Czechoslovakia: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Flag of | [[File:Flag of the Czech Republic.png|300px|thumb|right|Flag of Czechoslovakia (1920–1992); the [[Czech Republic]] uses the same flag.]] | ||
[[File:Austria-Hungary ethnic groups in 1910.png|300px|thumb|right|The Austrian 1910 census showing | [[File:Austria-Hungary ethnic groups in 1910.png|300px|thumb|right|The Austrian 1910 census showing the Czech and Slovak populated provinces.]] | ||
'''Czechoslovakia''' (''Česko-Slovensko'') was an artificial [[republic]]<ref>''The Tragedy of Trianon'' by Sir Robert Donald, G.B.E., LL.B., London, 1928, pps: 25-6, 57-8.</ref><ref>''Czecho-Slovakia Within'' by Count Bertram de Colonna, London, 1938, p.9.</ref><ref>''The Origins of | '''Czechoslovakia''' (''Česko-Slovensko'') was an artificial [[republic]]<ref>''The Tragedy of Trianon'' by Sir Robert Donald, G.B.E., LL.B., London, 1928, pps: 25-6, 57-8.</ref><ref>''Czecho-Slovakia Within'' by Count Bertram de Colonna, London, 1938, p.9.</ref><ref>''The Origins of the Second World War'' by A. J. P. Taylor, London, 1961, p.201.</ref> in Central Europe created by the [[plutocratic]] liberal [[Entente Powers|Western Allies]] at the [[Treaty of St.Germain|Paris Peace Conference]] of 1919, comprising of ancient provinces of [[Austria-Hungary]]. It subsequently became a protégé of France as well as a member of the [[Little Entente]], and the [[League of Nations]]. | ||
:''A diseased state'' ~ Polish Marshal Pilsudski.<ref>Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, Lambert, Margaret, editors, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'' Third Series, vol.iii, HMSO, London, 1950, p.430.</ref> | :''A diseased state'' ~ Polish Marshal Pilsudski.<ref>Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, Lambert, Margaret, editors, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'' Third Series, vol.iii, HMSO, London, 1950, p.430.</ref> | ||
:''Not a country at all - | :''Not a country at all - the worst abortion that has come out of Woodrow Wilson's brain.'' ~ ''Gringoire'' newspaper, Paris, 9 April, 1938.<ref>Werth, Alexander, ''France and Munich'', Hamish Hamilton, 1939; reprinted by Howard Fertig Inc., New York, 1969, p.118.</ref> | ||
:''A structure manufactured at Versailles....an untenable situation'' ~ [[Hitler]].<ref>Speech by German Chancellor Hitler at | :''A structure manufactured at Versailles....an untenable situation'' ~ [[Hitler]].<ref>Speech by German Chancellor Hitler at the NSP Congress, Nuremberg, Germany, 12th September 1938.</ref>. | ||
==Basic statistics== | ==Basic statistics== | ||
[[File:Czechoslovakia.gif|right|310px]] | [[File:Czechoslovakia.gif|right|310px]] | ||
[[File:Czechoslovakia map.png|300px|thumb|The constituent parts of Czechoslovakia]] | [[File:Czechoslovakia map.png|300px|thumb|The constituent parts of Czechoslovakia]] | ||
The area of | The area of the new State was 54,244 square miles and in 1934 the population was 14,729,536, of whom about 7,300,000 were Czechs and 2,300,000 Slovaks, 3,231,688 Germans, 691,923 Hungarians, 549,164 Ruthenians, Russians and Ukrainians, 186,642 jews (by nationality), 81, 737 Poles, and 49, 737 others. There were 249,971 persons not Czecho-Slovak citizens. The Czechs inhabited chiefly the centres of [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]]; the Slovaks, north and central Slovakia; the Germans the west and north of Bohemia, and north Moravia, forming about one-third of the populations of Bohemia and Moravia; the Hungarians, along the southern fringe of Slovakia; the Ruthenians, Carpatho-Ruthenia; the Poles, that part of [[Silesia]] falling within the new State's borders. 10,831,696 persons in 1930 were Roman Catholics; 585,041 Greek and Armenian Catholics (nearly all Ruthenians); 1,129,758 were Protestants; 145,598 Orthodox (Ruthenians); 356,830 (2.4%) jews.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the year 1938'', London, 1938, pps: 354 &188.</ref> | ||
The chief towns (with 1930 populations) were: [[Prague]], 848,823; [[Brünn]], 264,925; Mahrisch-Ostrau, 125,347; [[Bratislava|Pressburg]], 123,892; [[Pilsen]], 114,704; Kaschau, 70,232; Olmutz, 66,440.<ref>Britannica, 1938, p.188.</ref> | The chief towns (with 1930 populations) were: [[Prague]], 848,823; [[Brünn]], 264,925; Mahrisch-Ostrau, 125,347; [[Bratislava|Pressburg]], 123,892; [[Pilsen]], 114,704; Kaschau, 70,232; Olmutz, 66,440.<ref>Britannica, 1938, p.188.</ref> | ||
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==Political history== | ==Political history== | ||
[[File:Czechoslovakia 1938.png|300px|thumb|right|A State of minorities]] | [[File:Czechoslovakia 1938.png|300px|thumb|right|A State of minorities]] | ||
[[File:Hungary Vienna Awards.png|300px|thumb|right|Hungarian [[revanchism|revanchist]] annexations following | [[File:Hungary Vienna Awards.png|300px|thumb|right|Hungarian [[revanchism|revanchist]] annexations following the Vienna Awards.]] | ||
The Czechs greeted | The Czechs greeted the [[Russian Revolution]] "with boundless admiration and enthusiasm" and "solemnly declared the Czech people's will to freedom and independence", demanding in the Vienna Reichsrat assembly on 30 May 1917 the reshaping of the Monarchy into a "federal State of free national states with equal rights"; they also demanded the joining up of the Czechs and Slovaks in a single unit.<ref>Temperley, H.W.V., editor, ''A History of the Peace Conference of Paris'', vol.iv, London, 1921, p.78.</ref> In the event they were given full independence by the victorious plutocratic Western Allies at the Paris Peace Conferences. | ||
The founder President of | The founder President of the new State, which included the Austrian Crown Lands of Bohemia and Moravia, and Hungarian [[Slovakia]] and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia, was [[Thomas Masaryk]] (1850-1937), a philosopher and Francophile. The government pinned its foreign policy to the [[Little Entente]] and to France.<ref>Britannica, 1938, p.189.</ref> On 14 August 1920 Czechoslovakia signed a Treaty of Alliance with [[Yugoslavia]], and again with [[Romania]] on 23 April 1921, both clearly aimed at Hungary; and with France on 25 January 1924 aimed at Germany. On 16 May 1935 Czechoslovakia concluded a Treaty of Mutual Assistance with the [[Soviet Union]]. | ||
===The Czechs and | ===The Czechs and the others=== | ||
The new State's government was formed by | The new State's government was formed by the Czech National Socialist Party, the title of which indicated the government's policies. Despite consisting of less than half the population (43%), the Czechs assumed almost all positions of government and authority and began to oppress the other peoples of the State with their hegemony, including their insistence that everyone speak their language. German civil servants were obliged to pass an examination in Czech; the effect was to halve the proportion of Germans in the civil service. The German population, who had lived in this region as long as the Czechs, were effectively excluded from the 1919 elections and on 14 March 1919 took place the infamous massacre of Kaaden where Czech gendarmes and troops killed fifty-two Germans and wounded another eight-four. The German landowners as well as the aristocracy (often one and the same) bore the brunt of left-wing and fascist 'land reform' (meaning selective expropriation and redistribution). Industries were nationalised, German schools were closed down by the Czech authorities, while new Czech schools were built even in towns where only a few Czech families lived.<ref>Ferguson, Niall, ''The War of the World'', Allen Lane pubs., London 2006, p.167-8. ISBN:0-713-99708-7</ref> English author Alexander Powell, writing in 1928, said "that of all the countries of eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia is the best risk [of trouble]. This lies in the selfishness displayed by the Czechs of [[Bohemia]] in their relations with others". He continues: "the Czechs have stubbornly refused to listen to reason, even when arguments for a change in their attitude have been advanced by friends. Their frontiers were fixed at [[Treaty of Trianon| Trianon]] 'for all time', they assert, and in their refusal to consider any revision they are adamant. Their uncompromising attitude is doubtless attributable to the fact that just at present they are considerably 'above themselves'. But such a frame of mind is hardly surprising in a people who obtained their independence so recently, so suddenly, who have had good fortune literally thrust upon them."<ref>Powell, E., Alexander, ''Embattled Borders'', London, 1928, p.227 and chapter VI.</ref> | ||
Despite German being | Despite German being the official language for centuries, ethnic German/Austrian civil servants who now found themselves in Czechoslovakia were obliged to pass an examination in Czech; the effect was to halve the proportion of Germans in the Civil Service. Huge numbers of German schools were closed down by the Czech authorities, while new Czech schools were built even in towns where only a few Czech families lived. "Land Reform" (meaning selective expropriation and redistribution, or State theft) notably of the estates of Austrian-German aristocracy, was also high on their agenda.<ref>Ferguson, Niall, ''The War of the World'', London, 2006, ISBN-13: 978-0-713-99708-8, p.168-9.</ref> By 1928 "Something like a wave of terror had swept over Slovakia".<ref>Donald, 1928, p.28.</ref> British historian Donald Cameron Watt relates that "for twenty years Czech officials assumed extensive almost colonial-style responsibility for affairs in the Slovak and Ruthene provinces. They antagonised Slovaks by their tactless assumption of superiority and their didactic manners". The Czech Secret Police seemed to be everywhere.<ref>Donald, 1928, index - many mentions.</ref> Therefore from the outset there were problems between the Czechs, [[Slovakia]]ns, [[Ruthenia]]ns and Germans, the latter three all wanting autonomy. The Slovaks, for instance, had originally (1919) been promised a great degree of autonomy.<ref>Britannica, 1938, p.188.</ref> This failed to materialise in any serious form until it was too late. Over 500,000 people were unemployed in Czechoslovakia in April 1937. | ||
