Jan Syrový (Fall Grün)
From Alternative History
| Jan Syrový | |
 Official portrait taken in 1938. | |
| 11th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia | |
| Term of office: September 22, 1938 - March 15, 1939 | |
| Preceded by: | Milan Hodža |
| Succeeded by: | Office abolished following the annexation by Nazi Germany and Hungary |
| 11th Minister of National Defence | |
| Term of office: September 22, 1938 - March 15, 1939 | |
| Preceded by: | František Machník |
| Succeeded by: | Office abolished following the annexation by Nazi Germany and Hungary |
| 6th Minister of National Defence | |
| Term of office: March 18 - October 12, 1926 | |
| Preceded by: | Jiří Stříbrný |
| Succeeded by: | František Udržal |
| Biography | |
| Born: | January 24, 1888 Třebíč, Moravia, Austria-Hungary
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| Nationality: |  Czechoslovak
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| Occupation: | Officer, politician |
| Signature: | 
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| Military service | |
| Allegiance: | Austria-Hungary Czechoslovak legion Czechoslovakia
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| Service/branch: |  K.u.k. Armee Československé legie Československá armáda
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| Years of service: | 1906–1939 |
| Rank: | General of the Army  
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| Battles/wars: | First World War (1914-1917) Russian Civil War (1918) Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1938-1939) |
| Awards: | Czechoslovak War Cross (1914-1918) Legion d'Honneur Czechoslovak War Cross (1938-1939) |
Army General Jan Syrový (January 24, 1888 - October 17, 1970) was a Czechoslovak national hero, a veteran of the Czechoslovak Legion and a prominent four-star general of the Czechoslovak Army in the interwar period. On September 22, 1938 he was appointed Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence by president Edvard Beneš following the resignation of the government lead by Milan Hodža, and held both posts until the German conquest of Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939.
As Prime minister he gave the order to initiate full mobilization of the Czechoslovak armed forces on September 23, 1938, in response to the increasing tensions with Nazi Germany. On September 30 he along with the majority of the military leadership successfully persuaded President Beneš to follow the will of the Czech people by refusing to abide by the Munich Agreement. He, along with President Beneš, are revered their leadership and preservation of Czech unity during the German invasion. However, their efforts were eventually futile, and they were forced to leave Prague in March 1939.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and military career
Jan Syrový was born on January 24, 1888 in the town of Třebíč in Moravia, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied engineering at the Technical School in Brno. Following his graduation in 1906, he became a one year volunteer in the Austro-Hungarian army. After that, he went to Russia, where he studied at the Technical College in Warsaw.
In 1914, he switched sides to the Russian Army and was one of the first officers to join the Czechoslovak Legion, where he played a big role in planning the military operations. He participated in several reconnaissance actions, and was a result promoted and decorated several times.
During the Battle of Zborov between July 1-2, 1917, he was wounded by an artillery shrapnel and subsequently lost his right eye. Despite his injuries soon returned to the front and from April 1918 he commanded the 2nd Riflemen Regiment (2. střeleckému pluku). Later, he was in command of the Legion and the anti-bolshevik forces on the Trans-Siberian railway. He returned to Czechoslovakia on July 20, 1920. His war experience earned him recognition, and after the war, he was Chief of Staff of the Czechoslovak Army (1927-1933) and then its General Inspector (1933-1938).
After he started in his new job, which was more of a representational character, he decided to expand his field of responsibility, which caused a unfortunate and long feud between him and the new chief of staff, who refused to give up any part of his power. The whole case had to be solved by president Beneš with a comprimise. Syrovy became with the years first of all a person with a authority with morale and also a symbol for the Czechoslovak army. Thanks to his resemblance of Jan Žižka (c. 1370-1424), who was a Czech general and Hussite leader, the follower of Jan Hus and a hero for the Czech people, he was very popular in the public, and this popularity brought him to the government.
[edit] Munich Crisis
When Milan Hodža's government resigned on September 23, 1938, 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, that the nation needed him and, if he was a soldier, to take it as an order. In the end, Syrový consented.
