections indicated that the German speakers wanted to be part of Germany and would not fight for Czechoslovakia. The Slovaks didn't like the Czechs either and fought with the Germans in Poland and the Soviet Union. Slovakia became one of the Axis powers. I studied A-level history in the 1970s and my teacher claimed the Czechs should have fought. Years later I was talking to some Czechs in a restaurant in Prague and they said that if they had fought Prague would probably have been destroyed. They didn't resist the Soviets either. Aristotle suggested that some people were meant to be slaves. The Czechs were part of the Habsburg, Nazi, and Soviet Empires. They never fought anyone and were mad to create a country they could not defend. They expected others to protect it for them, like Britain and France. Why? Czechoslovakia had a finite life.
They all played the game of little empires. All wanting that stetch of territory that had always been ours. Very sad that some Eastern european vointries still covert these bits of land that have been someone else's since 1945. The ukraine is an obviouse point with demanding the Crimea and the Don bas, which have been Russian speaking since the 1700
I live in Prague and I have heard that a lot of the armed forces were up for fighting and were disappointed that Beneš decided not to resist. Many of them did make their way to Britain or the USSR and fought with the allies. On the other hand, Czechs do seem to have a tendency to give way to occupiers on the surface and try to subvert them where possible.
I want to know much more about the British rearmament that started. Was this really Chamberlain's idea? Or did it come from the cabinet? What exactly was said? Because it seems from all the public pronouncements that they actually trusted Hitler. But apparently at least somebody didn't. Who was that?
Britain never really stopped re-arming after WW1 but obviously the nature of that rearmament (and the effect of events such as the Great Depresssion) and the reasons behind it were different from what happened once Germany became the main focus as a potential enemy. There are pre-wars plans that look at wars with somewhat unlikely enemies such as France and even the USA for instance.
In the 1920’s the British government followed the ‘Ten Year Rule’. That limited defence spending if no major threat could be foreseen in the next 10 years. Interestingly they abandoned the Ten Year Rule in 1932, even before Hitler came into power.
When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, he did so from a more advantageous geographical position, with the might of the Czech arms industry, and with Czechoslovaks in his army. It could not have backfired harder.
Gosh i know this is a serious topic but golly I really found myself laughing at points - Chamberlain trying to rally the crowds in Birmingham with a tea cozy 😂 but I do have one complaint - I quite like a German spa - don't knock it till you've tried it!!
Poland took a chunk out of Czechoslovakia and nothing from Britain Then we said we’d go to war over Poland when we had no chance of defending it And on top of that we didn’t declare war on Stalin for he’s invasion of Poland And after it all we still didn’t defend Poland so our war aims failed Oh and then we initially didn’t allow the Poles to the victory parade And we sent People back to Stalin for siding against him - many of them murdered by the NkVD Welcome to the real world
Love the detailed description! but also hoping y’all will consider doing a pro con on the cost of the Polish war guarantee. By wars end, 100 million were dead, the empire had suffered a mortal blow and totalitarianism was in the process of enslaving half of Christian Europe. Commentary welcome.
I just am wondering....When Hitler wanted to annex Austria, he said to Mussolini, "Please let me have Austria and I'll be forever in your debt." So could have Mussolini finally called in his chips to put forward the Munich Conference where Hitler is painted into a corner to accept it? Just a thought from a previous episode.
Loyalty to King & Empire was actually not far off the fervour seen in 1914 in Australia, at least. So much so that prime minister R. G Menzies declared that , with Great Britain having declared war, the Commonwealth of Australia was ‘ consequently at war with Germany ‘. A small minority of Australians would’ve seen fit to object to this.
Call me a Chamberlain apologist but he was trying so hard to avoid war. As he knew this would lead to millions dead. He had lived through a world war and knew what war could mean.
@@AFGuidesHDThere is something to watching your opponent/opponents over reach and ruin themselves Ps let’s not forget we sided with an even bigger monster called Stalin
Spot on I thought. Let’s indulge in a few what-ifs: if Hitler had attacked Czechoslovakia, he would have won before Britain and France could do anything. He could have imposed a reasonable-looking peace treaty on Prague. Then, what would Britain and France be fighting for? There would have been no public support for the war and peace would probably have been made. Then, when Hitler moved on Poland, Britain and France would have no credibility at all, and Hitler would have got what he wanted. No wonder Hitler was so grumpy Goebbels had to cheer him up with Kristallnacht. Munich was the first pebble in the avalanche that buried Hitler. This was never Chamberlain’s intention though. Someone said to him that he had bought valuable time for rearmament. He replied, ‘You do not understand. I have brought peace.’
