German occupation of the rump Czech lands

German occupation of the rump Czech lands
Conflict	German occupation of the rump Czech lands
Partof	the Second World War and the History of Czechoslovakia
Date	15 March 1939 – 8–9 May 1945
Place	Bohemia, Moravia, Czech Silesia
Result	Occupation established; Czechoslovak government-in-exile formed; Prague uprising and liberation by the Red Army and United States Army
Combatant1	Occupying Power:, Nazi Germany, Collaborators:, Government of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Combatant2	Resistance:, Czechoslovak government-in-exile, Czechoslovak resistance

German occupation of the rump Czech lands. The occupation began on 15 March 1939 when Adolf Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to invade the remaining territories of Czechoslovakia, known as the "rump state." This act, violating the Munich Agreement, led to the immediate establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, a nominally autonomous entity under complete German control. The six-year occupation was characterized by brutal repression, economic exploitation, and the persecution of the Czech population, culminating in the Prague uprising and liberation by Allied forces in May 1945.

Background and the Munich Agreement

The path to occupation was paved by the Sudeten Crisis of 1938, where Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, demanded the cession of the Sudetenland, a border region with a large German-speaking population. The subsequent Munich Agreement, signed by Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, Benito Mussolini, and Hitler, forced Czechoslovakia to surrender these territories without its participation. This dismemberment, supported by the Polish annexation of Zaolzie and the First Vienna Award granting parts of Slovakia to Hungary, fatally weakened the state. The post-Munich Second Czechoslovak Republic, led by President Emil Hácha, was politically unstable and militarily indefensible, existing entirely at the mercy of Berlin.

Establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

On 14 March 1939, Hitler summoned President Emil Hácha to Berlin and subjected him to intense psychological pressure, threatening the bombing of Prague by the Luftwaffe. Under duress, Hácha ostensibly "entrusted the fate of the Czech people" to the Führer. The next day, 15 March, German troops crossed the border, meeting no military resistance. Hitler then proclaimed the establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from the Prague Castle. While Hácha remained as State President and a collaborationist Protectorate Government under Alois Eliáš and later Jaroslav Krejčí was formed, real power resided with the Reich Protector, initially Konstantin von Neurath and later the brutally efficient Reinhard Heydrich.

German administration and repression

The administration was a dual system of nominal Czech autonomy and absolute German control. The office of the Reich Protector, answerable directly to Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, held ultimate authority. The Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst (SD), under officials like Karl Hermann Frank, established a pervasive terror apparatus. Following initial demonstrations like the 1939 anti-German protests in Prague, repression intensified. The so-called "Heydrichiáda" began with the appointment of Reinhard Heydrich as Acting Protector in September 1941. His regime unleashed waves of arrests, executed hundreds including Prime Minister Alois Eliáš, and culminated in the horrific reprisals for his assassination, including the complete destruction of Lidice and Ležáky.

Economic exploitation and war production

The Protectorate's highly developed industry was seamlessly integrated into the German war economy. Major industrial conglomerates like Škoda Works in Plzeň and ČKD in Prague were placed under German control and converted to armaments production. The territory became a crucial workshop for the Wehrmacht, manufacturing aircraft, tanks, artillery, and other materiel. Forced labor policies were implemented, deporting thousands of Czech workers to Germany while bringing in German managers and technicians. Agricultural output and raw materials were systematically extracted to support the Nazi war effort, leading to strict rationing and declining living standards for the Czech population.

Resistance and persecution

Initial resistance was disorganized but coalesced into major groups like Obrana národa (Defense of the Nation) and the communist-led Petiční výbor Věrni zůstaneme. The most significant act was Operation Anthropoid, the Special Operations Executive-backed assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in May 1942. The brutal reprisals that followed temporarily crippled the resistance. Persecution targeted the intelligentsia, with universities closed and students sent to concentration camps. The Holocaust was implemented with devastating efficiency; the Theresienstadt Ghetto served as a transit camp for the mass deportation of Jewish citizens from the Protectorate to Auschwitz and other extermination camps, resulting in the murder of approximately 80,000.

Dissolution and aftermath

As the Eastern Front collapsed, the final months saw increased partisan activity and Allied bombing, such as the Bombing of Prague. In early May 1945, the Prague uprising erupted, with Czech resistance fighters battling German forces. The First Ukrainian Front of the Red Army, under Ivan Konev, launched the Prague Offensive, entering the city on 9 May 1945. Simultaneously, elements of the United States Army, specifically George S. Patton's Third Army, liberated parts of western Bohemia, including Plzeň. The occupation formally ended with the unconditional surrender of German forces. The postwar Third Czechoslovak Republic emerged, leading to the Beneš decrees, the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans, and the nation's eventual absorption into the Soviet sphere of influence.

Category:History of Czechoslovakia Category:World War II occupied territories Category:Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Category:Military occupations by Germany