Editing Munich Agreement (section)

===== Britain and France =====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1976-033-20, Anschluss sudetendeutscher Gebiete.jpg|left|thumb|Sudeten Germans cheering the arrival of the German Army into the Sudetenland in October 1938]]The agreement was generally applauded. Prime Minister Daladier of France did not believe, as one scholar put it, that a European War was justified "to maintain three million Germans under Czech sovereignty." [[Gallup Poll]]s in Britain, France, and the United States indicated that the majority of people supported the agreement. President Beneš of Czechoslovakia was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1939.<ref name=":0">Douglas, pp. 14–15</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' headline on the Munich agreement read "Hitler gets less than his Sudeten demands" and reported that a "joyful crowd" hailed Daladier on his return to France and that Chamberlain was "wildly cheered" on his return to Britain.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Britain and Germany Make Anti-War Pact; Hitler Gets Less Than His Sudeten Demands; Polish Ultimatum Threatens Action Today|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0930.html|access-date=20 July 2019|website=The New York Times}}</ref>

In France, the only political party to oppose the Munich Agreement was the [[French Communist Party|Communist Party]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1968/09/30/en-france-seuls-les-communistes-deux-deputes-et-quelques-journalistes-ont-combattu-l-accord_2481194_1819218.html | title=En France, seuls les communistes, deux députés et quelques journalistes ont combattu l'accord | newspaper=Le Monde.fr | date=30 September 1968 }}</ref>

The British population had expected an imminent war, and the "statesman-like gesture" of Chamberlain was at first greeted with acclaim. He was greeted as a hero by the royal family and invited on the balcony at [[Buckingham Palace]] before he had presented the agreement to the [[British Parliament]]. The generally positive reaction quickly soured, despite royal patronage. However, there was opposition from the start. [[Clement Attlee]] and the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] opposed the agreement, in alliance with two Conservative MPs, [[Duff Cooper]] and [[Vyvyan Adams]], who had been seen up to then as a reactionary element in the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].<ref>Adolf Sturmthal, " Labor's Road to Munich". in ''The Tragedy of European Labor 1918–1939'' (1943) pp. 297–324.</ref>

Daladier believed that Hitler's ultimate goals were a threat. He told the British in a late April 1938 meeting that Hitler's real long-term aim was to secure "a domination of the Continent in comparison with which the ambitions of [[Napoleon]] were feeble." He went on to say: "Today it is the turn of Czechoslovakia. Tomorrow it will be the turn of [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]]. When Germany has obtained the oil and wheat it needs, she will turn on the West. Certainly we must multiply our efforts to avoid war. But that will not be obtained unless Great Britain and France stick together, intervening in Prague for new concessions but declaring at the same time that they will safeguard the independence of Czechoslovakia. If, on the contrary, the Western Powers capitulate again they will only precipitate the war they wish to avoid."{{sfn|Shirer|1969|pp=339–340}} Perhaps discouraged by the arguments of French military leaders and civilian officials regarding their unprepared military and weak financial situation, and still traumatized by France's bloodbath in World War I, which he had personally witnessed, Daladier ultimately let Chamberlain have his way. On his return to Paris, Daladier, who had expected a hostile crowd, was acclaimed.<ref name="auto1"/>

In the days following Munich, Chamberlain received more than 20,000 letters and telegrams of thanks, and gifts including 6000 assorted bulbs from grateful Dutch admirers and a cross from [[Pope Pius XI]].<ref>David Faber, ''Munich. The 1938 Appeasement Crisis'' (2008), p. 421</ref>