Question

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

Answer 1

It was a land at German-Czechoslovakian border at Sudetes Mountains, where Sudete Germans (Sudendeutsche) have lived. In 1938 Adolf Hitler decited to unlawfully join this Sudetenland to Germany. It was an intro of II World World War which began year later when Nazi Germany invaded Poland.

Answer 2

Answer:  The Sudentland was a part of Czechoslovakia where ethnic Germans lived, and Germany wanted to make it part of their own national territory.

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.