** World War II -- Czechoslovakia next Nazi victim








World War II Czechoslavakia: Next NAZI Victim (September 1938)


Figure 1.--To often it is thought that the NAZIs just targeted Jews. Billions of people around the world today do not even know that they were NAZI targets. A major NAZI target was the Slavs, including the Czechs. Quickly after annexing Austria, Hitler turned to his next victim. Czecheslovakia like Austria was a creation of the hated Versailles Peace Treaty. Hitler was very careful. As with his domestic enemies, he went after them one at a time. While focusing on Austria, he muted criticism of Czrechoslovaki and Poland, two new states he planned to destroy. After the Austrian Anchluss, Hitler began to escalate his tirades against Czecheslovakia. His major claim was that the ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland were being mistreated. This was, however, not the limit of the tirades aginst the Czechs. The propaganda campaign over seen by Propaganda Minister Goebbels portrayed the Czechs as racially inferior and because of this the Czechs lived in povery and want -- racially incapable of creating a prosperous state and society. The photograph here was an example of NAZI propaganda leading up to the Munich Conference. It was produced by the Sharl Bildrdienst, Berlin (Sharrl picture service, Berlin). The caption read, "Bilder klagen an ! So liess der Tschechenstaat das su detendeutsche Land zum Elendsgebiet werden ! So leben sie seit zwei Jahrzehnten ! Die grössten Abraumhalden der raun kohlengruben von Daschwitz bei Karlsbad bergen für die Aermsten der Armen noch Werte. Sie graben Stollen, die bis zu 10 und 15 Meter tief reichen. Von dort unten holen sie Kohlen stückchen herauf. Für den Handwagen voll Braunkohle erhalten sie 5 bis 10 Kronen. Wenn die Polizei sei bei dieser Tagesmühe beschlagnahmt. Tödliche Unhaben zu dem Verbot geführt. Daher wird im Schutz der Dunkelheit vielfach Bei Abdruck nennen." Roughly translated that meant, "Images impeach! So the Czechs state let the German developed country become a misery area! So they have live for two decades! [HBC note: Meaning since inedendence.] The largest waste dumps of coal mines [raun of Dasch joke?] in Karlsbad still hold value ​​for the poorest of the poor. They dig tunnels that reach up to 10 and 15 meters deep. From down there they pick up coal fragments. For the handcart filled with coal they get 5 to 10 crowns. If the Czech police police appear, they confiscated the carts and coal and there is trouble. Deadly accidents led to the ban. Therefore, in many cases this now occurs under cover of darkness." This narrative essentially became the justification for aggression and murder as spelled out in Generalpln Ost.

Quickly after annexing Austria, Hitler turned to his next victim. Czecheslovakia like Austria was a creation of the hated Versailles Peace Treaty. Hitler was very careful. As with his domestic enenies, he went after one at a time. While focusing on Austria, he muted criticism of Czrechoslovaki and Poland, two new states he planned to destroy. After the Austrian Anchluss, Hitler began to escalate his tirades against Czecheslovakia. His major claim was that the ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland were being mistreated. This was, however, not the limit of the tirades aginst the Czechs. The propaganda campaign over seen by Propaganda Minister Goebbels portrayed the Czechs as racially inferior and because of this the Czechs lived in povery and want, racially incapable of creating a prosperous state and society. The NAZI rearmament program, the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the Anchluss with Austria came as a shock to Czecheslovakia. Even more so, the lack of response from Britain and France. The Czechs who had defensive alliance with France were prepared to fight. Even with the Anchluss, many Europeans chose to see the NAZI actions as domestic German matters. This changed with Hitler's next target--Czecheslovakia. Hitler in 1938 demanded the Sudetenland in Czecheslovakia, a border region with a majority German population. Thus durung the resulting crisis. The tenions that Hitler steadily esclted would led to the Munich Conference. And at Munich Hitler insisted that he just wanted to unite Germans and did not threaten the Czechs. And he would personally assure Chmberlin that he wanted no Czechs--only Germans.

