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March 18th, 1939 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The King writes to prime minister Chamberlain

I feel I must send you one line to say how well I can appreciate your feelings about the recent behaviour of the German Government. Although this blow to your courageous efforts on behalf of peace and understanding in Europe must, I am afraid, cause you deep distress, I am sure that your labours have been anything but wasted, for they can have left no doubt in the minds of ordinary people all over the world of our love of peace and our readiness to discuss with any nation whatever grievances they think they have.

At today's Cabinet:

The Prime Minister said that up till a week ago we had proceeded on the assumption that we should be able to continue our policy of getting on to better terms with the Dictator Powers, and that although those Powers had aims, those aims were limited. We had all along had at the back of our minds the reservation that this might not prove to be the case, but we had felt that it was right to try out the possibilities of this course....[Chamberlain] had now come definitely to the conclusion that Herr Hitler's attitude made it impossible to continue to negotiate on the old basis with the Nazi regime. (105)

GERMANY: Von Neurath is appointed Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia. More...

U.S.S.R.: Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov proposes (for the second time in a year), that France, Poland, Romania, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S.S.R. join together to form a pact to stop Adolf Hitler. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, probably due to distrust of the Soviet Union, found this action to be premature. 

U.S.A.: The first prototype Boeing S-307 Stratoliner, pressurised airliner, crashes during flight testing killing all 10 men aboard.

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