War of the Worlds

People throughout the United States were panicked the night of October 30th during a strange broadcast of the Mercury Theater on CBS Radio.

Many Americans were confused by the format of the hour-long broadcast. It used the format of narrative mixed with planned interruptions that were fake news flashes.

Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the Air program have been criticized by many newspapers. The radio play also used a real location with Grovers Mill, New Jersey rather than England in the original novel by H.G. Wells. This and the heightened tension many Americans feel following the recently resolved Sudeten crisis led many to a state of panic.

Some people called the local CBS Radio to see what was really going on particularly in the areas of New York and New Jersey.

Jack Paar was doing the announcing duties that night for Cleveland CBS affiliate WGAR when the phone lines to the studio started to light up with panicking listeners calling in, Paar attempted to calm them on the phone and on-air by saying, "The world is not coming to an end. Trust me. When have I ever lied to you?" When the frightened listeners started charging Paar with 'covering up the truth', he then called WGAR's station manager for help. Oblivious to the situation, the manager advised Paar to calm down, saying it was "all a tempest in a teapot".

CBS informed officials that listeners were reminded throughout the broadcast that it was a performance.

The program was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and CBS itself. For this reason, there was no need for commercial interruption. The expected commercial interruptions would have helped listeners distinguish between fact and fiction. The resulting mass hysteria could have been averted.

Polish Jews at the German-Polish Border

Some of the Polish Jews deported by Germany have been accepted into Poland. The Polish authorities seem helpless as to what to with them.

Reports have surfaced that there is not enough to feed the 12,000 Jews in the border town of Zbąszyń. Some are forced to sleep in horse stables still filthy with horse dung.

Polish Jews deported to German-Polish Border

Germany has rounded up an estimated 15,000 Polish Jews and placed them on trains. They are being sent back to Poland. The Polish Government has refused to take them.

The German Government, remembering full well the results of the Évian Conference when no nation stepped up to take Jewish populations, is anxious to get rid of these Polish Jews. With their citizenship set to expire due to a Polish stipulation on passports and length of time outside Poland, they would become stateless and Germany's responsibility.

Regardless of Poland's refusal, the Germany gathered the Jews and have forced them to leave their homes in Germany. The trains are taking many thousands of them to Zbąszyń, a village on the frontier and also the village of Beuthen.

Polish passports must be revalidated by October 29th, today, for the Jews to be allowed to re-enter their homeland.

Polish Jews arrested in Germany

Polish Jews who've lived outside Poland too long will lose their citizenship in three days. The German government has tried to negotiate the removal of these Poles back to Poland. Poland refuses to allow them entry back into their homeland.

Since Poland is unwilling to take them, an order went out from Berlin last night to arrest all Polish Jews within 48 hours. It is unclear where the Polish Jews will go.

Lipski leaves Bertesgaden

Polish Ambassador Józef Lipski and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Robbentrop have had their meeting in the mountain retreat at Bertesgaden. Ambassador Lipski left yesterday after the one day meeting. The topic of discussion was indeed the Free City of Danzig. Ribbentrop demanded that Poland agree to Germany's annexation of the Free City of Danzig. Lipski refused.

The Free City of Danzig is administered by the League of Nations in accordance with the stipulation in Part III, Section XI of the Treaty of Versaille in 1919. Citizens of Danzig opposed this at the time.

Lipski meeting with Ribbentrop

Polish Ambassador to Germany, Józef Lipski, travelled to Bertesgaden yesterday to meet with German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentop. The topic of discussion is reportedly the Free City of Danzig.

The Free City of Danzig, a Baltic Sea port, was created on 10 January 1920, against the wishes of the local population but in accordance with the terms of Part III, Section XI of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919.

The Free City includes the city of Danzig and over two hundred nearby towns, villages, and settlements, all of which had been a part of the former German Empire. As the League of Nations decreed, the region is to remain separate from the nation of Germany, as well as the newly-resurrected nation of Poland. The Free City is not autonomous; it is under League of Nations "protection" and put into a binding customs union with Poland.

Poland also has other, special utilization rights towards the city. A peninsula, Westerplatte, is a munitions dumping ground as well as a military post. Poland also has a Post Office there and other support services.

