From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sudeten Germans
Sudeten Germans
This article is part of the article Czechoslovakia ted by January 1937 was received by Sudeten Germans,
whose protests were expressed in countless petitions.
According to the 1920 constitution, German minority
rights were carefully protected; their educational and
Importance of Sudeten Ger- cultural institutions were preserved in proportion to the
population. Local hostilities were engendered, however,
mans by policies intended to protect the security of the Cze-
Czechoslovakia was inhabited by over 3 million ethnic choslovak state: border forestland, considered the most
Germans, comprising about 23 percent of the population ancient Sudeten German national territory, was expro-
of the republic and about 29.5%[1] of Bohemia and Mo- priated for security reasons and Czech soldiers, police-
ravia. men and bureaucrats were stationed in areas inhabited
The Sudetenland possessed huge chemical works and only by Germans.
lignite mines, as well as textile, china, and glass factories. Minority laws were most often applied to create new
The border area of Bohemia was mainly inhabited by Ger- Czech schools in German districts. Sudeten Germans, in
mans. The Český Les (Bohemian Forest) extended along possession of a large number of subsidized local theaters,
the Bavarian frontier to the poor agricultural areas of were required to put these at the disposal of the Czech
southern Bohemia. minority one night a week.
Moravia contained patches of "locked" German terri- Sudeten German industry, highly dependent on for-
tory to the north and south. More characteristic were the eign trade and having close financial links with Germany,
German "language islands" - towns inhabited by impor- suffered badly during the Depression, particularly when
tant German minorities and surrounded by Czechs. Ex- banks in Germany failed in 1931. Czechs, whose industry
treme German nationalism was never typical of this area. was concentrated on the production of essential domes-
Not all ethnic Germans lived in isolated and well de- tic items, suffered less. Tensions between the two groups
fined areas - due to historical developments, Czechs and resulted. Relations between Czechs and Germans were
Germans were mixed on many places and at least a par- further envenomed when Sudeten Germans were forced
tial knowledge of the second language was quite com- to turn to the Czechoslovak government and the small
mon. loans bank (Živnostenská banka) for assistance and these
Since the second half of the 19th century Czech and authorities often made the hiring of Czechs in proportion
Germans created separate cultural, educational, political to their numbers in the population a condition for aid.
and economical institutions which kept both sides isolat- Czech workmen, dispatched by the government to en-
ed from each other. This separation continued until the gage in public works projects and border fortification in
end of WWII. Sudeten German territories, were also resented.
Policies affecting Sudeten Ger- Politics of Sudeten Germans
Sudeten German representatives wished and tried to join
mans Austria, Germany or at least obtain as much autonomy
Early policies of the Czechoslovak government, intended rights as possible. The constitution of 1920 was drafted
to correct social injustice and effect a moderate redis- without Sudeten German representation, and the group
tribution of wealth, had fallen more heavily on the Ger- declined to participate in the election of the president.
man population than on other citizens. In 1919 the gov- In 1926, however, Chancellor Gustav Stresemann of Ger-
ernment confiscated one-fifth of each individual’s hold- many, adopting a policy of rapprochement with the
ings in paper currency. Those Germans constituting the West, advised Sudeten Germans to cooperate actively
wealthiest element in the Czech lands were most affect- with the Czechoslovak government. In consequence,
ed. The Land Control Act brought the expropriation of most Sudeten German parties (including the German
vast estates, many belonging to German nobility or large Agrarian Party, the German Social Democratic Party, and
estate owners. Land was allotted primarily to Czech peas- the German Christian Socialist Party) accepted cabinet
ants, often landless, who constituted the majority of the posts.
agricultural population. Only 4.5 percent of all land allot- By 1929 only a small number of Sudeten German
deputies - most of them members of the German National
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sudeten Germans
Party (propertied classes) and the Sudeten German Na- arms smuggled from Germany) and police and border
tional Socialist Party (Sudetendeutsche nationalsozialis- forces. In some places the regular army had been called
tische Partei) - remained in opposition. Nationalist sen- in to pacify the situation. Propaganda from Nazi Ger-
timent flourished, however, among Sudeten German many accused the Czech government and the Czechs of
youth, who belonged to a variety of organizations. These atrocities towards Sudeten Germans. The Czech public
included the older Turnverband and Schutzvereine, the started to prepare for an inevitable war (for example,
newly formed Kameradschaftsbund and the Bereitschaft. training with gas masks).