"Old fighters" like Goering hated Ribentropp as he only joined the party in 1932. They probably saw him as a jumped up interloper. My history teacher said Hitler knew how much everyone disliked him and found it amusing
Dr. Holland does a quite credible imitation of Chamberlain's voice and mannerisms, but I have to say, at first I thought he sounded like a stock-Hollywood German scientist.
51:41 I always find it fascinating (and a little disgusting) the level of contempt facist dictators held towards citizens of their own country that failed to meet their ideological standards. It shows how rather than being patriotic and loving their countrymen, they are obsessed with some abstraction of their people that often doesn’t exist.
Yes Adolf Hitler could have been stopped over Czechoslovakia in 1938. If the British and French hadn't handed the Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler on a plate the Wehrmacht would have found overcoming the Czech defences far from easy. David Boyle made this abundantly clear, on page 138 of his book, 'Munich 1938 Prelude To War' 'We also know that the Czechs would probably have fought and we know that the Czech army was well-trained and modern.' 'They could have deployed 32 to 35 divisions in the field to defend themselves and probably would have done. They had 1,500 warplanes, which was at least as many as France.' 'Also their defences, deep in the mountain ranges around Bohemia, would have been tough to break through.' 'After the war, key German army generals, including Keitel and Mannstein, said that their advance would have been stopped there.' óōò Blitzkrieg would have been impossible in those mountain ranges around Bohemia.
Guys, it’s past time to start making history if you want a history. If you are at a loss, I suggest reading Amaranthine: How to Create a Regenerative Civilization Using Artificial Intelligence
Britain made promises it could not deliver and was out of its depth militarily. Hitler invaded Poland with 1.5 million troops in 1939 and France with over 3 million troops in 1940. Britain could not defend Czechoslovakia in 1938 or Poland in 1939. It was guilty of hubris and delusion. The Victorians had too much sense to challenge Germany in Eastern Europe. It was bonkers. The result was that we went bankrupt and lost an empire. Slovakia joined the Axis powers and sent three divisions to invade Poland. Nobody liked the Czechs who treated the other ethnic groups like second-class citizens. Once you spend some time in Czechoslovakia it makes more sense. In 1938, Germany was spending 17% of GDP on defence, while Britain was spending 7%. Both were spending over 20% in 1939. War was inevitable.
It’s easy to be brave in 2025 about this. But what if the Czechs had given nothing and held out? The German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe of 1938 weren’t as powerful or numerous as the force which attacked France in May 1940.
Hmm, great episode. Though very sad. wonder why britan had to take the the lead despite being protected by an ocean, while the french didnt. Much like the first years of the Ukraine conflict
Does this podcast address why we care that Germany took over Poland? We didn’t care when Russia did it later. Would Germany have invaded France if France and Britain hadn’t declared war and France hadnt invaded Germany first?
The vast majority of us can agree that the Munich Agreement was shameful. But you can say it gave Britain crucial time to organise, especially its air defenses. Britain doesn't win a Battle of Britain in 1939. Munich allowed it to do so in 1940, just.
ua-cam.com/video/FR4kg8HwtZ8/v-deo.htmlsi=q8hxHuRGiiek3KBs Great talk between Prof Sachs and Prof Diesen Starts with the end of the 30yrs War to Ukraine and Russia
Talk Talk internet provider dump it Thomas. Better off with another provider. Is outsourced cheap workers yes. BT engineer Kris Fife Scotland he do harm to you Thomas. Talk Talk run him would he actually alone yes Thomas he bad one. £28000 salary per year BT engineer yes no much for a job no Thomas it low salary. Thanks. Did cancel Direct debit to Talk Talk yes Royal Bank of Scotland. 6 months been with them it was Shell broadband wish leave it alone. Got took over Talk Talk
Tom … fixed fortifications are little more than speed bumps against a modern army with numerical superiority. Take a look at what happened to the Belgian fortifications in May 1940. The Luftwaffe would have wiped out the Czech air forces on day one. Military analysts then and now believe Czechoslovakia could have held up a German conquest no more than 3 weeks. Neville Chamberlain did the right thing in doing whatever COULD be done to avoid a SECOND world conflagration. In fact, I would go so far as to suggest he be posthumously awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. He certainly deserves it more than Obama!!
