Czechoslovakia (Fall Grün)
From Alternative History
| Československá republika Republic of Czechoslovakia | |
| 1918 - 1939 | |
 Flag |  Coat of Arms |
| Motto: Czech: Pravda vítězí ("Truth prevails") | |
| Anthem: Kde domov můj, Nad Tatrou sa blýska and Podkarpatskiji Rusíny | |
| Basic data: | |
| Capital: | Prague |
| Constitution: | February 29, 1920 |
| Geographical location: | |
 Location of Czechoslovakia. | |
| Characteristics: | |
| Area: | 140,800 km² |
| Population: | 14,800,000 (1938) |
| Ethnic groups: | Czech, Slovak, German, Hungarian |
| Government | |
| Government: | Parliamentary democratic republic |
| President: – 1918–1935: – 1935–1939: Prime Minister: - 1918-1919: - 1935-1938: - 1938-1939: | Tomáš G. Masaryk Edvard Beneš Karel Kramář Milan Hodža Jan Syrový |
| Legislature: - Upper chamber: - Lower chamber: | Parlament Senát Poslanecká sněmovna |
| National characteristics | |
| Official languages: | Czech and Slovak 1 |
| Establishment: - Independence from Austria-Hungary: - Munich Agreement: - Axis invasion: - Annexation: | October 28, 1918 September 30, 1938 October 1, 1938 March 15, 1939 |
| Currency: | Czechoslovak koruna |
Notes:
| |
Czechoslovakia, officially the Republic of Czechoslovakia (Czech: Československo, Československá republika) was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 (upon declaring its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire) until March 15, 1939 (when it was annexed by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Hungary following the Axis invasion of the country).
The independence of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed on October 28, 1918, by the Czechoslovak National Council in Prague. Several ethnic groups and territories with different historical, political, and economic traditions had to be blended into a new state structure. In the face of such obstacles, the creation of Czechoslovak democracy has been considered by many to be a triumph.
Initial authority within Czechoslovakia was assumed by the newly created National Assembly on November 14, 1918. Because territorial demarcations were uncertain and elections impossible, the provisional National Assembly was constituted on the basis of the 1911 elections to the Austrian parliament with the addition of fifty-four representatives from Slovakia. National minorities were not represented; Sudeten Germans declared themselves part of Austria in the spirit of President Wilson's principle of self determination, and Hungarians remained loyal to Hungary. The National Assembly elected Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk as its first president, chose a provisional government headed by Karel Kramář, and drafted a provisional constitution.
The Paris Peace Conference convened in January 1919. The Czech delegation was led by Kramář and Beneš, premier and foreign minister respectively, of the Czechoslovak provisional government. The conference approved the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, to encompass the historic Bohemian Kingdom (including Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia), Slovakia, and Carpathian Ruthenia. The inclusion of Ruthenia provided a common frontier with Romania, an important ally against Hungary. Těšínské Slezsko, an industrial area also claimed by Poland, was divided between Czechoslovakia (creating Zaolzie and leaving sizeable Polish minority on the Czech side of the border). The Czech claim to Lusatia, which had been part of the Bohemian Kingdom until the Thirty Years' War, was rejected. On September 10, 1919, Czechoslovakia signed a "minorities" treaty, placing its ethnic minorities under the protection of the League of Nations.
It bordered the nations of Germany, Austria (until March 12, 1938), Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Politics of Czechoslovakia
To a large extent, Czechoslovak democracy was held together by the country's first president, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. As the principal founding father of the republic, Masaryk was regarded similar to the way George Washington is regarded in the United States. Such universal respect enabled Masaryk to overcome seemingly irresolvable political problems. Even to this day, Masaryk is regarded as the symbol of Czechoslovak democracy.
