According to Shirer, what happened at the Munich Conference, and how does he perceive the reaction in Europe and Czechoslovakia?

William L. Shirer, an American journalist and historian, provided a detailed account of the Munich Conference in his writings, particularly in his book "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." According to Shirer, the Munich Conference, which took place from September 29 to September 30, 1938, was a meeting among several European powers to address the issue of Nazi Germany’s demand for the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia with a significant ethnic German population.

At the Munich Conference, leaders from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France participated, most notably Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Neville Chamberlain, and Édouard Daladier respectively. Czechoslovakia was notably absent from the discussions that would decide its fate. The outcome of the conference was essentially the appeasement of Hitler's demands. The Sudetenland was ceded to Germany in the hopes of avoiding a European war. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain famously returned to the UK with the Munich Agreement and declared that the result was "peace for our time."

Shirer’s perception of the reaction in Europe, particularly in Britain and France, was that there was initial relief because the agreement was seen as a way to prevent a potentially devastating war. However, he was critical of the appeasement policy, regarding it as a failure to stand up to Hitler’s aggression, which only emboldened the Nazi regime.

As for Czechoslovakia, Shirer depicted the reaction as one of betrayal and abandonment. The Czechoslovak government was forced to accept the agreement, as the alternative was facing the German military might alone. The Munich Agreement resulted in a significant loss of territory for Czechoslovakia and was a blow to its national integrity and security. Shirer suggested that the Munich Conference emboldened Hitler and contributed to the eventual outbreak of World War II.