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Sudetenland (German: Sudetenland; Czech: Sudety, Polish: Sudety) was the name used in the first half of the 20th century for the regions inhabited mostly by Germans in the various places of Bohemia, Moravia, and parts of Silesia. The name is derived from the Sudeten mountains, though the Sudetenland extended way beyond these mountains. The German inhabitatants were called Sudeten Germans (German: Sudetendeutsche, Czech: Sudetští Němci, Polish: Niemcy Sudeccy) In 1918–38 and after 1945, the region was part of Czechoslovakia (since 1993 in the Czech Republic) and Poland.

History of Sudetenland

Early origins and part of Austria

Austrian German population distribution (in rose) in western Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1911. The Czech population is shown in blue.

Sudetenland is a 20th century name and not a historical region and it is thus difficult to describe a distinct consistent history of the Sudetenland. The history of Sudetenland basically followed the history of Bohemia and Moravia until the 20th century; small parts of Sudetenland were also situated in the historical region of Silesia.

The regions later called Sudetenland were part of the Slavic state known as Great Moravia for five years (888/890 to 894/895). Later the regions were part of the Kingdom of Bohemia ruled by the Czech Přemyslid dynasty and as such part of the Holy Roman Empire. After the extinction of Přemyslids it was ruled by the Luxemburgs, later the Jagiellonians, until the Habsburg rulers inherited the land of Bohemia and incorporated it into their monarchy. Already from the 13th century onwards the border regions of Bohemia and Moravia, called Sudetenland in the 20th century, were settled by Germans.

For centuries Bohemia and with it Sudetenland was part of the Austrian empire until the modern concepts of nation and nationalism gained power in the 19th century and conflicts between Czech nationalists and Germans emerged (for instance the Revolution of 1848). By the beginning of the 20th century around 3 million native German-speakers lived in the area called Sudetenland (3 123 000 Germans live in all Czechoslovakia by people counting in february 1921 - 23,4% of total population) and it was only then that in the wake of growing nationalism the name Sudeten Germans emerged. After World War I the Habsburg Monarchy broke apart. The Treaty of Saint-Germain that finalized the split-up of Austria-Hungary in 1919 affirmed that the lands of Bohemia and Moravia should be part of the new state of Czechoslovakia and with them the German speaking Sudetenland, against the wishes of its inhabitants.

Short-lived union with the "Republic of German Austria" (1918)

When Czechoslovak independence was proclaimed in 1918, the German deputies of the above mentioned regions to the Imperial Parliament (Reichsrat) refused to adhere to the new state. Instead they proclaimed the union of the territories with the new Republic of German Austria, which itself aimed at joining the German Reich.

Four regional governmental units were established:

These four units were all extinguished by the Czech troops the same year.

Several German minorities in Moravia, including German populations in Brno, Jihlava, and Olomouc also attempted to proclaim their union with German Austria but failed.

As part of the Czechoslavakian Republic (1918-1938)

Sudetenland becomes part of the Third Reich

German Wehrmacht parade with General Günther von Kluge in Kratzau, Sudetenland. The troops were welcomed by the local German population.

The controversies between the Czechs and the Germans intensified in the 1930s and the German minority (which was actually a majority in the border regions, for which the term Sudetenland was coined), led by the Nazi politician Konrad Henlein, was gradually escalating its demands. See Germans in Czechoslovakia (1918-1938).

Image first appearing in the Nazi propaganda newspaper Völkischer Beobachter, ostensibly depicting a Sudeten German woman in Asch crying tears of joy when Hitler crossed the border in 1938. Allied propaganda later used the image with other interpretations.

Conflict over the Sudetenland began immediately after the Anschluss of Austria into the Third Reich in March 1938. This led to the Czechoslovak Crisis. The Nazis, together with their Sudeten German allies, claimed throughout the year that the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia were being mistreated and oppressed by the Czech government, and demanded incorporation of the region into Nazi Germany. The Western powers urged the Czechs to comply with Germany believing that they could prevent a general war by appeasing Hitler. Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden on September 15 and agreed to the cession of the Sudetenland. Three days later, Édouard Daladier and Georges Bonnet did the same. The Czechs themselves were not included in these discussions. Chamberlain met Hitler in Godesberg on September 22 to confirm the agreements. The discussions here fell through, however, as Hitler made new demands that Chamberlain was not able to defend in Parliament.

On September 29, Hitler met Daladier, Chamberlain and Mussolini in Munich where all four leaders signed the Munich Agreement ceding the Sudetenland to Germany. The Czechoslovak government capitulated September 30 and agreed to abide by the agreement. The Sudetenland was occupied by Germany between October 1 and October 10, 1938. This unification with the Third Reich was followed by the flight and forcible expulsion of the region's Czech population to the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia, which were subsequently invaded and annexed by Germany in March 1939. Allegedly, the occupants transported up to 300,000 Jews to concentration camps.

The German administration was consecutively led by:

Aftermath of World War II

Expulsion of Germans from the Sudetenland after 1945. In Aussig an der Elbe, massacres of German cilivians and officials took place by Czech nationalist and communist militias.

After the end of World War II, the Potsdam Conference in 1945 determined that Sudeten Germans unable to prove that they were anti-Nazi would have to leave Czechoslovakia (see Expulsion of Germans after World War II). However, as a consequence of the immense hostility against all Germans that had grown within Czechoslovakia since its occupation in 1939, more or less all Germans (no matter if they were affiliated with Nazism or not) were expelled and forced to march toward the Austrian and German borders. The number of expelled Germans totalled 3 million of the 3.2 million Germans of Sudetenland. These expulsions and forced resettlements were partly associated with excesses and even murders of Germans, e.g. during the Brno death march ("Brünner Todesmarsch", the collective expulsion of the German inhabitants of Brno); there were 20,000 known deaths resulting from the expulsion (murder, suicide, disease, age, etc.). 62,000 people were reported missing by relatives but their deaths could not be verified. The property of practically all Sudeten Germans was confiscated by the newly formed state of Czechoslovakia according to the Beneš decrees.

A large number of Germans were detained and forced to remain in Czechoslovakia, mainly skilled workers. Many Germans who stayed in Czechoslovakia later emigrated into West Germany. In the 2001 census, approximately 40,000 people in the Czech Republic claimed German ethnicity. Among Czechs the term Sudetenland has now only historical meaning.

There are various organisations which represent Sudeten people, most notably the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft, the Munich-based Verband der Sudetendeutschen (Sudeten-German Federation) and Ackermann-Gemeinde.

See also

Sources and references