The British Ambassador in Prague, Newton, had an audience of over 3.5 hours with | The British Ambassador in Prague, Newton, had an audience of over 3.5 hours with the Czech President Benes on 8th November 1937 where the latter laid bare his anti-German sentiments, particularly to the huge German population of Czechoslovakia, and it became clear that Benes had no intentions of adhering to the Minorities Treaties.<ref>Medlicott, Professor W.M., Dakin, Professor Douglas, Bennett, Gillian, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1938'', Second series, vol.xix, HMSO, London, 1982, pps: 483-488.</ref> | ||
In a telegram to | In a telegram to the London Foreign Office on 3rd May 1938 Sir Neville Henderson, British Ambassador in Berlin, stated that the French and [[United States]] Ambassadors agreed with him that at the very least Czechoslovakia would have to be federalised.<ref>Woodward, Professor E. l., & Butler, Rohan, editors, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'', Third Series, vol.1, His Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1949, p.238.</ref> | ||
Newton wrote to Viscount Halifax on 1 November 1938: "There can be little doubt that | Newton wrote to Viscount Halifax on 1 November 1938: "There can be little doubt that the democratic system as it has developed in this country during the past twenty years has not been a wholly unmixed blessing, even for the Czechs by whom and for whom it was elaborated..... Party considerations were only too often given pride of place over national. Moreover, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that all public appointments, even down to that of a crossing sweeper, depended upon possession of the necessary party ticket, so that each party became almost a State within a State....Today....one of the constant themes in the press is that public life and the social services must be cleansed of patronage and the misuse of political influence. Criticism is heard not only of the quality but of the quantity of officials in the civil service. It is said, for example, that there are more officials in the Czech Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Prague than there were in the Ballplatz of Imperial [[Vienna]]." Newton continues his report on the various parties and the almost political anarchy which exists in the country as a whole.<ref>Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, & Lambert Margaret, editors, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'', Third Series, vol. iii, London, 1950, p.214-8 - a most important comprehensive Report.</ref> | ||
===[[Sudetenland]] crisis=== | ===[[Sudetenland]] crisis=== | ||
As | As the inflammable unrest in the Sudetenland gathered pace in Czechoslovakia and was treated almost casually by the Czech government, the situation in France became equally inflamed because of the ''cordon sanitaire'' treaties [aimed at Germany] France had entered into in the previous 18 years, including an alliance with Czechoslovakia. France was fairly evenly split between those who wanted to somehow honour this alliance (regardless of the Locarno Treaty) and those who did not. In February 1938 there was a hugely volatile debate in the French Chamber of Deputies on the subject, and in March and April an almost violent press campaign broke out in Paris against Czechoslovakia. The newspapers included ''Candide'', ''Jour'' and the ''Gringoire'' - "Will you fight for the Czechs?" - were supported by the ''Action Francaise'', the ''Journal de Débats'', and by a number of provincial papers like the ''Petit Provencal'', the ''Eclaireur de Nice'', the ''Dépeche'' of Toulouse, and others. Professor Joseph Barthelémy wrote in the [[Paris]] ''Temps'': "Is it worthwhile setting fire to the world simply in order to save the Czechoslovak State, a heap of different nationalities?".<ref>Werth, 1939/1969, pps:118-121.</ref> | ||
On 24 April 1938 | On 24 April 1938 the Sudeten German Party (who formed the second-largest party in the Parliament) outlined at Karlsbad their Eight-Point Demands for full equality for Germans with Czechs, including full autonomy and self-government for German areas. This was followed by a formal ''Memorandum'' in considerable detail submitted to the Czechoslovak Government on 7 June 1938<ref>Published in the London ''Times'' newspaper, 20 July 1938.</ref>. There were 14 points set forth including Local Diets, Public Servants, etc. The Czechoslovakian Government replied in summary form in what they called their "Fourth Plan" submitted to the Sudeten Germany party on 6 September 1938<ref>Published in the London ''Times'' newspaper on 10 September, 1939.</ref> with 19 points, over three months later. The President of Czechoslovakia, the notorious Edvard Beneš, broadcast the same day<ref>Published in the ''New York Times'' newspaper, 11 September 1938.</ref> a pure propaganda speech by this chronic Czech fascist. Both the "Fourth Plan" and Benes' speech were considered for what they were by the minorities, who constituted 57% of the country. By now it was almost certainly too late for these platitudes. On 13 September 1938 the Sudeten German Party, representing 3.5 million Germans, issued a ''Communiqué'' containing terms of an Ultimatum to the Czechoslovak Government<ref>Published in the ''New York Times'', 14 September 1938.</ref> | ||
In August 1938, | In August 1938, the British Government had despatched Lord Runciman of Doxford and his entourage to [[Prague]] to examine the overall situation with all parties and to mediate in the Sudeten German-Czechoslovak Government debates. In his report to the British Prime Minister dated 21 September 1938<ref>Published in the ''New York Times'', 29 September, 1938.</ref> he outlined at considerable length the significant problems, from post-1919 government land confiscations (called "Land Reform" by the Czechs), police issues, and a host of other complaints. he added: "I could find no readiness on the part of the Czechoslovak Government to remedy issues on anything like an adequate scale......there is real danger of a civil war..........a very large majority of the inhabitants desire amalgamation with Germany. I consider, therefore, that these frontier districts should at once be transferred from Czechoslovakia to Germany and further that measures for their peaceful transfer, including provisions of safeguards for the population during the transfer period, should be arranged......There would still remain in Czechoslovakia a large number of Germans, and in the area transferred to Germany there would still be a certain number of Czechs. Economic connexions are so close that absolute separation is not only undesirable but inconceivable; I repeat my conviction that history has proved that in times of peace two peoples can live together on friendly terms" [Germans and Austrians had lived in [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]] for 900 years]. | ||
On 21 September 1938 | On 21 September 1938 the [[Soviet Union]]'s Foreign Commissar, Maxim Litvinoff, addressed the [[League of Nations]] saying that the Sudetenland issues were "the internal business of the Czechoslovak State''.<ref>''New York Times'', 22 September 1938.</ref> | ||
===jews=== | ===jews=== | ||
The British Ambassador at Prague (Newton), following a visit to | The British Ambassador at Prague (Newton), following a visit to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 22 October 1938, reported to London that the Czechs wanted emigration for their jews and asked the British Government to assist. Referring to jewish recent immigration, Newton stated "the last thing the Czechs wanted today was an addition to their jewish population....feeling against them in the country was rising." The Czechs asked the British to "make representations in Berlin to stop the German authorities 'dumping' these unwanted jews from occupied territories into what remained of Czechoslovakia." Newton said to London that these requests were reasonable.<ref>Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, & Lambert Margaret, editors, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'', Third Series, vol. iii, London, 1950, p.195.</ref> Newton wrote again on November 1st of the "anti-Semitic trend, and ant-Semitic demonstrations have even taken place in Prague".<ref>Woodward, et al, 1950, p.215.</ref> | ||
===Dissolution of | ===Dissolution of the failed Versailles State=== | ||
The [[Munich Agreement]] of 29/30 September 1938 finally detached | The [[Munich Agreement]] of 29/30 September 1938 finally detached the [[Sudetenland]] from Czechoslovakia and attached it to [[National Socialist Germany|Greater Germany]] on the grounds of self-determination, supposedly one of the original cornerstones of the [[Versailles Treaty]]. In many quarters the Munich Agreement was viewed merely as Teutonic [[revanchism]]. Most of Europe celebrated the Munich Agreement, which was presented as a necessary way to prevent a war on the continent. The British Ambassador in Berlin stated "the incorporation of Austrians and Sudeten Germans into the Reich was in principle not an unnatural development, was not an ignoble aspiration for Germans, and was not even ethically immoral. Both the Ostmark [Austria] and [[Sudetenland]] were inhabited by populations almost entirely German living on the frontiers of Germany and their incorporation was in conformity with rights of self-determination."<ref>Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, & Lambert, Margaret, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'', Third Series, vol.iv, His Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1951, p.279.</ref> | ||
