The Sudetenland
History
The Sudetenland
On January 30, 1933, the Nazis acquired mastery of Germany when Adolf
Hitler was appointed chancellor. That evening Hitler stood triumphantly
in the window of the Reich Chancellery waving to thousands of storm
troopers who staged parades throughout the streets of Berlin. The Nazis
proclaimed that their Third Reich would be the greatest civilization in
history and would last for thousands of years. But the meteoric rise of
Hitler and national socialism was followed by an almost equally rapid
defeat; the Third Reich survived for a mere twelve years. But one of the
main causes of World War II was Hitler’s public justification for the
dismemberment of the Czech state through either war or diplomacy was the
plight of the 3.5 million ethnic Germans the Treaty of Versailles had
left inside Czechoslovakia. The main land that Hitler wanted to annex to
Germany was that of the Sudetenland, where most of the people living
there were of German origin. The land also bordered Germany to the South
East, and Germany was prepared to conquer this land at all cost.
“And now before us stands the last problem that must be solved and will
be solved It (the Sudetenland) is the last territorial claim which I
have to make in Europe, but it is the claim from which I will not
recede?” – Adolf Hitler, in a speech in Berlin, September 26 1938, just
prior to the Munich conference.
Most of the German minorities live in Sudetenland, an economically
valuable and strategically important area along the Czech border with
Germany and Austria. The grievances of the Sudeten Germans against the
Czech state had led to the rise of a strong German nationalist movement
in the Sudetenland. By the mid -1930’s, this movement had the support of
almost 70 percent of the Sudeten German population. Their leader, the
pro-Nazi Konrad Heinlen, began demanding autonomy for this region Both
the real and contrived problems of the Sudeten Germans added credibility
to Hitler’s charge that they were denied the right of self-determination
and lived as an oppressed minority, which he was obligated to defend In
the spring of 1938, Heinlein was directed by Hitler to make demands that
the Czechs could not accept, thereby giving Germany a reason to
intervene. The Czech situation soon turned into an international crisis
that dominated the European scene for the rest of that current year.
The weekend which began on Friday, May 20, 1938, developed into a
critical one and would later be remembered as the “May crisis.” During
the ensuing forty-eight hours, the Governments in London, Paris, Prague
and Moscow were panicked into the belief that Europe stood nearer to
war than it had at any time since the summer of 1914. This may have been
largely due to the possibility that new plans for a German attack on
Czechoslovakia called “Case Green” which were drawn up for him, got
leaked out. Hitler had begun to prepare an attack on the Sudetenland.
The target date was the beginning of October. He was prepared to employ
an army of ninety-six divisions. The Czechoslovak Government, aware of
Hitler’s intentions but uncertain when the blow would fall, ordered a
partial mobilization on May 21. Hitler was outraged, explaining to his
generals that he had offered no threat and was being treated with
contempt. He had been humiliated, and no one yet humiliated him with
impunity. His rage against Czechoslovakia increased, and on May 30 he
issued a secret directive to his high command: “It is my unalterable
decision to smash Czechoslovakia by military action in the near future.”
All through the summer Britain, France and the Soviet Union were aware
that Hitler planned to strike at the Sudetenland and perhaps the whole
of Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovaks had an excellent intelligence
system with Germany and knew from day to day what Hitler was planning.
Germany also had an excellent intelligence system, and in addition it
had in Konrad Henlein, the National Socialist leader in the Sudetenland,
a man who would stop at nothing to produce an insurrection or an act of
deliberate provocation against the Czechoslovak Government. The German
newspapers were filled with accounts of mass arrests of innocent men and
women in the Sudetenland, and there were the inevitable circumstantial
stories “by our correspondent.” Nonexistent people in nonexistent
villages were being slaughtered. The Czechoslovak Government attempted
to refute some of these stories but gave up in despair. Hitler ordered a
massive propaganda barrage against Czechoslovakia to prepare the German
people for the October invasion.
On September 12th at Nuremberg, Hitler went as close to declaring war
against Czechoslovakia as possible without actually signing the order to
his troops to advance into enemy territory. He cried out that the
Czechoslovak Government was using all of its means possible to
annihilate the 3.5 million Sudeten Germans. He claimed that these people
were being deprived of their rights, for example, they were not
permitted to sing German songs or to wear white stockings. If indeed
they went through with any of these crimes they were brutally struck
down. Although the tone was ferociously threatening, he gave no examples
of atrocities, perhaps because there were none. “The misery of the
Sudeten Germans is without end,” he declared. He then went on to promise
that Germany would take care of her own and put an end to the continued
oppression of 3.5 million Germans. “I hope that the foreign statesman
will be convinced that these are not mere words,” he added ominously.
