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92-716: In the course of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia , on 30 September 1938 the Heads of Government of the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany signed the Munich Agreement, which enforced the cession of the Sudetenland to Germany. Czechoslovak representatives were not invited. On 1 October, invading Wehrmacht forces occupied the territory. The new Czechoslovak-German borders were officially fixed in

184-515: A heart attack induced by Hermann Göring 's threat to bomb the capital and by four o'clock he contacted Prague, effectively "signing Czechoslovakia away" to Germany. Göring acknowledged making the threat to the British ambassador to Germany, Nevile Henderson , but said that the threat came as a warning because the Czech government, after already agreeing to German occupation, could not guarantee that

276-821: A Soviet intelligence organization in Prague. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the democratic groups attempted to create a united front that would include the KSČ. Heydrich's appointment in the fall thwarted these efforts. By mid-1942, the Germans had succeeded in exterminating the most experienced elements of the Czechoslovak resistance forces. Czechoslovak forces regrouped in 1942–1943. The Council of

368-483: A conference. Hitler met the next day at Munich with the chiefs of governments of France, Italy and Britain. The Czechoslovak government was neither invited nor consulted. On 29 September, the Munich Agreement was signed by Germany, Italy, France and Britain. The Czechoslovak government capitulated on 30 September, despite the army's opposition, and agreed to abide by the agreement, which stipulated that Czechoslovakia must cede Sudetenland to Germany. The German occupation of

460-496: A decree of general mobilization was issued. The Czechoslovak Army was modern, had an excellent system of frontier fortifications and was prepared to fight. The Soviet Union announced its willingness to come to Czechoslovakia's assistance. Beneš, however, refused to go to war without the support of the Western powers. How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas masks here because of

552-553: A defensive countermeasure against the rising threat of Nazi Germany . The objective of the fortifications was to prevent the taking of key areas by an enemy—not only Germany but also Hungary and Poland —by means of a sudden attack before the mobilization of the Czechoslovak Army could be completed, and to enable effective defense until allies— Britain and France , and possibly the Soviet Union —could help. With

644-736: A half million Frenchmen, nor am I asking that three and a half million Englishmen be placed at our mercy. Rather I am simply demanding that the oppression of three and a half million Germans in Czechoslovakia cease and that the inalienable right to self-determination takes its place. As the tepid reaction to the German Anschluss with Austria had shown, the governments of France, the United Kingdom and Czechoslovakia were set on avoiding war at any cost. The French government did not wish to face Germany alone and took its lead from

736-526: A heavily industrialized area of Austria). In a speech delivered in the Reichstag , Hitler stressed the military importance of occupation, noting that by occupying Czechoslovakia, Germany gained 2,175 field cannons, 469 tanks, 500 anti-aircraft artillery pieces, 43,000 machine guns, 1,090,000 military rifles, 114,000 pistols, about a billion rounds of ammunition and three million anti-aircraft shells. This amount of weaponry would be sufficient to arm about half of

828-407: A luxury compared to its French counterpart casemates – however, these facilities were designed to be used only during the combat. While largely hollow with a few concrete walls as part of the structure, each chamber was further divided into smaller rooms by simple brick and mortar walls, with a last gap at the ceiling filled with tarred cork, since construction of a few of the casemates stopped before

920-466: A museum. The "Hanička" Artillery Fort was being rebuilt into a modern shelter for the Ministry of Interior between 1979 and 1993 but declared unneeded in 1995. A museum has been created there. Many of the open museums are located between Ostrava and Opava, with more being near the town of Králíky near Kłodzk close to the present Polish border, which had been the German border before World War II. Of

1012-787: A plan acceptable to the Sudeten Germans. On 2 September, Beneš submitted the Fourth Plan, which granted nearly all of the demands of the Karlsbader Programm. Intent on obstructing conciliation, however, the SdP held demonstrations that provoked the police in Ostrava on 7 September. The Sudeten Germans broke off negotiations on 13 September, and violence and disruption ensued. As Czechoslovak troops attempted to restore order, Henlein flew to Germany, and on 15 September, he issued

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1104-507: A proclamation demanding the takeover of the Sudetenland by Germany. The same day, Hitler met with Chamberlain and demanded the swift takeover of the Sudetenland by Nazi Germany under threat of war. Czechoslovakia, Hitler claimed, was slaughtering the Sudeten Germans. Chamberlain referred the demand to the British and French governments, both of which accepted. The Czechoslovak government resisted by arguing that Hitler's proposal would ruin