Anschluss: NAZI Annextion of Austria (March1938)

There was considerable sentiment in both Germany and Austria after World War I to join the two German-speaking states. France adamently refused. Hitler after seizing power revived the issues. Austrain NAZIs were encouraged to promote the idea. Hitler and Austrian NAZIs throughout 1937 demanded an Anschluss with Austria. Belaegered Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg on March 9, 1938, announced plans to hold a plebiscite on the independence of Austria. Hitler used this opportunity to take action against the Austrian State. The NAZIs with the Wehrmacht on the border pressed Schuschnigg was pressed to resign. The NAZI surrogate, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, took over the chancellorship and formed a new government dominated by the Austrian NAZIs. The German Wehrmacht and the SS, armed with list of NAZI opponents, crossed the German-Austrian frontier (March 12). Hitler the following day on March 13, speaking before a jubilent crowd in Linz, announced the "Anschluss" (Annexation) of Austria into the German Reich. Joyous celebrations occurred throught Austria. Even while the celebrations were going on, the SS and local NAZIs began rounding up those who had opposed the NAZIs. Violence occured against the Jews. Jewish students and professors were attacked in universities. Jews at random were dragged into the streets to scrub the sidewalks on their hands and knees--surounded by taunting crowds.

Sudetenland

After the Anschluss, Hitler began to escalate his tirades against Czecheslovakia, claiming that the erhnic Germans in the Sudetenland were being mistreated. The Sudetenland is German term for a frontier region of German-speaking people, meaning the "southern lands" in German. The Sudetenland is the area bounded by the Sudeten Mountains on the north the Erzgebirge Mountains on the northwest and the Bohemian Forest to the west. The Sudetenland was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1919 when it was awarded to a new Czecheslovakian nation created as part of the Versailles Peace Treaty. The population before World War II largely consisted of Sudeten Germans. NAZI agitators in the 1930s brought about the Munich crisis. As a result, Britain and France at Munich acceded to awarding the Sudetenland to the Germans. Prime Minister Chamberlin returned to London and proclaimed that he had achieved "Peace in our times". Hitler if he had stopped here would have probably been regarded by Germans as one of the greatest leaders in German history. The Sudentenland was critical as it constituted a natural barrier without which, the defense of Czecheslovakia was impossible. The NAZIs proceeded to dismember the rest of Czecheslovakia in 1939 during the months leading up to World War II. The Sudentland was annexed by the Reich. The NAZIs proceeded to Germanize the population, forcibly removing Czechs. The region was restored to a revived Czecheslovakia in 1945 after World War II and the Sudeten Germans forcibly relocated to Germany. The Sudentenland is today part of the Czech Republic.

Rising Tensions: The Sudetenland

The 3 million Sudeten Germans were about 23 percent of the Czech popultion. country. Many were unhappy to be governed by Czechs. For centuries they had been the governing class. Cezechoslovalia was a democracy, but they were a minority. With the rise of Hitler and the NAZIs tensions increased. The NAZI press in Germany carried reports of Germans being abused by the Czechs. I'm unsure what the actual situation was. No doubt the NAZIs painted the situation much worse than it was. But we are unsure to what extent the situation was the Germans inable to adjust their minority situation and just what the reported Czech abuses were. The NAZIs undoubtedly emboldened the German minority. Hitler from the beginning spoke of uniting the German people. The Sudeten Germans began to see the real possibility of union with Germany. Konrad Henlein became the spokesman for the Sudeten Germans. Henlien had been a physical education teacher. The German minority strongly supported the Sudeten German Party (SDP) which at first demanded autonomy. Henlein became essentially a NAZI operative and moutpiece. A NAZI power grew, union with German became a real and popular goal for the Sudeten Germans.

Nuremberg NAZI Party Rally (September 12, 1938)

Hitler delivered an incendiary speech at the annual Nuremberrg NAZI Party rally focusing on the Sudetenland and the crisis he created there (September 12). He attacked Czech Goverment and listed a series of fradulant claims and accusations. He labeled Czechoslovakia as a fraudulent state that violatied international law's emphasis of national self-determination--a cynical charge given on how he was prepared to carve up Eastern and Central Europw. He chsrged that Czecoslovakia was a Czech hegemony where neither the Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, Ukrainians, or Poles wanted to be in a state with the Czechs. Hitler accused Czech President Edvard Beneš of pursuing a goal of exterminating the Sudeten Germans. He claiming that the Czechs had forced over 0.6 million out of their homes, threatening to starve them--a baseless lie. Of course what he falsely accused the Czech Goverrment of doing was precisely what he was intent on doing once he began the War. He charged that the Beneš' government was also persecuting Hungarians, Poles, and Slovaks. He also accused President Beneš of branding non-Czechs as traitors if they did not support the Czech state. He proclaimed tht he, as the head of Grman Reich, would support the right of the self-determination of fellow Germans in the Sudetenland. He condemned Beneš for executing German protesters. He insisted that Beneš was both belligerent and threatening and that if war broke out, Beneš would forceng Sudeten Germans to fight their fellow Germans. Hitler also accused the Czech Government of being a French client state. He claimed that the French Minister of Aviation Pierre Cot had said "We need this state as a base from which to drop bombs with greater ease to destroy Germany's economy and its industry."