This incredible declaration caused all of Europe to scramble and
mobilize its respective armies. Hitler was demanding the direct
annexation of the Sudetenland by the Reich, hinting that if necessary,
he would resort to war. The Prime Minister of Britain, Neville
Chamberlain was particularly distressed by the reports coming out of
Germany. Feeling that quick action was necessary, he sent off a
seven-line telegram to Hitler:
Having regard to the increasingly critical situation, I propose to visit
you immediately in order to make an attempt to find a peaceful solution.
I come to you by air and am ready to leave tomorrow. Please inform me of
the earliest time you can receive me, and tell me the place of meeting.
I should be grateful for a very early reply.
Neville Chamberlain
Hitler accepted Chamberlain and following an entire days talks with
Hitler, an exhausted Chamberlain flew back to London to consult with his
colleagues. Over the next week, Chamberlain met many more times with
Hitler. However, there was still a discrepancy over the exact date when
the evacuation would begin. On September 29th, 1938 the Munich
Conference was held. It was attended by representatives of France,
Italy, Germany and Britain. During the course of this conference a pact
was drawn up and signed by all the representatives of the respective
countries.
Secret Reich Affairs
Agreement
reached between Germany the United Kingdom
France and Italy,
in Munich on 29 September 1938
Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, taking into consideration
the agreement, which has already been reached in principle for the
cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, have agreed on the
following terms and conditions governing the said cession and the
measures consequent thereon, and by this agreement they each hold
themselves responsible for the steps necessary to secure its
fulfillment:-
1. The evacuation will begin on the 1st October.
2. The United Kingdom, France and Italy agree that the evacuation of
the territory shall be completed by October 10th, without any existing
installations having been destroyed and that the Czechoslovak Government
will be held responsible for carrying out the evacuation without damage
to the said installations.
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7. There shall be the right of option into and out of the transferred
territories, the option to be exercised within six months from the date
of this agreement. A German-Czechoslovak commission shall determine the
details of the option, consider ways of facilitating the transfer of
population and settle questions of principle arising out of the said
transfer.
8.The Czechoslovak Government will within a period of 4 weeks
from the date of this agreement release from their
military and police forces any Sudeten Germans who may wish to be
released, and the Czechoslovak Government will within the same period
release Sudeten German prisoners who are serving terms of imprisonment
for political offenses.
Munich, September 29, 1938
ADOLF HITLER
ED. DALADIERMUSSOLINI
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN
The date set in the pact for the beginning of Czechoslovakian
evacuation of the territory was October 1st 1938, and German occupation
of four specified districts was to take place in successive stages
between October 1 and 7. Additional territories of predominantly German
population were to be specified by an international commission composed
of delegates from France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and
Czechoslovakia, and those territories were to be occupied by Germany by
October 10th. The international commission was also to determine and
occupy areas in which plebiscites were to be held and fix a date for
such plebiscites no later than the end of November. The plebiscites,
however, were never held. It was also agreed that if the claims of
Hungarian and Polish minorities in Czechoslovakia were not settled in
three months, a new conference was to be convened. Great Britain and
France agreed, in an annex to the pact, to guarantee the new boundaries
of Czechoslovakia against aggression, as did Germany.
The night of the Munich conference Chamberlain slept in Munich, and in
the morning he called on Hitler to sign the Anglo-German agreement.
After all that Chamberlain had done for Hitler he felt that the least he
could demand of Hitler was a declaration of peaceful intentions toward
England. Hitler signed the document without any particular show of
interest, since for him the “method of consultation” was totally
meaningless. Chamberlain returned to England in triumph, waving the
letter to cheerful crowds, believing that the peace of Europe was
assured for a generation. The belief was not shared by Hitler who
despised Chamberlain as a weakling. “Our enemies are little worms,” he
said a year later. “I saw them at Munich.”
In conclusion, Hitler’s victory was complete: the Sudetenland was his.
While there were still a few minor details to sort out, Adolf Hilter had
gotten what he had come for. However, in March 1939, the Munich pact was
nullified when the Germans invaded Czecho-Slovakia and subsequently made
most of the country a German protectorate.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Bendersky, Joseph W. A History of Nazi Germany. Nelson-Hall Inc., 1985.
Library of congress catalog card number:
18-3047.
Microsoft Encarta. Munich Pact. Microsoft/Funk ; Wagnall’s corporation,
1993.
Kohn, Hans. The Mind of Germany. Harper & Row Publishers, 1965. Library
of congress catalog number:
60-6329.
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Library of congress catalog number:
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