1196-680: A quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing. Neville Chamberlain, 27 September 1938, 8 p.m. radio broadcast Hitler gave a speech in Berlin on 26 September 1938 and declared that the Sudetenland was "the last territorial demand I have to make in Europe". He also stated that he had told Chamberlain, "I have assured him further that, and this I repeat here before you, once this issue has been resolved, there will no longer be any further territorial problems for Germany in Europe!" On 28 September, Chamberlain appealed to Hitler for

1288-459: A resistance network. Hácha, Prime Minister Alois Eliáš , and the Czechoslovak resistance acknowledged Beneš's leadership. Active collaboration between London and the Czechoslovak home front was maintained throughout the war years. The most important event of the resistance was Operation Anthropoid , the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich , SS leader Heinrich Himmler 's deputy and the then Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Infuriated, Hitler ordered

1380-400: A result, Bohemia , Moravia and Silesia lost about 38% of their combined area to Germany, with some 3.2 million German and 750,000 Czech inhabitants. Hungary, in turn, received 11,882 km (4,588 sq mi) in southern Slovakia and southern Carpathian Ruthenia; according to a 1941 census, about 86.5% of the population in this territory was Hungarian. Meanwhile, Poland annexed

1472-590: A small part of eastern Slovakia as well on 23 March. After the secession of Slovakia and Ruthenia, British Ambassador to Czechoslovakia Basil Newton advised President Hácha to meet with Hitler. When Hácha arrived in Berlin on 14 March, he met with the German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop prior to meeting with Hitler. Von Ribbentrop testified at the Nuremberg trials that during this meeting, Hácha had told him that "he wanted to place

1564-568: A total which first increased to 47,000 after mobilisation on 9 September 1944, and later to 60,000, plus 20,000 partisans. However, in late August, German troops were able to disarm the Eastern Slovak Army, which was the best equipped, and thus significantly decreased the power of the Slovak Army. Many members of this force were sent to Nazi concentration camps ; others escaped and joined partisan units. The Slovaks were aided in

1656-556: A treaty on 21 November 1938. In consequence, the Czechoslovak Republic lost about one third of its population, its most important industrial area, and also its extended border fortifications . Initially, the German Army ( Heer ) established a civil administration under occupational law. On 30 October 1938, Konrad Henlein was appointed Gauleiter and Reichskommissar of Sudetenland . The Sudeten German Party

1748-437: A well protected front and lateral cross fire to stop any enemy that managed to get on top of the fort, or come up from behind. Most of the lines consisted of just the smaller pillboxes. The "light objects" were simple hollow boxes with one or two machine gun positions, a retractable observation periscope, grenade tubes, a hand-operated air blower, and a solid inner door at 90 degrees to a steel bar outer door. The machine gun

1840-695: The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , and by the end of 1944 extended to all parts of Czechoslovakia. Following the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938 and the Munich Agreement in September of that same year, Adolf Hitler annexed the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia on 1 October, giving Germany control of the extensive Czechoslovak border fortifications in this area. The incorporation of

1932-656: The Reichswerke steel complex, an expensive program to develop synthetic fuel, and various other equally expensive chemical and aluminum programs, all of which strained the German economy. The Great Depression was an era of trade wars and protectionism, which imposed limits on Germany's ability to export and thus earn foreign exchange. Moreover, the Four Year Plan with its aim of autarky led to Germany increasing its tariffs, which led other nations to do likewise in retaliation. The British historian Richard Overy wrote

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2024-566: The Škoda Works . One consequence of this legacy was that Czechoslovakia was the only nation in Eastern Europe besides the Soviet Union that manufactured its own weapons instead of importing them, and Czechoslovakia was the world's 7th largest manufacturer of arms, making Czechoslovakia an important player in the global arms trade. Sudeten German pro-Nazi leader Konrad Henlein offered the Sudeten German Party (SdP) as

2116-756: The Bavarian Gau Bayreuth as well as to the Austrian Reichsgaue Oberdonau and Niederdonau . After Germany's defeat in World War II, Czechoslovakia was re-established as an independent state and the Sudeten German population was expelled . The Theresienstadt concentration camp was located in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , near the border to the Reichsgau Sudetenland. It

