Question

What was the Sudetenland and why did Germany want to annex it?

Answer 1

Answer:  C. It was a part of Czechoslovakia where ethnic Germans lived.

Context/explanation:

Under Adolph Hitler and the Nazis, Germany began to seek more territory -- more "living space" for the German people, as Hitler described it.  One such effort was annexing territory like the Sudentland where the residents were primarily of German ethnicity.  At first the other nations of Europe tended to allow these actions by Germany.   A policy of appeasement was signed by the prime ministers of Britain and France with Hitler in Munich in September, 1938.  They accepted Germany's annexation of the Sudentland as a German territory, including the evacuation of any Czech population from the region.  Soon after, Germany took over all of Czechoslovakia -- but still the Western powers of Europe were not ready to go to war to stop Germany.  It was when Poland was invaded and quickly defeated by German blitzkrieg forces, beginning September 1, 1939, that Britain and France determined it was necessary to go to war with Germany.  This is considered the beginning of World War II in Europe.