Some items for the 29th September:
What was effectively the first
employment agency in the United Kingdom, the Office of Addresses and Encounters, was opened on the 29th
September 1650 by Henry Robinson. Robinson was an English merchant and
writer. He is best known for a work on religious toleration, Liberty of
Conscience from 1644.
In 1650 he set up as a business, though
short-lived, an Office of Addresses and Encounters. It was in Threadneedle
Street in London, and charged 6d. for answers to certain types of queries,
concerning real estate and employment amongst other matters. There was a free
service for the poor. The creation of such
an Office had been pushed for three years by Samuel Hartlib, who had lobbied
for public funds for it. Robinson was an associate of Hartlib, and provided a
limited implementation of a grand reformist scheme, which drew also on the
French model of Théophraste Renaudot
that had operated by then for 20 years. Through the simple provision of a
central Register of Addresses, Robinson argued, employers could find employees
The Metropolitan Police Service was
founded on the 29th September 1829,
under the Metropolitan Police Act 1829, and at that time, merged with the River
Thames Marine Police Force, which had been formed in 1798. In 1837, it also
incorporated the Bow Street Horse Patrol that had been organised in 1805.
Two other incidents of note occurred on
this day.
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Brigadier General J V
Campbell addressing troops
of the 137th Brigade
(46th Division) from the
Riqueval Bridge over the
St Quentin Canal
|
The Battle of St Quentin Canal was a pivotal battle of World War I
that began on 29th September
1918 and involved British, Australian and American forces in the spearhead
attack and as a single combined force against the German Siegfried Stellung of
the Hindenburg Line. Under the command of Australian general Sir John Monash,
the assault achieved all its objectives, resulting in the first full breach of
the Hindenburg Line, in the face of heavy German resistance and, in concert
with other attacks of The Great Offensive along the length of the line
convinced the German high command that the was on the wall regarding
any hope of German victory. It was not long after this that
the Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles was signed.
30 years later to the day, one of the most
shameful sell-outs of a country was orchestrated on the 29th September 1938.
At Munich, an Agreement was
reached between France, Great Britain and Italy giving Germany permission to seize the territory of Sudetenland,
Czechoslovakia. The meeting occurred in Munich, and leaders from neither the
Soviet Union nor Czechoslovakia attended. The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting the Nazi Germany’s
annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along the
Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement, negotiated at
a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without the
presence of Czechoslovakia, is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement
toward Germany. |
|
From left to right: Chamberlain,
Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Ciano
pictured before signing
the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland to Germany.
|
A deal was reached on 29th September, and at about 1:30am on 30th
September 1938, Adolph Hitler, Neville
Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini and Edouard Daladier signed the Munich Agreement.
The agreement was officially introduced by Mussolini although in fact the
so-called Italian plan had been prepared in the German Foreign Office. It was
nearly identical to the Godesberg proposal: the German army was to complete the
occupation of the Sudetenland by 10th October, and an international
commission would decide the future of other disputed areas.
Czechoslovakia was informed by Britain and
France that it could either resist Nazi Germany alone or submit to the
prescribed annexations. The Czechoslovak government, realizing the hopelessness
of fighting the Nazis alone, reluctantly capitulated (30th September)
and agreed to abide by the agreement. The settlement gave Germany the
Sudetenland starting 10th October, and de facto control over
the rest of Czechoslovakia as long as Hitler promised to go no further. On 30th
September, after some rest, Chamberlain went to Hitler and asked him to sign a
peace treaty between the United Kingdom and Germany. “…We regard the agreement signed last night
and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two
peoples never to go to war with one another again.” After Hitler's interpreter translated it
for him, he happily agreed.
"I asked Hitler about one in the
morning while we were waiting for the draftsmen whether he would care to see me
for another talk….I had a very friendly and pleasant talk, on Spain, (where he
too said he had never had any territorial ambitions) economic relations with
S.E. Europe, and disarmament. I did not mention colonies, nor did he. At the
end I pulled out the declaration which I had prepared beforehand and asked if
he would sign it. As the interpreter translated the words into German, Hitler
said Yes, I will certainly sign it. When shall we do it? I said
"now", and we went at once to the writing table and put our
signatures to the two copies which I had brought with me."
As to
the Munich Agreement itself, it is a series of five bits of paper containing
719 words of little substance, signing over one country to another. The first document containing the deal is
only 508 words, the next four bits of text just confirm what has happened. It’s
as if the signatories had to convince themselves they really were making this
deal. They signed five times.
