Jan Syrový (Munich Goes Sour)

Jan Syrový (January 24, 1888 - October 17, 1970) was a Czechoslovak general and the prime minister of Czechoslovakia. On September 23 1938, he was appointed prime minister and minister of national defence by president Edvard Beneš. He is famous for urging President Beneš not to abide with the Munich Agreement and leading the Czechoslovak armed forces during the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. Despite his futile efforts, he led the Czechoslovak armed forces effectively, and was responsible for the evacuation of the Czechoslovak political leadership. On March 15, after resigning as prime minister, he capitulated to the Germans, to prevent Hitler's threat of an aerial attack by Luftwaffe on Prague to be carried out. His actions is regarded to have saved large parts of Prague from being destroyed.

Munich Crisis
When Milan Hodža's government resigned on September 23, 1938, Syrový was appointed prime minister and minister of national defence despite his contradiction. Syrový insisted he was a soldier, not a politician, and that he had no qualification to execute this position. President Beneš told him, that the nation needed him and, if he was a soldier, to take it as an order. In the end, Syrový consented.