Leslie Massey
Czechoslovakia and Austria were defeated at different times. Czechoslovakia was defeated in 1939 when it was invaded and occupied by Hitler's forces. This invasion proved the futility of the Munich Pact, which was an agreement that handed over the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany in the name of peace. Austria, on the other hand, was defeated earlier, in 1938, when it was annexed by Nazi Germany in an act of territorial aggression known as the Anschluss. This marked a significant breach of the post-World War I international order.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| When Czechoslovakia was defeated | 15 March 1939 |
| When Austria was defeated | March 1938 |
| How Czechoslovakia was defeated | Annexation of Sudetenland in 1938, creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and by the end of 1944, all parts of Czechoslovakia were occupied |
| How Austria was defeated | Annexation by Nazi Germany in March 1938 |
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What You'll Learn
The Sudetenland annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938
In the summer of 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland, threatening to unleash a European war if his demands were not met. The Czechoslovak government, led by President Edvard Beneš, found itself in a difficult position. On the one hand, they wanted to maintain the sovereignty of their nation, but on the other hand, they were faced with pressure from Britain and France, who were desperate to avoid war at all costs.
Negotiations and agreements:
The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, met with Hitler on September 15, 1938, and agreed to the cession of the Sudetenland. This was followed by a similar agreement with the French Prime Minister, Édouard Daladier, three days later. Neither of these negotiations included any Czechoslovak representatives. On September 29 and 30, the leaders of Britain, France, Italy, and Germany met in Munich and agreed to the German annexation of the Sudetenland in exchange for a pledge of peace from Hitler. This agreement became known as the Munich Pact.
Impact and consequences:
The annexation of the Sudetenland had immediate and far-reaching consequences. First, it led to the resignation of the democratic government of Czechoslovakia, as they felt they could no longer represent the interests of their people effectively. Second, it left the rest of Czechoslovakia with a largely indefensible northwestern border, making the country more vulnerable to future invasions. Third, it emboldened Hitler and Nazi Germany, as they had successfully expanded their territory without facing significant resistance.
The annexation of the Sudetenland was a critical step in Hitler's plan to dominate Europe. It demonstrated his willingness to use the threat of force to achieve his goals and exposed the inability of the Allies to counter his aggression effectively. Just six months after the Munich Pact, Hitler invaded and occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia, further solidifying his control over the region.
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The Slovak State breaking off in 1939
Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918 after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I. It was a functioning parliamentary democracy until the Munich crisis of 1938. The country was made up of the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, Slovakia, the province of Subcarpathian Rus (Transcarpathian Ukraine), and portions of Austrian Silesia.
Following the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938, Adolf Hitler set his sights on Czechoslovakia. In the summer of 1938, Hitler threatened to unleash a European war unless the Sudetenland, a border area of Czechoslovakia with a majority ethnic German population, was ceded to Germany. The leaders of Britain, France, Italy, and Germany held a conference in Munich on September 29–30, 1938, which resulted in the Munich Pact. This agreement allowed for the German annexation of the Sudetenland in exchange for a pledge of peace from Hitler.
On March 14, 1939, the Slovak State broke off from Czechoslovakia and became a client state of Nazi Germany. The Slovak part of Czechoslovakia declared independence with German support, and Bratislava was established as its capital. The country was officially known as the Slovak State from March 14 to July 21, 1939, and then as the Slovak Republic from July 21, 1939, until its end in April 1945. This was the first time in history that Slovakia had become an independent state. However, its independence was contingent on its relationship with Nazi Germany, and it became a puppet state under German influence.
The day after Slovakia declared independence, on March 15, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied the remaining Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia. This was a flagrant violation of the Munich Pact. The German occupation authorities established a German protectorate, annexing the territory directly to the Reich but leaving the Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha as the nominal, yet powerless, State President. Real power was held by Hitler's personal representative, the Reichsprotektor.
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The First Vienna Award and Hungary's annexations
The First Vienna Award was the first of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. It took place on November 2, 1938, and forced Czechoslovakia to surrender territory to Hungary. This was a result of the Munich Agreement on September 30, 1938, after which Hungary and Poland worked together to restore their historic common border.
The arbitration was led by the foreign ministers of Germany, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and of Italy, Galeazzo Ciano. The Czechoslovak and Hungarian delegations presented their arguments, and the award was announced around 7 p.m. As a result, Czechoslovakia had to surrender territories in southern Slovakia and southern Carpathian Ruthenia (also known as Subcarpathian Rus') south of the line to the border with Romania, but retained the western Slovak towns of Bratislava and Nitra. In total, Czechoslovakia lost about 12,000 square kilometers and approximately 1,000,000 inhabitants.
Hungary's territorial ambitions were not satisfied by the First Vienna Award. In early March 1939, Hitler invited the Slovak leader, Tiso, to Berlin and urged him to break off from their Czech neighbours, threatening to abandon Slovakia to Hungary's territorial ambitions and promising to protect the integrity of the Slovak state. On March 14, the Slovak Parliament unanimously declared independence. Hungary soon requested Germany to mediate further transfers of territory from Slovakia to Hungary. On March 15, Hungary occupied a small amount of eastern Slovak territory. Seeing no substantial reaction, Hungary launched a larger attack on March 23, with the plan to "advance as far west as possible". After a short Slovak-Hungarian War, with several Hungarian air raids, Germany forced Hungary to stop and negotiate. The negotiations gave Hungary further territories in eastern Slovakia (1,897 km2) with 69,630 inhabitants.
