Editing Jan Masaryk (section)

==Minister-plenipotentiary in London==
Right from his arrival in London, Masaryk in his reports to Prague warned that many officials in the United Kingdom's Foreign Office were in the grip of nostalgia for the Austrian empire, haunted by what he called the "ghost of the Habsburg empire".{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=144}} Masaryk expressed concern that many in the Foreign Office were openly hostile towards Czechoslovakia and considered the nation a mistake that should never have been allowed to happen.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=144}}

On 21 June 1927, under the influence of his Hungarian mistress, Princess [[Stephanie von Hohenlohe]], the British press baron [[Viscount Rothermere|Lord Rothermere]] published a leader (editorial) in ''The Daily Mail'' newspaper calling for Hungary to regain lands lost under the [[Treaty of Trianon]].{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=156}} Rothermere deemed it unjust that Hungary—a nation dominated by what he admiringly called a "chivalrous and warlike aristocracy"—should have its borders truncated and that Magyars should be placed under the rule of  the peoples of Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, whom Rothermere described as "cruder and more barbaric races".{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=156}} Through primarily concerned about what he called "justice for Hungary", Rothermere also argued that the [[Sudetenland]] should go to Germany.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=156}}  Rothermere's leader caused much worry in Prague and Beneš rushed to London to inquire if Rothermere was acting on behalf of the British government.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=156}}

To counter the pro-Hungarian articles in ''The Daily Mail'', the hostility of the Foreign Office, and the indifference of the British people to Czechoslovakia, Masaryk had money given to British journalists who wrote pro-Czechoslovak articles to make these articles widely available in a bid to influence British public opinion.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=147}} The two most important British intellectuals whom Masaryk supported were the journalist [[Wickham Steed]] and the historian [[Robert Seton-Watson]], both of whom were staunch supporters of Czechoslovakia and longtime friends of his father, President Masaryk.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=147-148}} Masaryk provided the funds to make the writings of Steed and Seton-Watson available to the widest possible audience.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=147-148}} The faculty and students at the School of East European and Slavonic Studies at [[King's College London]] tended to be very sympathetic towards Czechoslovakia, which was seen as a model democracy, and Masaryk often provided the funds to publicise their work.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=147}}  In 1930, when Steed's journal ''The Review of Reviews'' went bankrupt, Masaryk granted him enough money to keep his journal afloat.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=148}} As part of his cultural diplomacy, Masaryk sometimes worked with Yugoslav diplomats to provide the money for journalists willing to challenge the pro-Hungarian slant of ''The Daily Mail'', which was just as alarming to Belgrade as it was to Prague.{{sfn|Orzoff|2009|p=147}}

When [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] arrived in London in October 1936 as the new German ambassador to the Court of St. James, he sent out invitations to the other ambassadors to attend a ball to introduce himself as was the normal practice at the time.{{sfn|Bloch|1992|p=129}} Instead of using French (the language of diplomacy) in his invitations, which was the standard protocol, Ribbentrop insisted on using German as way to show the superiority of Germany.{{sfn|Bloch|1992|p=129}} Masaryk responded to this gross violation of diplomatic protocol by giving his reply to Ribbentrop's letter in Czech, instead of German as Ribbentrop had expected. The other ambassadors did likewise with the Japanese ambassador responding in Japanese and the Turkish ambassador responding in Turkish, which caused chaos at the German embassy as nobody was certain who was attending the ball, as the German embassy lacked people able to translate the various replies.{{sfn|Bloch|1992|p=129}} During the [[Abdication Crisis|Abdication crisis]], Masaryk was hostile to the new king [[Edward VIII]], whom he described as a Nazi sympathizer, writing in a dispatch to Prague that the king "felt closer to fascism and  Nazism than democracy, which he found slow and boring."{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} Masaryk was equally hostile towards the king's mistress, Mrs. [[Wallis Simpson]], whom he reported has stated she felt at home in Vienna and Budapest while loathing Prague.{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} When Edward abdicated to marry Mrs. Simpson, Masaryk was relieved, writing that Ribbentrop had "lost in Mrs. Simpson a dangerous ally".{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}}

Unlike Beneš, Masaryk understood that the pro-Hungarian slant of ''The Daily Mail'' was caused by influence on Lord Rothermere of Princess von Hohenlohe, whom Masaryk also knew was the mistress of [[Fritz Wiedemann]], the adjunct to [[Adolf Hitler]].{{sfn|Lendvai|2004|p=401}} Masaryk described Rothermere as dominated by Hohenlohe, writing that he would do anything to please her.{{sfn|Lendvai|2004|p=401}} In a dispatch to Prague,  Masaryk wrote: "Is there any decency left in the world? A great scandal will erupt one day when the role upon which Steffi von Hohenlohe, née Richter, played during the visit of Wiedemann is revealed. This world-famous secret agent, spy, and swindler, who is a full Jewess, constitutes today the centre of Hitler's propaganda in London. Wiedemann stayed at her place. She keeps Hitler's photograph on her desk, inscribed "To my dear Princess Hohenlohe-Adolf Hitler", and next to it a photograph of Horthy, dedicated to the 'great stateswoman'." {{sfn|Lendvai|2004|p=401}}