2208-407: The British government, led by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain . He contended that Sudeten German grievances were justified and believed that Hitler's intentions were limited. That made Britain and France advise Czechoslovakia to concede to the German demands. Beneš resisted, and on 20 May 1938, a partial mobilisation was under way in response to the possible German invasion. It is suggested that

2300-420: The Czech army would not fire on the advancing Germans. Göring, however, does not mention that Hácha had a heart attack because of his threat. French Ambassador Robert Coulondre reported that according to an unnamed, considered a reliable source by Coulondre, by half past four, Hácha was "in a state of total collapse, and kept going only by means of injections." On the morning of 15 March, German troops entered

2392-411: The Czech lands and from Prague Castle proclaimed the German protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . The British historian Victor Rothwell wrote that the Czechoslovak reserves of gold and hard currency seized in March 1939 were "invaluable in staving off Germany's foreign exchange crisis". In addition, the Germans seized all of the factories for making weapons, mines that provided crucial raw materials for

2484-575: The Czech lands). Czechoslovakia had fielded a modern army of 35 divisions and was a major manufacturer of machine guns, tanks, and artillery, most of them assembled in the Škoda factory in Plzeň . Many Czech factories continued to produce Czech designs until converted to German designs. Czechoslovakia also had other major manufacturing companies. Entire steel and chemical factories were moved from Czechoslovakia and reassembled in Linz (which incidentally remains

2576-604: The Czechoslovak army on French territory, yet full recognition was not reached. The Czechoslovak army in France was established on 24 January 1940, and units of its 1st Infantry Division took part in the last stages of the Battle of France , as did some Czechoslovak fighter pilots in various French fighter squadrons. Czechoslovak border fortifications Czechoslovakia built a system of border fortifications as well as some fortified defensive lines inland, from 1935 to 1938 as

2668-559: The Four Year Plan was hopelessly behind schedule forced Hitler in January 1939 to reluctantly order major defense cuts with the Wehrmacht having its steel allocations cut by 30%, aluminum 47%, cement 25%, rubber 14% and copper 20%. On 30 January 1939, Hitler made his "Export or die!" speech calling for a German economic offensive or "export battle" to use Hitler's term to increase German foreign exchange holdings to pay for raw materials for

2760-627: The Four Year Plan without cutting back on food imports. Hitler's wish to occupy Czechoslovakia was primarily caused by the foreign exchange crisis as Germany had run down its foreign exchange reserves by early 1939, and Germany urgently needed to seize the gold of the Czechoslovak central bank to continue the Four Year Plan. On 8 March 1939, Hitler met with Wilhelm Keppler , the NSDAP's economic expert, where he spoke about his wish to occupy Czecho-Slovakia for economic reasons, saying that Germany needed its raw materials and industries. Hitler totally ignored

2852-441: The Four Year Plan. Though the Four Year Plan aimed at autarky, there were certain raw materials such as high-grade iron, oil, chrome, nickel, tungsten, and bauxite that Germany did not have and had to be imported. The need to import food and raw materials made Germany into Europe's second largest importer, being exceeded only by Great Britain. Moreover, hundreds of millions of Reichsmarks were spent on various armament works such as

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2944-453: The German front, the Germans hurriedly repaired what they could of the fortifications, often just bricking up the holes where the embrasures once were, leaving a small hole for a machine gun. The east–west portion of the line that ran from Ostrava to Opava , a river valley with a steep rise to the south, became the scene of heavy fighting. During World War II the Germans had removed many armored parts like domes, cupolas and embrasures from

3036-633: The German population in Sudetenland (the average National Socialist Party participation in Nazi Germany was 7.85%). This means the Sudetenland was the most pro-Nazi region in Nazi Germany. Because of their knowledge of the Czech language, many Sudeten Germans were employed in the administration of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and in Nazi organizations such as the Gestapo . The most notable

3128-467: The Nazis as "riff raff" while those who clung most defiantly to their sense of Czech identity were considered to be the better subjects of Germanizaton. Heydrich in a report to Berlin stated that Hácha was "incapable of Germaninzation" as "he is always sick, arrives with a trembling voice and attempts to evoke pity that demands our mercy". By contrast, Heydrich had a grudging respect for Elias, noting that he