Just because Hitler is among the worst kind of people, doesn't mean Brits aren't terrible themselves. They should be apologizing to the Czechs and the Slovaks.
The analogy with Putin and Russian army is wrong. German army was ready and would fight very well. If Czechs would fight there is big risk the war would go the same way as WW2 really went, but Czechs would have been bad guys for Nazis instead of Poles. Czechs would be executed in thousands, massacred and so on. Einsatzgruppen in Poland executed thousands of people from the first day of war. Plus Czech cities would be turned into dust. I would say Czech decision not to fight was understandable.
Was Germany ready though? Because just half a year prior to Munich, German armored divisions were not able to get to Viena on road. German army of 1938 was a diferent army than that of 1939 and even then they were fighting surprised and unmobilized Poland. Just consider that between 1938 and 1939 Luftwaffe decomisioned all but 100 airplanes out of 3000.
@@TomášLaštovička-j4d Might be that Germany could have been defeated in 1938. The odds are they would have made errors, their enemies also and the war would follow as WW2 until Stalingrad. In case you bet life of Czech nation, you might loose a lot, because Germans at the time just liked to kill.
@@jezalb2710 Yes, it was bad move in perspective, but it was result of many years of misunderstandings between Poles and Czechs. Seeing from year 2025 Poland and Czechoslovakia should have united and Czech weapons and Polish manpower would do a difference.
I don't have much sympathy for the Czechs. Czechoslovakia was a monstrousity created by the moronic Treaty of Versailles. A state was created with large minorities who didn't want to be part of it, so it was inevitable that such a state would disintegrate sooner or later. At Versailles they expected Czechoslovakia to be another Belgium or Switzerland, but this clearly showed a total lack of understanding of the situation in that state. In most respects, Munich was the right approach to solve the issue, but Hitler disrespected the agreement by occupying Czechia in March 1939, and it was this move that changed everything and infuriated Chamberlain. There were many geopolitical reasons to occupy Czechia, but it was a disastrous move diplomatically.
The question you pose demonstrates a total ignorance of History, of the negotiations and treaties in the inter war years, and it shows an ignorance of British Foreign Policy. I suggest you read your history more thoroughly before you put these Fascist questions.
After watching a thousand movies, documentaries and books on World War 2, its unbelievably refreshing that I'm simultaneously rolling in the aisles and at the edge of my seat to hear what comes next!
Bravo, you guys are spectacular historians!
Thank you very much indeed
Wow. I had no idea there were notes on the “appeasement” meetings 😳😳
You guys are incredible.
oh boy, you'll be shocked and stunned at what i'm going to publish in march
"The trouble with Hitler is, he can't control himself" - Dominic, ever the one for understatement, has really outdone himself there.
Understatement is a key to Dominic's humour! 😉
Almost as good as Tom’s revelation that Hitler “seems like a pretty bad guy” lmao
@@btd0ja Tom also described the experience of an innocent man during the French revolution who got dragged through the streets and then chopped up with his head put on a stake as 'a little bit unfortunate'.
I love the quote from Rebecca West writing about Neville Chamberlain: "He was the first to crawl at 400 kilometers an hour".
Been listening to your podcasts for some time now (and loved every bit), but I particularly appreciate this one as a Czech. Thank you so much, gents. Not only for this but also for being so informative and yet entertaining, it quite literally makes my everyday life more enjoyable and I get to learn a lot. Cheers!
Lord Hume attended Munich as a low level assistant. He recalls walking behind Hitler and seeing him walk like an ape with his arms moving together rather than moving opposite.
He was mentally practicing his new dance moves --- which he would later unveil at the fall of France.
@@PaxAlotinto the tune of ‘The Lambeth Walk’ :)
High was high on gear
Funny and engaging. Can't get enough of these witty, spirited gents
Thank you very much !
YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME !!!
THANK YOU
Not going to lie - my heart sank when I saw that you were doing more WW2 content, but you've worked your magic and now I'm hooked! Thank you - this is excellent.
Tom’s Chamberlain impression sounds more like Hitler than his Hitler one does 😂
Yeah I was confused too
Not really. Listen to AH talking to Marshsal Mannerheim in the car. Tom would simply be unable to speak at all like that : far too deep & slightly husky.
Beat me to it.