[[Poland]] now presented an ultimatum to | [[Poland]] now presented an ultimatum to the Czech Government for the immediate cession of Teschen and Freistadt (the frontier coal-mining district east of Mahrisch-Ostrau) at about midnight on 1st October 1938 requesting a response by midday. The British Government, being made aware of this immediately, protested that this was "wholly contrary to the spirit of the [[Munich Agreement]] which provided that the settlement of territorial problems in Czecho-Slovakia should be achieved by negotiation and not by force".<ref>''Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945'' by an editorial board, Series D, vol.iv, Washington, D.C., 1951, p.6-7.</ref> Despite representations Poland ignored them and invaded the following day, annexing the province of Teschen. On November 1st Poland also occupied some northern parts of [[Slovakia]]; and further obtained from Czecho-Slovakia: Zaolzie, territories around Suchá Hora and Hladovka, around Javorina, and in addition the territory around Lesnica in the Pieniny Mountains, a small territory around Skalité and some other small border regions. | ||
Unrest was breaking out everywhere. The British Ambassador to Prague, accompanied by his Military Attaché (Major G. A. C. MacNab) and Ian Henderson, a Legation Observer, reported to | Unrest was breaking out everywhere. The British Ambassador to Prague, accompanied by his Military Attaché (Major G. A. C. MacNab) and Ian Henderson, a Legation Observer, reported to the German Chargé d'Affairs on October 2nd that in villages in Zone One of the Munich Agreement disturbances had broken out among the local populations. Armed Communists in particular had been noticed. They felt an untenable state of affairs might develop and lead to bloodshed; it was too late to take steps regarding the first zone, but something must be done at once about the other zones.<ref>German Documents, 1951, p.17.</ref> | ||
In October Federation was implemented by | In October Federation was implemented by the Czechoslovakian State Parliament, after which the name of the state became hyphenated: Czecho-Slovakia<ref>Taylor, 1961, p.201.</ref> | ||
The Royal [[Hungary|Hungarian]] government also tabled demands regarding former Hungarian lands in | The Royal [[Hungary|Hungarian]] government also tabled demands regarding former Hungarian lands in the south of Czecho-Slovakia.<ref>''German Documents'', 1951, pps: 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 25, et al.</ref> This soon resulted in the [[First Vienna Award]] on 2 November 1938, detaching majority Hungarian-inhabited territories in southern Slovakia and [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] from Czecho-Slovakia and returning them to [[Hungary]]. | ||
On 14 March 1939, | On 14 March 1939, the [[Slovakia]]n Diet voted for and unanimously declared its full independence, and the First Slovak Republic was proclaimed.<ref>German Documents, 1951, p.250.</ref><ref>''The French Yellow Book (1938-1939)'', published by the French Government, English-language edition, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1939, p.73.</ref> It was recognised the following day by [[Poland]], who immediately despatched a new Minister, and Hungary.<ref>Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, & Lambert, Margaret, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'', Third Series, vol.iv, His Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1951, pps: 246, 254, 262-4.</ref> The French Ambassador in Berlin, writing to Georges Bonnet, France's Minister for Foreign Affairs the same day, declared that Slovakia's independence has "broken up the framework of the Czecho-Slovak federal State.......Events in Slovakia have had an immediate repercussion in Sub-[[Carpathian Ruthenia]] where Prime Minister Volosin has also proclaimed independence and requested German protection, saying "in view of the declaration of independence by Slovakia it is impossible for the Ruthenian people to remain within the federative union of the Czechoslovak State".<ref>German Documents, 1951, p.251.</ref> Indeed as the result of clashes with the Czech forces, [[Hungary|Hungarian]] troops have already entered Ruthenian territory."<ref>''French Yellow Book'' p.73-4.</ref> | ||
On | On the same day the Secretary-General of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed an ultimatum to the Czech Ambassador in Budapest giving the Czechs twelve hours to withdraw all their troops from [[Carpathian Ruthenia]], release of interned Hungarians, and full freedom for Hungarian organisations in Ruthenia. At the expiry of this ultimatum Hungary occupied the whole of [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] without opposition. Hungary's Prime Minister Count Teleki stated "This land, the vital interests of which attach it to [[Hungary]], and which belonged to the mother country for one thousand years, we now re-attach, with its autonomy that is founded on ancient rights, to Hungary."<ref>Woodward et al, 1951, pps: 248, 277.</ref> The German Chargé d'Affaires in the USA, Thomsen, advised Berlin that [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] was being treated there as ''de facto'' Hungarian territory which, with Hungary, will enjoy 'most-favoured-nation' status including tariff concessions.<ref>German Documents, 1956, p.66.</ref> | ||
The Sudetenland, Slovakia, [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] and Teschen etc., had now all been detached from Czecho-Slovakia, leaving it as a rump state. "The future of what remains of | The Sudetenland, Slovakia, [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] and Teschen etc., had now all been detached from Czecho-Slovakia, leaving it as a rump state. "The future of what remains of the Czech Republic, that is of Bohemia and Moravia, is itself under discussion."<ref>''French Yellow Book'', p.74.</ref> | ||
The British Ambassador in Berlin telegraphed Viscount Halifax in London, on March 14th: "Press reports from Czecho-Slovakia which yesterday still contained long accounts of ill-treatment of | The British Ambassador in Berlin telegraphed Viscount Halifax in London, on March 14th: "Press reports from Czecho-Slovakia which yesterday still contained long accounts of ill-treatment of the Slovaks, are now concentrating almost entirely on the position of the German minority [not in [[Sudetenland]]] with full particulars of all the brutalities. Commentators say that the position has become untenable........revolting incidents have taken place at [[Brünn]], a town which is claimed to have belonged to the German sphere for centuries and in which there are still 60,000 German inhabitants."<ref>Woodward et al, 1951, p.251.</ref> The German Chancellor's subsequent Proclamation continued in this vein: "From the thickly populated German-language 'islands' which Germany's generosity left to Czecho-Slovakia last autumn [referring to the Munich Agreement], the stream of refugees and people, bereft of their all, is beginning again to flow into the Reich. The perpetuation of these conditions must lead to the destruction of the last vestiges of order in a region in which Germany is vitally interested, and which has itself belonged for over 1000 years to the German [Holy Roman] Empire."<ref>Woodward et al, 1951, p.257.</ref> | ||
[[File:Germany Berlin Hitler in conversation with Emil Hácha 14 March 1939.png|300px|thumb|right|President Hácha & Dr.Chvalkovsky in conference with | [[File:Germany Berlin Hitler in conversation with Emil Hácha 14 March 1939.png|300px|thumb|right|President Hácha & Dr.Chvalkovsky in conference with the German leadership, 15 March 1939.]] | ||
At Prague, on 14 March 1939, at 11:25 a.m., | At Prague, on 14 March 1939, at 11:25 a.m., the Czech Foreign Minister sent the following handwritten letter in an envelope marked "confidential" to the home of the German Chargé d'Affaires. It was immediately telegraphed to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin: | ||
: ''My dear Chargé d'Affairs: with reference to our telephone conversation yesterday, I have | : ''My dear Chargé d'Affairs: with reference to our telephone conversation yesterday, I have the honour to inquire through your good offices whether His Excellency the Reich Chancellor would grant President Dr. Emil Hácha the opportunity of a personal interview. With the assurance of my highest esteem, I am, Yours sincerely, Dr.Chvalkovsky."<ref>German Documents, 1951, p.255.</ref> | ||
The following day, President Dr. Emil Hácha, his wife and daughter, Cabinet Minister Jiří Havelka, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. František Chvalkovský<ref>After | The following day, President Dr. Emil Hácha, his wife and daughter, Cabinet Minister Jiří Havelka, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. František Chvalkovský<ref>After the Czech Foreign Ministry was closed, Chvalkovský became an envoy of the Protectorate in Germany. He was killed on a highway outside [[Berlin]] during an Allied Air raid as his car was strafed by a low-flying aircraft. The German High Command reported British strafing attacks near Berlin that day: ''Hamburger Zeitung'', 28 March 1945; ''OKW Bericht'' for 25 February 1945.</ref>), left Prague at 4.p m. by special train to Berlin where they were received by Dr. Otto Meissner, Head of Chancellery, at the Anhalter station at 10.40 p.m. They then went to the Hotel Adlon where the German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop called upon them. The politicians left the Adlon for the nearby New Reich Chancellery at 1 a.m. The meeting took place at 1.15 with everyone seated. Present were President Hácha, Dr. Chvalkovsky, Chancellor [[Hitler]], Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop, Field-Marshall Goering, General [[Wilhelm Keitel]], State Secretaries Baron von Weizsacker and Otto Dietrich, Legation Counsellor Walter Hewel, and Minister of State Dr. Meissner.<ref>The full and entire conversations in this meeting were minuted and placed into Memorandums which can be found in the aforementioned German Documents, 1951, pps:263-271.</ref> | ||