3220-583: The Sudetenland into Germany left the rest of Czechoslovakia with a largely indefensible northwestern border. Also a Polish-majority borderland region of Trans-Olza which was annexed by Czechoslovakia in 1919, was occupied and annexed by Poland following the two-decade long territorial dispute. Finally the First Vienna Award gave to Hungary the southern territories of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia , mostly inhabited by Hungarians. The Slovak State broke off on 14 March 1939, and Hungary annexed

3312-569: The Sudetenland would be completed by 10 October. An international commission representing Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia would supervise a plebiscite to determine the final frontier. Britain and France promised to join in an international guarantee of the new frontiers against unprovoked aggression. Germany and Italy, however, would not join in the guarantee until the Polish and Hungarian minority problems were settled. On 5 October 1938, Beneš resigned as president since he realised that

3404-641: The Three (R3)—in which the communist underground was also represented—emerged as the focal point of the resistance. The R3 prepared to assist the liberating armies of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. In cooperation with Red Army partisan units, the R3 developed a guerrilla structure. Guerrilla activity intensified with a rising number of parachuted units in 1944, leading to the establishment of partisan groups such as 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of Jan Žižka , Jan Kozina Brigade or Master Jan Hus Brigade, and especially after

3496-684: The Uprising by soldiers and partisans from the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, US, France, the Czech Republic, and Poland. In total, 32 nations were involved in the Uprising. Edvard Beneš resigned as president of the First Czechoslovak Republic on 5 October 1938 after the Nazi coup. In London, he and other Czechoslovak exiles organized a Czechoslovak government-in-exile and negotiated to obtain international recognition for

3588-596: The agent for Hitler's campaign. Henlein met with Hitler in Berlin on 28 March 1938, where he was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the Czechoslovak government led by president Edvard Beneš . On 24 April, the SdP issued the Karlsbader Programm , demanding autonomy for the Sudetenland and the freedom to profess National Socialist ideology. If Henlein's demands were granted, the Sudetenland would be an autonomous state aligned with Nazi Germany. I am asking neither that Germany be allowed to oppress three and

3680-622: The agreements of the Munich Agreement and scheduled a German invasion of Bohemia and Moravia for the morning of 15 March. In the interim, he negotiated with the Slovak People's Party and with Hungary to prepare the dismemberment of the republic before the invasion. On 13 March, he invited Tiso to Berlin and on 14 March, the Slovak Diet convened and unanimously declared Slovak independence. Carpatho-Ukraine also declared independence but Hungarian troops occupied and annexed it on 15 March and

3772-551: The armament program of the Four Year Plan and a "huge weapons haul, including nearly 500 tanks and nearly 1600 aircraft". Besides violating his promises at Munich, the annexation of the rest of Czechoslovakia was, unlike Hitler's previous actions, not described in Mein Kampf . After having repeatedly stated that he was interested only in pan-Germanism , the unification of ethnic Germans into one Reich , Germany had now conquered seven million Czechs. Hitler's proclamation creating

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3864-399: The arrest and execution of 10,000 randomly selected Czechs. Over 10,000 were arrested, and at least 1,300 were executed. According to one estimate, 5,000 were killed in reprisals. The assassination resulted in one of the most well-known reprisals of the war. The Nazis completely destroyed the villages of Lidice and Ležáky ; all men over 16 years from the village were murdered, and the rest of

3956-639: The attacks eventually used against the Maginot Line and Belgium's forts , resulting in astounding success. After the fall of France and the Low Countries, the Germans began to dismantle the "Beneš Wall", blowing up the cupolas, or removing them and the embrasures , some of which were eventually installed in the Atlantic Wall . Later in the war, with the Soviet forces to the east collapsing

4048-595: The autumn of 1938. Poland reclaimed Zaolzie previously illegally annexed by Czech during Polish-Soviet war in 1920. The Zaolzie region became part of Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. The German economy—burdened by heavy militarisation—urgently needed foreign currency. Setting up an artificially high exchange rate between the Czechoslovak koruna and the Reichsmark brought consumer goods to Germans (and soon created shortages in