18:30, I can’t recall which history book I read it from, but I recall the “chew the carpet” is slang in Germany rather than any kind of rumor (although non-Germans did take it literally). Love the podcast!
I bet Tom was one of those kids (I include myself) who used to love being asked to read books out loud in class at school, he clearly relished reading NCs letter at the beginning of the podcast .
I'm puzzled: why did Neville Chamberlain speak with a German accent? Or was there possibly a flaw in Tom's rendition?
Tom's impressions are consistent examples of perfection so I very much doubt the latter
The Chamberlain family were actually from Birmingham so they were Brummies like Ozzie Ozbourne,
But I can’t quite imagine Tom giving the speech doing an Ozzie impression.
‘Eh Sharon this Hitler bloke wants to tek over Central Europe’
lol 😃
everything with his impressions is flawed, I think that's the point 🙃
perish the thought
I'm told that in the aftermath, Churchill told Chamberlain: "You had a choice between dishonor and war. You chose dishonor; you will have war."
It's rather odd quoting Churchill with that spelling of 'dishonour'.
@@AIJimmybad it makes complete sense, Churchill is a hero to America, for his every decision was in the interest of America, and not of Britain's.
Love your podcast. Is there any chance of proper subtitles being included, the auto-generated ones are not very good. I'm slightly hard of hearing and subtitles are useful to provide clarity on certain words, but the difference between human-made subtitles and the auto ones is night and day.
Wow I was thinking I had to wait till next week to hear this. Absolutely vivid and totally compelling!
This is like a Greek tragedy… you know more or less what will happen yet it is the ‘reveal’ of the twists and turns which fascinates.
As Shelley wrote of the human condition in ‘To a Skylark’:
‘We look before and after
And pine for what is not…’
Tom sounds like a cross between Queen Elizabeth and Dr Evil
Glad I’m not the only one who thought he was doing QE2
Tom is an amazing talent. I can't wait for his Vera Lynn
You had me at ".... Like two curates entering a pub for the first time." As you have mentioned,, Munich 1938 (rightly or wrong) is regarded as the most critical moment of the 20th century. I can hear George Santayana saying "Aha!" from his grave.
I thought he’d said Christians.
I LOVE your show! But if you think I'm going to pay money to find out if Germany does invade Poland...
Wonderful episode. I’m happy to report, by the way, that I received for Christmas not one but a total of five books by top historians Dom and Tom!!
2:41 Awesome: It wonderful to hear the detailed and precise description of Uncle A., to what social class he must belong &c. Bring's to mind the short but informative film by Greyson and commented on by him and Mr. Miles Chomondley-Warner. The chaps back then really outperform anything produced by Britain to-day.
0:29 feels a little tedious/tiresome/laborious to have poor Tom lipsync the great Chamberlain. Why not just play this recognizably original voice recording by itself?
"Poor Tom"?! Try stopping him!
Excellent. Highly informative. I think you were pretty fair about Chamberlain giving both his good points and his less than satisfactory points. He had been an effective Chancellor who had done much to get Britain back on the road to economic recovery and had advocated rearmament as a policy for the 1935 general election but was overruled by Baldwin. The best description that I have come across of him was said by Duff Cooper about his life experience had never prepared him for a Hitler character and this was a serious flaw of Chamberlain. There was a logic to appeasement namely to accede to reasonable German demands whilst rearming as a means of providing an effective deterrent against further German demands.
Interestingly, what is often forgotten, is that it was the French who had the alliance with Czechoslovakia not the British. In the aftermath of the Anschluss with Austrian back in March 1938 France had reaffirmed its support for the Czechs. However, by the summer the US Ambassador to France, William Bullit, was signalling back to Cordell Hull, the US Secretary of State, that France was seeking to renege on that agreement which in turn suited the British as they feared being dragged into a war over Central Europe.
A final point, and trust this is not a spoiler, but as Dominic described, Hitler was incredibly despondent about not getting his war in 1938. Dictating his last will and testament to Martin Bormann in the bunker in the spring of 1945 he said as much and blamed the ‘bourgeois’ Neville Chamberlain.
*I cannot help but think* ------------- all of this could have been avoided -------------- *if Hitler had been accepted into Art-School* 🤔🤨😑
Could have been avoided in so many ways, its tragic.