Yesterday, October 24 is also the 17th anniversary of the Treaty of Warsaw.

Beneš Returns to Europe

The Former President Eduard Beneš resigned on October 6th. He then left for Chicago, Illinois, United States. This is also the place where his predecessor Tomáš Masaryk saught refuge. It was there that he was encouraged to create a Government-in-Exile.

He went to Paris but then travelled on to London when it appeared the French Government was lukewarm about hosting a Government-in-Exile. In London, he and his wife Hana were more warmly received. Yesterday, the President formally established a Government-in-Exile in Putney, London. His residence is believed to be on Gwendolen Avenue.

He has yet to name other members of the government.

Communist Party banned in Czecho-Slovakia

As part of the assumption of Czecho-Slovakia into Germany, the nation has complied and banned the Communist Party from political activity yesterday. It is illegal to even belong to the party.

Jews in Czecho-Slovakia are also beginning to have the same treatment that Germans and Austrians have. A systemic persecution is beginning to take shape there.

Crown Jewels of Holy Roman Empire go to Germany

The Crown Jewels and the Holy Lance were taken from Vienna where they have rested for years. The Imperial Regalia was transported by heavy guard to Nuremberg.

No New Businesses

Italian authorities decreed that no new business licences would be granted to any Jew should he seek it. This was announced yesterday and it assumed that it goes into effect immediately.

Czechoslovakia complies

Preceding the Munich conference, the Czechoslovakian people would say "Even if our allies fail us, no matter if we are left to face overwhelming odds and certain defeat, nevertheless Czechoslovakia will fight rather than yield!"

Newly installed Prime Minister General Jan Syrový said in a nationwide broadcast "As soldier and as Premier ... I am passing through the saddest moment of my life, for I am fulfilling a most painful duty, a duty which for me is worse than death. . . . We were confronted with a choice between desperate and hopeless defense, which would have meant the sacrifice of our whole younger generation, their children and their wives, and acceptance of the conditions imposed on us under pressure and without war, which in their mercilessness are unexampled in history. There are smaller states than ours that lead healthy existences. . . . We shall be within narrow frontiers, but we shall be all together in one family! . . . Our army will stand guard over the nation as before. . . . Trust us!"

The soldiers, as they withdrew, gave bystanders dark scowls and muttered oaths, the Czech officers avoided meeting civilian eyes, discharged their bitter duty with compressed lips. Nazi folk of the Sudeten town of Cesky Krumlov were the first Germans to dishonor themselves by opening dastardly fire upon the retreating Czech soldiers' backs. These Sudetens were also the first to smash windows and pillage shops and homes owned by Czechs, Jews and non-Nazi Sudetens such as Communists, Socialists and Social Democrats. Such outrages were not typical but exceptional, according to latest dispatches. The German army entered those parts of Czechoslovakia which it is to take over progressively by October 10 in the same peaceful fashion as it entered Austria, was cheered last week by civilians.

The German troops, ordered to swing across the frontier at three different points between Helfenberg and Finsterau at 2 PM. precisely, had set their legs in motion on German soil at 1:58 PM by the wrist watch of their commander, Colonel General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. They entered first that part of the Bohemian Forest in which Schiller laid his play The Robbers. Since in these rustic parts there were no accommodations deemed suitable for high officers, these, on the first night, left their German troops sleeping in tents or peasant huts, themselves returned to sleep in hotels in Germany, hurried back next morning into Sudetenland.

Fifty-eight hours after the German Army, Dictator Hitler entered Czechoslovakia under a drizzling rain this week. Every German car on this road which might possibly have contained the Führer had been wildly cheered by Sudetens for hours beforehand, and when Adolf Hitler finally reached Eger, "The Sudeten Capital," its throngs were both hoarse and hysterical. It was less than seven months since Austrians had similarly welcomed "our Deliverer," and the Führer seemed much moved as he made what was for him an exceptionally humble speech: "In this hour I want to thank the Almighty for having blessed us in the past, and to pray that He may also bless us in the future. . . . Germany is happy! . . . All are comrades ready to stake their lives for each other. . . . Over this greater German Reich is laid a German shield protecting it and a German sword defending it!"