4140-508: The concrete. The only frontal armament was machine gun ports in cupolas designed for observation and anti-infantry purposes. Any enemy units that tried to go between the blockhouses would have been stopped by anti-tank, anti-infantry barricades, machine gun and cannon fire. A few of the larger blockhouses, or artillery forts, had indirect fire mortars and heavy cannon mounts. Behind the major structures were two rows of smaller four-to-seven-man pillboxes that mirrored their larger relatives, with

4232-434: The conversation noted that for Hácha this was the most difficult decision of his life but believed that in only a few years this decision would be comprehensible and in 50 years would probably be regarded as a blessing. After the negotiations had finished, Hitler told his secretaries, "It is the greatest triumph of my life! I shall enter history as the greatest German of them all." According to Joachim Fest , Hácha suffered

4324-720: The design philosophy was noticeable in the "pillboxes" and larger blockhouses similar to the French Maginot line when the massive construction program began in 1936. The original plan was to have the first stage of construction finished in 1941–1942, whilst the full system should have been completed by the early 1950s. Construction was very rapid, and by the time of the Munich Agreement in September ;1938, there were completed in total 264 heavy blockhouses (small forts or elements of strongholds) and 10,014 light pillboxes , which means about 20 percent of

4416-409: The division of Carpathian Ruthenia but refused because it was an ally of Czechoslovakia (see Little Entente ). The Czechoslovak capitulation precipitated an outburst of national indignation. In demonstrations and rallies, Czechs and Slovaks called for a strong military government to defend the integrity of the state. A new cabinet, under General Jan Syrový , was installed, and on 23 September 1938,

4508-508: The factories. By 1939, the country was already serving as a major hub of military production for Germany, manufacturing aircraft, tanks, artillery, and other armaments. The Slovak National Uprising ("1944 Uprising") was an armed struggle between German Wehrmacht forces and rebel Slovak troops August–October 1944. It was centered at Banská Bystrica . The rebel Slovak Army, formed to fight the Germans, had an estimated 18,000 soldiers in August,

4600-616: The fall of Czechoslovakia was a fait accompli . After the outbreak of World War II, he would form a Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London. In early November 1938, under the First Vienna Award , which was a result of the Munich agreement, Czechoslovakia—which had failed to reach a compromise with Hungary and Poland—had to cede after the arbitration of Germany and Italy awarded southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia to Hungary, while Poland invaded Trans-Olza territory shortly after. As

4692-621: The fate of the Czech State in the Führer's hands." Hácha later met with Hitler, where Hitler gave the Czech President two options: cooperate with Germany, in which case the "entry of German troops would take place in a tolerable manner" and "permit Czechoslovakia a generous life of her own, autonomy and a degree of national freedom..." or face a scenario in which "resistance would be broken by force of arms, using all means." Minutes of

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4784-556: The formation of a provisional Czechoslovak government in Košice on 4 April 1945. "National committees" took over the administration of towns as the Germans were expelled. More than 4,850 such committees were formed between 1944 and the end of the war under the supervision of the Red Army . On 5 May, a national uprising began spontaneously in Prague, and the newly formed Czech National Council ( cs ) almost immediately assumed leadership of

4876-571: The funds were allocated to help resettle Czechs and Slovaks who had fled from territories lost to Germany, Hungary, and Poland in the Munich Agreement or the Vienna Arbitration Award. In November 1938, Emil Hácha , who succeeded Beneš, was elected president of the federated Second Republic , renamed Czecho-Slovakia and consisting of three parts: Bohemia and Moravia, Slovakia, and Carpatho-Ukraine. Lacking its natural frontier and having lost its costly system of border fortification,

4968-489: The government and a renunciation of the Munich Agreement and its consequences. After World War II broke out, a Czechoslovak national committee was constituted in France, and under Beneš's presidency sought international recognition as the exiled government of Czechoslovakia. This attempt led to some minor successes, such as the French-Czechoslovak treaty of 2 October 1939, which allowed for the reconstitution of

5060-482: The heavy objects and 70 percent of the light objects. Moreover, many other objects were near completion and would have been functional at least as shelters despite missing certain heavy armaments in some structures. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia border regions as a result of the Sudeten Crisis , the Germans used these objects to test and develop new weapons and tactics, plan, and practice