The Czech delegation, for "their desire to maintain peace, order and a good understanding in Central Europe", "placed with confidence | The Czech delegation, for "their desire to maintain peace, order and a good understanding in Central Europe", "placed with confidence the destiny of the nation and country" in Germany's hands.<ref>German Documents, 19512, p.270.</ref> During a conversation on the same day between the British Ambassador in Berlin and Baron von Weizsacker, State Secretary of the German Foreign Office, the latter stated that President Hácha had admitted that the only means of restoring order and preventing a ''coup'' by adherents of the fascist fanatic, Benes<ref>See also Baron Weizsaker's discussion with the British Ambassador in Berlin on March 17th where he asserted that certain Czech hopes, obviously encouraged from outside and apparently from America in particular, of a European war and of the resurgence of their country on a larger scaled had increased: in ''Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945'', editorial board, Series D, vol.vi, Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1956, p.17.</ref>, was to ask for German protection. The ''Agreement'' signed on March 15th stated: | ||
: ''The Chancellor of | : ''The Chancellor of the German [[Reich]] has today received, at their own desire and in the presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Herr von Ribbentrop, the President of the Czech State, Dr. Hácha, and the Czech Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Chvalkovsky. In the course of the meeting the serious situation created by events which have occurred during these last few weeks on what was until now Czechoslovak territory was discussed with the utmost frankness. Both parties agreed in expressing the conviction that the aim of all their efforts ought to be to ensure tranquillity, order, and peace, in this part of [[Central Europe]]. The President of the Czech State has declared that to serve this purpose, and with the object of securing a final appeasement, he entrusts with entire confidence the destiny of the Czech people and the Czech country into the hands of the Leader of the German Reich. The Chancellor has accepted this declaration and expressed his resolve to take the Czech people under the Protection of the German Reich, assuring it of an autonomous development suited to its own character. In testimony whereof this document has been signed in two copies by [[Adolf Hitler]], Dr. Hácha, Dr. von Ribbentrop, Dr. Chvalkovsky.''<ref>''French Yellow Book'', p.77.</ref> | ||
As a result, Germany occupied | As a result, Germany occupied the remaining rump Czech State, making it a Protectorate using the pre-1919 Austrian Crown Lands names of Bohemia and Moravia.<ref>Woodward et al, 1951, pps:258-9, 264-5, 269.</ref><ref>For a detailed explanation of the German actions and their background, see the German Ambassador (Dr. von Dirksen) in London's statement and discussion with Viscount Halifax on 15 March 1939 at the British Foreign Office: Woodward, et al, 1951, p.270-272.</ref> On March 17th the Italian Foreign Minister, Count Ciano, told Baron von Mackensen, the German Ambassador in Rome, that this move had Italy's "unreserved approval" and that her ''''désintéressement'' in the fate of Czechia remained complete".<ref>German Documents, 1956, p.15-16.</ref> Japan also approved.<ref>German Documents, 1951, p.278.</ref> However, the British and French Governments lodged 'Notes' of protest with the German Foreign Office in Berlin<ref>''French Yellow Book'', p.86-7.</ref><ref>german Documents, 1956, p.19-22.</ref>, and the [[United States]] announced immediate economic sanctions (increased tariffs) on German imports.<ref>''German Documents'', 1956, pps: 14,15, 19-21.</ref> The Secretary of State at the German Foreign Office, Baron von Weizsacker, told the British Ambassador that "Czech hopes, encouraged from outside and from [[USA|America]] in particular, of a European war and of the resurgence of their country on a larger scale, had increased. Tiso's dismissal by Prague had set the ball rolling. The present development was partly to be ascribed to the Czech people themselves, and partly to their ill-advised friends abroad."<ref>German Documents, 1956, p.17.</ref> | ||
The British Ambassador in Paris telegraphed Viscount Halifax a few home truths which were in | The British Ambassador in Paris telegraphed Viscount Halifax a few home truths which were in the Paris newspapers: | ||
: ''Some newspapers point out that | : ''Some newspapers point out that the break-up of Czecho-Slovakia is proof of how artificial the State was, and several writers, such as Thouvenin in the ''Homme Libre'' take the line that Europe is now paying for the mistakes of [[Versailles Treaty|Versailles]]. It is the Peace treaty'', he states, ''not the Munich Agreements, which should be blamed. Munich had indeed allowed certain initial mistakes to be repaired without a world war. Some writers add that Germany may not succeed where the Habsburgs failed, and that her policy may weaken her in the long run.''<ref>Woodward et al, 1951, p.265-6.</ref> | ||
[[File:Soviet-invasion-czechoslovakia-1968.png|thumb|300px|[[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]] in 1968]] | [[File:Soviet-invasion-czechoslovakia-1968.png|thumb|300px|[[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]] in 1968]] | ||
The [[Soviet Union]] now refused to recognise any changes whatsoever to | The [[Soviet Union]] now refused to recognise any changes whatsoever to the 1919 Czechoslovakian State.<ref>German Documents'', 1956, pps: 52-55.</ref> | ||
'''See: [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]''' | '''See: [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]''' | ||
===World War II and after=== | ===World War II and after=== | ||
The Protectorate had a very quiet war. On 9 May 1945, Prague was captured by | The Protectorate had a very quiet war. On 9 May 1945, Prague was captured by the [[Soviet Union|Red Army]]. Four days later, former President Hácha, now 73, was arrested by [[NKVD]] agents, brutally beaten and then transferred immediately to Pankrác Prison, where he died on 27 June 1945. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Vinohrady Cemetery | ||
All pre-1939 Czechoslovakia was occupied by | All pre-1939 Czechoslovakia was occupied by the [[Soviet Union]], and was then reconstituted as one of their [[Eastern Bloc]] puppet-states until 1992. With the collapse of the Communist Eastern Bloc of countries, on 1st January, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split once again into the '''[[Czech Republic]]''' and '''[[Slovakia]]'''. | ||
==Czech War Crimes== | ==Czech War Crimes== | ||
With | With the collapse of [[Greater German Reich|Greater Germany]] in May 1945, Czech partisans (a combination of communists and fanatical fascists), many of whom had spent the war years in the [[Soviet Union]], committed the most fantastic murderous atrocities against the indigenous German population who had lived in this part of Europe for up to 900 years, despite the fact that [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]] had led a charmed life during [[World War II]] with virtually no damage. The ethnically German population was totally dispossessed, often murdered, and expelled. Although the murders and atrocities of this period were reported at the time, the victorious [[Plutocracy|plutocratic]] Allies ignored them. On 1 August 1945 the Potsdam Conference Protocols (XII) stated: "The Czechoslovak Government, the Polish Provisional Government and the Control Council in Hungary are being requested meanwhile to suspend further expulsions". This was ignored by all communists. Worse, in October 1945 the new Soviet-installed Czech government announced an amnesty for all war crimes committed against Germans, military, civilian, or otherwise, thus whitewashing these crimes. | ||
Slowly a number of books appeared on these atrocities. The Association for | Slowly a number of books appeared on these atrocities. The Association for the Protection of Sudeten German Interests published the horrific ''Documents on the Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans'' compiled by Dr. Wilhelm K. Turnwald, in Munich, 1953. (German-language edition 1951.) The Federal Government of [[West Germany]] ([[Bonn]]) then produced four volumes (in three bound books, 1954, 1960 and 1961) entitled ''Documents on the Expulsions of the Germans from Eastern-Central Europe'' by a board of academics and professors who interviewed thousands of people and examined vast quantities of evidence. The esteemed American professor, Dr.Austin J. App, M.A., PhD., produced three small volumes (1976, 1977 and 1979) on ''The [[Sudetenland|Sudeten-German Tragedy]]''. The Secretary of the [[United Nations]] Human Rights Commission for over 20 years, Professor of International Law, Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, researched and wrote extensively on the subject, including ''Nemisis at [[Potsdam]]'' (1977/79), and ''A Terrible Revenge - The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans'' (2006). More recently historian Sidonia Dedina's graphic book ''Edvard Beneš - The Liquidator'', and Professor of History Raymond M. Douglas's ''Orderly and Humane'' (2012) (a pun on the instructions given by the western Allies as to how to deal with any expellees) re-opened what the Czechs would like swept under the carpet. Surprisingly, the [[BBC]] produced a shocking and harrowing documentary mainly dealing with Czech atrocities and murders in 1945 which was first broadcast on BBC2 TV on 24 May 2015. | ||
No-one has faced justice for these murderous atrocities. | No-one has faced justice for these murderous atrocities. | ||
| Line 102: | Line 102: | ||
File:German expellees in Prague 24 Apr 1945 waiting for deportation..png|German civilians in [[Prague]] rounded up by Czech terrorists await their fate, 1945. | File:German expellees in Prague 24 Apr 1945 waiting for deportation..png|German civilians in [[Prague]] rounded up by Czech terrorists await their fate, 1945. | ||
File:German civilians being expelled from Pilsen May 1945.png|German civilians being expelled from [[Pilsen]], May 1945. | File:German civilians being expelled from Pilsen May 1945.png|German civilians being expelled from [[Pilsen]], May 1945. | ||
File:German civilians murdered by Czechs await mass burial..png|German civilians murdered by Czechs await | File:German civilians murdered by Czechs await mass burial..png|German civilians murdered by Czechs await the mass grave. | ||