[edit] Invasion of Czechoslovakia
- Main article: Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1938-1939)
In the early hours of October 1, 1938, Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. Having negotiated with the Germans and dealt with both military and political decisions during the night, he was still awake when he received the first reports of German troops crossing the border and reports of heavy German artillery bombardement across the whole German-Czech frontier. After contacting the Army High Command and General Staff, as well as the military intelligence service, Syrový summoned his cabinet to a meeting with Beneš along with several members of the Army High Command and Military Intelligence at 09:20 A.M. Among the attendees were Chief of Army, Arm. Gen. Ludvík Krejčí, Chief of the General Staff, Brig. Gen. Bohuslav Fiala and Chief of Military Intelligence, Gen. František Moravec. They discussed the further political and military situation, now as war with Germany had broken out. They concluded that they would see what the Western powers, and France in particular, along with the Soviet Union, would react to the German attack. Until then they would have to defend themselves the best they could.
At 13:30, Syrový again summoned the cabinet along with Beneš and the military high command to discuss the developments on the political and military scene since their last meeting. Seeing that the French and British had abandoned them (as a response of the statement made by their prime minister earlier that morning), they decided to ask the Soviets to intervene militarily. Later that afternoon the Soviet Secretary of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov secretly proclaimed that he would send the promised 300,000 men and material as soon as they were mobilised and got a permission from the Romanian government to pass through their territory. Until then, he urged the Czechs to withstand the German attack and use the Soviet military aircraft already present in Czechoslovak territory.
During the whole conflict, Syrový worked closely with both his cabinet and President Beneš on the political scene, while working closely with Gen. Krejčí, Gen. Fiala and Moravec on the military scene. He also called upon František Machník, who had resigned as Minister of National Defence when the Milan Hodža government resigned, to assist in the defence of Czechoslovakia. He spent most of his time in the headquarters of the Military High Command in Prague, where he held daily meetings with his cabinet, the president and the military leadership, where they discussed the political and military situation. He also made many visits to the front as long as the situation allowed it. His leadership during the conflict was further strengthened by his moral authority and status as a symbol of the Czechoslovak army as well as a national war hero, and enjoyed massive popular support as a result.
The Czechoslovak Army managed to stop the initial offensive following the decisive victories at Ivančice, Otnice, Bošovice and Velké Hostěrádky as well as the defence of Plzeň. The Czechoslovak Army, supported by Soviet reinforcements, managed to hold off the German and Hungarian invaders for five months, but the defence, albeit fierce and effective, was ultimately futile. When the Germans launched their spring offensive on March 1, 1939 the Czech defences collapsed due to lack of ammunition, supplies, equipment and manpower. 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, the commander of the I. armáda "Havlíček", and Brig. Gen. Langer, the commander of the defence of Prague, 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's Ruzyně Airport. Prime Minister Syrový wished to stay in Prague, as he insisted that as a soldier and the minister of national defence, he should stay until the end. He shared the same thoughts as Vojcechovský and Langer, and a capitulation would spare the suffering inhabitants of Prague from unnecessary aerial bombardement. However, he chose to follow the chief of military intelligence František Moravec after being told that his position as prime minister, minister of national defence and as a soldier could be abused in the post-invasion Czechoslovakia.
In the early morning of March 14, František Moravec, 10 of his fellow intelligence officers and Syrový secretly managed to fly away with the most valuable intelligence files and archives from Prague Ruzyně Airport to Stockholm-Bromma Airport with a stopover on Warszawa-Okęcie Fryderyka Chopina Airport in an ad hoc chartered KLM Douglas DC-3, as the Germans were closing in. Only 20 minutes after Moravec and Syrový left for Warsaw, the forward elements of the 1. Panzer-Division swarmed the airfield. Rescued files and archives were handed over to the British MI6 to be used against Germany. The next morning the remaining Czech forces capitulated to the Germans and Hungarians, thus ending the five-month conflict.
[edit] Later life and death
[edit] Awards
[edit] Decorations
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[edit] See also
[edit] Positions held
| Political offices | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Milan Hodža | 11th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia September 22, 1938 – March 15, 1939 | Office abolished |
| Preceded by: František Machník | 11th Minister of National Defence September 22, 1938 – March 15, 1939 | ||
| Preceded by: Jiří Stříbrný | 6th Minister of National Defence March 18 – October 12, 1926 | Succeeded by: František Udržal | |
| Military offices | |||
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| Preceded by: Eugène Mittelhausser | Chief of Staff of the Czechoslovak Army 1926 - 1933 | Succeeded by: Ludvík Krejčí |