On 20 May, Czechoslovakia initiated a partial mobi-
Rise of a Nationalist Party lization in response to rumours of German troop move-
ments. The army moved into position on the border.
On October 1, 1933, Konrad Henlein, aided by Matthias Western powers tried to calm down the situation and
Burkhalter and other members of the Kameradschafts- forced the government of Czechoslovakia to comply with
bund, a youth organization of romantic mystical orien- most of the Carlsbad Decrees. However the SdP, instruct-
tation, created a new political organization. The Sudeten ed to push towards war, escalated the situation with
German Home Front (Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront) more protests and violence. Under pressure from its
professed loyalty to the Czechoslovak state but cham- Western allies, the Czechoslovak government was forced
pioned decentralization. In 1935 the Sudeten German to accept Munich Agreement (signed September 29 by
Home Front became the Sudeten German Party (Sudeten- Britain, France, Germany and Italy and negotiated with-
deutsche Partei - SdP) and started an active propaganda out Czechoslovak participation) ceding a German-de-
campaign. In the May election the SdP won more than 60 fined maximalist extension of Sudetenland to Germany
percent of the Sudeten German vote. The German Agrar- including among other things the Czech Škoda works by
ians, Christian Socialists, and Social Democrats each lost Pilsen, Czechoslovakia’s primary armaments factory.
approximately one-half of their followers. The SdP be- As a result, Bohemia and Moravia lost about 38 per-
came the focus of German nationalist forces. The party cent of their combined area, as well as about 2.8 million
pretended to strive for a just settlement of Sudeten Ger- Germans and approximately 750,000 Czechs to Germany.
man claims within the framework of Czechoslovak
democracy. Henlein, however, maintained secret contact
with Nazi Germany and received material aid from Ber-
Expulsion
lin. The SdP endorsed the idea of a fuhrer and mimicked After the end of WWII the majority of Germans from
Nazi methods with banners, slogans, and uniformed Czechoslovakia were expelled, 3 million altogether, 300
troops. Concessions offered by the Czechoslovak govern- 000 died. The expulsion was often accompanied with vio-
ment, including the transfer of Sudeten German officials lence. See overview of expulsion of Germans after World
to Sudeten German areas and possible participation of War II and details of explusion from Czechoslovakia.
the SdP in the cabinet, were rejected. By 1937 most SdP
leaders supported Hitler’s pan-German objectives.
On March 13, 1938, Austria was annexed by the Third
See also
Reich, a union known as the Anschluss. On March 22, the • Occupation of Czechoslovakia
German Agrarian Party, led by Gustav Hacker, fused with • Beneš decrees
the SdP. German Christian Socialists suspended their ac- • Sudeten German Homeland Association
tivities on March 24; their deputies and senators entered
the SdP parliamentary club. Only the Social Democrats
continued to champion democratic freedom. The masses,
References
however, supported the SdP. [1] "Czech Statistical Office". http://notes3.czso.cz/
sldb/sldb.nsf/i/
graf_2_narodnostni_slozeni_obyvatelstva.
Final crisis in 1938 Retrieved 2011-08-09.
Konrad Henlein met Hitler in Berlin on 28 March 1938,
and was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the
Czechoslovak government. In the Carlsbad Decrees, is-
External links
sued on 24 April, the SdP demanded complete autonomy • Facing history — The evolution of Czech-German
for the Sudetenland. If Henlein’s demands were granted, relations in the Czech provinces, 1848–1948:
the Sudetenland would be in a position to join Nazi Ger- historical publication sponsored by Czech
many. government; series of PDF files
As the political situation deteriorated, security in • Emotions prevail in relations between Germans,
Sudetenland deteriorated, too. There were small scale Czechs, Poles -- poll, Czech Happenings, 21 December
clashes between young SdP followers (equipped with 2005
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sudeten Germans
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sudeten_Germans&oldid=461436379"
Categories:
• Sudeten-German people
• Czechoslovakia
• German diaspora
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