Czech-German relations
Encyclopedia
Czech–German relations have a long and complicated history.
There had been a German minority in Bohemia and Moravia ("Czech lands") for centuries. The regions later called Sudetenland
were situated on the borders of the Kingdom of Bohemia
, which also consisted of Moravia (and later Silesia) and was in turn part of the Holy Roman Empire
. After the extinction of the Czech Přemyslid dynasty
, the kingdom was ruled by the Luxemburg
s, later the Jagiellonians and finally the Habsburg
s. Starting from the 13th century onwards the border regions of Bohemia and Moravia
, called Sudetenland in the 20th century, were settled by Germans
, who were invited by the originally Slavic Bohemian nobility.
After the Renewed Constitution of 1627 the German language
was established as a second official language in the Czech lands. The Czech language
remained the first language in the kingdom. Both German and Latin were widely spoken among the ruling classes, although German became increasingly dominant, while Czech was spoken in much of the countryside.
In Habsburg Monarchy, especially from the 17th century onwards the German-speaking population became the privileged ethnic and linguistic group, while Czechs felt increasingly sidelined.
The Habsburgs integrated the Kingdom of Bohemia and Moravia into their monarchy
, of which it remained a part until the modern nationalism
gained power in the 19th century: conflicts between Czech and German nationalists emerged, for instance in the revolution of 1848
: while the German-speaking population wanted to participate in the building of a German nation state, the Czech-speaking population insisted on keeping Bohemia out of such plans.
The relationship between the German-speaking and Czech-speaking populations radically changed after World War I when independent Czechoslovakia was established. The ultimately successful Czechoslovak demands for the German majority territories were viewed favorably by France and the UK, but negatively by the U.S. who favored the Sudeten
German demands for self-determination.
In view of the continuous discrimination the German minority was subjected to in the new state that they had been forced to join (see Treaty of Versailles
), the Germans eventually came to see hope for their plight with the rise to power of Nazi Germany. This eventually led many of them to join the Nazi party. [Note: the term 'continuous discrimination' is a very strong statement and lays the onus of NAZI sentiment on the Czechs. This requires documentation. What the Sudeten German's viewed as discrimination may be simply be part of being a minority in a Czech dominated state. Here evidence is needed to support this statement.]
Before the 1938 German annexation of the Sudetenland
, roughly 20 % of the population in Czechoslovakia had been ethnic Germans.
In the Czech lands they constituted more than 30 % of the population. Ethnic German nationalists backed by Hitler demanded the union of German-speaking districts with Germany. Threatening war, Hitler seized through the Munich Agreement
in September 1938 the cession of the Bohemian, Moravian and Czech-Silesian borderlands: Sudetenland
. In November 1938, Czechoslovakia was forced by Germany and Italy to also cede southern Slovakia (one third of Slovak territory) to Hungary. The Czechs in the greatly weakened Czechoslovak Republic were forced to grant major concessions to the non-Czechs. Eventually Germany seized all of Czechoslovakia.
Reasons for the expulsion have the roots in the irredentist
Heim ins Reich
(Back to Reich
) policy of Sudeten German Party that was Pan-German and Nazi
oriented. The SdP was from 1935 financed and supported by Nazi Germany
. From 1937 the leaders of SdP coordinated the policy with Nazi leaders in order to destroy the Czechoslovak state and its parliamentary democracy and "reintegrate Bohemia and Moravia back to Nazi German Empire". This Nazi German policy took the form of so called Grundplanung OA (Basic planning) from summer 1938 (which included extermination of Czech nation) and later during German occupation of Czechoslovakia
it was part of interior policy of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
within Generalplan Ost
.
Leader of SdP Konrad Henlein
met with Adolf Hitler in Berlin on March 28 1938, where he was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the Czechoslovak government. On April 24, the SdP issued the so called Carlsbad Decrees, demanding autonomy
for the Sudetenland and the freedom to profess Nazi ideology.
The policy of SdP succeed in September 1938 by annexation of Sudetenland
into Nazi Germany
enabled by the Munich Agreement
that caused shock and indignation of the Czechs because the Czechoslovak government was not invited to negotiations of the Munich Agreement at all and was only told of its results so it was received as dictate or ultimatum.
During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
, most of the Czech resistance groups
demanded, based on German Nazi terror during occupation, the "final solution of the German question" which would have to be "solved" by deportation of the ethnic Germans from their homeland. These demands were adopted by the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile
which, beginning in 1943, sought the support of the Allies
for this proposal. The final agreement for the expulsion of the German population however was not reached until 2 August 1945 at the end of Potsdam Conference.