The Constitution of 1920 approved the provisional constitution of 1918 in its basic features. The Czechoslovak state was conceived as a parliamentary democracy, guided primarily by the National Assembly, consisting of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, whose members were to be elected on the basis of universal suffrage. The National Assembly was responsible for legislative initiative and was given supervisory control over the executive and judiciary as well. Every seven years it elected the president and confirmed the cabinet appointed by him. Executive power was to be shared by the president and the cabinet; the latter, responsible to the National Assembly, was to prevail. The reality differed somewhat from this ideal, however, during the strong presidencies of Masaryk and his successor, Beneš. The constitution of 1920 provided for the central government to have a high degree of control over local government. From 1928 and 1940, Czechoslovakia was divided into the four "lands" (Czech: "země", Slovak: "krajiny"); Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia. Although in 1927 assemblies were provided for Bohemia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia, their jurisdiction was limited to adjusting laws and regulations of the central government to local needs. The central government appointed one third of the members of these assemblies. The constitution identified the "Czechoslovak nation" as the creator and principal constituent of the Czechoslovak state and established Czech and Slovak as official languages. The concept of the Czechoslovak nation was necessary in order to justify the establishment of Czechoslovakia towards the world, because otherwise the statistical majority of the Czechs as compared to Germans would have been rather weak, and there would have been more Germans in the state than Slovaks. National minorities were assured special protection; in districts where they constituted 20% of the population, members of minority groups were granted full freedom to use their language in everyday life, in schools, and in matters dealing with authorities.
The operation of the new Czechoslovak government was distinguished by stability. Largely responsible for this were the well-organized political parties that emerged as the real centers of power. Excluding the period from March 1926 to November 1929, when the coalition did not hold, a coalition of five Czechoslovak parties constituted the backbone of the government: Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants, Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, Czechoslovak National Socialist Party, Czechoslovak Popular Party, and Czechoslovak National Democratic Party. The leaders of these parties became known as the "Petka" (The Five). The Petka was headed by Antonin Svehla, who held the office of prime minister for most of the 1920s and designed a pattern of coalition politics that survived until 1938. The coalition's policy was expressed in the slogan "We have agreed that we will agree." German parties also participated in the government in the beginning of 1926. Hungarian parties, influenced by irredentist propaganda from Hungary, never joined the Czechoslovak government but were not openly hostile.
[edit] Political parties of Czechoslovakia
- The Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants was formed in 1922 from a merger of the Czech Agrarian Party and the Slovak Agrarian Party. Led by Svehla, the new party became the principal voice for the agrarian population, representing mainly peasants with small and medium-sized farms. Svehla combined support for progressive social legislation with a democratic outlook. His party was the core of all government coalitions between 1922 and 1938.
- The Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party was considerably weakened when the communists seceded in 1921 to form the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, but by 1929 it had begun to regain its strength. A party of moderation, the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party declared in favor of parliamentary democracy in 1930. Antonín Hampl was chairman of the party, and Ivan Dérer was the leader of its Slovak branch.
- The Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (called the Czech Socialist Party until 1926) was created before World War I when the socialists split from the Social Democratic Party. It rejected class struggle and promoted nationalism. Led by Václav Klofáč, its membership derived primarily from the lower middle class, civil servants, and the intelligentsia (including Beneš).
- The Czechoslovak Popular Party — a fusion of several Catholic parties, groups, and labor unions — developed separately in Bohemia in 1918 and in the more strongly Catholic Moravia in 1919. In 1922 a common executive committee was formed, headed by Jan Šrámek. The Czechslovak Popular Party espoused Christian moral principles and the social encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII.
- The Czechoslovak National Democratic Party developed from a post-World War I merger of the Young Czech Party with other right wing and center parties. Ideologically, it was characterized by national radicalism and economic liberalism. Led by Kramář and Alois Rašín, the Czechoslovak National Democratic Party became the party of big business, banking, and industry. The party declined in influence after 1920, however.