Starting in 1935, the Sudeten German leader [[Konrad Henlein]] had visited London four times between 1935-1938 to give speeches criticising Czechoslovakia. Masaryk realized belatedly that Czechoslovakia was losing the propaganda war as the British media became enamoured of Henlein. In late December 1936 Masaryk gave an address to a group of British MPs to make the case for Czechoslovakia.{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} Much of the address concerned defending the decision on part of Beneš to sign an alliance with the Soviet Union in 1935, which was unpopular in Britain.{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} Masaryk argued that the alliance was necessary as it brought the Soviet Union around to defending the international order created by the Treaty of Versailles instead of trying to undermine it as had previously been the case.{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} Masaryk concluded: "If we treat Russia as a pariah, it cannot be excluded that Russia and Germany could again get together."{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} After his speech, Masaryk had an informal question and answer session with the assembled MPs.{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} The two MPs that Masaryk spoke to the most were Sir [[Austen Chamberlain]] and [[Winston Churchill]].{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} Churchill warned Masaryk that British public opinion was turning against Czechoslovakia because of the Sudetenland issue, which the German government "would be able to use against us".{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}}

In May 1937, the Foreign Secretary, [[Anthony Eden]], introduced Masaryk to the newly crowned king, [[George VI]].{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} Eden told the king that "the political and economic situation in Czechoslovakia, Sir, is good and firm."{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} At the same audience, Ribbentrop greeted the king by giving him the Nazi salute, to which the king responded to with a bemused smile.{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} The interaction between Ribbentrop and George left Masaryk uncertain to regard this as either silly or sinister. Masaryk reported to Prague that it would be unwise to place too much trust in Britain, which regarded Czechoslovakia as a problem in Europe.{{sfn|Lukes|1996|p=80}} By 1938, Masaryk was reporting: "The English dislike us intensely. We are a deadweight for them and they curse the day on which we were founded."{{sfn|Cornwell|1993|p=138}}

During the [[Sudetenland crisis]] in the summer and fall of 1938, Masaryk traveled between London and Prague to meet with Beneš.{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=342}} To resolve the Sudetenland crisis, British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] visited Germany to meet [[Adolf Hitler]] in [[Berghof (residence)#Guests|his vacation home]] near [[Berchtesgaden]] on 15 September 1938. At the Berchtesgaden summit, it was agreed that the Sudetenland would "go home to the ''Reich''" as Hitler had been demanding ever since the Nazi Party Congress at Nuremberg ([[Nuremberg rallies|Reichsparteitag]]) on 12 September 1938. In an attempt to sway British public opinion against the policy of the Chamberlain government, Masaryk, together with the Soviet ambassador [[Ivan Maisky]], was in contact with [[Clement Attlee]], the leader of the Labour Party, which was the Official Opposition to the Conservative-dominated National Government.{{sfn|Callaghan|2007|p=137}} Maisky and Masaryk encouraged Attlee to challenge the government's policy in the [[House of Commons]].{{sfn|Callaghan|2007|p=137}} Masaryk was also in contact with [[Charles Corbin]], the [[List of ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom|French ambassador in London]].  As a further step, Beneš had a large sum of money transferred to the Czechoslovak legation for Masaryk to spend on winning over British public opinion.{{sfn|Rothwell|2001|p=85}} Masaryk donated much of the money to Churchill's group "The Focus".{{sfn|Rothwell|2001|p=85}} Unknown to Masaryk, the ''[[Forschungsamt]]'' ("Research Office") had [[Encryption|broken]] the Czechoslovak diplomatic codes.{{sfn|Rothwell|2001|p=85}} [[Hermann Göring]] who was a close friend of Sir [[Nevile Henderson]], the British ambassador to Germany, informed him that Masaryk was donating money to Churchill, information which Henderson in turn passed on to Chamberlain. The British historian Victor Rothwell noted that the revelation that Masaryk was subsidising Chamberlain's domestic critics such as Churchill made an extremely bad impression upon Chamberlain, and that much of the hostility that Chamberlain displayed towards Masaryk was due to this revelation.{{sfn|Rothwell|2001|p=85}} 

