Chamberlain may have also signed this agreement because he trusted Hitler to ask for no more. However, it is difficult to know whether Chamberlain was taken in by Hitler as his papers give conflicting evidence about the subject. Therefore, if he didn’t trust Hitler then he realized that war was inevitable and signed the agreement to give Britain time to prepare for a potential war. Britain had started to increase defence spending in 1935 but still lacked enough well trained soldiers and new technological weapons which would be very important when facing Germany. So, the temporary peace time, which would come from signing the agreement, would allow Britain to better equip itself.
There were also political reasons why Chamberlain signed the agreement. One of the main ones was that there was speculation in Britain whether the public would support another war. Chamberlain and other politicians did not want loss popularity so they chose the agreement to keep on the public’s side.
The other powers also had reasons to sign the agreement. Hitler was under pressure from his Generals to avoid war as they did not believe that Germany was ready. Therefore, he saw the agreement as a way of pacifying other European countries, like Britain, and give more time to fully develop his forces. He may have also signed the agreement because he genuinely believed that the Sudeten- Germans were being mistreated by the Czechoslovakian government and people. This agreement would have therefore allowed him to free them from this oppression without using force. However, the most obvious reason for signing the agreement, was that Hitler was able to gain the Sudetenland without resistance from the other counties.
Italy was also involved in the signing of the Munich agreement. Mussolini saw it as a way of getting in with the main powers. Mussolini probably thought that if he signed the agreement, he could have future alliances if war was to break out. This would be because the agreement could be used to make a friendly pact between countries.
Daladier of France was also involved in the signing of the agreement. He had the same ideas in mind as Chamberlain, as he also did not want to risk a war over the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. This was because at this time, France was not prepared to fight another major war, so signed the agreement without any pressure from outside factors.
In conclusion, each leader in Europe had their own reasons for signing the agreement, but overall it led to a longer period of peace than could have been expected with the growing tension.
