An Incomplete Look at Appeasement
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Anatomy of a Crisis
Page 7 Chapter 2 Munich: Anatomy of A Crisis eptember 28, 1938, “Black Wednesday,” dawned on a frightened Europe. Since the spring Adolf Hitler had spoken often about the Sudetenland, the western part of Czechoslovakia. Many of the 3 Smillion German-speaking people who lived there had complained that they were being badly mistreated by the Czechs and Slovaks. Cooperating closely with Sudeten Nazis, Hitler at first simply demanded that the Czechs give the German-speakers within their borders self-government. Then, he upped the ante. If the Czechs did not hand the Sudetenland to him by October 1, 1938, he would order his well-armed and trained soldiers to attack Czechoslovakia, destroy its army, and seize the Sudetenland. The Strategic Location of the Sudetenland Germany’s demand quickly reverberated throughout the European continent. Many countries, tied down by various commitments and alliances, pondered whether—and how—to respond to Hitler’s latest threat. France had signed a treaty to defend the Czechs and Britain had a treaty with France; the USSR had promised to defend Czechoslovakia against a German attack. Britain, in particular, found itself in an awkward position. To back the French and their Czech allies would almost guarantee the outbreak of an unpredictable and potentially ruinous continental war; yet to refrain from confronting Hitler over the Sudetenland would mean victory for the Germans. In an effort to avert the frightening possibilities, a group of European leaders converged at Munich Background to the Crisis The clash between Germany and Czechoslovakia over the Sudetenland had its origins in the Versailles Treaty of 1919. -
"DON't ACCEPT" HITLER TELLS HENLEIN? Weather FINAL FORECAST—COOLER EDITION Winnipeg Wheat OCTOBER CLOSE 59 VOL
"DON'T ACCEPT" HITLER TELLS HENLEIN? Weather FINAL FORECAST—COOLER EDITION Winnipeg Wheat OCTOBER CLOSE 59 VOL. XXXI.—No. 226. LETHBEIDGE, ALBERTA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 193S 12 PAGES NEGOTIATIONS BROKEN OFF Hold Out For Breakdown More Advice Caused By Of Dictator? Border Clash High Nazi Government Spokesman at Nuremberg Sudeten Deputies Reported to Have Been Assaulted Gives Purport of Hitler's Admonition to the by Czech Police — No Further Negotiations Sudeten German Leader—Deputy Leaves Pending Thorough Investigation—Situ for Conference With Fuehrer ation Out of Goverment's Hands Marseilles Dockworkers Mobilized Czech Border Guards Fired Upon PARIS, Sept. 7.— (A.P.)—The government tonight announced PRAHA, Sept. 7.—(C.P.-Havas)—Press reports from Linhartox, mobilization of all dockworkers at the Mediterranean port of Mar in the Jaegernsdorf district of Czechoslovakia, tonight said Czecho seilles, vital link in the French system of defence. slovak frontier guards were fired upon by five men they discovered This step, placing an estimated 5,000 longshoremen under military attempting to cross into the republic from Germany. discipline and control, followed a cabinet decree patting the port under military jurisdiction. News of the alleged incident arrived here almost simultaneausly The mobilization of workers will be effected under the law for with reports, not officially confirmed, that 300 Germans had been the organization of France in time of war which was voted by parlia surprised last night while smuggling arms across the frontier near ment on July 11. Moravska Ostrava. Fifty-three were said to have been arrested. UREMBERG, Germany, Sept. 7—(A.P.)—A high gov RAHA, Sept. -
Securitas Im Perii
STUDIES Jiří Plachý The Rutha affair and the trial against the Werner Weiss group in autumn 1937 On 13 August 1937, Liberec police detained the young Sudetendeutsche Partei (Su- securitas imperii deten German Party – SdP) radical Wilhelm Purm.1 A search of his home revealed a number of subversive documents including material to prepare boys for induc- tion into the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) as well as the organisation’s belt and knife. Seeing as he served as a youth instructor for the Deutscher Turnverband (German Gymnastics Union – DTV), there were justified grounds for believing he was illegal- ly providing the young men under his tutelage with paramilitary training. For this reason, he was charged under paragraph 2 of Law No. 50/1923 Sb. on the Protection of the Republic with the criminal offence of making preparations for a plot against the state. The penalty ranged from one to five years’ imprisonment, or from five to ten years if the crime had been committed in particularly aggravating circumstances. The young SdP paramilitary – who despite a full police record had only ever spent 24 hours behind bars – was evidently taken aback by the prospect of such a long sentence. During questioning on 25 August, he denied accusations of homosexual activity – at that time a crime – which he was accused of indulging in as a member of the DTV. In his emphatic denials, however, he informed the police that during a DTV gathering in 1935 he had been told by a person whose identity was unknown to him that the then leader of the Jeschenken‑Iser Turngau (the Ještěd‑Jizera chapter of the DTV), an architect by the name of Heinrich Rutha, was ein warmer Bruder, literally a “warm brother” – German slang for an older gay man who makes advances on younger men.2 1 Wilhelm Purm, born 27 April 1918 in Mladá Boleslav. -