Under very strong Anglo-French pressure, President Beneš agreed to the terms of the ''Berchtesgaden summit'' on 19 September 1938.{{sfn|Ragsdale|2004|p=112}} However, at the Bad Godesberg summit on 24 September 1938, Hitler rejected the Anglo-French plan for ceding the Sudetenland to Germany, telling Chamberlain that the Sudetenland needed to be annexed to Germany before 1 October 1938 rather than after October 1 as the Anglo-French plan called for. The Bad Godesberg summit pushed Europe to the brink of war. On 25 September 1938, Masaryk arrived at [[10 Downing Street]] to tell Chamberlain that through Beneš had accepted the results of the Berchtesgaden summit, he rejected the German timetable for handing over the Sudetenland put forward at the Bad Godesberg summit.{{sfn|Taylor|1979|p=852}} Much to Masaryk's annoyance, both Chamberlain and the Foreign Secretary, [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]], seemed more angry at Beneš for not withdrawing Czechoslovak troops from the border forts in the Sudetenland rather than at Hitler, leading Masaryk in a dispatch to Beneš recounting the meeting to call both Chamberlain and Halifax "stupid".{{sfn|Taylor|1979|p=853}} To resolve the crisis on 28 September 1938, it was announced that an emergency summit would be held in Munich the next day to be attended by Hitler, Chamberlain, [[Benito Mussolini]], and [[Édouard Daladier]]. To Masaryk's fury, the Munich conference was a return to the congress diplomacy of the 19th century where the leaders of the great powers would meet to decide the fate of Europe with no involvement from the small powers.{{sfn|Taylor|1979|p=37}} Halifax told Masaryk that [[Vojtěch Mastný]], the Czechoslovak minister-plenipotentiary in Berlin, would be allowed to attend the Munich conference only as an "observer" for "information only" with no power to be actually involved in the conference.{{sfn|Taylor|1979|p=37}}

The resulting Munich Agreement of 30 September 1938 put an end to the crisis. Though the Munich Agreement was actually a compromise as Hitler dropped the demand to have the Sudetenland before 1 October 1938, it was agreed that the Sudetenland would go to Germany in stages over the course of October 1938. Without the natural defensive barrier posed by the mountains of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia was defenseless against Germany, and as such the new Czechoslovak president [[Emil Hácha]] promptly performed a ''volte-face'' in foreign policy. A sign of the new foreign policy came with the order that the staff of the legation in London should remove all the portraits of President Beneš and President Masaryk from the walls.{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=343}} After the Munich conference, Masaryk met with Chamberlain and Halifax at 10 Downing Street where he stated: "If you have sacrificed my nation for the sake of peace, I will be the first to applaud you. But if not gentlemen, then God help your souls."{{sfn|Olmsted|2022|p=139}} On 1 October 1938, Churchill telephoned Masaryk to tell him that Beneš should delay handing over the border forts in the Sudetenland for the next 48 hours, as he was convinced that "a great reaction against the betrayal committed on us" would occur within the 48 hours that would topple the Chamberlain government and presumably install Churchill as prime minister.{{sfn|Smetana|2008|p=60}} Masaryk did not believe this, and advised Beneš to disregard Churchill's advice, warning that Churchill was reckless and that however he much he hoped that Chamberlain's government might fall because of the Munich Agreement, he did not believe that this was very likely.{{sfn|Smetana|2008|p=60}} Unknown to both Churchill and Masaryk, their phones had been tapped by MI5, and the conversation recording Churchill's attempt to sabotage the Munich Agreement was passed on to Chamberlain, who was not impressed.{{sfn|Smetana|2008|p=60}}

In October 1938, the Sudetenland was occupied by Germany and Masaryk resigned as ambassador in protest, although he remained in London. Other government members including Beneš also resigned. In his last dispatch to Prague on 5 December 1938, Masaryk reported that the British now regarded Czecho-Slovakia (as the country had been renamed) as a German satellite state.{{sfn|Smetana|2008|p=70}} In the letter announcing his resignation as minister on 30 December 1938, Masaryk wrote of the "prophylactic measures towards establishing permanent peace in Europe" where "my country was subjected to surgical appeasement with unprecedented vigor and not the slightest trace of anesthetic."{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=342}} Masaryk then left Britain to visit the United States, where he gave speeches criticizing appeasement.{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=342}} In a speech in January 1939, he argued that the Munich Agreement would have been justified if it brought about "permanent peace" in Europe, but he argued that it was very unlikely to do so.{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=342}}

On 15 March 1939, Germany occupied the remaining parts of the Czech provinces of [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|Bohemia and Moravia]], and [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|a puppet Slovak state]] was established in [[Slovakia]]. The next day, 16 March 1939, Masaryk went on a radio station in New York, where in a radio address to the American people given in English, he stated: "Can I hope that this last blow to my homeland should dispel all doubts as to the future policy of the masters of central Europe? The rape of Bohemia in all its vulgarity is more than I can describe. Forgive me-".{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=342}} At that point, Masaryk broke down in tears.{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=342}} Upon regaining his composure, Masaryk stated: "I do not envy those who are perpetuating this horrible drama, either by vandal force or by turning their faces to the wall. They have committed sins against God."{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=342}} In July 1939, Masaryk returned to London, where he rented a flat in Westminster.{{sfn|Powell|1950|p=342}}