"Vote for the Fatherland!" In Prague, although the sweeping catastrophe was obvious, editors took up the task of putting as bright an aspect on the situation as they could. The optimistic vigor of President Beneš remained dauntless. As the Chief Executive, he at once turned on every organ of propaganda and reassurance to persuade Czech refugees from areas in which plebiscites are to be held to return to the homes from which they fled under Nazi threats and "Vote for the Fatherland!"

Everywhere food was still plentiful in the land, much more so than in Germany, and there was no break in the amazing Czech morale, which endured nearly 400 years of oppression under Habsburg masters. With backhanded cheerfulness, the Narodni Listy reminded its readers: ''The history of the Czechs is almost an uninterrupted tragedy!"

Japanese close in on Wuhan

The Japanese have circled Wuhan, the current capital of China. Chinese forces continue to fight against Japanese aggression.

What of Germans outside Sudeten?

The Berlin Commission of Ambassadors which is implementing the Munich agreement has finished demarcating the major zones to be transferred to Germany, and has adjourned until Monday. But there’s still much to do. For example, there’s still the question of what to about Sudeten Germans outside the transfer zones. Originally their fate was to be decided by plebiscite, but it seems an exchange of populations is now preferred by the Commission. This might mean that the volunteers of the British Legion, who are to police the plebiscite areas, won’t be going after all.

Hungary and Poland take land

Both Hungarian and Polish troops have moved into parts of Czecho-Slovakia to take the lands they both desire. There are reports of small skirmishes along the borders.

Details of Munich Agreement hashed out

An international commission has met in Berlin to flesh out the Munich agreement. The Czechoslovakian government has protested its decision on the borders of the next area to be ceded to Germany, which includes many areas which have almost entirely Czech populations. Some 800,000 ethnic Czechs will come under German rule; but the Czech government has decided there is nothing that it can do about it, aside from protesting.

Slovakia has been given a far-reaching autonomy, but one which falls short of independence (which seemed likely earlier in the week). The Hungarian ultimatum expired yesterday, but the Czechs say they can’t respond to it due to the change in foreign ministers.

House of Commons backs Chamberlain

Parliament took 4 days of discussion and debate to decide whether to back Chamberlain and the Munich Agreement of September 29th. There were detractors and MPs who voiced scathing criticism and disastrous predictions.

Winston Churchill, one of Chamberlain's own Conservative Party, has never been on the same page as the Prime Minister. He has been the leader of a group called the Churchill Group which consistes of himself and two other members, Duncan Sandys and Brendan Bracken. They are also referred to as "The Old Guard". These MPs are largely anti-appeasers and favor a stronger foreign policy.

Churchill, as expected, was one of those who gave a speech in condemnation of the agreement.

We have suffered a total and unmitigated defeat...you will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi régime. We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude...we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road...we have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been deranged, and that the terrible words have for the time being been pronounced against the Western democracies: "Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting". And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.

He also declared this of Neville Chamberlain and his agreement with Hitler:

You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war.

Not all are as vocal as Churchill. Anthony Eden, another Conservative, was believed to be a rallying point for many MPs who opposed Chamberlain's actions, has kept quiet and avoided confrontation. He even abstained from the vote.

However, the vote was held and the Prime Minister won handedly with a final tally of 366 to 144. With a margin of 222, there is little chance the Prime Minister is going anywhere anytime soon.

Regardless of recent events, rearmament of Great Britain continues on the same pace it has been.

Poland revokes passports

Poland made the decision today to revoke passports from Polish citizens living abroad for longer than five years. This becomes effective October 31st.

Nazis revoke Jewish Passports

Only a day after the Nazis decreed that all Jews would have a "J" stamped on the front pages of their passports, the Nazis have decided to take the passports away completely. This went into effect yesterday, October 5th. This could make it impossible for Jews to travel outside of Germany.

Beneš Resigns

As a protest to the loss of the Sudeten and Teschen, President Eduard Beneš has resigned and left Czecho-Slovakia. Political problems continue for the Czecho-Slovakian government in the wake of the Munich Agreement. The Future of the nation is unclear. The Military has stood down and is not interfering with the German taking of the Sudetenland.

The Celebrations continue in Sudeten.

