conference had been arranged for the next day in Munich. Hit-
ler told Göring he had realized that the German people were
not ready for war, and he had serious doubts about Mussolini’s
steadfastness.
The rest is history. At Munich Hitler and Mussolini met
Chamberlain and the stocky, balding French prime minister,
Edouard Daladier, at the party’s headquarters, the Brown
House. Göring squired the Frenchman around and sat in on the
first session, since Hitler was counting on the Luftwaffe as the
factor most likely to concentrate his opponents’ minds. Agree-
ment the historic, infamous Munich Agreement was finally
reached twelve hours later at : .. Half an hour after that
Göring tumbled into Emmy’s hotel bedroom, his face beaming.
“We’ve pulled it off,” he said. “It’s peace.”
The agreement restored to Germany the former Sudeten
German territories of Czechoslovakia, which incidentally con-
tained her most formidable frontier defenses. Czechoslovakia
was now therefore virtually defenseless. But the Munich episode
left a sour taste in Hitler’s mouth. Behind Göring’s back he ac-
cused him of cowardice. “The next time,” he snarled, “I shall act
so quickly that there will be no time for any old women to ob-
ject.”
Meanwhile Göring accompanied the Italian foreign minis-
ter, Count Galeazzo Ciano, to the railroad station. Their inter-
preter, an air-force lieutenant, saw the field marshal tug at
Ciano’s sleeve. “Now,” he said, “there’s going to be a rearmament
the likes of which the world has never seen.”