[edit] Foreign policy
Edvard Beneš, Czechoslovak foreign minister from 1918 to 1935, created the system of alliances that determined the republic's international stance until 1938. A democratic statesman of Western orientation, Beneš relied heavily on the League of Nations as guarantor of the post war status quo and the security of newly formed states. He negotiated the Little Entente (an alliance with Yugoslavia and Romania) in 1921 to counter Hungarian revanchism and Habsburg restoration. He attempted further to negotiate treaties with Britain and France, seeking their promises of assistance in the event of aggression against the small, democratic Czechoslovak Republic. Britain remained intransigent in its isolationist policy, and in 1924 Beneš concluded a separate alliance with France. Beneš's Western policy received a serious blow as early as 1925. The Locarno Pact, which paved the way for Germany's admission to the League of Nations, guaranteed Germany's western border. French troops were thus left immobilized on the Rhine, making French assistance to Czechoslovakia difficult. In addition, the treaty stipulated that Germany's eastern frontier would remain subject to negotiation. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, fear of German aggression became widespread in eastern Central Europe. Beneš ignored the possibility of a stronger Central Europe an alliance system, remaining faithful to his Western policy. He did, however, seek the participation of the Soviet Union in an alliance to include France. (Beneš's earlier attitude towards the Soviet regime had been one of caution.) In 1935 the Soviet Union signed treaties with France and Czechoslovakia. In essence, the treaties provided that the Soviet Union would come to Czechoslovakia's aid only if French assistance came first.
In 1935, Beneš succeeded Masaryk as president, and Prime Minister Milan Hodža took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Unfortunately, Hodža's efforts to strengthen alliances in Central Europe came too late. In February 1936 the foreign ministry came under the direction of Kamil Krofta, an adherent of Beneš's line.
[edit] Economy
The new nation had a population of over 13.5 million. It had inherited 70 to 80% of all the industry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including the porcelain and glass industries and the sugar refineries; more than 40% of all its distilleries and breweries; the Škoda Works of Plzeň (Pilsen), which produced armaments, locomotives, automobiles, and machinery; and the chemical industry of northern Bohemia. Seventeen percent of all Hungarian industry that had developed in Slovakia during the late 19th century also fell to the republic. Czechoslovakia was one of the world's 10 most industrialized states.
The Czech lands were far more industrialized than Slovakia. In Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, 39% of the population was employed in industry and 31% in agriculture and forestry. Most light and heavy industry was located in the Sudetenland and was owned by Germans and controlled by German-owned banks. Czechs controlled only 20 to 30 % of all industry. In Slovakia 17.1% of the population was employed in industry, and 60.4% worked in agriculture and forestry. Only 5% of all industry in Slovakia was in Slovak hands. Carpathian Ruthenia was essentially without industry.
In the agricultural sector, a program of reform introduced soon after the establishment of the republic was intended to rectify the unequal distribution of land. One-third of all agricultural land and forests belonged to a few aristocratic landowners—mostly Germans (or Germanized Czechs – e.g. Kinsky, Czernin or Kaunitz) and Hungarians—and the Roman Catholic Church. Half of all holdings were under 20,000 m². The Land Control Act of April 1919 called for the expropriation of all estates exceeding 1.5 square kilometres of arable land or 2.5 square kilometres of land in general (5 square kilometres to be the absolute maximum). Redistribution was to proceed on a gradual basis; owners would continue in possession in the interim, and compensation was offered.
[edit] Ethnic groups
National disputes arose due to the fact that the more numerous Czechs dominated the central government and other national institutions, all of which had their seats in the Bohemian capital Prague. The Slovak middle class had been extremely small in 1919 because Hungarians, Germans and Jews had previously filled most administrative, professional and commercial positions in, and as a result, the Czechs had to be posted to the more backward Slovakia to take up the administrative and professional posts.
Furthermore, most of Czechoslovakia's industry was as well located in Bohemia and Moravia, while most of Slovakia's economy came from agriculture. In Carpatho-Ukraine, the situation was even worse, with basically no industry at all.
