The Runciman Mission to Czechoslovakia 1938: Prelude to Munich

Lord Runciman's mediation in Central Europe provides a sharp insight into British policy on the eve of the Second World War. Without clear objectives - other than to avoid war - his mission did little more than pressure Czechoslovakia for concessions. Runciman was manipulated into that position by Sudeten German separatists and also by those in Britain who sought to secure a rapprochement with Germany. The Mission's pursuit of that objective led directly to Chamberlain's fateful flying visits to Hitler.