The Forced Expulsion of Ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia After World War II: Memory, Identity, and History
Connecticut College Digital Commons @ Connecticut College History Honors Papers History Department 2011 The orF ced Expulsion of Ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II: Memory, Identity, and History Erin Wilson Connecticut College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/histhp Part of the European History Commons, and the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Wilson, Erin, "The orF ced Expulsion of Ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II: Memory, Identity, and History" (2011). History Honors Papers. 10. http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/histhp/10 This Honors Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the History Department at Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Honors Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author. The Forced Expulsion of Ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II: Memory, Identity, and History An Honors Thesis Presented by Erin Wilson To The Department of History In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in the Major Field Connecticut College New London, Connecticut April 25, 2011 Table of Contents Acknowledgments i Chronology ii Introduction 1 I. History of Ethnic Relations in Czechoslovakia, 1526-1945 6 Under the Double Eagle: The Hapsburg Empire 8 The Myth of National Self-Determination: The First Czechoslovak Republic 27 The Tyranny of the Minority: The Nazi Occupation and World War II 44 The End of the “Age of Minority Rights”: The Third Czechoslovak Republic 63 II. -
Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1933-1945
NAZI GERMANY AND THE JEWS, 1933–1945 ABRIDGED EDITION SAUL FRIEDLÄNDER Abridged by Orna Kenan To Una CONTENTS Foreword v Acknowledgments xiii Maps xv PART ONE : PERSECUTION (January 1933–August 1939) 1. Into the Third Reich: January 1933– December 1933 3 2. The Spirit of the Laws: January 1934– February 1936 32 3. Ideology and Card Index: March 1936– March 1938 61 4. Radicalization: March 1938–November 1938 87 5. A Broken Remnant: November 1938– September 1939 111 PART TWO : TERROR (September 1939–December 1941) 6. Poland Under German Rule: September 1939– April 1940 143 7. A New European Order: May 1940– December 1940 171 iv CONTENTS 8. A Tightening Noose: December 1940–June 1941 200 9. The Eastern Onslaught: June 1941– September 1941 229 10. The “Final Solution”: September 1941– December 1941 259 PART THREE : SHOAH (January 1942–May 1945) 11. Total Extermination: January 1942–June 1942 287 12. Total Extermination: July 1942–March 1943 316 13. Total Extermination: March 1943–October 1943 345 14. Total Extermination: Fall 1943–Spring 1944 374 15. The End: March 1944–May 1945 395 Notes 423 Selected Bibliography 449 Index 457 About the Author About the Abridger Other Books by Saul Friedlander Credits Cover Copyright About the Publisher FOREWORD his abridged edition of Saul Friedländer’s two volume his- Ttory of Nazi Germany and the Jews is not meant to replace the original. Ideally it should encourage its readers to turn to the full-fledged version with its wealth of details and interpre- tive nuances, which of necessity could not be rendered here. -
Why Appeasement?
INTRODUCTION: WHO’S GOING TO ARGUE WITH THE GREATEST ENGLISHMAN? • The Guilty Men; The Gathering Storm PART ONE: THE FIRST WORLD WAR REMEMBERED Memories of the last war haunted Britain, and British politics • All Quiet on the Western Front; Journey's End; Goodbye to all That; Memoirs of a Fox- Hunting Man • The Oxford Union: 'This house will under no circumstances fight for its king and country' • The East Fulham by-election • Peace Pledge Union • Stanley Baldwin: Appalling Frankness speech • The Great Depression and the not so great recovery PART TWO: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE KIDDING MR HITLER? Why was Hitler's Germany so hard to read? • Mein Kampf • Hermann Goering • The treaty of Versailles • The Hossbach memorandum • Czechoslovakia; Edvard Benes • The Germanophiles: Unity Mitford, Lady Londonderry, Edward VIII • The be nice to the Germans. and see where it gets us: Lloyd George, Lord Halifax, Cham- berlain • The diplomatic web: the Anglo-German Naval Agreement • Collective Security? The story of the Stresa Front • Just how strong were German forces? PART THREE: THE EMPIRE ON WHICH THE SUN WAS VERY MUCH IN DANGER OF SETTING How Britain's empire affected its options • The white dominions and the Statute of Westminster • The very thin red line • India PART FOUR: NAKED INTO THE CONFERENCE CHAMBER Britain was woefully ill prepare for war in 1938 • Ten Year Rule • DRC (Defence Requirements Committee) • Guernica; ;'the bomber will always get through' • Rearmament in 1938: RADAR, Spitfires and Hurricanes PART FIVE: THE FACTS OF LIFE IN 1938 Britain had one ally, and they weren't much use • The League of Nations: Manchuria, Abyssinia • Italy: Mussolini, the Rome-Berlin Axis • France: the Maginot Mentality • Mitteleuropa, Little Europa • The remilitarisation of the Rhineland • Anschluss • Stalin's USSR: the Great Terror, the Red Army, Poland • Why the Franco-Soviet Pact wasn't worth the paper it was written on PART SIX: THE MAN OF THE HOUR How Neville Chamberlain saved the world. -