5152-521: The huge demands of the Four Year Plan "...could not be fully met by a policy of import substitution and industrial rationalisation", thus leading Hitler to decide in November 1937 that to stay ahead in the arms race with the other powers that Germany had to seize Czechoslovakia in the near-future. At the Hossbach conference on 5 November 1937, Hitler announced that seizing Czechoslovakia would increase

5244-399: The internal walls were finished. Today almost all of the remaining light objects are freely accessible. Some of the heavy objects are also accessible, others may be rented or sold to enthusiasts. A certain number were turned into museums and two of the artillery fortifications, namely "Adam" and "Smolkov" are military munitions depot, Fort "Hůrka" being a munitions depot until 2008, it is now

5336-446: The local cinemas and free sports matches could win the support of the working class and increase productivity in the war industries. However, inflation was rampant and wage increases failed to keep up with the cost of living, causing the workers to frequently grumble about their conditions. Beneš—the leader of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile—and František Moravec —head of Czechoslovak military intelligence—organized and coordinated

5428-506: The majority of the objects. Some objects became subjects of German penetration shells or explosives testing and are heavily damaged. In the post-war period, many of the remaining armoured parts were scrapped as a result of a loss of their strategic value and general drive for steel. After the war they were further stripped of useful materials and then sealed. A couple of the large underground structures continued to be used long after as military hardware storage, and some still are to this day, by

5520-604: The mobilisation could have been launched on basis of Soviet misinformation about Germany being on verge of invasion, which aimed to trigger war in Western Europe. On 30 May, Hitler signed a secret directive for war against Czechoslovakia to begin no later than 1 October. In the meantime, the British government demanded for Beneš to request a mediator. Not wishing to sever his government's ties with Western Europe, Beneš reluctantly accepted. The British appointed Lord Runciman and instructed him to persuade Beneš to agree to

5612-419: The nation's economy and ultimately lead to German control of all of Czechoslovakia. The United Kingdom and France issued an ultimatum and made a French commitment to Czechoslovakia contingent upon its acceptance. On 21 September, Czechoslovakia capitulated. The next day, however, Hitler added new demands that insisted for the claims of Poland and Hungary to be satisfied as well. Romania was also invited to share in

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5704-492: The new state was militarily indefensible. Without the natural defensive barrier of the mountains of the Sudetenland, Hácha carried out a foreign policy that was slavishly pro-German as he felt this was the best way to preserve his nation's independence. In late 1938-early 1939, the continuing economic crisis caused by problems of rearmament, especially the shortage of foreign hard currencies needed to pay for raw materials Germany lacked together with reports from Hermann Göring that

5796-564: The occupation of Czechoslovakia to Hungary in Operation Margarethe , then to Slovakia in August 1944 following the Slovak National Uprising . The occupation ended with the surrender of Germany at the end of World War II. Hitler's interest in Czechoslovakia was largely economic. Germany had the second-largest economy in the world, but German agriculture was not capable of feeding the population, and there

5888-416: The occupation, the Nazis banned Russian ballet . A last-ditch attempt to save Czechoslovakia from total ruin was made by the British and French governments, who on 27 January 1939, concluded an agreement of financial assistance with the Czechoslovak government. In this agreement, the British and French governments undertook to lend the Czechoslovak government £8 million and make a gift of £4 million. Part of

5980-416: The once again independent Czech Army. The basic philosophy of the design was a mutual defensive line , that is, most of the firepower was directed laterally from the approaching enemy. The facing wall of all the fortifications, large and small, was the thickest, covered with boulders and debris, and covered again with soil so even the largest caliber shells would have lost most of their energy before reaching

6072-569: The other hand, the Czechs/ Slavs were not considered by the Germans as a racial equal due to its classification as a mixture of races with Jewish and Asiatic influences. This was illustrated in a series of discussion, which denigrated it as less valuable and, specifically, the Czechs as "dangerous and must be handled differently from Aryan peoples." A paradox of German policy was that the collaborators such as Hácha were held in contempt by

6164-421: The pillboxes, the cannons and machine guns were pivoted at the tip, and this time fully enclosed, protecting the occupants from all but the heaviest of cannons. The fortresses had a full ventilation system with filtration so even chemical attacks would not affect the defenders. Besides grid power, a two-cylinder diesel engine provided internal power. These fortifications also had full toilet and wash basin amenities,