In the months following the end of the war the expulsion happened from May till August 1945. These expulsions were encouraged by hate-inciting speeches made by several Czechoslovak politicians. The expulsions were executed by order of local authorities mostly by groups of armed volunteers. However in some cases it was initiated or pursued by assistance of the regular army. Several thousand died violently during the expulsion and many more died from hunger and illness as a consequence. The expulsion according the Potsdam Conference proceeded from 25 January 1946 till October of that year. An estimated 1.6 million ethnic Germans were deported to the American zone of what would become West Germany. An estimated 800,000 were deported to the Soviet zone (in what would become East Germany).
Today, both countries share 815 km of common borders. The Czech Republic has an embassy in Berlin, 3 general consulates (in Bonn, Dresden and Munich), and 6 honorary consulates (in Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Nürnberg, Rostock and Stuttgart). Germany has an embassy in Prague. Both countries are full members of NATO and of the European Union
.
There had been a German minority in Bohemia and Moravia ("Czech lands") for centuries. The regions later called Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
were situated on the borders of the Kingdom of Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, which also consisted of Moravia (and later Silesia) and was in turn part of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. After the extinction of the Czech Přemyslid dynasty
Premyslid dynasty
The Přemyslids , were a Czech royal dynasty which reigned in Bohemia and Moravia , and partly also in Hungary, Silesia, Austria and Poland.-Legendary rulers:...
, the kingdom was ruled by the Luxemburg
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...
s, later the Jagiellonians and finally the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
s. Starting from the 13th century onwards the border regions of Bohemia and Moravia
Czech lands
Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...
, called Sudetenland in the 20th century, were settled by Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, who were invited by the originally Slavic Bohemian nobility.
After the Renewed Constitution of 1627 the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
was established as a second official language in the Czech lands. The Czech language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
remained the first language in the kingdom. Both German and Latin were widely spoken among the ruling classes, although German became increasingly dominant, while Czech was spoken in much of the countryside.
In Habsburg Monarchy, especially from the 17th century onwards the German-speaking population became the privileged ethnic and linguistic group, while Czechs felt increasingly sidelined.
The Habsburgs integrated the Kingdom of Bohemia and Moravia into their monarchy
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, of which it remained a part until the modern nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
gained power in the 19th century: conflicts between Czech and German nationalists emerged, for instance in the revolution of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...
: while the German-speaking population wanted to participate in the building of a German nation state, the Czech-speaking population insisted on keeping Bohemia out of such plans.
The relationship between the German-speaking and Czech-speaking populations radically changed after World War I when independent Czechoslovakia was established. The ultimately successful Czechoslovak demands for the German majority territories were viewed favorably by France and the UK, but negatively by the U.S. who favored the Sudeten
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
German demands for self-determination.
In view of the continuous discrimination the German minority was subjected to in the new state that they had been forced to join (see Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
), the Germans eventually came to see hope for their plight with the rise to power of Nazi Germany. This eventually led many of them to join the Nazi party. [Note: the term 'continuous discrimination' is a very strong statement and lays the onus of NAZI sentiment on the Czechs. This requires documentation. What the Sudeten German's viewed as discrimination may be simply be part of being a minority in a Czech dominated state. Here evidence is needed to support this statement.]
Before the 1938 German annexation of the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
, roughly 20 % of the population in Czechoslovakia had been ethnic Germans.
In the Czech lands they constituted more than 30 % of the population. Ethnic German nationalists backed by Hitler demanded the union of German-speaking districts with Germany. Threatening war, Hitler seized through the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
in September 1938 the cession of the Bohemian, Moravian and Czech-Silesian borderlands: Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
. In November 1938, Czechoslovakia was forced by Germany and Italy to also cede southern Slovakia (one third of Slovak territory) to Hungary. The Czechs in the greatly weakened Czechoslovak Republic were forced to grant major concessions to the non-Czechs. Eventually Germany seized all of Czechoslovakia.
Reasons for the expulsion have the roots in the irredentist
Irredentism
Irredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
Heim ins Reich
Heim ins Reich
The Heim ins Reich initiative was a policy pursued by Adolf Hitler starting in 1938 and was one of the factors leading to World War II. The initiative attempted to convince people of German descent living outside of the German Reich that they should strive to bring these regions "home" into a...
(Back to Reich
Reich
Reich is a German word cognate with the English rich, but also used to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is the word traditionally used for a variety of sovereign entities, including Germany in many periods of its history...
