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Czechoslovakia Sudetenland
The most intractable nationality problem in the interwar
period--one that played a major role in the destruction of
democratic Czechoslovakia--was that of the Sudeten Germans. The
Sudetenland was inhabited by over 3 million Germans, comprising
about 23 percent of the population of the republic. It possessed
huge chemical works and lignite mines, as well as textile, china,
and glass factories. To the west, a solid German triangle
surrounded Cheb (Eger) and included the highly nationalistic
Egerland. The Cesky Les (Bohemian Forest) extended along the
Bavarian frontier to the poor agricultural areas of southern
Bohemia.
Moravia contained patches of "locked" German territory to the
north and south. More characteristic were the German "language
islands"--towns inhabited by important German minorities and
surrounded by Czechs. Extreme German nationalism was never
typical of this area. The German nationalism of the coal-mining
region of southern Silesia, 40.5 percent German, was restrained
by fear of competition from industry in Germany. Early policies
of the Czechoslovak government, intended to correct social
injustice and effect a moderate redistribution of wealth, had
fallen more heavily on the German population than on other
citizens. In 1919 the government confiscated one-fifth of each
individual's holdings in paper currency. Germans, constituting
the wealthiest element in the Czech lands, were most affected.
The Land Control Act brought the expropriation of vast estates
belonging to Germans. Land was allotted primarily to Czech
peasants, often landless, who constituted the majority of the
agricultural population. Only 4.5 percent of all land allotted by
January 1937 was received by Sudeten Germans, whose protests were
expressed in countless petitions.
According to the 1920 constitution, German minority rights
were carefully protected; their educational and cultural
institutions were preserved in proportion to the population.
Local hostilities were engendered, however, by policies intended
to protect the security of the Czechoslovak state and the rights
of Czechs. Border forestland, considered the most ancient Sudeten
German national territory, was expropriated for security reasons.
The Czechoslovak government settled Czechs in areas of German
concentration in an effort to mitigate German nationalism; the
policy, however, often produced the opposite effect. Minority
laws were most often applied to create new Czech schools in
German districts. Sudeten Germans, in possession of a large
number of subsidized local theaters, were required to put these
at the disposal of the Czech minority one night a week.
Sudeten German industry, highly dependent on foreign trade
and having close financial links with Germany, suffered badly
during the depression, particularly when banks in Germany failed
in 1931. Czechs, whose industry was concentrated on the
production of essential domestic items, suffered less. Tensions
between the two groups resulted. Relations between Czechs and
Germans were further envenomed when Sudeten Germans were forced
to turn to the Czechoslovak government and the Central Bank
(Zivnostenka Banka) for assistance. These authorities often made
the hiring of Czechs in proportion to their numbers in the
population a condition for aid. Czech workmen, dispatched by the
government to engage in public works projects in Sudeten German
territories, were also resented.
Sudeten German nationalist sentiment ran high during the
early years of the republic. The constitution of 1920 was drafted
without Sudeten German representation, and the group declined to
participate in the election of the president. Sudeten German
political parties pursued an "obstructionist," or negativist,
policy in parliament. In 1926, however, Chancellor Gustav
Stresemann of Germany, adopting a policy of rapprochement with
the West, advised Sudeten Germans to cooperate actively with the
Czechoslovak government. In consequence, most Sudeten German
parties (including the German Agrarian Party, the German Social
Democratic Party, and the German Christian Socialist Party)
changed from negativism to activism, and Sudeten Germans accepted
cabinet posts.
By 1929 only a small number of Sudeten German deputies--most
of them members of the German National Party (propertied classes)
and the Sudeten Nazi Party (Deutsche Nationalsozialistische
Arbeiterpartei)--remained in opposition. Nationalist sentiment
flourished, however, among Sudeten German youth, who belonged to
a variety of organizations. These included the older Turnverband
and Schutzvereine, the newly formed Kameradschaftsbund, the Nazi
Volkssport (1929), and the Bereitschaft.
Sudeten German nationalists, particularly the Nazis, expanded
their activities during the depression years. On January 30,
1933, Hitler was elected chancellor of Germany. The Czechoslovak
government prepared to suppress the Sudeten Nazi Party. In the
fall of 1933 the Sudeten Nazis dissolved their organization, and
the German Nationals were pressured to do likewise. German
Nationals and Sudeten Nazis were expelled from local government
positions. The Sudeten German population was indignant,
especially in nationalist strongholds like Egerland.
On October 1, 1933, Konrad Henlein, aided by other members of
the Kameradschaftsbund, a youth organization of romantic mystical
orientation, created a new political organization. The Sudeten
German Home Front (Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront) professed loyalty
to the Czechoslovak state but championed decentralization. It
absorbed most former German Nationals and Sudeten Nazis. In 1935
the Sudeten German Home Front became the Sudeten German Party
(Sudetendeutsche Partei--SdP) and embarked on an active
propaganda campaign. In the May election the SdP won more than 60
percent of the Sudeten German vote. The German Agrarians,
Christian Socialists, and Social Democrats each lost
approximately one-half of their following. The SdP became the
fulcrum of German nationalist forces. The party represented
itself as striving for a just settlement of Sudeten German claims
within the framework of Czechoslovak democracy. Henlein, however,
maintained secret contact with Nazi Germany and received material
aid from Berlin. The SdP endorsed the idea of a fuhrer and
mimicked Nazi methods with banners, slogans, and uniformed
troops. Concessions offered by the Czechoslovak government,
including the transfer of Sudeten German officials to Sudeten
German areas and possible participation of the SdP in the
cabinet, were rejected. By 1937 most SdP leaders supported
Hitler's pan-German objectives.
On March 13, 1938, Austria was annexed by the Third Reich, a
union known as Anschluss. Immediately thereafter almost the
entire Sudeten German bourgeois activist movement threw its
support to Henlein. On March 22, the German Agrarian Party, led
by Gustav Hacker, fused with the SdP. German Christian Socialists
suspended their activities on March 24; their deputies and
senators entered the SdP parliamentary club. Only the Social
Democrats continued to champion democratic freedom. The masses,
however, gave overwhelming support to the SdP.
Data as of August 1987
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