Public relief at the Munich Agreement convinced few that it would hold

Evidence

Chamberlain flew back to Britain triumphant; Daladier flew back to France ashamed and full of dread. Greeted by a cheering crowd as he got off the plane, he reportedly muttered, ‘Les cons!’ — the idiots! — at least that was the story Sartre seems to have heard. Once the initial relief passed, many in both France and Britain doubted that the agreement could last. Sartre and Merleau-Ponty were pessimistic; Beauvoir preferred to hope that peace might prevail. The three of them debated the matter at length. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 420

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader interest in how intellectuals (Sartre, Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty) reacted to major political events — echoes the framing of other intellectual-history chapters. — connects to: Analogies to Munich versus Vietnam shift public support for war

Broader Connections

• Analogies to Munich versus Vietnam shift public support for war #responds-to (0.80)