This footage shows German forces entering the Sudetenland. Under the terms of the Munich Pact, Germany annexed this largely German-speaking region from Czechoslovakia. Germany, Italy, Britain, and France were party to the pact, which averted war. Czechoslovakia, however, was not permitted to attend the Munich conference. Hitler later violated the Munich Pact by destroying the Czech state in March 1939.
This is the start of an armed occupation that brings one-fifth of Czechoslovakia under the German flag. Climax is Hitler's triumphal crossing of the border. The dictator, whose diplomatic victory won more than a war, inspects his prize. Yet these scenes of jubilation mask tragedy. For while thousands are cheering here, other thousands are in flight, a minority whose rights are totally disregarded. Here jubilation, elsewhere, terror.
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