Great job, behind the scenes of history as a fly on the wall. Sometimes I also wonder what is going on when great powers meet today.
i played this out in hoi4 a few times and the resurgent nuclear-ottoman empire under the gray wolves isn't worth dealing with
Thank you, a great episode. Sobering stuff
I rarely disagree with Mr. Sandbrook, but ham sandwiches and whiskey makes for a terrible combination.
Exactly! Whiskey and deep fried Mars bars are the perfect combination
"Under no circumstances would Poland become involved in protecting French satellites in central Europe", to add to the French military's warning of "Guys we'll lose if war breaks out now", and of course Britain's non-existent air force or air defence. The Munich Agreement was perhaps Germany's first major blunder.
I read that Woodrow Wilson felt deceived by Benes who told him that the Sudeten Germans wanted to be Czechs. Czechoslovakia wasn't a real country, it was created at Versailles. The Czech elections indicated that the German speakers wanted to be part of Germany and would not fight for Czechoslovakia. The Slovaks didn't like the Czechs either and fought with the Germans in Poland and the Soviet Union. Slovakia became one of the Axis powers. I studied A-level history in the 1970s and my teacher claimed the Czechs should have fought. Years later I was talking to some Czechs in a restaurant in Prague and they said that if they had fought Prague would probably have been destroyed. They didn't resist the Soviets either. Aristotle suggested that some people were meant to be slaves. The Czechs were part of the Habsburg, Nazi, and Soviet Empires. They never fought anyone and were mad to create a country they could not defend. They expected others to protect it for them, like Britain and France. Why? Czechoslovakia had a finite life.
They all played the game of little empires. All wanting that stetch of territory that had always been ours. Very sad that some Eastern european vointries still covert these bits of land that have been someone else's since 1945. The ukraine is an obviouse point with demanding the Crimea and the Don bas, which have been Russian speaking since the 1700
I live in Prague and I have heard that a lot of the armed forces were up for fighting and were disappointed that Beneš decided not to resist. Many of them did make their way to Britain or the USSR and fought with the allies.
On the other hand, Czechs do seem to have a tendency to give way to occupiers on the surface and try to subvert them where possible.
I want to know much more about the British rearmament that started. Was this really Chamberlain's idea? Or did it come from the cabinet? What exactly was said? Because it seems from all the public pronouncements that they actually trusted Hitler. But apparently at least somebody didn't. Who was that?
Britain never really stopped re-arming after WW1 but obviously the nature of that rearmament (and the effect of events such as the Great Depresssion) and the reasons behind it were different from what happened once Germany became the main focus as a potential enemy. There are pre-wars plans that look at wars with somewhat unlikely enemies such as France and even the USA for instance.
In the 1920’s the British government followed the ‘Ten Year Rule’. That limited defence spending if no major threat could be foreseen in the next 10 years. Interestingly they abandoned the Ten Year Rule in 1932, even before Hitler came into power.
When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, he did so from a more advantageous geographical position, with the might of the Czech arms industry, and with Czechoslovaks in his army. It could not have backfired harder.
well done gentleman. love your channel
Thank you !
Gosh i know this is a serious topic but golly I really found myself laughing at points - Chamberlain trying to rally the crowds in Birmingham with a tea cozy 😂 but I do have one complaint - I quite like a German spa - don't knock it till you've tried it!!
You are clearly not alone in this affliction
Hitler promised not to invade Czechoslovakia, Jeremy. Welcome to the real world.
Poland took a chunk out of Czechoslovakia and nothing from Britain
Then we said we’d go to war over Poland when we had no chance of defending it
And on top of that we didn’t declare war on Stalin for he’s invasion of Poland
And after it all we still didn’t defend Poland so our war aims failed
Oh and then we initially didn’t allow the Poles to the victory parade
And we sent People back to Stalin for siding against him - many of them murdered by the NkVD
Welcome to the real world
I've got my FDR doll here somewhere, it's not a toy, ok?
@@Sean-p3o As Joe Kennedy put it "The facility with which the British can play power politics while talking in terms of philanthropy is triumphing."
@@Sean-p3oThis argument only makes sans all context.
Chamberlain *waives paper* "I don't want to tempt fate, but I think everything is going to be totally great forever!"
The Sudeten forts were surrounded by probably hostile German Czechs--could that have been a factor in their surrender?
Love the detailed description! but also hoping y’all will consider doing a pro con on the cost of the Polish war guarantee. By wars end, 100 million were dead, the empire had suffered a mortal blow and totalitarianism was in the process of enslaving half of Christian Europe. Commentary welcome.
