“The relief with which the Munich Agreement has been hailed will necessarily have to be tempered by doubts if permanent peace can be assured on foundations of such unilateral sacrifice.”
SEPTEMBER 30, 1938
Munich Agreement
THE SIGNING OF THE MUNICH PACT MARKS THE FIRST OCCASION on which Herr Hitler has found himself in agreement with France and Great Britain over the Czechoslovak dispute. Though it has not yet received the formal acceptance of the Czechoslavak Government, their consent may be assumed, if only because the alternative is war with Germany, without help from their allies. In the absence of fuller details of the arrangements proposed in the Agreement, it is impossible to assess the precise price paid for peace, but there can be little doubt that it will be found to be high. Nor can it be acclaimed as the triumph of diplomacy and negotiations over force; as even The Times is constrained to observe that force has been in the background from the beginning. But there can be no two opinions about the immensity of the sacrifice that Czechoslovakia is making and her contribution to efforts to prevent the catastrophe. Throughout the troublous days of the crisis, her attitude, under the wise and statesmanlike guidance of Dr. Benes, has been one of the utmost possible restraint in the face of unprecedented provocation. Equally praiseworthy has been her willingness to go the very limit in making concessions to Herr Hitler, contenting herself with the minimum conditions required for preserving her integrity as a sovereign State. Even on the eve of the Munich Conference, Czechoslovakia had given her consent to a plan sponsored by Britain and France which showed her anxiety for a pacific solution; “At this critical juncture”, said the official statement from Prague, “the Czech Government are placing the interests of civilisation and world peace before the distress of their own people and are resolved to make sacrifices, which never in history were exacted from an undefeated State with such concentrated effort.” The relief with which the Munich agreement has been hailed will necessarily have to be tempered by doubts if permanent peace can be assured on foundations of such unilateral sacrifice.
Reference:
The First 100
A Selection of Editorials, 1878-1978, THE HINDU, VOLUME I