Hitler in the Sudeten

Sudeten Germans continued their celebrations with the welcome of Hitler in Eger. People have been overcome with emotion by the arrival of the Nazis. There have been anecdotal stories of Sudeten Germans needing to restrained by Nazi troops barely able to contain the celebratory mobs.

The ecstasy continues as many Sudetens claim this to be a liberation. The area had been for 400 years under Hapsburg Imperial control but was taken by Germans during the Great War. Many regions within the Sudetenland are heavily populated with German nationals.

Hitler's arrival in Eger increased the joy and happiness beyond what many would have believed possible. It is as if Christ had been walking the streets of Eger. Many Sudeten Germans saluted the German Chancellor in the customary Nazi salute. He was greeted with flowers and the proverbial baby to kiss and bless.

Before arriving in the political hot spot of Eger, Chancellor Hitler also visited the border town of Asch. He and his entourage also stopped in the spa town of Franzensbad where he and Heinrich Himmler sampled some of the water from the Francis Spring thought to have curative powers.

Japanese capture Xinzhi

The Japanese Army has suffered some setbacks in its continued aggression against China. In the Jangxi province, the Chinese have managed to heavy casualties against the Japanese 106th division in the past week.

In response, the 101st division was ordered to support the beleaguered 106th. They crossed the lake on August 20th and breached the defensive lines of the Chinese 25th army. In addition, they were also able to capture Xinzhi.

Sudeten Germans welcome Nazis & Wehrmacht

After the Munich Agreement on September 30th, the already mobilized German Army began moving into the country. One of the first towns taken has been Eger, the site of much fighting in late September between Czechoslovakian troops and Nazi sympathizers.

The Czech people have much to be sad about. They lose 3.5 million citizens but also has lost 70% of its iron and steel, 70% of its electrical power and the famous Škoda Works. Even the very name of the young state has been changed: Czecho-Slovakia.

President Benes has had the the military print the march orders for his army and put the press on standby for a declaration of war. The nation is not giving in quite as easily as the major European powers would like.

Sudeten Germans have been jubilant and celebratory since the Munich Agreement was announced. Seemingly from nowhere Nazi flags and banners bearing the red, black and white colors and Swastika appeared in windows, on homes, businesses and on streetpoles. Children have notably been excited and have not been in schools since the announcement.

Two days ago Hitler marched unopposed into the Sudetenland. He said that it was the start of a 1000-year German Reich.

Polish troops continue to occupy Teschen as well.

Czechoslovakian Anger

Czechoslovakia has reacted largely with anger and disbelief. The President Eduard Beneš has protested the agreement which was made without Czechoslovakian input. British Prime Minister Chamberlain has told the President that if the country chose to fight Germany for the Sudetenland, they would have to do so without British support.



The people of Prague gathered to protest the sacrifice of their lands, economy and people for Appeasement.

British Politics in the wake of the Munich Agreement

The British are still celebrating their escape from war, in their different ways. The King has thanked his people for their steadfastness and his prime minister for his peacemaking. The churches were packed with thanksgivers yesterday, ‘Peace Sunday’.

Chamberlain is still "The Man of the Hour". The new Westminster Hospital has been endowed with £1,000 for a bed, to be named ‘The Neville Chamberlain Bed’, ‘in perpetual remembrance of great efforts made by the Prime Minister in the cause of European peace’. Lucio, in the Manchester Guardian quotes some of the more fulsome paeans of praise from the press, for example this one from James Douglas in Saturday’s Daily Express:

God has raised up in Neville Chamberlain a deliverer. Are we going to waste him? Are we as great as he is? Are we as noble? Are we as pure in heart? Beware of the old evil that is lurking within us, thirsting to destroy us.

More prosaically, there is speculation that if the House of Commons is hostile to Chamberlain’s report on Munich today, then he may take the country to a general election to capitalise on his popularity among the people. (An election isn’t due until 1940.) Chamberlain has already lost one minister over Munich, Duff Cooper, the First Lord of the Admiralty. His resignation speech, if fiery enough, could spark a revolt among those backbenchers who think too high a price has been paid for peace. Certainly Labour will be critical: one prominent Labour MP, Harold Nicolson, spoke in Manchester on Saturday and said

We have betrayed a valiant little country and a great democratic idea. There are many people who feel that in so doing we have achieved peace for a generation. They are wholly mistaken. We have not achieved peace for a generation: we have achieved it only for eight months.