The perfect tonic to a cold English morning - got my joint & my hot chocolate, take it away gentlemen!
Tom’s Chamberlain sounds more like Donald Pleasance doing Himmler.
I just am wondering....When Hitler wanted to annex Austria, he said to Mussolini, "Please let me have Austria and I'll be forever in your debt." So could have Mussolini finally called in his chips to put forward the Munich Conference where Hitler is painted into a corner to accept it? Just a thought from a previous episode.
The more i learn about this Hitler fellow the more i dislike him - he was mad!
Your voice suits Nevil Chamberlain. Almost feel like you represent him.
One of the reasons ,Hitler thought the British did not have the stomach for another War.
Loyalty to King & Empire was actually not far off the fervour seen in 1914 in Australia, at least. So much so that prime minister R. G Menzies declared that , with Great Britain having declared war, the Commonwealth of Australia was ‘ consequently at war with Germany ‘. A small minority of Australians would’ve seen fit to object to this.
Call me a Chamberlain apologist but he was trying so hard to avoid war. As he knew this would lead to millions dead. He had lived through a world war and knew what war could mean.
Well giving commitments to disputed territories was a sure down terrible way to avoid war.
@@AFGuidesHDThere is something to watching your opponent/opponents over reach and ruin themselves
Ps let’s not forget we sided with an even bigger monster called Stalin
@@Sean-p3oWell not at that point. Stalin and Hitler were on the same side, until they weren’t
Spot on I thought. Let’s indulge in a few what-ifs: if Hitler had attacked Czechoslovakia, he would have won before Britain and France could do anything. He could have imposed a reasonable-looking peace treaty on Prague. Then, what would Britain and France be fighting for? There would have been no public support for the war and peace would probably have been made. Then, when Hitler moved on Poland, Britain and France would have no credibility at all, and Hitler would have got what he wanted. No wonder Hitler was so grumpy Goebbels had to cheer him up with Kristallnacht. Munich was the first pebble in the avalanche that buried Hitler. This was never Chamberlain’s intention though. Someone said to him that he had bought valuable time for rearmament. He replied, ‘You do not understand. I have brought peace.’
Bloody hell Tom sounds more like Chamberlain than the real Chamberlain
Again, Tom, I'm glad you didn't try the accent.
"Old fighters" like Goering hated Ribentropp as he only joined the party in 1932. They probably saw him as a jumped up interloper. My history teacher said Hitler knew how much everyone disliked him and found it amusing
Dr. Holland does a quite credible imitation of Chamberlain's voice and mannerisms, but I have to say, at first I thought he sounded like a stock-Hollywood German scientist.
And recently the Czechs and Slovaks have separated all by themselves. The Austro-Hungarian empire was better for all of them.
51:41 I always find it fascinating (and a little disgusting) the level of contempt facist dictators held towards citizens of their own country that failed to meet their ideological standards. It shows how rather than being patriotic and loving their countrymen, they are obsessed with some abstraction of their people that often doesn’t exist.
Was Chamberlain a Dalek?
Yes Adolf Hitler could have been stopped over Czechoslovakia in 1938.
If the British and French hadn't handed the Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler on a plate the Wehrmacht would have found overcoming the Czech defences far from easy.
David Boyle made this abundantly clear, on page 138 of his book, 'Munich 1938 Prelude To War'
'We also know that the Czechs would probably have fought and we know that the Czech army was well-trained
and modern.'
'They could have deployed 32 to 35 divisions in the field to defend themselves and probably would have done. They had 1,500 warplanes, which was at least as many as France.'
'Also their defences, deep in the mountain ranges around Bohemia, would have been tough to break through.'
'After the war, key German
army generals, including Keitel and Mannstein, said that their advance would have been stopped there.'
óōò
Blitzkrieg would have been impossible in those mountain ranges around Bohemia.
Hear what your saying but your not living in the aftermath of the catastrophe that was 1914-19
At first I thought Tom was doing a German accent, maybe Hitler.
So educational on so many levels.
The more I hear of this Adolf Hitler the more I dislike him.
He could be trouble 😜
😮Crikey! It's 3AM in Pittsburgh and I only got up to use the lou and poof, now I am going to be awake for the next hour!
@12:25: "The Light of the Long Knives."
Map Men have aged very quickly haven’t they?