File:Germans being expelled from | File:Germans being expelled from the Sudetenland by the Czechs 1945-6.png|German civilians being expelled from their homes in the Sudetenland by the Czechs. | ||
File:Germans murdered by Czechs in | File:Germans murdered by Czechs in the Sudetenland 1945.png|German civilians executed at the side of a road by Czech terrorists | ||
File:Germans murdered by | File:Germans murdered by the Czechs Sudetenland 1945.png|Germans forced to dig roadside graves for their executed kin (above) before being executed themselves by the Czechs. | ||
File:Germany_memorial_to_Sudetan_dead.png|Memorial in Germany to | File:Germany_memorial_to_Sudetan_dead.png|Memorial in Germany to the murdered ethnic German population of the [[Sudetenland]]. | ||
File:German Sudetenlanders meet in Berlin 1963.jpeg|In 1963, Sudetenland expellees and their families gathered in [[Berlin]] for a rally celebrating | File:German Sudetenlanders meet in Berlin 1963.jpeg|In 1963, Sudetenland expellees and their families gathered in [[Berlin]] for a rally celebrating the 'Day of the Homeland' (''Tag der Heimat''). | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*[[Documents on | *[[Documents on the Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans]] | ||
==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
*[[Bertram de Colonna]]: "Czecho-Slovakia Within", Thornton Butterworth, London 1938 ([http://www.wintersonnenwende.com/scriptorium/english/archives/czechoslovakiawithin/csw00.html The book in HTML]) | *[[Bertram de Colonna]]: "Czecho-Slovakia Within", Thornton Butterworth, London 1938 ([http://www.wintersonnenwende.com/scriptorium/english/archives/czechoslovakiawithin/csw00.html The book in HTML]) | ||
* ''The Crisis in Czechoslovakia, April 24 - October 13, 1938'' by | * ''The Crisis in Czechoslovakia, April 24 - October 13, 1938'' by the Carnegie International Conciliation for International Peace, no.344, New York City, Nov 1938. | ||
* ''Documents on | * ''Documents on the Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans'' compiled by Dr. Wilhelm K. Turnwald, Munich, 1953. (German-language edition 1951.) | ||
* ''The Expulsion of | * ''The Expulsion of the German Population from Czechoslovakia'', edited by Professor Theodor Schieder, ''et al'', Federal Ministry for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims, [[Bonn]], West Germany, 1960, Band IV, 1 and IV, 2. | ||
* ''The Czechoslovak Political Trials 1950-1954'' - The Suppressed Report of | * ''The Czechoslovak Political Trials 1950-1954'' - The Suppressed Report of the Dubceck Government's Commission of Inquiry, 1968, edited by Jirí Pelikán, Macdonald & Co., London, 1971, ISBN: 0-356-3585-9 | ||
* ''Essays in Czech History'' by R. R. Betts, University of London/Athlone Press, 1969. | * ''Essays in Czech History'' by R. R. Betts, University of London/Athlone Press, 1969. | ||
* ''The Sudeten-German Tragedy'' by Dr. Austin J. App, PhD., [[Maryland]], 1979. | * ''The Sudeten-German Tragedy'' by Dr. Austin J. App, PhD., [[Maryland]], 1979. | ||
* ''Edvard Beneš - The Liquidator'' by Sidonia Dedina, USA, 2001, ISBN: 0-9663968-4-7 | * ''Edvard Beneš - The Liquidator'' by Sidonia Dedina, USA, 2001, ISBN: 0-9663968-4-7 | ||
* ''A Terrible Revenge'' by Alfred M. de Zayas, 4th edition, Macmillan, England, May 2006, ISBN: 978-1-4039-7308-5 | * ''A Terrible Revenge'' by Alfred M. de Zayas, 4th edition, Macmillan, England, May 2006, ISBN: 978-1-4039-7308-5 | ||
*George Henry: "The Czech Conspiracy. A Phase in | *George Henry: "The Czech Conspiracy. A Phase in the World-War Plot." ([http://www.wintersonnenwende.com/scriptorium/english/archives/czechconspiracy/cc00.html The book in HTML]) | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Latest revision as of 14:48, 28 April 2024
Czechoslovakia (Česko-Slovensko) was an artificial republic[1][2][3] in Central Europe created by the plutocratic liberal Western Allies at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, comprising of ancient provinces of Austria-Hungary. It subsequently became a protégé of France as well as a member of the Little Entente, and the League of Nations.
- A diseased state ~ Polish Marshal Pilsudski.[4]
- Not a country at all - the worst abortion that has come out of Woodrow Wilson's brain. ~ Gringoire newspaper, Paris, 9 April, 1938.[5]
Basic statistics
The area of the new State was 54,244 square miles and in 1934 the population was 14,729,536, of whom about 7,300,000 were Czechs and 2,300,000 Slovaks, 3,231,688 Germans, 691,923 Hungarians, 549,164 Ruthenians, Russians and Ukrainians, 186,642 jews (by nationality), 81, 737 Poles, and 49, 737 others. There were 249,971 persons not Czecho-Slovak citizens. The Czechs inhabited chiefly the centres of Bohemia and Moravia; the Slovaks, north and central Slovakia; the Germans the west and north of Bohemia, and north Moravia, forming about one-third of the populations of Bohemia and Moravia; the Hungarians, along the southern fringe of Slovakia; the Ruthenians, Carpatho-Ruthenia; the Poles, that part of Silesia falling within the new State's borders. 10,831,696 persons in 1930 were Roman Catholics; 585,041 Greek and Armenian Catholics (nearly all Ruthenians); 1,129,758 were Protestants; 145,598 Orthodox (Ruthenians); 356,830 (2.4%) jews.[7]
The chief towns (with 1930 populations) were: Prague, 848,823; Brünn, 264,925; Mahrisch-Ostrau, 125,347; Pressburg, 123,892; Pilsen, 114,704; Kaschau, 70,232; Olmutz, 66,440.[8]
Political history
The Czechs greeted the Russian Revolution "with boundless admiration and enthusiasm" and "solemnly declared the Czech people's will to freedom and independence", demanding in the Vienna Reichsrat assembly on 30 May 1917 the reshaping of the Monarchy into a "federal State of free national states with equal rights"; they also demanded the joining up of the Czechs and Slovaks in a single unit.[9] In the event they were given full independence by the victorious plutocratic Western Allies at the Paris Peace Conferences.
The founder President of the new State, which included the Austrian Crown Lands of Bohemia and Moravia, and Hungarian Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia, was Thomas Masaryk (1850-1937), a philosopher and Francophile. The government pinned its foreign policy to the Little Entente and to France.[10] On 14 August 1920 Czechoslovakia signed a Treaty of Alliance with Yugoslavia, and again with Romania on 23 April 1921, both clearly aimed at Hungary; and with France on 25 January 1924 aimed at Germany. On 16 May 1935 Czechoslovakia concluded a Treaty of Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union.
The Czechs and the others
The new State's government was formed by the Czech National Socialist Party, the title of which indicated the government's policies. Despite consisting of less than half the population (43%), the Czechs assumed almost all positions of government and authority and began to oppress the other peoples of the State with their hegemony, including their insistence that everyone speak their language. German civil servants were obliged to pass an examination in Czech; the effect was to halve the proportion of Germans in the civil service. The German population, who had lived in this region as long as the Czechs, were effectively excluded from the 1919 elections and on 14 March 1919 took place the infamous massacre of Kaaden where Czech gendarmes and troops killed fifty-two Germans and wounded another eight-four. The German landowners as well as the aristocracy (often one and the same) bore the brunt of left-wing and fascist 'land reform' (meaning selective expropriation and redistribution). Industries were nationalised, German schools were closed down by the Czech authorities, while new Czech schools were built even in towns where only a few Czech families lived.[11] English author Alexander Powell, writing in 1928, said "that of all the countries of eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia is the best risk [of trouble]. This lies in the selfishness displayed by the Czechs of Bohemia in their relations with others". He continues: "the Czechs have stubbornly refused to listen to reason, even when arguments for a change in their attitude have been advanced by friends. Their frontiers were fixed at Trianon 'for all time', they assert, and in their refusal to consider any revision they are adamant. Their uncompromising attitude is doubtless attributable to the fact that just at present they are considerably 'above themselves'. But such a frame of mind is hardly surprising in a people who obtained their independence so recently, so suddenly, who have had good fortune literally thrust upon them."[12]
Despite German being the official language for centuries, ethnic German/Austrian civil servants who now found themselves in Czechoslovakia were obliged to pass an examination in Czech; the effect was to halve the proportion of Germans in the Civil Service. Huge numbers of German schools were closed down by the Czech authorities, while new Czech schools were built even in towns where only a few Czech families lived. "Land Reform" (meaning selective expropriation and redistribution, or State theft) notably of the estates of Austrian-German aristocracy, was also high on their agenda.[13] By 1928 "Something like a wave of terror had swept over Slovakia".[14] British historian Donald Cameron Watt relates that "for twenty years Czech officials assumed extensive almost colonial-style responsibility for affairs in the Slovak and Ruthene provinces. They antagonised Slovaks by their tactless assumption of superiority and their didactic manners". The Czech Secret Police seemed to be everywhere.[15] Therefore from the outset there were problems between the Czechs, Slovakians, Ruthenians and Germans, the latter three all wanting autonomy. The Slovaks, for instance, had originally (1919) been promised a great degree of autonomy.[16] This failed to materialise in any serious form until it was too late. Over 500,000 people were unemployed in Czechoslovakia in April 1937.
