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History of a Lie....

The lies told by Adolf Hitler to the then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, when the two met just prior to the outbreak of war in September 1938, are famous. Hitler was secretly preparing to invade Czechoslovakia, and was therefore eager to prevent the Czechs from assembling a retaliatory force.

The Fuhrer assured Chamberlain that he had absolutely no intention of attacking Czechoslovakia, and the British leader believed him. A few days after their meeting, Chamberlain even wrote to his sister, describing how he believed Hitler to be '....a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word.' Chamberlain was so convinced of Hitler's honesty that he urged the Czechs not to mobilize their troops, fearing such a move might be viewed as an act of aggression by the Germans. The subsequent German attack quickly overwhelmed the ill-prepared Czechoslovakian forces, and led to the start of the Second World War.

The world might now be a very different place had Chamberlain been able to detect Hitler's lies during their fateful meeting.

- quoted from the "Quirkology" book, by Richard Wiseman

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