Bidspirit auction | Set of Third Reich Sudetenland

Set of Third Reich Sudetenland Annexation Commemorative Medals, 1. Oktober 1938 - A set of Third Reich commemorative medals issued to mark the annexation of the Sudetenland, each featuring two male figures with flags standing above an eagle-and-swastika emblem, with the inscription ”EIN VOLK EIN REICH EIN FÜHRER” and the date ”1. OKTOBER 1938” on the opposite face. The medals are struck in a bronze-toned metal believed to be a base alloy typical of this issue. This medal was awarded broadly to commemorate the German annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in October 1938, one of the significant territorial expansions preceding the Second World War, and was issued widely to both military personnel and civilians involved in or celebrating the event. The Sudetenland Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938) was instituted by Hitler in October 1938 to commemorate the annexation of the Sudetenland, the German-speaking border regions of Czechoslovakia ceded to Germany following the Munich Agreement of September 1938. It was awarded to military personnel, civil officials, and members of Nazi Party organisations who took part in the occupation or in the political and administrative incorporation of the territory, with a bar added later for those present in Prague in March 1939. The slogan ”Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer” reflected the regime's propaganda framing of the annexation as the fulfilment of pan-German unification, and the event itself is widely regarded by historians as a major step in the lead-up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.