The British Ambassador in Prague, Newton, had an audience of over 3.5 hours with the Czech President Benes on 8th November 1937 where the latter laid bare his anti-German sentiments, particularly to the huge German population of Czechoslovakia, and it became clear that Benes had no intentions of adhering to the Minorities Treaties.[17]
In a telegram to the London Foreign Office on 3rd May 1938 Sir Neville Henderson, British Ambassador in Berlin, stated that the French and United States Ambassadors agreed with him that at the very least Czechoslovakia would have to be federalised.[18]
Newton wrote to Viscount Halifax on 1 November 1938: "There can be little doubt that the democratic system as it has developed in this country during the past twenty years has not been a wholly unmixed blessing, even for the Czechs by whom and for whom it was elaborated..... Party considerations were only too often given pride of place over national. Moreover, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that all public appointments, even down to that of a crossing sweeper, depended upon possession of the necessary party ticket, so that each party became almost a State within a State....Today....one of the constant themes in the press is that public life and the social services must be cleansed of patronage and the misuse of political influence. Criticism is heard not only of the quality but of the quantity of officials in the civil service. It is said, for example, that there are more officials in the Czech Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Prague than there were in the Ballplatz of Imperial Vienna." Newton continues his report on the various parties and the almost political anarchy which exists in the country as a whole.[19]
Sudetenland crisis
As the inflammable unrest in the Sudetenland gathered pace in Czechoslovakia and was treated almost casually by the Czech government, the situation in France became equally inflamed because of the cordon sanitaire treaties [aimed at Germany] France had entered into in the previous 18 years, including an alliance with Czechoslovakia. France was fairly evenly split between those who wanted to somehow honour this alliance (regardless of the Locarno Treaty) and those who did not. In February 1938 there was a hugely volatile debate in the French Chamber of Deputies on the subject, and in March and April an almost violent press campaign broke out in Paris against Czechoslovakia. The newspapers included Candide, Jour and the Gringoire - "Will you fight for the Czechs?" - were supported by the Action Francaise, the Journal de Débats, and by a number of provincial papers like the Petit Provencal, the Eclaireur de Nice, the Dépeche of Toulouse, and others. Professor Joseph Barthelémy wrote in the Paris Temps: "Is it worthwhile setting fire to the world simply in order to save the Czechoslovak State, a heap of different nationalities?".[20]
On 24 April 1938 the Sudeten German Party (who formed the second-largest party in the Parliament) outlined at Karlsbad their Eight-Point Demands for full equality for Germans with Czechs, including full autonomy and self-government for German areas. This was followed by a formal Memorandum in considerable detail submitted to the Czechoslovak Government on 7 June 1938[21]. There were 14 points set forth including Local Diets, Public Servants, etc. The Czechoslovakian Government replied in summary form in what they called their "Fourth Plan" submitted to the Sudeten Germany party on 6 September 1938[22] with 19 points, over three months later. The President of Czechoslovakia, the notorious Edvard Beneš, broadcast the same day[23] a pure propaganda speech by this chronic Czech fascist. Both the "Fourth Plan" and Benes' speech were considered for what they were by the minorities, who constituted 57% of the country. By now it was almost certainly too late for these platitudes. On 13 September 1938 the Sudeten German Party, representing 3.5 million Germans, issued a Communiqué containing terms of an Ultimatum to the Czechoslovak Government[24]
In August 1938, the British Government had despatched Lord Runciman of Doxford and his entourage to Prague to examine the overall situation with all parties and to mediate in the Sudeten German-Czechoslovak Government debates. In his report to the British Prime Minister dated 21 September 1938[25] he outlined at considerable length the significant problems, from post-1919 government land confiscations (called "Land Reform" by the Czechs), police issues, and a host of other complaints. he added: "I could find no readiness on the part of the Czechoslovak Government to remedy issues on anything like an adequate scale......there is real danger of a civil war..........a very large majority of the inhabitants desire amalgamation with Germany. I consider, therefore, that these frontier districts should at once be transferred from Czechoslovakia to Germany and further that measures for their peaceful transfer, including provisions of safeguards for the population during the transfer period, should be arranged......There would still remain in Czechoslovakia a large number of Germans, and in the area transferred to Germany there would still be a certain number of Czechs. Economic connexions are so close that absolute separation is not only undesirable but inconceivable; I repeat my conviction that history has proved that in times of peace two peoples can live together on friendly terms" [Germans and Austrians had lived in Bohemia and Moravia for 900 years].
On 21 September 1938 the Soviet Union's Foreign Commissar, Maxim Litvinoff, addressed the League of Nations saying that the Sudetenland issues were "the internal business of the Czechoslovak State.[26]
jews
The British Ambassador at Prague (Newton), following a visit to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 22 October 1938, reported to London that the Czechs wanted emigration for their jews and asked the British Government to assist. Referring to jewish recent immigration, Newton stated "the last thing the Czechs wanted today was an addition to their jewish population....feeling against them in the country was rising." The Czechs asked the British to "make representations in Berlin to stop the German authorities 'dumping' these unwanted jews from occupied territories into what remained of Czechoslovakia." Newton said to London that these requests were reasonable.[27] Newton wrote again on November 1st of the "anti-Semitic trend, and ant-Semitic demonstrations have even taken place in Prague".[28]
Dissolution of the failed Versailles State
The Munich Agreement of 29/30 September 1938 finally detached the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and attached it to Greater Germany on the grounds of self-determination, supposedly one of the original cornerstones of the Versailles Treaty. In many quarters the Munich Agreement was viewed merely as Teutonic revanchism. Most of Europe celebrated the Munich Agreement, which was presented as a necessary way to prevent a war on the continent. The British Ambassador in Berlin stated "the incorporation of Austrians and Sudeten Germans into the Reich was in principle not an unnatural development, was not an ignoble aspiration for Germans, and was not even ethically immoral. Both the Ostmark [Austria] and Sudetenland were inhabited by populations almost entirely German living on the frontiers of Germany and their incorporation was in conformity with rights of self-determination."[29]
Poland now presented an ultimatum to the Czech Government for the immediate cession of Teschen and Freistadt (the frontier coal-mining district east of Mahrisch-Ostrau) at about midnight on 1st October 1938 requesting a response by midday. The British Government, being made aware of this immediately, protested that this was "wholly contrary to the spirit of the Munich Agreement which provided that the settlement of territorial problems in Czecho-Slovakia should be achieved by negotiation and not by force".[30] Despite representations Poland ignored them and invaded the following day, annexing the province of Teschen. On November 1st Poland also occupied some northern parts of Slovakia; and further obtained from Czecho-Slovakia: Zaolzie, territories around Suchá Hora and Hladovka, around Javorina, and in addition the territory around Lesnica in the Pieniny Mountains, a small territory around Skalité and some other small border regions.
Unrest was breaking out everywhere. The British Ambassador to Prague, accompanied by his Military Attaché (Major G. A. C. MacNab) and Ian Henderson, a Legation Observer, reported to the German Chargé d'Affairs on October 2nd that in villages in Zone One of the Munich Agreement disturbances had broken out among the local populations. Armed Communists in particular had been noticed. They felt an untenable state of affairs might develop and lead to bloodshed; it was too late to take steps regarding the first zone, but something must be done at once about the other zones.[31]
In October Federation was implemented by the Czechoslovakian State Parliament, after which the name of the state became hyphenated: Czecho-Slovakia[32]
The Royal Hungarian government also tabled demands regarding former Hungarian lands in the south of Czecho-Slovakia.[33] This soon resulted in the First Vienna Award on 2 November 1938, detaching majority Hungarian-inhabited territories in southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia from Czecho-Slovakia and returning them to Hungary.
