321 - Case Green: The Invasion of Czechoslovakia

In 1938, Europe was once again facing the prospect of a major war. The immediate crisis centred on Czechoslovakia, a new state created at the end of the First World War. It was a country with a substantial industrial base, a significant arms industry and, importantly, a heavily fortified frontier with Germany. Hitler was determined to destroy Czechoslovakia. The German military had drawn up an invasion plan known as Fall Grün, or Case Green. But there was a problem. The German armed forces were not yet ready for the kind of major European war that Hitler seemed to be risking. So what exactly was Case Green? How did the Germans intend to defeat Czechoslovakia, how good were the Czech defences, and how did Hitler's ideas differ from those of his own generals? And perhaps most importantly, what might actually have happened if Britain and France had refused to compromise and Germany had gone to war? Today I'm joined by Robert Forczyk, whose book 'Case Green: The Birth of the Wehrmacht' examines the German plans for the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. Case Green is also available on Audible and Spotify.