ship home. March 13 –Adolf Hitler advises Jozef Tiso to declare Slovakia's independence, in order to prevent its partition by Hungary and Poland. March 14 – The Slovak provincial assembly proclaims independence; priest Jozef Tiso becomes president of the independent Slovak government. March 15 – German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist. The Ruthenian region of Czechoslovakia declares independence as Carpatho-Ukraine. March 16 Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt marries Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran. Hungary invades Carpatho-Ukraine; final resistance ends on March 18. March 17 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gives a speech in Birmingham, stating that Britain will oppose any effort at world domination on the part of Germany. The nationalist governments of Spain and Portugal sign the Iberian Pact in Lisbon, pledging mutual defence of the Iberian Peninsula and neutrality in the event of a general European war. March 20 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania, requiring return of the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) to Germany. At an emergency meeting in London to deal with the Romanian crisis, French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet suggests to Lord Halifax that the ideal state for saving Romania from a German attack is Poland. March 21 – Aleister Crowley's Eight Lectures on Yoga is published by the Ordo Templi Orientis in London. March 22 Following the March 20 ultimatum, Nazi Germany is granted the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory, Memelland) by Lithuania; on the following day German forces occupy the territory. In the U.S., undefeated LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball team tops undefeated Loyola of Chicago in the championship game of the second annual National Invitation Tournament, 44–32. LIU's 24–0 final record is the first perfect season of college basketball's postseason tournament era. March 23 – The Slovak–Hungarian War begins. March 26 – Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War launched by the Nationalists. March 27 – The University of Oregon defeats Ohio State University 46–33 in Evanston, Illinois, to win the championship of the first NCAA men's basketball tournament. March 28 General Francisco Franco assumes power in Madrid, remaining in power until his death in 1975. American adventurer Richard Halliburton delivers a last message from a Chinese junk, before he disappears on a voyage across the Pacific Ocean. In 1945, some wreckage identified as a rudder, and believed to belong to the junk, washes ashore in San Diego, California. March 31 – Neville Chamberlain gives