Neville Chamberlain Meets with Hitler at Berchtesgaden

In late summer 1938, Hitler threatened to unleash a European war unless the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany. The Sudetenland was a border area of Czechoslovakia with a largely German-speaking population that many German nationalists believed should be part of Germany.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain traveled to Germany three times to try to negotiate with Hitler during the Sudetenland crisis. He hoped to reach a diplomatic solution in order to avoid war. On September 15, Chamberlain met with Hitler at the German leader’s home in Berchtesgaden. With the matter unresolved, Chamberlain met with Hitler again on September 22, this time in Bad Godesberg. At this second meeting, Hitler threatened war if his demands were not met by October 1. Chamberlain then traveled to Munich for last-minute negotiations on September 29–30.