Guys, it’s past time to start making history if you want a history. If you are at a loss, I suggest reading Amaranthine: How to Create a Regenerative Civilization Using Artificial Intelligence
Chamberlain described hitlers eyes as blue? I had always heard that was propoganda?
I thought that was AH at the start not NC 😂😂😂😂
Yes, I doubt Kier Starmer could quote from Henry IV - but I imagine he could quote great chunks of Mao's 'little red book'.
Next you'll be trying to tell me Starmer is a socialist. I know several members of the Labour party who'd disagree very violently with that.
Also I assume you meant Henry V?
@@humblescribe8522 No, he's a rampant communist!
@@humblescribe8522 No, the character of Henry Percy ('Hotspur', which these guys were referencing) is in Henry IV Part 1.
Britain made promises it could not deliver and was out of its depth militarily. Hitler invaded Poland with 1.5 million troops in 1939 and France with over 3 million troops in 1940. Britain could not defend Czechoslovakia in 1938 or Poland in 1939. It was guilty of hubris and delusion. The Victorians had too much sense to challenge Germany in Eastern Europe. It was bonkers. The result was that we went bankrupt and lost an empire. Slovakia joined the Axis powers and sent three divisions to invade Poland. Nobody liked the Czechs who treated the other ethnic groups like second-class citizens. Once you spend some time in Czechoslovakia it makes more sense. In 1938, Germany was spending 17% of GDP on defence, while Britain was spending 7%. Both were spending over 20% in 1939. War was inevitable.
It’s easy to be brave in 2025 about this. But what if the Czechs had given nothing and held out?
The German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe of 1938 weren’t as powerful or numerous as the force which attacked France in May 1940.
Czechoslovakia is fun to play in Hearts of Iron 4 🦾
This is how you teach history!!!
Hmm, great episode. Though very sad. wonder why britan had to take the the lead despite being protected by an ocean, while the french didnt. Much like the first years of the Ukraine conflict
I don't like the sound of this Hitler fella... Get a bad feeling about him.
Very wise
Drumpf should watch this regarding Ukraine.
We fought to decide which tax collectors we preferred
You fought for Poland and then sold them to Stalin, and lost your empire for your perfidy.
@@pwp8737exactly. EXACTLY!!!!
Not this nonsense again. How exactly were we supposed to stop Stalin?
@@GorgeDawes Stalin wouldn't have been there if the British government didn't guarantee the status quo of Danzig.
Does this podcast address why we care that Germany took over Poland? We didn’t care when Russia did it later. Would Germany have invaded France if France and Britain hadn’t declared war and France hadnt invaded Germany first?
Can Trump and Musk be stopped before it's too late? This is a warning from history.
I am losing hope .
Can the Military Industrial and Congressional Complex be stopped
This is a historical warning
No. Excellent summary on It. Czechoslovakia better off EU 2025. Separate. Two separate states. Czech Republic wealthy Thomas.
The vast majority of us can agree that the Munich Agreement was shameful. But you can say it gave Britain crucial time to organise, especially its air defenses. Britain doesn't win a Battle of Britain in 1939. Munich allowed it to do so in 1940, just.
The french could have if they had another napolean but
Not to be... even british generals werent motivated
Sitting on their butts for eight months!
Peace in our time
Dennis Dillon Czech he super rich Thomas that a friend. Thanks England London. He tell morec1938 then us.
I really enjoy these videos, but not when ridiculous comparisons are made with Putin and Ukraine.
Very similar . My country on e Trump is in charge will leave Ukraine to Putin just the same. Shameful.
ua-cam.com/video/FR4kg8HwtZ8/v-deo.htmlsi=q8hxHuRGiiek3KBs
Great talk between Prof Sachs and Prof Diesen
Starts with the end of the 30yrs War to Ukraine and Russia
Dennis Dillon Czech he Eastern European Thomas he Czech yes Prague runs it Czech Republic.
Nice to see one of you making an effort to look smart.
Porcine imagery lol
Intro... Sound bad! Many breaks..hoping will improve. Cant listen... Our wifi is fine.
Right, so.
And look at the UK now
At least we don't have to learn German as a second language innit.