6256-400: The population was sent to Nazi concentration camps where many women and nearly all the children were killed. The Czechoslovak resistance comprised four main groups: The democratic groups—ON, PÚ, and PVVZ—united in early 1940 and formed the Central Committee of the Home Resistance ( Ústřední výbor odboje domácího , ÚVOD). Involved primarily in intelligence gathering, the ÚVOD cooperated with

6348-404: The protectorate on 16 March claimed that "Bohemia and Moravia have for thousands of years belonged to the Lebensraum of the German people". British public opinion changed drastically after the invasion. Chamberlain realised that the Munich Agreement had meant nothing to Hitler. Chamberlain told the British public on 17 March during a speech in Birmingham that Hitler was attempting "to dominate

6440-421: The remainder of Carpathian Ruthenia the following day. On 15 March, during a visit to Berlin, the Czechoslovak president Emil Hácha was coerced into signing away his country's independence. On 16 March, Hitler proclaimed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from Prague Castle , leaving Hácha as the nominal , but almost powerless, State President. Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Wehrmacht , and real power

6532-400: The remaining Czech parts of Czechoslovakia ( Rest-Tschechei in German), meeting practically no resistance (the only instance of organized resistance took place in Místek where an infantry company commanded by Karel Pavlík fought invading German troops). The Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine encountered resistance but the Hungarian army quickly crushed it. On 16 March, Hitler went to

6624-605: The remaining rump of Czechoslovakia. According to the Institute for Refugee Assistance, the actual count of refugees on 1 March 1939 stood at almost 150,000. On 4 December 1938, there were elections in Reichsgau Sudetenland , in which 97.32% of the adult population voted for the National Socialist Party. About 500,000 Sudeten Germans joined the National Socialist Party, which was 17.34% of

6716-471: The revolt. Over 1,600 barricades were erected throughout the city, and some 30,000 Czech men and women battled for three days against 40,000 German troops backed by tanks, aircraft and artillery. On 8 May, the German Wehrmacht capitulated; Soviet troops arrived on 9 May. There are sources that highlighted the more favorable treatment of the Czechs during the German occupation in comparison to

6808-522: The rise of Hitler and his demands for unification of German minorities , including the Sudeten Germans , and the return of other claimed territories— Sudetenland —the alarmed Czechoslovak leadership began defensive plans. While some basic defensive structures were built early on, it was not until after conferences with the French military on their design that a full-scale effort began. A change in

6900-413: The supply of food under German control, which in turn would lessen the need to import food, thereby freeing up more foreign exchange to import raw materials necessary for the Four Year Plan's targets. The Hossbach conference was largely taken up with an extended discussion about the necessity of bringing areas adjunct to Germany under German economic control, by force if necessary, as Hitler argued that this

6992-399: The then Wehrmacht. Czechoslovak weaponry later played a major part in the German conquests of Poland (1939) and France (1940). Heydrich during his time as Reichsprotektor brought about increases in rations for workers in the armaments industry, improved welfare services, free shoes and for a short time, a five-day work week as Saturday was made a holiday. The National Union of Employees

7084-536: The time, Czechoslovakia had Europe's 7th largest economy, and easily the most modern, developed, and industrialized economy in Eastern Europe. The former Austrian provinces of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia that now comprise the modern Czech Republic had been the industrial heartland of the Austrian empire, where the majority of the arms for the Imperial Austrian Army were manufactured, most notably at

7176-399: The town of Český Těšín with the surrounding area (some 906 km (350 sq mi)), some 250,000 inhabitants, Poles making up about 36% of population, and two minor border areas in northern Slovakia, more precisely in the regions Spiš and Orava . (226 km (87 sq mi), 4,280 inhabitants, only 0.3% Poles). Soon after Munich, 115,000 Czechs and 30,000 Germans fled to

7268-545: The treatment of the Poles and the Ukrainians. This is attributed to the view within the Nazi hierarchy that a large swath of the populace was "capable of Aryanization ," hence, the Czechs were not subjected to a similar degree of random and organized acts of brutality that their Polish counterparts experienced. Such capacity for Aryanization was supported by the position that part of the Czech population had German ancestry. On

7360-551: The two major factions in Subcarpathian Ruthenia , the Russophiles and Ukrainophiles, agreed on the establishment of an autonomous government, which was constituted on 8 October. Reflecting the spread of modern Ukrainian national consciousness , the pro-Ukrainian faction, led by Avhustyn Voloshyn , gained control of the local government and Subcarpathian Ruthenia was renamed Carpatho-Ukraine . In 1939, during