Yad-Vashem-Holocaust-Timeline.Pdf
Timeline Jump to: 1914-1933 1934-1939 1940-1945 View as timeline 8/1/1914 World War I Begins Following the crisis touched off by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Germany declared war on Russia and additional countries joined the war within several days. The Central Powers (Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) fought against the Allied powers (Great Britain, France, and Russia). In November 1914, Turkey sided with the Central Powers; in 1915, Italy joined the Allies. 4/24/1915 The Armenian Genocide In the first year of World War I, in the course of war between Turkey and Russia in the Armenian provinces of Turkey, the Turks questioned the Armenians' loyalties and drove them out of their homes. At least 1 million Armenians, about half of the Armenian population in Turkey, were murdered in the expulsion by the Turks. 11/2/1917 Balfour Declaration The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Arthur James Balfour, proclaimed Britain's support of the creation of a national home for the Jews in Palestine. This declaration, given after British forces had already taken control of the southern part of Palestine and were about to occupy its north, transformed the Zionist vision into a political program that seemed attainable. 11/7/1917 Communist Revolution in Russia In response to Russia's defeat on the front, Czar Nicholas II was dethroned in a revolution in March 1917 and a new government of mixed liberal-conservative complexion came into being. As political deadlock and defeats on the front continued, the socialists gained in popularity and their radical wing, the Bolshevik party, under Lenin, called for immediate peace and apportionment of land to the peasants. -
Senior Scholars Interwar Europe Fall 2019 Week 7
10/14/19 Rise of NSDAP Rise of NSDAP Senior Scholars: Interwar Europe: • National Socialists possessed several advantages to help consolidate seizure of power WorkinG Out Modernity – Ruthless ambition in the Midst of Crisis – Control of government of state of Prussia, especially Interior Ministry – Police absorbed SA under Ernst Röhm Fall 2019 – Hatred and fear of SPD by middle class parties and equation of support Prof. Kenneth F. Ledford for SPD with support for KPD [email protected] – Right to call new elections 368-4144 – Power to rule by presidential decrees under Article 48 Ernst Röhm, Leader of SA DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY HISTORY DEPARTMENT HISTORY DEPARTMENT Rise of NSDAP Rise of NSDAP Rise of NSDAP • February 1, 1933 – Reichstag dissolved and elections scheduled for March 5 – Göring instructed police to “make diligent use of weapons” against communist and socialist election campaigns and street demonstrations SA Uniform Konzentrationslager (KZ) Oranienburg 1933 HISTORY DEPARTMENT HISTORY DEPARTMENT HISTORY DEPARTMENT Rise of NSDAP Rise of NSDAP Rise of NSDAP • Night of February 27, Mysterious fire burned Reichstag building, destroying plenary chamber – Police arrested a mentally unstable Dutch ex-communist named Marinus van der Lubbe – February 28, Hindenburg signed: • “Decree for the Protection of People and State” • Effectively abolished basic political rights of Weimar Constitution – KPD banned ID Card, KZ Oranienburg 1933 HISTORY DEPARTMENT HISTORY DEPARTMENT HISTORY DEPARTMENT 1 10/14/19 Rise of NSDAP Rise of NSDAP Rise -
Munich Conference
THE MUNICH CONFERENCE The Situation in Czechoslovakia BACKGROUND GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the Dais ........................................................................ 3 Letter from the Chair ...................................................................... 4 Committee Description ................................................................... 5 Context ........................................................................................... 6 Hitler’s Early Life ....................................................................................................................... 6 Hitler’s Beginning in Politics ....................................................................................................... 7 The Effects of the Depression ....................................................................................................... 8 Czechoslovakia and the Depression .............................................................................................. 8 Hitler’s Vision ............................................................................................................................ 9 The Crisis Over Austria, 1937-1938 ........................................................................................... 9 The Consequences of the Anschluss ............................................................................................. 10 The German Minority in Czechoslovakia .................................................................................. 10 Current Situation -