Munich Pact September 29, 1938
Agreement concluded at Munich, September 29,
1938, between Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy
GERMANY, the United Kingdom, France and
Italy, taking into consideration the agreement, which has been already reached
in principle for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, have
agreed on the following terms and conditions governing the said cession and the
measures consequent thereon, and by this agreement they each hold themselves
responsible for the steps necessary to secure its fulfilment:
(1) The evacuation will begin on 1st October.
(2) The United Kingdom, France and Italy agree that the evacuation of the
territory shall be completed by the 10th October, without any existing
installations having been destroyed, and that the Czechoslovak Government will
be held responsible for carrying out the evacuation without damage to the said
installations.
(3) The conditions governing the evacuation will be laid down in detail by
an international commission composed of representatives of Germany, the United
Kingdom, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia.
(4) The occupation by stages of the predominantly German territory by
German troops will begin on 1st October. The four territories marked on the
attached map will be occupied by German troops in the following order:
The territory marked No. I on the 1st and
2nd of October; the territory marked No. II on the 2nd and 3rd of October; the
territory marked No. III on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of October; the territory
marked No. IV on the 6th and 7th of October. The remaining territory of
preponderantly German character will be ascertained by the aforesaid
international commission forthwith and be occupied by German troops by the 10th
of October
5) The international commission referred to in paragraph 3 will determine
the territories in which a plebiscite is to be held. These territories will be
occupied by international bodies until the plebiscite has been completed. The
same commission will fix the conditions in which the plebiscite is to be held,
taking as a basis the conditions of the Saar plebiscite. The commission will
also fix a date, not later than the end of November, on which the plebiscite
will be held.
(6) The final determination of the frontiers will be carried out by the
international commission. The commission will also be entitled to recommend to
the four Powers, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, in certain
exceptional cases, minor modifications in the strictly ethnographical
determination of the zones which are to be transferred without plebiscite.
(7) There will be a right of option into and out of the transferred
territories, the option to be exercised within six months from the date of this
agreement. A German-Czechoslovak commission shall determine the details of the
option, consider ways of facilitating the transfer of population and settle
questions of principle arising out of the said transfer.
8) The Czechoslovak Government will within a period of four weeks from the
date of this agreement release from their military and police forces any
Sudeten Germans who may wish to be released, and the Czechoslovak Government
will within the same period release Sudeten German prisoners who are serving
terms of imprisonment for political offences.
Munich, September 29, 1938.
ADOLF HITLER,
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN,
EDOUARD DALADIER,
BENITO MUSSOLINI.
Munich Pact : Annex to the Agreement
His MAJESTY's GOVERNMENT in the United
Kingdom and the French Government have entered into the above agreement on the
basis that they stand by the offer, contained in paragraph 6 of the
Anglo-French proposals of the 19th September, relating to an international
guarantee of the new boundaries of the Czechoslovak State against unprovoked
aggression.
When the question of the Polish and
Hungarian minorities in Czechoslovakia has been settled, Germany and Italy for
their part will give a guarantee to Czechoslovakia.
Munich, September 29, 1938.
ADOLF HITLER,
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN,
EDOUARD DALADIER,
BENITO MUSSOLINI.
Munich Pact : Declaration
THE HEADS of the Governments of the four
Powers declare that the problems of the Polish and Hungarian minorities in
Czechoslovakia, if not settled within three months by agreement between the
respective Governments, shall form the subject of another meeting of the Heads
of the Governments of the four Powers here present.
Munich, September 29, 1938.
ADOLF HITLER,
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN,
EDOUARD DALADIER,
BENITO MUSSOLINI
Munich Pact : Supplementary Declaration
ALL questions which may arise out of the
transfer of the territory shall be considered as coming within the terms of
reference to the International Commission
Munich, September 29, 1938.
ADOLF HITLER,
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN,
EDOUARD DALADIER,
BENITO MUSSOLINI.
Munich Pact : Composition of the
International Commission
THE four Heads of Governments here present
agree that the international commission provided for in the agreement signed by them to-day shall consist of the Secretary of State in the German
Foreign Office, the British, French and Italian Ambassadors accredited in
Berlin, and a representative to be nominated by the Government of
Czechoslovakia.
Munich September
29, 1938.
ADOLF HITLER,
NEVILLE
CHAMBERLAIN,
EDOUARD DALADIER,
BENITO MUSSOLINI
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