Talk Talk internet provider dump it Thomas. Better off with another provider. Is outsourced cheap workers yes. BT engineer Kris Fife Scotland he do harm to you Thomas. Talk Talk run him would he actually alone yes Thomas he bad one. £28000 salary per year BT engineer yes no much for a job no Thomas it low salary. Thanks. Did cancel Direct debit to Talk Talk yes Royal Bank of Scotland. 6 months been with them it was Shell broadband wish leave it alone. Got took over Talk Talk
Tom … fixed fortifications are little more than speed bumps against a modern army with numerical superiority.
Take a look at what happened to the Belgian fortifications in May 1940.
The Luftwaffe would have wiped out the Czech air forces on day one.
Military analysts then and now believe Czechoslovakia could have held up a German conquest no more than 3 weeks.
Neville Chamberlain did the right thing in doing whatever COULD be done to avoid a SECOND world conflagration.
In fact, I would go so far as to suggest he be posthumously awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
He certainly deserves it more than Obama!!
Posthumous Nobel peace prize for chamberlain??!! 😂😂
Just because Hitler is among the worst kind of people, doesn't mean Brits aren't terrible themselves. They should be apologizing to the Czechs and the Slovaks.
The analogy with Putin and Russian army is wrong. German army was ready and would fight very well. If Czechs would fight there is big risk the war would go the same way as WW2 really went, but Czechs would have been bad guys for Nazis instead of Poles. Czechs would be executed in thousands, massacred and so on. Einsatzgruppen in Poland executed thousands of people from the first day of war. Plus Czech cities would be turned into dust. I would say Czech decision not to fight was understandable.
Was Germany ready though? Because just half a year prior to Munich, German armored divisions were not able to get to Viena on road. German army of 1938 was a diferent army than that of 1939 and even then they were fighting surprised and unmobilized Poland. Just consider that between 1938 and 1939 Luftwaffe decomisioned all but 100 airplanes out of 3000.
Had Poland supported the Czechs it would have been a different matter. But us Poles decided to make territorial demands on Czechs. A ridiculous move
@@TomášLaštovička-j4d Might be that Germany could have been defeated in 1938. The odds are they would have made errors, their enemies also and the war would follow as WW2 until Stalingrad. In case you bet life of Czech nation, you might loose a lot, because Germans at the time just liked to kill.
@@jezalb2710 Yes, it was bad move in perspective, but it was result of many years of misunderstandings between Poles and Czechs. Seeing from year 2025 Poland and Czechoslovakia should have united and Czech weapons and Polish manpower would do a difference.
@@alexandermalinowski4277 we had minor issues with the Czechs. And both nations faced a mortal threat i.e. Germans
I really enjoy their podcasts but
They really must do better than the lazy thinking re
Ukraine and Russia
Formulate your opinion as to why it’s ridiculous?
ua-cam.com/users/liveVl0Y_ETTTf4?si=TOFo0rKidgypKwKc
Judge Napolitano and Prof Sachs
Prof Meirsheimer
ua-cam.com/users/shortsksHjbGXQeYM?si=9r9A1ZZJ4iHdiiac
Lt Col Daniel Davis
ua-cam.com/users/live0pjrZBankCs?si=bfEXUdbZN6VfJPhe
Lindsay Graham speaking for the money in the second half
@@andrewdawson3979 ua-cam.com/video/uvFtyDy_Bt0/v-deo.htmlsi=jSFvlWKRMV9c2mHr
Prof Sachs with Prof Meirsheimer
I don't have much sympathy for the Czechs. Czechoslovakia was a monstrousity created by the moronic Treaty of Versailles. A state was created with large minorities who didn't want to be part of it, so it was inevitable that such a state would disintegrate sooner or later. At Versailles they expected Czechoslovakia to be another Belgium or Switzerland, but this clearly showed a total lack of understanding of the situation in that state. In most respects, Munich was the right approach to solve the issue, but Hitler disrespected the agreement by occupying Czechia in March 1939, and it was this move that changed everything and infuriated Chamberlain. There were many geopolitical reasons to occupy Czechia, but it was a disastrous move diplomatically.
Speaking of Memel: first attempt by Nazis to take Memel ended in 1934 with en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Neumann_and_Sass
Senator Lindsay Graham speaking on behalf of he and his colleagues donors
ua-cam.com/video/0L5OgSxZfEg/v-deo.htmlsi=9_PjUe43DpxBp5tj
Hard pass on that.
The question you pose demonstrates a total ignorance of History, of the negotiations and treaties in the inter war years, and it shows an ignorance of British Foreign Policy. I suggest you read your history more thoroughly before you put these Fascist questions.