On March 15, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, in flagrant violation of the Munich Pact. The German occupation authorities refashioned the two provinces as a German protectorate, annexed directly to the Reich, but under the leadership of a Reich Protector.
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The Munich Pact of 1938
The Sudetenland Crisis
The Munich Pact emerged from a crisis surrounding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. The Sudetenland was an area within Czechoslovakia inhabited by a substantial ethnic German population, who were led by the pro-Nazi Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein. Adolf Hitler, the German Chancellor, demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland, claiming it was necessary to address the grievances of the ethnic Germans and asserting their right to self-determination. This demand was made against the backdrop of Hitler's expansionist agenda, which had already seen the annexation of Austria earlier in 1938.
The Conference in Munich
Faced with the threat of a potential European war, the leaders of Britain, France, Italy, and Germany convened a conference in Munich on September 29-30, 1938. Notably, while Czechoslovak representatives were present in the town, they were not included in the negotiations. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, motivated by a desire to avoid war at all costs, had already conceded to Hitler's demands before the conference. The conference ultimately resulted in the Munich Pact, an agreement that allowed for the German annexation of the Sudetenland.
The Terms and Impact of the Pact
The Munich Pact had far-reaching consequences. In exchange for the annexation, Hitler pledged to respect the integrity of the remainder of Czechoslovakia and assured the Western Allies that he had no further territorial ambitions. This pledge of non-aggression was formalized in the French-German Non-Aggression Pact, signed by France and Germany in December 1938. The annexation of the Sudetenland gave Germany control of extensive Czechoslovak border fortifications, leaving the rest of Czechoslovakia with a weakened defensive position.
The Fate of Czechoslovakia
The Munich Pact marked the beginning of the end for Czechoslovakia as a democratic state. In the wake of the pact, the leaders of the democratic government resigned, and President Beneš fled to France. Czechoslovakia was forced to make further territorial concessions, ceding land to Hungary and Poland. Ultimately, Hitler reneged on his promises, and on March 15, 1939, German forces occupied the remainder of Czechoslovakia, establishing the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. This occupation provided Germany with significant military resources that contributed to their invasions of Poland and France.
In conclusion, the Munich Pact of 1938 represented a failed attempt by European powers to appease Hitler and maintain peace. While the pact temporarily averted war, it ultimately enabled Hitler's aggressive expansion and set the stage for the outbreak of World War II. The fate of Czechoslovakia highlighted the dangers of appeasement policies and demonstrated the resolve of Nazi Germany to pursue its territorial ambitions.
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The Nazi seizure of power in 1933
On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, marking the Nazi seizure of power. This event is known as Hitler's Machtergreifung, or "seizure of power," a term originally used by Nazis to imply a revolutionary process. Hitler, on the other hand, used the term Machtubernahme ("take-over of power"), indicating that the transfer of power occurred within the existing constitutional framework and suggesting that the process was legal.
Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in 1919 when he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP). He quickly rose to prominence and became one of its most popular speakers. In 1921, he was made the party leader, and by 1922, his control over the party was unchallenged. The Nazis were a right-wing party, but they also had anti-capitalist and anti-bourgeois elements in their early years.
In 1931, the Nazi Party adopted a strategy of perpetual campaigning across the country, even outside of election time. They combined terror tactics with conventional campaigning, with Hitler travelling across the nation by air while SA troops paraded in the streets, intimidated opponents, and broke up their meetings. This violent approach, along with the failure of Weimar political parties to mount effective opposition, contributed to the Nazi's rise.
In July 1932, the Nazis became the largest party in the Reichstag, though they fell short of an absolute majority. Traditionally, the leader of the party with the most seats in the Reichstag would be appointed chancellor. However, President von Hindenburg was initially hesitant to appoint Hitler. After negotiations involving industrialists, Hindenburg's son Oskar, former chancellor Franz von Papen, and Hitler himself, Hindenburg finally agreed. On January 30, 1933, he formally appointed Hitler as chancellor.
Hitler's path to dictatorship was further enabled by the Reichstag fire in February 1933. He baselessly blamed communists for the arson and convinced Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, which curtailed civil liberties. Hitler then proposed the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave the German government, and by extension himself as chancellor, emergency powers to pass and enforce laws without parliamentary approval. By April, Hitler held de facto dictatorial powers. His rise was completed in August 1934 when, after Hindenburg's death, he merged the roles of chancellor and president into the title of Führer ("leader").
Regarding the defeat of Czechoslovakia and Austria, the Nazis invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939, violating the Munich Pact. This invasion involved threatening a bombing raid on Prague unless German troops were allowed free passage into Czech borders. The German occupation authorities refashioned the provinces of Bohemia and Moravia as a German protectorate, annexed directly to the Reich. This takeover allowed Germany to strengthen its position by taking over the Czech armaments industry and the Skoda works.
Additionally, in 1938, as a result of the First Vienna Arbitration Award, Hungary annexed territory in southern Slovakia, and Poland annexed the Tesin District of Czech Silesia. These actions effectively dismantled Czechoslovakia as a functioning parliamentary democracy.
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Frequently asked questions
Czechoslovakia was defeated by Nazi Germany in 1939.
The defeat of Czechoslovakia was preceded by the Munich Pact, which was signed on September 30, 1938, by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. The pact ceded the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, where 3 million ethnic Germans lived, to Germany. This left Czechoslovakia vulnerable to complete German domination.
After the defeat, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist as Slovakia proclaimed its independence, and Carpathian Ruthenia became part of Hungary. The German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was established in the remainder of the Czech Lands.
Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 in an event known as the Anschluss. This marked the first act of territorial aggression and expansion by the Nazi regime.
