Which 1938 conference attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promises not to expand further?

• A. Yalta Conference
• B. Potsdam Conference
• C. Munich Conference
• D. Treaty of Versailles

Answer: (C)

Appeasement is the idea of trying to prevent war by making concessions to an aggressor. In 1938, the Munich Conference brought Britain, France, Italy and Germany together to decide the fate of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. By handing over the Sudetenland to Germany in exchange for Hitler’s promise not to expand further, the leaders hoped to satisfy him and avoid another war. This moment is widely seen as a failed example of appeasement, because Hitler soon broke the pledge by taking the rest of Czechoslovakia and then Poland, leading to World War II. The other options don’t fit because Yalta and Potsdam were 1945 conferences about postwar Europe, and the Treaty of Versailles was a 1919 peace treaty ending World War I, not a 1938 meeting.