7452-527: The world by force". Shortly before World War II, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. Its territory was divided into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the newly declared Slovak State and the short-lived Republic of Carpathian Ukraine . While much of former Czechoslovakia came under the control of Nazi Germany, Hungarian forces swiftly overran the Carpathian Ukraine. Hungary annexed some areas (e.g., Southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia) in

7544-607: Was Karl Hermann Frank , the SS and police general and Secretary of State in the Protectorate. The greatly weakened Czechoslovak Republic was forced to grant major concessions to the non-Czechs. The executive committee of the Slovak People's Party met at Žilina on 5 October 1938, and with the acquiescence of all Slovak parties except the Social Democrats formed an autonomous Slovak government under Jozef Tiso . Similarly,

7636-414: Was also a lack of many raw materials, which had to be imported. The Four-Year Plan that Hitler had launched in September 1936 to have the German economy ready for a "total war" by 1940 had seriously strained the German economy by 1937 as German government was forced to use up its foreign exchange reserves both to feed its own people and to import various raw materials to achieve the ambitious armament goals of

7728-476: Was designed to concentrate the Jewish population from the Protectorate and gradually move them to extermination camps and also held Western European and German Jews. While not an extermination camp the harsh and unhygienic conditions still resulted in the death of 33,000 of the 140,000 Jews brought to the camp while a further 88,000 were sent to extermination camps and only 19,000 survived. The Reichsgau Sudetenland

7820-414: Was divided into three Regierungsbezirke . These were subdivided into 58 districts ( Kreise ), largely corresponding to the former Czechoslovak okresy : President: President: President: German occupation of Czechoslovakia The military occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany began with the German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938, continued with the creation of

7912-560: Was formally established by law on 25 March 1939, in effect from 15 April, borders were adjusted and the administrative structure was fixed on May 1. Konrad Henlein was named Reichsstatthalter . The administrative capital was Reichenberg (Liberec). Smaller areas in the east, such as the Hlučín Region , were ceded to the Prussian Province of Silesia , while the western and southern Sudetenland territories were attached to

8004-523: Was merged into the Nazi Party , all other political parties were banned. The Czech population had to accept German citizenship or were expelled and forcibly relocated to the Czechoslovak rump state, which itself from 15 March 1939 was occupied by Germany and incorporated as the " Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ". After the proclamation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , the Reichsgau

8096-485: Was mounted near the end of the barrel, so that the port hole was only large enough for the bullets and a scope to see through, unlike most other designs where a large opening is used. A heavy steel plate could be slid down to quickly close the tiny hole for added protection. The "heavy objects" were infantry blockhouses very similar to the southern part of the Maginot Line, but with substantial improvements. Just like

8188-556: Was remolded in the style of the Nazi pseudo-union, the German Labour Front , to provide free sports events, films, concerts and plays for the workers. Heydrich sought to portray himself as the friend of the Czech working class, even meeting a group of selected Czech workers on 24 October 1941 in a photo-op to show his supposed concern for the Czech workers. Heydrich cynically called his policy "optical effects" as he believed that mere gestures such as free showings of films at

8280-576: Was the best way to win the arms race. Hitler stated: "areas producing raw materials can be more usefully sought in Europe, in immediate proximity to the Reich ". Overy wrote about Hitler's attitude to the Reich 's economic problems that: "He simply saw war instrumentally, as the Japanese had done in Manchuria, as a way to expand the German resource base and to secure it against other powers". At

8372-571: Was vested in Hitler's personal representative, the Reichsprotektor . During the occupation, between 294,000 to 320,000 citizens were murdered, the majority of them Jews. Reprisal killings were especially harsh after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich , including the infamous Lidice massacre . Large numbers were drafted for slave labour in Germany . In March 1944 Germany extended

8464-418: Was youthful, healthy, and a determined defender of Czech interests, which led Heydrich to conclude that he must have some German blood. Aside from the inconsistency of animosity towards Slavs, there is also the fact that the forceful but restrained policy in Czechoslovakia was partly driven by the need to keep the population nourished and complacent so that it can carry out the vital work of arms production in

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