The Partition of Czechoslovakia Before World War II

Mar 30, 2011
Ivan Castro

Konrad Henlein (rght) wth Nazi Officials - Bundesarchiv, Bild 121-0011 / Unknown / CC-BY-SA

Established at the end of World War I, the Eastern European nation of Czechoslovakia was torn apart in the years leading up to World War II.

Once Austria was added to the Great German Reich in March 1938, Berlin turned its eyes to neighboring Czechoslovakia. The German speaking population of the mountainous border area known as the Sudetenland would be the pawn used by Adolph Hitler to start the mutilation of his neighbor to the east.

Importance of the Sudetenland

To the Czechs the Sudetenland formed a natural barrier against possible German invasion. To improve its protection Prague had built a series of fortifications in the peaks. Losing this land to the Nazis would leave the border basically defenseless.

To Hitler, of course, it meant more territory and population for the Reich. But that was probably not all, for Czechoslovakia was a heavily industrialized nation with a large weapons manufacturing sector.

The Great Depression’s Impact

With the collapse of the New York Stock Market on October 29, 1929, the Great Depression began.

The effect would not be felt in Czechoslovakia until early 1931. But, nowhere in the nation would the impact be felt more than in the heavily industrialized Sudetenland. Joblessness among the German speaking minority was more prevalent than in any other and they felt that Czechs were getting a larger share of unemployment benefits.

A little over a year later, a bank teller, and Nazi sympathizer, named Konrad Henlein had founded what would become the Sudeten German Party (SdP) in 1935. The organization’s public goal was a self-governing Sudetenland as part of Czechoslovakia, but what it really wanted was autonomy to join the Reich. It became the biggest and most powerful political faction in the Sudetenland and the second largest in Czechoslovakia.

The Munich Agreement or Dictate or Betrayal

Encouraged by Hitler, Henlein made demands the Czech government of President Edward Beneš could not accept. In addition, the German regime invented atrocities against the Sudeten Germans that never took place. Hitler was ready to invade.

Then, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini offered a four power conference to avoid war. The plan he presented agreed with all of Berlin’s demands, for it was written by the German embassy in Rome. Great Britain and France, together with Germany and Italy, signed the pact on September 30, 1938. The Czech government was not consulted.

Beneš resisted, for he had assurances that the Soviet Union would come to his aid, however, when London and Paris refused to make the same promise, he resigned on October 5.

Czechoslovakia Disappears

By the following month, October, Germany had occupied the Sudetenland and Poland annexed Zaolzie in the north of what is today the Czech Republic. Then in November, Hungarian forces occupied one third of Slovakia and the region of Carpathian Ruthenia. The following year Hungary would simply annex Carpathian Ruthenia.

For their part, the Germans finally occupied what was left of the country in 1939 establishing the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, a vassal state that included the mentioned regions plus Czech Silesia.

After Effects of Partition

President Beneš resigned and escaped to England. There he formed a government in exile that was immediately recognized by the British and, later, the Soviet Union and the United States.

Henlein was selected as Nazi Party Leader (Gauleiter) for the German occupied protectorate. He held the post until the end of the war.

Quickly a resistance to the Nazi invader was organized. Their most significant action probably was the attempt on Reinhard Heydrich, second in command of the SS and Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, on May 27, 1942. Heydrich would die of his wounds on June 4. More than 10,000 Czechs were detained and over 1,200 shot.

Many former members of the Czechoslovakian armed forces joined the Allied forces in North Africa, the Middle East and the Soviets in the Eastern Front.