Figure 1.-- Wischau was a little German language pocket located in Czechoslovakia, about 30 km to the east of Brno, the capital of Moravia. This photo was taken in the village of Kutscherau during summer 1938, a few months before the Munich Conference dismembered Czechoslovakia. The children are bathing in the village pond. Actually only the boys are bathing. The girls, wearing traditional costumes, sit on the built up bank with only their feet in the water.

Czechs and Germans lived together in Central Europe since the middle ages. The advent of nationalism following the French Revolution resulted in rusing political tension (19th century). This would be the major factor leading to the creation of Czechoslovakia. Germans were the ruling minority in the Czech Lands before World War I. The Czechs under German rule within the Austro-Hungarian Empire considered themselves politically and economically disadvantaged. The creation of of Czechoslovakia reversed the situation. There were about 3 million Germans in independent Czechoslovakia. The German minority concentrated was along the northern, western and southern fringes of Bohemia and Moravia. This mountenous was the border land between Germany and Bohemia and became known as the Sudetenland. Germans lived in Prague and other cities as well as a number of linguistic pocklets, but the bulk of the German population was found in the Sudetenland. For some Germans, adjusting to minority status among a Czech majority was a difficult adjustment. Most were able to make the adjustment, largely because the Czech state while not perfect was a functioning demoracy with the rule of law to protect minorities. One contemprary observer reports that until 1935, the vast majority of Germans in Czechoslovakia supported the German democratic parties to integrate within the Czech democratic system. [Wiskemann] After 1935 the artitudes of the Sudeten Germans in particular begin to change. Many were impressed during the Depression with the apparent economic succes of NAZI Germany. Others were messmerized by latent German nationalism and the seemingly irresistable rize of NAZI power.

History

Czechs and Germans lived together in Central Europe since the middle ages. Ethnic Germans were reported in southern and eastern lands such as Bohemia (12th century). Bohemia was a part of the Holy Roman Empire. The advent of nationalism following the French Revolution resulted in rusing political tension (19th century). This would be the major factor leading to the creation of Czechoslovakia. The Treaty of St. Germain assigned the Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia (1919). The allies attemopted to draw borders based on ethnicity. The Sudetenland was an exception. Here the Germans were a majority, yet the mountaneous region wsas considered vital to give the Czechs a defensable border. The new Czechoslovak Republic saw the Germans as a minority. Most Germans in Czechoslovakia lived in towns and villages where they were the local majority. Germans had been the ruling minority in the Czech Lands before World War I. The Czechs under German rule within the Austro-Hungarian Empire considered themselves politically and economically disadvantaged. The creation of of Czechoslovakia reversed the situation.

Population

There were more than 3 million Germans in independent Czechoslovakia. Mpore complicated to calculate were the families that included both Czechs and Germans.

Religion

The Sudeten Germans were largely Catholic as was most of southern Germans and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Location

The German minority concentrated was along the northern, western and southern fringes of Bohemia and Moravia. This mountenous was the border land between Germany and Bohemia and became known as the Sudetenland. Germans lived in Prague and other cities as well as a number of linguistic pocklets, but the bulk of the German population was found in the Sudetenland.

Sudenten Germans

The Sudetenland is German term for a frontier region of German-speaking people, meaning the "southern lands" in German. The Sudetenland is the area bounded by the Sudeten Mountains on the north the Erzgebirge Mountains on the northwest and the Bohemian Forest to the west. The Sudetenland was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1919 when it was awarded to a new Czechoslovakian nation created as part of the Versailles Peace Treaty. The population before World War II largely consisted of Sudeten Germans. NAZI agitators in the 1930s brought about the Munich crisis. As a result, Britain and France at Munich acceded to awarding the Sudetenland to the Germans. Prime Minister Chamberlin returned to London and proclaimed that he had achieved "Peace in our times". Hitler if he had stopped here would have probably been regarded by Germans as one of the greatest leaders in German history. The Sudentenland was critical as it constituted a natural barrier without which, the defense of Czechoslovakia was impossible. The NAZIs proceeded to dismember the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939 during the months leading up to World War II. The Sudentland was annexed by the Reich. The NAZIs proceeded to Germanize the population, forcibly removing Czechs. The region was restored to a revived Czechoslovakia in 1945 after World War II and the Sudeten Germans forcibly relocated to Germany. The Sudentenland is today part of the Czech Republic.

Other areas

Germans lived in Prague and other cities as well as a number of linguistic pocklets, but the bulk of the German population was found in the Sudetenland. The Germans living in Prague and other cities tended to be well-educated and middle-class. The isolated lingusistic-ethnic pockets were more likely to be rural Volk Deutsche with destinctive dress and culture.

Political Orientation

For some Germans, adjusting to minority status among a Czech majority was a difficult adjustment. Most were able to make the adjustment, largely because the Czech state while not perfect was a functioning demoracy with the rule of law to protect minorities. One contemprary observer reports that until 1935, the vast majority of Germans in Czechoslovakia supported the German democratic parties to integrate within the Czech democratic system. [Wiskemann] After 1935 the artitudes of the Sudeten Germans in particular begin to change. Many were impressed during the Depression with the apparent economic succes of NAZI Germany. Others were messmerized by latent German nationalism and the seemingly irresistable rize of NAZI power.

Sources

Wiskemann, Elizabeth. Czechs and Germans (1937).

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Crerated: 2:09 AM 10/24/2009
Last updated: 2:09 AM 10/24/2009