On 14 March 1939, the Slovakian Diet voted for and unanimously declared its full independence, and the First Slovak Republic was proclaimed.[34][35] It was recognised the following day by Poland, who immediately despatched a new Minister, and Hungary.[36] The French Ambassador in Berlin, writing to Georges Bonnet, France's Minister for Foreign Affairs the same day, declared that Slovakia's independence has "broken up the framework of the Czecho-Slovak federal State.......Events in Slovakia have had an immediate repercussion in Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia where Prime Minister Volosin has also proclaimed independence and requested German protection, saying "in view of the declaration of independence by Slovakia it is impossible for the Ruthenian people to remain within the federative union of the Czechoslovak State".[37] Indeed as the result of clashes with the Czech forces, Hungarian troops have already entered Ruthenian territory."[38]
On the same day the Secretary-General of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed an ultimatum to the Czech Ambassador in Budapest giving the Czechs twelve hours to withdraw all their troops from Carpathian Ruthenia, release of interned Hungarians, and full freedom for Hungarian organisations in Ruthenia. At the expiry of this ultimatum Hungary occupied the whole of Carpathian Ruthenia without opposition. Hungary's Prime Minister Count Teleki stated "This land, the vital interests of which attach it to Hungary, and which belonged to the mother country for one thousand years, we now re-attach, with its autonomy that is founded on ancient rights, to Hungary."[39] The German Chargé d'Affaires in the USA, Thomsen, advised Berlin that Carpathian Ruthenia was being treated there as de facto Hungarian territory which, with Hungary, will enjoy 'most-favoured-nation' status including tariff concessions.[40]
The Sudetenland, Slovakia, Carpathian Ruthenia and Teschen etc., had now all been detached from Czecho-Slovakia, leaving it as a rump state. "The future of what remains of the Czech Republic, that is of Bohemia and Moravia, is itself under discussion."[41]
The British Ambassador in Berlin telegraphed Viscount Halifax in London, on March 14th: "Press reports from Czecho-Slovakia which yesterday still contained long accounts of ill-treatment of the Slovaks, are now concentrating almost entirely on the position of the German minority [not in Sudetenland] with full particulars of all the brutalities. Commentators say that the position has become untenable........revolting incidents have taken place at Brünn, a town which is claimed to have belonged to the German sphere for centuries and in which there are still 60,000 German inhabitants."[42] The German Chancellor's subsequent Proclamation continued in this vein: "From the thickly populated German-language 'islands' which Germany's generosity left to Czecho-Slovakia last autumn [referring to the Munich Agreement], the stream of refugees and people, bereft of their all, is beginning again to flow into the Reich. The perpetuation of these conditions must lead to the destruction of the last vestiges of order in a region in which Germany is vitally interested, and which has itself belonged for over 1000 years to the German [Holy Roman] Empire."[43]
At Prague, on 14 March 1939, at 11:25 a.m., the Czech Foreign Minister sent the following handwritten letter in an envelope marked "confidential" to the home of the German Chargé d'Affaires. It was immediately telegraphed to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin:
- My dear Chargé d'Affairs: with reference to our telephone conversation yesterday, I have the honour to inquire through your good offices whether His Excellency the Reich Chancellor would grant President Dr. Emil Hácha the opportunity of a personal interview. With the assurance of my highest esteem, I am, Yours sincerely, Dr.Chvalkovsky."[44]
The following day, President Dr. Emil Hácha, his wife and daughter, Cabinet Minister Jiří Havelka, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. František Chvalkovský[45]), left Prague at 4.p m. by special train to Berlin where they were received by Dr. Otto Meissner, Head of Chancellery, at the Anhalter station at 10.40 p.m. They then went to the Hotel Adlon where the German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop called upon them. The politicians left the Adlon for the nearby New Reich Chancellery at 1 a.m. The meeting took place at 1.15 with everyone seated. Present were President Hácha, Dr. Chvalkovsky, Chancellor Hitler, Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop, Field-Marshall Goering, General Wilhelm Keitel, State Secretaries Baron von Weizsacker and Otto Dietrich, Legation Counsellor Walter Hewel, and Minister of State Dr. Meissner.[46]
The Czech delegation, for "their desire to maintain peace, order and a good understanding in Central Europe", "placed with confidence the destiny of the nation and country" in Germany's hands.[47] During a conversation on the same day between the British Ambassador in Berlin and Baron von Weizsacker, State Secretary of the German Foreign Office, the latter stated that President Hácha had admitted that the only means of restoring order and preventing a coup by adherents of the fascist fanatic, Benes[48], was to ask for German protection. The Agreement signed on March 15th stated:
- The Chancellor of the German Reich has today received, at their own desire and in the presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Herr von Ribbentrop, the President of the Czech State, Dr. Hácha, and the Czech Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Chvalkovsky. In the course of the meeting the serious situation created by events which have occurred during these last few weeks on what was until now Czechoslovak territory was discussed with the utmost frankness. Both parties agreed in expressing the conviction that the aim of all their efforts ought to be to ensure tranquillity, order, and peace, in this part of Central Europe. The President of the Czech State has declared that to serve this purpose, and with the object of securing a final appeasement, he entrusts with entire confidence the destiny of the Czech people and the Czech country into the hands of the Leader of the German Reich. The Chancellor has accepted this declaration and expressed his resolve to take the Czech people under the Protection of the German Reich, assuring it of an autonomous development suited to its own character. In testimony whereof this document has been signed in two copies by Adolf Hitler, Dr. Hácha, Dr. von Ribbentrop, Dr. Chvalkovsky.[49]
As a result, Germany occupied the remaining rump Czech State, making it a Protectorate using the pre-1919 Austrian Crown Lands names of Bohemia and Moravia.[50][51] On March 17th the Italian Foreign Minister, Count Ciano, told Baron von Mackensen, the German Ambassador in Rome, that this move had Italy's "unreserved approval" and that her ''désintéressement in the fate of Czechia remained complete".[52] Japan also approved.[53] However, the British and French Governments lodged 'Notes' of protest with the German Foreign Office in Berlin[54][55], and the United States announced immediate economic sanctions (increased tariffs) on German imports.[56] The Secretary of State at the German Foreign Office, Baron von Weizsacker, told the British Ambassador that "Czech hopes, encouraged from outside and from America in particular, of a European war and of the resurgence of their country on a larger scale, had increased. Tiso's dismissal by Prague had set the ball rolling. The present development was partly to be ascribed to the Czech people themselves, and partly to their ill-advised friends abroad."[57]
The British Ambassador in Paris telegraphed Viscount Halifax a few home truths which were in the Paris newspapers:
- Some newspapers point out that the break-up of Czecho-Slovakia is proof of how artificial the State was, and several writers, such as Thouvenin in the Homme Libre take the line that Europe is now paying for the mistakes of Versailles. It is the Peace treaty, he states, not the Munich Agreements, which should be blamed. Munich had indeed allowed certain initial mistakes to be repaired without a world war. Some writers add that Germany may not succeed where the Habsburgs failed, and that her policy may weaken her in the long run.[58]
The Soviet Union now refused to recognise any changes whatsoever to the 1919 Czechoslovakian State.[59]
See: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
World War II and after
The Protectorate had a very quiet war. On 9 May 1945, Prague was captured by the Red Army. Four days later, former President Hácha, now 73, was arrested by NKVD agents, brutally beaten and then transferred immediately to Pankrác Prison, where he died on 27 June 1945. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Vinohrady Cemetery
All pre-1939 Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Soviet Union, and was then reconstituted as one of their Eastern Bloc puppet-states until 1992. With the collapse of the Communist Eastern Bloc of countries, on 1st January, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split once again into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Czech War Crimes
With the collapse of Greater Germany in May 1945, Czech partisans (a combination of communists and fanatical fascists), many of whom had spent the war years in the Soviet Union, committed the most fantastic murderous atrocities against the indigenous German population who had lived in this part of Europe for up to 900 years, despite the fact that Bohemia and Moravia had led a charmed life during World War II with virtually no damage. The ethnically German population was totally dispossessed, often murdered, and expelled. Although the murders and atrocities of this period were reported at the time, the victorious plutocratic Allies ignored them. On 1 August 1945 the Potsdam Conference Protocols (XII) stated: "The Czechoslovak Government, the Polish Provisional Government and the Control Council in Hungary are being requested meanwhile to suspend further expulsions". This was ignored by all communists. Worse, in October 1945 the new Soviet-installed Czech government announced an amnesty for all war crimes committed against Germans, military, civilian, or otherwise, thus whitewashing these crimes.