Sudeten Incident (September 13, 1938)

Hitler through Goebels Propaganda Ministry has persistently portrayed himself as a man of peace in the German media. And many Germans bought into the message. The German people were impressed by Hitler's achievements, but the great majority remembering World War I did not want war. Thus a big incident was needed which could be used by Goebbels propaganda machine to justify aggressive action. Following Hitler's speech at the Nuremberg NAZI Party rally (Septemnber 12), the SDP helped organize the needed incident. SDP agitators including older Hitler Youth boys and SDP members seized control of important facilities such as train stations, post office and telegraph instalations, and police stations (September 13). Some had small arms. They phyically attacked Jews and seized Jewish-owned shops. A number of people were killed. The Czech Government declared marial law. Troops and police put down the SDP action and made arrests. Some of the SDP youths and young men fled across the border to avois arrest. German newspapers published hysterical reports of Germans being abused. Hitler threatened to intervene. At the British and French had guaranteed Czech independence this meant for the first time the real possibility of war. It was this incident and crisis manufactured by Hitler that brought about the Munich Conference. British Primeminister Chanberlain, horrified that Germany and Britain were headed toward war, called Hitler and asked for a personal meeting.

Preparing to Fight (September 1938)

The NAZI rearmament program, the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the Anchluss with Austria came as a shock to Czechoslovakia. They had thought that there new nation was safe in a peaceful Europe. And Hitler when he first too power pursued a moderate foreign policy. This all changed with remilitarization. And the Anschluss further increased the Czech frontier with Germany that had to be defended. Even more destressing was the lack of response from Britain and France. The Czechs had a defensive alliance with France were prepared to fight if the Germans invaded. Even with the Anchluss, many Europeans chose to see the NAZI actions as domestic German matters. This changed when Hitler's next target became Czechoslovakia. The Czechs had formidable defenses--located in the mountanous Sudetenland. Although the Sudetenland was heavily inhabited by ethnic Germans hostile to Czechoslovakia, the teraine provided a frontier that was rugged and mountainous, good defensive ground. The Czech army by itself was no match for the Germans, but not a force to be triffekled with, especially if the French attacked from the west. While small in size in comparidson to the massive army Hitler was building in Germany, it was primary composed of ethnic Czechs fiercely loyal to the the Czech Government. It was well entrenched in defensive fortificatuions taking advantsage of the mountensaous teraine of the Sudetenland. In addition it was well armed with effective anti-tank guns as well as equipped with tanks of their own. With Allied assistance, Czechoslovakia would have been a costly undertaking for the Wehrmcht. The Check defense was, however, based on the teraine of the Sudetenland. Without the mountanous terraine, the Czechs would have been unable to resist the powerful German military. And the Czech airforce was especially weak comared to the bnew German Luftwaffe.

Munich Conference (September 1938)

Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister mused how terrible it was that war should be threatened by a "... quarel in a far away country by people of which we know little." A prominent member of the British parliament displayed even more ignoramce when he told the press, "Why should we bother with those gypsies in the Balkans?", meaning the Czechs who were of course not located in the Balkans. It looked in September as if war was imminent. Chamberlain appealed to Hitler for a conference in a last minute effort to prevent war (September 28, 1938). The conference was held at Berchegarten, Hitler's mountain top refuge. Hitler and his ally Mussolini met with Primeminister Chmberlain and Premier Daladier. The Czechoslovak government was neither invited nor consulted about the discussions. The British and French gave in to Hitler's demands. The result was the Munich Agreement which was signed by Germany, Italy, France, and Britain (September 29). The Czechoslovak government, deserted by its allies, capitulated the following day and agreed to abide by the agreement forced upon (September 30). Chamberlain flew back to London and stepping off the plane waved the agreement signed by Herr Hitler which he assured the waiting repoters guaranteed "Peace in our time." Churchill was apauled. The British and French people were releaved. One European leader, Soviet Marshall Stalin, who was not invited to attend the conference drew the inescapable conclusion that the British and French could not be trusted as potential allies against Hitler.







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Created: 4:58 PM 3/14/2016
Last updated: 4:58 PM 3/14/2016