The Runciman Mission to Czechoslovakia 1938

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.