May Crisis

The May Crisis was a brief episode of international tension in 1938 caused by reports of German troop movements against Czechoslovakia that appeared to signal the imminent outbreak of war in Europe.

In response to the reports, originating mainly from Czechoslovak intelligence sources, Czechoslovakia mobilised a number of military reservists on 20 May and strengthened its border defences.

The German government denied that potentially-aggressive troop movements had taken place, and in the absence of any real evidence of military activity, the atmosphere of acute crisis had passed by 23 May.

Although no evidence has emerged of any aggressive German military preparations then being made, the outcome of the crisis was a significant step on the road to the Munich Agreement and the destruction of Czechoslovakia.

Referencing "a serious blow to the prestige of the Reich" and an "intolerable provocation", Hitler claimed that the Sudetenland had been secured by German determination and willingness to resort to force, rather than diplomacy.