Due to Czechoslovakia's centralized political structure, nationalism arose in the non-Czech nationalities, and several parties and movements were formed with the aim of broader political autonomy, like the Sudeten German Party led by Konrad Henlein and the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party led by Andrej Hlinka.
The German minority living in Sudetenland demanded autonomy from the Czech government, claiming they were suppressed repressed by the Czech government. In the 1935 Parliamentary elections, the newly founded Sudeten German Party (SdP) under leadership of Konrad Henlein, financed with Nazi money, won an upset victory, securing over 2/3 of the Sudeten German vote, which worsened the diplomatic relations between the Germans and the Czechs.
|
Nationalities of Czechoslovakia 1921 | ||
|---|---|---|
| total population | 13.5 mill. | |
| Czech | 6.8 mill. | 50 % |
| German | 3.2 mill. | 23 % |
| Slovak | 2.34 mill. | 15 % |
| Hungarian | ca. 0.8 mill. | 5,5 % |
| Ruthenian | ca. 0.5 mill. | 3,5 % |
| others | ca. 0.5 mill. | 4 % |
[edit] The end of Czechoslovakia
[edit] Tensions with Germany
Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein offered the Sudeten German Party as the agent for Hitler's campaign. Henlein met with Hitler in Berlin on March 28, 1938, where he was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the Czechoslovak government led by president Edvard Beneš. On April 24, the SdP issued the Carlsbad Decrees, demanding autonomy for the Sudentenland and the freedom to profess Nazi ideology. If Henlein's demands were granted, the Sudetenland would then be able to align itself with Nazi Germany.
On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was elected as chancellor of Germany, and shortly after the election, he and his NSDAP consolidated power, assuming full control in 1934. Hitler reinstated the draft in 1935, and begun remobilizing the German armed forces. In March 1936, the Germans marched into the Rhineland, marking the first step of Hitler's expansionist policy.
On March 12, 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria with the Anschluss. As the previous appeasement of Hitler had shown, the governments of both France and the United Kingdom were set on avoiding war. The French government especially did not wish to face Germany alone, so took its lead from the British government and it’s Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain believed that Sudeten German grievances were just and that Hitler's intentions were limited. Both Britain and France, therefore, advised Czechoslovakia to concede to the SdP's demands. Beneš resisted, however, and on May 20 a partial mobilization was initiated in response to rumours of German troop movements. Ten days later, Hitler signed a secret directive for war against Czechoslovakia to begin no later than October 1.
n the meantime, the British government demanded that Beneš 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 a plan acceptable to the Sudeten Germans. On September 2, Beneš submitted the Fourth Plan, granting nearly all the demands of the Carlsbad Decrees. Intent on obstructing conciliation, however, the SdP held demonstrations that provoked police action in Ostrava on September 7. The Sudeten Germans broke off negotiations on September 13, after which violence and disruption ensued. As Czechoslovak troops attempted to restore order, Henlein flew to Germany and on September 15 issued a proclamation demanding the takeover of the Sudetenland by Germany.
On the same day, Hitler met with Chamberlain at Berchtesgaden and demanded the swift takeover of the Sudetenland by the Third Reich under threat of war. The Czechs, Hitler claimed, were slaughtering the Sudeten Germans. Chamberlain referred the demand to the British and French governments; both accepted. The Czechoslovak government resisted, arguing that Hitler's proposal would ruin the nation's economy and lead ultimately to German control of all of Czechoslovakia. The United Kingdom and France issued an ultimatum, making a French commitment to Czechoslovakia contingent upon acceptance. On September 21, Czechoslovakia capitulated. The next day, however, Hitler added new demands, insisting that the claims of ethnic Germans in Poland and Hungary also be satisfied.
[edit] The Munich Agreement
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. When Milan Hodža's government resigned on September 22, 1938, a new cabinet under General of the Army Jan Syrový was installed. Syrový was appointed prime minister and minister of national defence despite his contradiction. Syrový insisted he was a soldier, not a politician, and that he had no qualification to execute this position. President Beneš told him, however, that the nation needed him and, if he was a soldier, to take it as an order. In the end, Syrový consented, and a decree of general mobilization was issued.