Slowly a number of books appeared on these atrocities. The Association for the Protection of Sudeten German Interests published the horrific Documents on the Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans compiled by Dr. Wilhelm K. Turnwald, in Munich, 1953. (German-language edition 1951.) The Federal Government of West Germany (Bonn) then produced four volumes (in three bound books, 1954, 1960 and 1961) entitled Documents on the Expulsions of the Germans from Eastern-Central Europe by a board of academics and professors who interviewed thousands of people and examined vast quantities of evidence. The esteemed American professor, Dr.Austin J. App, M.A., PhD., produced three small volumes (1976, 1977 and 1979) on The Sudeten-German Tragedy. The Secretary of the United Nations Human Rights Commission for over 20 years, Professor of International Law, Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, researched and wrote extensively on the subject, including Nemisis at Potsdam (1977/79), and A Terrible Revenge - The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans (2006). More recently historian Sidonia Dedina's graphic book Edvard Beneš - The Liquidator, and Professor of History Raymond M. Douglas's Orderly and Humane (2012) (a pun on the instructions given by the western Allies as to how to deal with any expellees) re-opened what the Czechs would like swept under the carpet. Surprisingly, the BBC produced a shocking and harrowing documentary mainly dealing with Czech atrocities and murders in 1945 which was first broadcast on BBC2 TV on 24 May 2015.
No-one has faced justice for these murderous atrocities.
- German expellees in Prague 24 Apr 1945 waiting for deportation..png
German civilians in Prague rounded up by Czech terrorists await their fate, 1945.
- German civilians being expelled from Pilsen May 1945.png
German civilians being expelled from Pilsen, May 1945.
- German civilians murdered by Czechs await mass burial..png
German civilians murdered by Czechs await the mass grave.
- Germans being expelled from the Sudetenland by the Czechs 1945-6.png
German civilians being expelled from their homes in the Sudetenland by the Czechs.
- Germans murdered by Czechs in the Sudetenland 1945.png
German civilians executed at the side of a road by Czech terrorists
- Germans murdered by the Czechs Sudetenland 1945.png
Germans forced to dig roadside graves for their executed kin (above) before being executed themselves by the Czechs.
- Germany memorial to Sudetan dead.png
Memorial in Germany to the murdered ethnic German population of the Sudetenland.
- German Sudetenlanders meet in Berlin 1963.jpeg
In 1963, Sudetenland expellees and their families gathered in Berlin for a rally celebrating the 'Day of the Homeland' (Tag der Heimat).
See also
Further reading
- Bertram de Colonna: "Czecho-Slovakia Within", Thornton Butterworth, London 1938 (The book in HTML)
- The Crisis in Czechoslovakia, April 24 - October 13, 1938 by the Carnegie International Conciliation for International Peace, no.344, New York City, Nov 1938.
- Documents on the Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans compiled by Dr. Wilhelm K. Turnwald, Munich, 1953. (German-language edition 1951.)
- The Expulsion of the German Population from Czechoslovakia, edited by Professor Theodor Schieder, et al, Federal Ministry for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims, Bonn, West Germany, 1960, Band IV, 1 and IV, 2.
- The Czechoslovak Political Trials 1950-1954 - The Suppressed Report of the Dubceck Government's Commission of Inquiry, 1968, edited by Jirí Pelikán, Macdonald & Co., London, 1971, ISBN: 0-356-3585-9
- Essays in Czech History by R. R. Betts, University of London/Athlone Press, 1969.
- The Sudeten-German Tragedy by Dr. Austin J. App, PhD., Maryland, 1979.
- Edvard Beneš - The Liquidator by Sidonia Dedina, USA, 2001, ISBN: 0-9663968-4-7
- A Terrible Revenge by Alfred M. de Zayas, 4th edition, Macmillan, England, May 2006, ISBN: 978-1-4039-7308-5
- George Henry: "The Czech Conspiracy. A Phase in the World-War Plot." (The book in HTML)
References
- ↑ The Tragedy of Trianon by Sir Robert Donald, G.B.E., LL.B., London, 1928, pps: 25-6, 57-8.
- ↑ Czecho-Slovakia Within by Count Bertram de Colonna, London, 1938, p.9.
- ↑ The Origins of the Second World War by A. J. P. Taylor, London, 1961, p.201.
- ↑ Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, Lambert, Margaret, editors, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939 Third Series, vol.iii, HMSO, London, 1950, p.430.
- ↑ Werth, Alexander, France and Munich, Hamish Hamilton, 1939; reprinted by Howard Fertig Inc., New York, 1969, p.118.
- ↑ Speech by German Chancellor Hitler at the NSP Congress, Nuremberg, Germany, 12th September 1938.
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the year 1938, London, 1938, pps: 354 &188.
- ↑ Britannica, 1938, p.188.
- ↑ Temperley, H.W.V., editor, A History of the Peace Conference of Paris, vol.iv, London, 1921, p.78.
- ↑ Britannica, 1938, p.189.
- ↑ Ferguson, Niall, The War of the World, Allen Lane pubs., London 2006, p.167-8. ISBN:0-713-99708-7
- ↑ Powell, E., Alexander, Embattled Borders, London, 1928, p.227 and chapter VI.
- ↑ Ferguson, Niall, The War of the World, London, 2006, ISBN-13: 978-0-713-99708-8, p.168-9.
- ↑ Donald, 1928, p.28.
- ↑ Donald, 1928, index - many mentions.
- ↑ Britannica, 1938, p.188.
- ↑ Medlicott, Professor W.M., Dakin, Professor Douglas, Bennett, Gillian, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1938, Second series, vol.xix, HMSO, London, 1982, pps: 483-488.
- ↑ Woodward, Professor E. l., & Butler, Rohan, editors, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939, Third Series, vol.1, His Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1949, p.238.
- ↑ Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, & Lambert Margaret, editors, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939, Third Series, vol. iii, London, 1950, p.214-8 - a most important comprehensive Report.
- ↑ Werth, 1939/1969, pps:118-121.
- ↑ Published in the London Times newspaper, 20 July 1938.
- ↑ Published in the London Times newspaper on 10 September, 1939.
- ↑ Published in the New York Times newspaper, 11 September 1938.
- ↑ Published in the New York Times, 14 September 1938.
- ↑ Published in the New York Times, 29 September, 1938.
- ↑ New York Times, 22 September 1938.
- ↑ Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, & Lambert Margaret, editors, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939, Third Series, vol. iii, London, 1950, p.195.
- ↑ Woodward, et al, 1950, p.215.
- ↑ Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, & Lambert, Margaret, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939, Third Series, vol.iv, His Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1951, p.279.
- ↑ Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945 by an editorial board, Series D, vol.iv, Washington, D.C., 1951, p.6-7.
- ↑ German Documents, 1951, p.17.
- ↑ Taylor, 1961, p.201.
- ↑ German Documents, 1951, pps: 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 25, et al.
- ↑ German Documents, 1951, p.250.
- ↑ The French Yellow Book (1938-1939), published by the French Government, English-language edition, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1939, p.73.
- ↑ Woodward, Prof. E.L., Butler, Rohan, & Lambert, Margaret, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939, Third Series, vol.iv, His Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1951, pps: 246, 254, 262-4.
- ↑ German Documents, 1951, p.251.
- ↑ French Yellow Book p.73-4.
- ↑ Woodward et al, 1951, pps: 248, 277.
- ↑ German Documents, 1956, p.66.
- ↑ French Yellow Book, p.74.
- ↑ Woodward et al, 1951, p.251.
- ↑ Woodward et al, 1951, p.257.
- ↑ German Documents, 1951, p.255.
- ↑ After the Czech Foreign Ministry was closed, Chvalkovský became an envoy of the Protectorate in Germany. He was killed on a highway outside Berlin during an Allied Air raid as his car was strafed by a low-flying aircraft. The German High Command reported British strafing attacks near Berlin that day: Hamburger Zeitung, 28 March 1945; OKW Bericht for 25 February 1945.
- ↑ The full and entire conversations in this meeting were minuted and placed into Memorandums which can be found in the aforementioned German Documents, 1951, pps:263-271.
- ↑ German Documents, 19512, p.270.
- ↑ See also Baron Weizsaker's discussion with the British Ambassador in Berlin on March 17th where he asserted that certain Czech hopes, obviously encouraged from outside and apparently from America in particular, of a European war and of the resurgence of their country on a larger scaled had increased: in Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945, editorial board, Series D, vol.vi, Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1956, p.17.
- ↑ French Yellow Book, p.77.
- ↑ Woodward et al, 1951, pps:258-9, 264-5, 269.
- ↑ For a detailed explanation of the German actions and their background, see the German Ambassador (Dr. von Dirksen) in London's statement and discussion with Viscount Halifax on 15 March 1939 at the British Foreign Office: Woodward, et al, 1951, p.270-272.
- ↑ German Documents, 1956, p.15-16.
- ↑ German Documents, 1951, p.278.
- ↑ French Yellow Book, p.86-7.
- ↑ german Documents, 1956, p.19-22.
- ↑ German Documents, 1956, pps: 14,15, 19-21.
- ↑ German Documents, 1956, p.17.
- ↑ Woodward et al, 1951, p.265-6.
- ↑ German Documents, 1956, pps: 52-55.