March 1939

March

• 14

  • The proclamation of the Slovak StateOn 14 March 1939, under pressure from Hitler, the diet in Bratislava declared Slovakia independent. Father Tiso’s state depended on the Reich from the start.
• 15

  • Key eventGermany occupies Bohemia and MoraviaOn 15 March 1939 the Wehrmacht marched into Bohemia and Moravia, and that night Hitler slept at Prague Castle. Breaking the Munich Agreement ended appeasement.
  • Hungary occupies Carpatho-UkraineOn 15 March 1939, as Carpatho-Ukraine proclaimed independence, Hungarian troops advanced on Khust. In three days they took it and reached the Polish border.
• 16

  • The creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and MoraviaOn 16 March 1939, by decree at Prague Castle, Hitler annexed Bohemia and Moravia as a protectorate. Autonomy was a fiction; the Reich Protector held power.
• 20

  • The German ultimatum to LithuaniaOn 20 March 1939 in Berlin, Ribbentrop demanded that Lithuania's Urbšys hand the Klaipėda Region to the Reich, threatening force. Lithuania had no choice.
• 21

  • German demands on PolandOn 21 March 1939 Ribbentrop renewed to Ambassador Lipski the demand for Danzig and an extraterritorial route across Pomerania, now under time pressure.
• 23

  • The German–Romanian economic agreementOn 23 March 1939 in Bucharest, Germany and Romania signed a treaty on economic relations, opening the way for the Reich to Romanian oil, grain and timber.
  • Germany takes KlaipėdaOn 23 March 1939 the Wehrmacht entered the Klaipėda Region and Hitler arrived by sea aboard the Deutschland. It was the Reich's last bloodless conquest.
  • The German–Slovak Treaty of ProtectionOn 23 March 1939 Ribbentrop signed a treaty placing Slovakia under Reich “protection”, giving the Wehrmacht a zone of its territory and control of its army.
  • The Slovak–Hungarian War beginsAt dawn on 23 March 1939 Hungarian troops entered eastern Slovakia without a declaration of war. Germany, guarantor of the new state, did not come to its aid.
• 25

  • The Italian ultimatum to AlbaniaOn 25 March 1939 Rome sent Tirana a draft treaty that would strip Albania of its independence. King Zog I played for time while Mussolini prepared a landing.
• 31

  • Key eventThe British guarantee to PolandOn 31 March 1939 Chamberlain told the Commons that Britain and France would aid Poland if its independence were threatened. Appeasement was over.
  • The end of the Slovak–Hungarian WarBy late March 1939 the Hungarian–Slovak fighting had died down. A ceasefire came under German pressure on 24 March, but skirmishes went on until 31 March.