The contrast with Churchill’s speech in the Commons, five days earlier, could not have been greater. The “rape of Austria,” he stated, had significantly increased the might of Nazi Germany, whose appetite would now grow along with her stature. There could be no complacency, no relaxation while the “boa constrictor” digested its latest victim. Britain must assemble the greatest range of deterrents against future acts of aggression. As such, he called for a full military alliance with France, a public commitment to defend Czechoslovakia, and the most speedy acceleration of