Need to Know Be Familiar with Origins of World War II
Origins of World War II (Total War Era, 1914‐1945) Be familiar with • Be able to recognize, define, describe, memorize, recall • Assessed through matching, ordering or placing events in sequence or on a timeline, fill‐in‐ the‐blank, multiple choice • Describe relevance of Anglo‐German Naval Agreement to German‐British and British‐French relations • Recall Joachim von Ribbentrop’s roles in German‐British (1936‐1939) relations and German‐Soviet relations (1939‐1941) • Describe German/Hitler foreign policy goals “race and space,” Lebensraum, Drang nach Osten • Describe “Anschluss” with Austria; Sudetenland Crisis; Protectorate of Bohemia‐Moravia • Define and explain significance of the following: German‐Polish non‐ aggression pact, Hossbach Conference, Munich Agreement; Recognize Hermann Göring, Joseph Goebbels, Sir Nevile Henderson, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Vyacheslav Molotov, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler Need to Know • Be able to explain, paraphrase, compare, distinguish, interpret, summarize • Assessed through writing, multiple choice, and in some cases, ordering events • Explain the “Wrong War” thesis from the documentary, The Nazis: A Warning from History; Explain Hitler’s foreign policy goals • Explain how the results of the Sudetenland Crisis and Munich Agreement influenced Hitler’s decisions in 1939 • Explain how Nazi‐Soviet Non‐Aggression Pact and Rome‐Berlin Axis influenced Hitler’s goals • Interpret how Hitler’s assessment of British diplomacy and potential threat influenced his decision‐making -
News of the Day from Southern Alberta and Southeastern B. C. EXCHANGE TEACHER DESCRIBES Room and Board - - - - by Gene Ahern^Qjii Graveyard Made Famous 25 Bus
PAGE THREIL FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1938 THE LETHBR1DGE HERALD News of the Day From Southern Alberta and Southeastern B. C. EXCHANGE TEACHER DESCRIBES Room and Board - - - - By Gene Ahern^qjii Graveyard Made Famous 25 Bus. Yield On SUMMER SPENT IN OLD COUNTRY DPiAT IT,—LISTEN TO NNE.\ l WMa.N VCD, WCMfXM In "The Doctor" Officially Marked (Prom Our Own Correspondent) was in Edinburgh at the time. DO YOU RECALL THAT fAOUNTA\N Su mm erf allow WAVE A CM^tV—-I CArAE They were also the guests at (From Our Own Correspondent) Pacific Railway, between Goat River PROPERTY OUT NEAR TERRY S MACLEOD, Sept. 1.—Miss Ellen many other Important functions, FROM A. FANMLy TRACED CRESTON. B.C., Sept. 1.—If the and Kootenay Landing. It Is locat RANCH .WHICH WAS DEEDED TO Historic Sites Commission is agree ed within 100 yards of the main Williams, daughter of Mrs. Agnes among which was a reception held FAP« ^ACK IN! V4iSrrOFVY,AS able, the graveyard at Goat River I highway. At'Buffalo Hills Williams of 22nd street, returned at Lancaster House, St. j.imra, N\E LAST SUhAfAER'?—-WELLT DISTINGUISHED WAPFMOF^S recently from the British Isles and where they were received by Lord Crossing, ten miles east of here, | Investigation this week indicates OIL WAS DISCOVERED ON IT \ Europe and Is the guest of her Stanley, Britain's secretary for Do ON THE FIELD OF made iamou,; in one of the Car.a- j the burying ground contains ten Sawfly ancl Hoppers Take 1 dian best sellers at th r.r of the ] graves—seven in one row and three mother until she returns to her minion affairs, who Is now visiting -DOK1T GOAD N\E TO •*~OU_\—-YES.BLACVA GOLD ; rcniury, "The Doctor," by the late school In Edmonton on Sept. -
Closing a Chapter of History: Germany's Right to Compensation for the Sudetenland Charles A
Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law Volume 26 | Issue 2 1994 Closing a Chapter of History: Germany's Right to Compensation for the Sudetenland Charles A. Schiller Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Charles A. Schiller, Closing a Chapter of History: Germany's Right to Compensation for the Sudetenland, 26 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 401 (1994) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol26/iss2/6 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. Closing a Chapter of History: Germany's Right to Compensation for the Sudetenland Charles A. Schiller' Look after our houses, we are digging your graves. We will not piss with you, it is our homeland and our children's homeland." Is/Fiery- Man Hans Joachim Keppke. Leaflets containing these words were found in the mailboxes of the citizens of Dubi, CSFR in September, 1992. I. INTRODUCION Recently, a group of Germans who formerly lived in what is now the Czech and Slovak Federation (CSFR) have been pressing the Ger- man government to seek compensation from the CSFR2 for land and personal property expropriated by Czechoslovakia at the end of World War II. This land was formerly inhabited and owned by Germans who were expelled at the end of World War II pursuant to the Potsdam Protocol However, the conduct and agreements entered into by Germa- ny and the CSFR beginning in 1919 to the present do not legally sup- port the claim for compensation which the Sudeten Germans4 have pas- sionately pleaded since the end of World War II.