Sudetenland Medal
Encyclopedia
The The Sudetenland Commemorative Medal (Die Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938) was a decoration of Nazi Germany
awarded in the interwar period
.
to Germany
. Once again Hitler employed skillful diplomacy, using brinkmanship as a tool to bring the Sudetenland under German control and paving the road for the annexation of Czechoslovakia.
The medal was awarded to all German (and as well Sudeten) State officials and members of the German Wehrmacht and SS who marched into Sudetenland. Later it was awarded to military personnel participating in the occupation of the remnants of Czechoslovakia
on March 15, 1939.
It was awarded until December 1, 1939. In all 1,162,617 medals and 134,563 bars were awarded.
was a region comprising border areas of Bohemia with mostly German speaking inhabitants, named after the Sudeten
Mountains. Following World War I
the treaty of St. Germain incorporated the area together with the rest of Bohemia into the Czechoslovak Republic. This had caused deep resentment among many Sudeten Germans who wanted to be, together with the new republic of German Austria, united with Germany. Throughout the 1930s, economic troubles and unemployment drove many to the pro-German stance of Konrad Henlein
and his cohorts, who founded the Sudeten German Party. In the summer of 1938, Hitler voiced support for the demands of the German population of the Sudetenland to be incorporated into the Reich. This grew to outright demand from Hitler to annex the area, and threatened war against the advice of his Generals who were sure Germany was not ready to stand up in a new widespread European conflict. Czechoslovakia mobilized, realizing that most of their fortifications and their natural barriers were on their borders and losing these would leave them defenceless. It was under these circumstances that the Munich Conference was held.
Present in Munich
on September 29 were Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
of the United Kingdom
, Prime Minister Édouard Daladier
of France
, Benito Mussolini
of Italy, as well as Hitler and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
. Representatives of Czechoslovakia
and the Soviet Union
were not invited. Fearing another war and in the most infamous case of appeasement, the Sudetenland
was turned over to Germany. On October 1, 1938, German forces entered the Sudetenland and annexed the area to the Third Reich. In order to commemorate this event, Hitler ordered the creation of the Sudetenland medal, which was instituted on October 18, 1938.
, the reverse only differed in the date. It was designed by Professor Richard Klein
.
It is round and of the obverse there is a man standing of a podium with the Third Reich coat of arms and holding the Nazi flag, he holding the hand and helping him get on the podium of another man who had a broken shackle on his right hand, this symbolize the joining to the Reich of Austria. On the reverse side is the inscription "1. Oktober 1938" (October 1, 1938). The date is surrounded with the words "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer" (One People, One Empire, One Leader).
The medal was dye-struck and high in detail, with a bronze
finish. The medal was suspended from a black ribbon with a red stripe in the middle, these being the colors of the Sudetenland.
and Moravia
on March 15, 1939, a bronze Bar (Spange Prager Burg in German
) was approved on May 1, 1939. This Bar featured the Prague Castle
on the obverse with two triangular prongs in the back, which held it on the ribbon. The bar, like the medal, die-struck and high in detail, with a bronze finish.
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...
awarded in the interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
.
Description
Instituted on October 18, 1938, the medal commemorated the union of the SudetenlandSudetenland
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...
to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Once again Hitler employed skillful diplomacy, using brinkmanship as a tool to bring the Sudetenland under German control and paving the road for the annexation of Czechoslovakia.
The medal was awarded to all German (and as well Sudeten) State officials and members of the German Wehrmacht and SS who marched into Sudetenland. Later it was awarded to military personnel participating in the occupation of the remnants of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
on March 15, 1939.
It was awarded until December 1, 1939. In all 1,162,617 medals and 134,563 bars were awarded.
Background
The so-called SudetenlandSudetenland
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...
was a region comprising border areas of Bohemia with mostly German speaking inhabitants, named after the Sudeten
Sudeten mountains
The Sudetes is a mountain range in Central Europe. It is also known as the Sudeten or Sudety Mountains....
Mountains. Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the treaty of St. Germain incorporated the area together with the rest of Bohemia into the Czechoslovak Republic. This had caused deep resentment among many Sudeten Germans who wanted to be, together with the new republic of German Austria, united with Germany. Throughout the 1930s, economic troubles and unemployment drove many to the pro-German stance of Konrad Henlein
Konrad Henlein
Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein was a leading pro-Nazi ethnic German politician in Czechoslovakia and leader of Sudeten German separatists...
and his cohorts, who founded the Sudeten German Party. In the summer of 1938, Hitler voiced support for the demands of the German population of the Sudetenland to be incorporated into the Reich. This grew to outright demand from Hitler to annex the area, and threatened war against the advice of his Generals who were sure Germany was not ready to stand up in a new widespread European conflict. Czechoslovakia mobilized, realizing that most of their fortifications and their natural barriers were on their borders and losing these would leave them defenceless. It was under these circumstances that the Munich Conference was held.
Present in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
on September 29 were Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Prime Minister Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
of France
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
, Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
of Italy, as well as Hitler and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
. Representatives of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
were not invited. Fearing another war and in the most infamous case of appeasement, 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...
was turned over to Germany. On October 1, 1938, German forces entered the Sudetenland and annexed the area to the Third Reich. In order to commemorate this event, Hitler ordered the creation of the Sudetenland medal, which was instituted on October 18, 1938.
Design
The medal was similar in appearance as the Anschluss MedalAnschluss Medal
The Anschluss Commemorative Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded in the interwar period.-Description:Instituted on May 1, 1938, the medal commemorated the return of Austria to the German Reich...
, the reverse only differed in the date. It was designed by Professor Richard Klein
Richard Klein (artist)
Richard Klein was a German artist, known mainly for his work as a favoured artist of the Nazi regime. Klein was director of the Munich School of Applied Arts and was one of Hitler's favourite painters....
.
It is round and of the obverse there is a man standing of a podium with the Third Reich coat of arms and holding the Nazi flag, he holding the hand and helping him get on the podium of another man who had a broken shackle on his right hand, this symbolize the joining to the Reich of Austria. On the reverse side is the inscription "1. Oktober 1938" (October 1, 1938). The date is surrounded with the words "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer" (One People, One Empire, One Leader).
The medal was dye-struck and high in detail, with a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
finish. The medal was suspended from a black ribbon with a red stripe in the middle, these being the colors of the Sudetenland.
Prague Castle Bar
For those who had participated in both the occupation of the Sudetenland and the annexation of BohemiaBohemia
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...
and Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
on March 15, 1939, a bronze Bar (Spange Prager Burg in German
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 approved on May 1, 1939. This Bar featured the Prague Castle
Prague Castle
Prague Castle is a castle in Prague where the Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The Czech Crown Jewels are kept here...
on the obverse with two triangular prongs in the back, which held it on the ribbon. The bar, like the medal, die-struck and high in detail, with a bronze finish.
External links
See also
- Occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany
- Interwar era
- Munich AgreementMunich AgreementThe 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...
- SudetenlandSudetenlandSudetenland 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 Occupation MedalsGerman Occupation MedalsThe German Occupation Medals were a series of awards, also known as the "Flower War medals", created to commemorate the annexation of Austria, Czechoslovakia and the Memelland by Nazi Germany in the interwar period...
- Anschluss MedalAnschluss MedalThe Anschluss Commemorative Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded in the interwar period.-Description:Instituted on May 1, 1938, the medal commemorated the return of Austria to the German Reich...
- Memel MedalMemel MedalThe Return of Memel Commemorative Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded in the interwar period, and the last of the series of Occupation Medals.-Description:...