And the ‘Peace Pact’ which Chamberlain signed with Hitler was "not worth the paper it is written on".

The preparations for war are winding down. But there are still political activities after the Agreement. Sydney King-Farlow, in a letter to the editor of The Times, describes the disaster which has been averted:

Had war come upon us, and it was hanging on a hair, it would have begun with repeated attacks by fleets of aircraft which speedily would have converted the capital cities of Europe into heaps of smoking rubble. The noblest works of man which belong not only to particular countries but to the whole world would have disappeared for ever and the destruction of human life would have been appalling.

He asks if this is not an opportune moment to try to reach an international agreement to prohibit the bombing of architectural and historical treasures in the great cities?

Germany begins taking the Sudeten

So, after all those weeks of mounting tension over the fate of the Sudetens, it’s finally being resolved: German troops have begun occupying the Sudetenland. Polish troops have also moved into Teschen, and the Czech government has agreed to let a mixed commission decide the fate of the territory claimed by Hungary. The dismemberment of Czechoslovakia has begun.

House of Commons on the Munich Agreement

The British House of Commons begins to discuss the Munich Agreement. The House will vote on the agreement in the very near future

Secretary Hull responds to the Munich Agreement

The Munich Agreement has been hailed in Great Britain as "Peace for out Time" and has been respected by the French and Italians. There is no doubt the Germans are over the moon about it and that Czechoslovakia despises it. As for the United States, the reaction has been one of cautious optimism and concern for a near future of warfare. Secretary Hull released this statement:

"As to immediate peace results, it is unnecessary to say that the afford a universal sense of relief. I am not undertaking to pass upon the merits of the differences to which the Four-Power Pact signed Munich on yesterday related. It is hoped that in any event the forces which stand for the principles governing peaceful and orderly international relations and their proper application should not relax, but redouble, their efforts to maintain these principles of order under law resting on a sound economic foundation."

Reactions in Great Britain to the Munich Agreement

After the return of the Prime Minister and news of the Agreement reached in Munich, there has been an air of jubilation throughout the British Empire. Lauds are being made at the honor of Great Britain, France, Italy and even Germany. The Lord Mayor of the Welsh city of Cardiff, O. C. Purnell has ordered that the flags of Italy, France and even the Swastika be flown over the city to honor these nations.

In spite of the joy that is in the air after the momentous event, there are detractors. The First Lord of the Admiralty Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich has resigned from his position due to the Munich Agreement. He criticised the Prime Minister for employing an Appeasement policy which is just as a effective as losing a war.

The King has accepted the resignation and noted that despite his acceptance of the resignation that he had enormous respect for Lord Cooper for standing by his convictions but that he is unable to agree with them.

It might seem churlish to express any doubts about the Munich agreement, given this tremendous outpouring of gratitude and relief. But doubts there are. Of course, having accepted, under enormous pressure, the terms of an agreement dismembering their country that they were not party to, the Czechs are none too happy about it: there have been massive protests in the streets of Prague. (The authorities had to blackout the streets in order to get them to disperse).

In Britain, Sir Norman Angell calls the agreement a ‘disgraceful sacrifice of innocent third parties’ and Robert Boothby, Conservative MP, calls it a victory for force. Sinclair, leader of the Liberals, says that ‘if war has been averted, peace has not yet been established’. For Leo Amery, the respite from war might be only brief, and should be used to bring in national service at once. The leader-writer of the Manchester Guardian admits that even if a war had been fought, there was no way that Czechoslovakia’s borders could remain as they were. But it remains to be seen whether Hitler is sincere in his desire for peaceful territorial revisions. And nobody who reads the terms carefully ‘can feel other than unhappy’, so harsh are they.

The London correspondent says that ‘At first it seemed like Armistice Day. The resemblance soon passed, but it is peace, however high the price and whoever has had to pay it’. The ARP and defence measures already taken are to remain in place, but nothing further will be done for now. Boxes for gas masks are to be procured and distributed, however! And Poland still wants Teschen, and it seems Czechoslovakia is unwilling to give it up.

Mussolini has also extended an invitation to Chamberlain to visit Rome. It is believed that similar accords can be made between the British Empire and the Fascist Italian State.