The Czechoslovak army, modern and possessing an excellent system of frontier fortifications, 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.
Chamberlain met Hitler in Godesberg on September 22 to confirm the agreements. Hitler however, aiming at using the crisis as a pretext for war, now demanded not only the annexation of the Sudetenland but the immediate military occupation of the territories, giving the Czechoslovakian army no time to adapt their defence measures to the new borders. To achieve a solution, Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini suggested a conference of the major powers in Munich and on September 29, Hitler, Daladier and Chamberlain met and agreed to Mussolini's proposal (actually prepared by Hermann Göring) and signed the Munich Agreement accepting the immediate occupation of the Sudetenland. At about 1:30 AM on September 30, Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini and Édouard Daladier signed the Munich Agreement.
The news of the signing of the Munich Agreement between Hitler and the Western powers reached Czechoslovakia later that day, and in further demonstrations and rallies, Czechs and Slovaks called for president Beneš not to abide by the agreement. After further pressure from both the cabinet under General Syrový and the Czechoslovak population, Beneš declared that they would not abide by the agreement. As a result, the Soviet Foreign Minister, Maxim Litvinov, reassured the Czechoslovak government that the Soviet Union was willing to come to Czechoslovakia's assistance.
[edit] Invasion and annexation
- Main article: Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Adolf Hitler was furious by the Czech refusal. As the Czechoslovaks in his mind had disobeyed an agreement between Germany, France and the United Kingdom, he could now declare war on Czechoslovakia without risking an escalation of the conflict with the west. As a result, he ordered that the Fall Grün, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, should be initiated the following morning.
On October 1, 1938, German troops crossed the Czechoslovak-German border, initiating Operation Fall Grün. On October 20, Hungary decided to enter the conflict on the side of Germany. With the support from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia fought a brave, but in the end, hopeless war against the Germans and the Hungarians, enflicting heavy casualties on the attackers.
On March 11, as the Germans were closing in on Prague, the commander of the Tenth Army, Gen.d.Art. Walther v. Reichenau presented Arm. Gen. Sergěj Vojcechovský and Brig. Gen. Langer an ultimatum: All Czech military units in Prague should capitulate on March 14, or else the Luftwaffe would carry out their orders to "remove Prague from the face of the earth".
Gen. Sergěj Vojcechovský and Brig. Gen. Langer, seeing they had no chance to continue the battle without risking the lives of hundreds of thousands civilians in Prague, started negotiations for capitulation with the Gen.d.Art. v. Reichenau in the morning of March 13. At noon, President Beneš and most of the Czech government left for Warszaw from Prague Ruzyně Airport.
On September 14, at 12.00 a cease fire agreement was signed and all fighting halted. Soon afterwards Prague capitulated. Several units declined to put down their weapons and cease fire, and their commanding officers had to be visited by generals Vojcechovský and Langer personally. During the night of March 14-15 the garrison of Prague started to hide or destroy their heavy armament. On March 15 German units entered the city. At 10.00 on March 15, an full capitulation of all Czechoslovak Armed Forces was signed on Pražský hrad by Gen. Vojcechovský and Brig. Gen. Langer, with Gen.d.Art. Walther v. Reichenau and Gen.Lt. Heinz Guderian acting as representatives of Germany. The following day the evacuation of Czech forces to German POW camps started.
On May 1, Nazi Germany and Hungary formally annexed Czechoslovakia. While Germany annexed Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Sudetenland, Hungary annexed Slovakia and Carpatho Ruthenia. Although that the Germans and the Hungarians by March 15 had completely overrun Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak government never surrendered. In addition, Czechoslovakia's remaining land and air forces were evacuated to neighbouring Poland and Yugoslavia.
