44 days in Prague : the Runciman Mission and the race to save Europe / Ann Shukman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shukman, Ann, author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Runciman, Walter Runciman, Viscount, 1870-1949.

Runciman, Walter Runciman.

Czechoslovakia--Foreign relations--Great Britain.

Czechoslovakia.

Great Britain--Foreign relations--Czechoslovakia.

Great Britain.

Europe--Politics and government--1918-1945.

Europe.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (314 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Forty-four days in Prague

Place of Publication:

London : Hurst & Company, 2024.

Summary:

After discovering that her grandmother had pro-German sympathies, Ann Shukman resolved to investigate her grandfather Walter Runciman's 1938 Mission to Prague. This government-sponsored British delegation sought to broker peace between the Czechoslovak republic and its Sudeten German minority - a dispute that Hitler was aggravating with virulent anti-Czech propaganda and threats of invasion. Drawing fresh evidence from personal diaries, private papers and Czech publications, '44 Days in Prague' exposes the misunderstandings and official ignorance that provoked a calamitous series of betrayals. It reveals that, while Walter Runciman always supported Czechoslovakia's integrity, his wife Hilda - whose role became crucial - publicly favoured the German cause. This is a moving portrayal of Walter's declining influence as tensions mounted.

Contents:

Cover

Halftitle

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Photos

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Prologue

1. Nomination: The man and the moment

2 Preparations: President Beneš, The Sudeten German Party, and The Mission Team

3. Days One To Four: Arrival-The Press, The Politicians, and The Intractable Problem

4. Days Four to Six and the First Weekend: The Sporting Kinskýs and lessons in Bohemian history

5. Days Seven to Ten: Social life in a Heatwave-Pacifists and an Anti-appeaser

6. Days Eleven to Thirteen and the Second Weekend: Walking the woods with the Ulrich Kinskys

7. Days Fourteen to Sixteen: The Mission's first successes and 'the Chicken' comes to roost

8. Days Seventeen to Twenty and the Third Weekend: Hilda succumbs to flattery, an idyll in the Schwarzenberg Forests, and Ashton-Gwatkin engages with Henlein

9. Days Twenty-One to Twenty-Three: President Beneš Breaks The Deadlock, Ashton-Gwatkin Flies to London, and Runciman is Proposed as Emissary to Hitler

10. Days Twenty-Four to Twenty-Seven and the Fourth Weekend: The SDP's Militaristic response to Beneš's Initiative, Nervousness at Teplitz, and Hilda makes a Significant New Friend

11. Days Twenty-Four to Thirty and the Fourth Weekend Continued: Ashton-Gwatkin negotiates with Frank and Henlein at Rothenhaus, The Runcimans with Daughter Margie join them

12. Days Twenty-Seven to Thirty-One: All attention on Henlein but a rebuke arrives from London

Henlein and Hitler

Beneš delivers his report to the Mission, Walter misunderstands and Beneš is aggrieved

13. Days Thirty-Two to Thirty-Three and the Fifth Weekend: Panic in London

Beneš Fourth Plan

Henlein ceases to cooperate

and Walter appeals to the Cardinal Archbishop.

14. Days Thirty-Four to Thirty-Seven: Widespread protests against the Fourth Plan, the riots at Moravská Ostrava, the SDP reveals its true face, and a lethal blow received from The Times in London

15. Days Thirty-Eight to Forty and the Sixth Weekend: With the Czernins at Petrohrad, and a Proactive demonstration by the SDP

16. Days Forty-One to Forty-Four: Hitler's Nuremberg Speech, The Sudetenland uprising, martial law imposed, Henlein breaks off all negotiations, Walter loses hope

17. Aftermath: The Mission Back in London, The 'Runciman Report', Chamberlain Takes Over, Walter Betrayed

Postscript

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

Back cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on September 30, 2024).

ISBN:

9780197794616

0197794610

9780197791516

0197791514

OCLC:

1433699175