<P> The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation, the "Sudetenland", was coined . The agreement was signed in the early hours of 30 September 1938 (but dated 29 September) after being negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union . Today, it is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany . The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland in the face of demands made by Adolf Hitler . The agreement was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy . The Sudetenland was of immense strategic importance to Czechoslovakia, as most of its border defenses and banks were situated there, as well as heavy industrial districts . </P> <P> Because the state of Czechoslovakia was not invited to the conference, it realised that it had been betrayed by the United Kingdom and France, so Czechs and Slovaks call the Munich Agreement the Munich Diktat (Czech: Mnichovský diktát; Slovak: Mníchovský diktát). The phrase "Munich Betrayal" (Czech: Mnichovská zrada; Slovak: Mníchovská zrada) is also used because the military alliance Czechoslovakia had with France proved useless . The slogan "About us, without us!" (Czech: O nás bez nás!) summarizes the feelings of the people of Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia and the Czech Republic) towards the Agreement . Today the document is typically referred to simply as the Munich Agreement (Mnichovská dohoda). </P> <P> Czechoslovakia was created in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro - Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I . The Treaty of Versailles recognized the independence of Czechoslovakia with a population that included three million German - speaking people, 24 percent of the total population of the country . The Germans lived mostly in an area called Sudetenland bordering on Germany and the newly created country of Austria . The Sudeten Germans were not consulted about whether they wished to be citizens of Czechoslovakia . Although the constitution guaranteed equality for all citizens, there was a tendency among political leaders to transform the country "into an instrument of Czech and Slovak nationalism". Although some progress was made to integrate the Germans and other minorities, they continued to be under - represented in the government and the army . Moreover, the Great Depression beginning in 1929 impacted the highly industrialized and export - oriented Sudeten Germans more than it did the Czech and Slovak populations . By 1936, 60 percent of the unemployed people in Czechoslovakia were Germans . </P> <P> In 1933 Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein founded the Sudeten German Party (SdP) which was "militant, populist, and openly hostile" to the Czechoslovakian government and soon captured two - thirds of the vote in districts with a heavy German population . Historians differ as to whether the SdP was from its beginning a Nazi front organization or instead evolved into becoming one . By 1935, the SdP was the second largest political party in Czechoslovakia as German votes concentrated on this party while Czech and Slovak votes were spread among several parties . Shortly after the Anschluss of Austria to Germany, Henlein met with Hitler in Berlin on 28 March 1938, where he was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the Czechoslovak government led by president Edvard Beneš . On 24 April, the SdP issued a series of demands upon the government of Czechoslovakia, that were known as the Carlsbad Program . Among the demands, Henlein demanded autonomy for Germans living in Czechoslovakia . The Czechoslovak government responded by saying that it was willing to provide more minority rights to the German minority but it refused to grant them autonomy . </P>

The sudeten question which led to the calling of the munich conference of 1938 centered on