) policy of Sudeten German Party that was Pan-German and Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
oriented. The SdP was from 1935 financed and supported by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. From 1937 the leaders of SdP coordinated the policy with Nazi leaders in order to destroy the Czechoslovak state and its parliamentary democracy and "reintegrate Bohemia and Moravia back to Nazi German Empire". This Nazi German policy took the form of so called Grundplanung OA (Basic planning) from summer 1938 (which included extermination of Czech nation) and later during German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
it was part of interior policy of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was the majority ethnic-Czech protectorate which Nazi Germany established in the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia in what is today the Czech Republic...
within Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost was a secret Nazi German plan for the colonization of Eastern Europe. Implementing it would have necessitated genocide and ethnic cleansing to be undertaken in the Eastern European territories occupied by Germany during World War II...
.
Leader of SdP Konrad Henlein
Konrad Henlein
Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein was a leading pro-Nazi ethnic German politician in Czechoslovakia and leader of Sudeten German separatists...
met with Adolf Hitler in Berlin on March 28 1938, where he was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the Czechoslovak government. On April 24, the SdP issued the so called Carlsbad Decrees, demanding autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
for the Sudetenland and the freedom to profess Nazi ideology.
The policy of SdP succeed in September 1938 by annexation of Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
into Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
enabled by the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
that caused shock and indignation of the Czechs because the Czechoslovak government was not invited to negotiations of the Munich Agreement at all and was only told of its results so it was received as dictate or ultimatum.
During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
, most of the Czech resistance groups
Czech resistance to Nazi occupation
Czech resistance to German Nazi occupation during World War II is a scarcely documented subject, by and large a result of little formal resistance and an effective German policy that deterred acts of resistance or annihilated organizations of resistance...
demanded, based on German Nazi terror during occupation, the "final solution of the German question" which would have to be "solved" by deportation of the ethnic Germans from their homeland. These demands were adopted by the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile
Czechoslovak government-in-exile
The Czechoslovak government-in-exile was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee, initially by British diplomatic recognition. The name came to be used by other World War II Allies as they subsequently recognized it...
which, beginning in 1943, sought the support of the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
for this proposal. The final agreement for the expulsion of the German population however was not reached until 2 August 1945 at the end of Potsdam Conference.
In the months following the end of the war the expulsion happened from May till August 1945. These expulsions were encouraged by hate-inciting speeches made by several Czechoslovak politicians. The expulsions were executed by order of local authorities mostly by groups of armed volunteers. However in some cases it was initiated or pursued by assistance of the regular army. Several thousand died violently during the expulsion and many more died from hunger and illness as a consequence. The expulsion according the Potsdam Conference proceeded from 25 January 1946 till October of that year. An estimated 1.6 million ethnic Germans were deported to the American zone of what would become West Germany. An estimated 800,000 were deported to the Soviet zone (in what would become East Germany).
Today, both countries share 815 km of common borders. The Czech Republic has an embassy in Berlin, 3 general consulates (in Bonn, Dresden and Munich), and 6 honorary consulates (in Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Nürnberg, Rostock and Stuttgart). Germany has an embassy in Prague. Both countries are full members of NATO and of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
See also
- Germans in Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)
- Expulsion of Germans from CzechoslovakiaExpulsion of Germans from CzechoslovakiaThe expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and expulsions of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II....
- Beneš decreesBeneš decreesDecrees of the President of the Republic , more commonly known as the Beneš decrees, were a series of laws that were drafted by the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II and issued by President...
- Germans in the Czech RepublicGermans in the Czech RepublicThere are various communities of Germans in the Czech Republic . In the 2001 census, 39,106 Czech citizens, or around 0.4% of the Czech Republic's total population, declared German ethnicity. Government statistics also showed 14,157 German citizens living in the CR .-Migration history:Ethnic...
- Austro-German relationsAustro-German relationsRelations between Austria and Germany are close, due to German being the common language of the two European countries.- The Holy Roman Empire to German Unification :...
- German-Polish relations
- Foreign relations of Czech Republic
- Foreign relations of GermanyForeign relations of GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany is a Central European country and member of the European Union, Group of 8 and NATO . Germany is one of the world's leading industrialized countries and biggest market economy in Europe, with "windows to the East and West".Since reunification in 1990, Germany has...
External links
- German Federal Foreign Office about relations with the Czech Republic
- German embassy in Prague (in Czech and German only)
- Czech embassy in Berlin (in Czech and German only)
- Czech general consulate in Bonn (in Czech and German only)
- Czech general consulate in Dresden (in Czech and German only)
- Czech general consulate in Munich (in Czech and German only)