DOCSLIB.ORG

Czech-German Relations After the Fall of the Iron Curtain Kunstat, Miroslav

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Czech-German Relations After the Fall of the Iron Curtain Kunstat, Miroslav www.ssoar.info Czech-German Relations after the Fall of the Iron Curtain Kunstat, Miroslav Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Kunstat, M. (1998). Czech-German Relations after the Fall of the Iron Curtain. Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review, 6(2), 149-172. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-54281 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. all copyright information and other information regarding legal Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder conditions of use. anderweitig nutzen. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an. Czech-German Relations after the Fall of the Iron Curtain MIROSLAV KUNŠTÁT* Institute for International Studies, Charles University, Prague Abstract: The paper deals with Czech-German relations from 1989-90, i.e., the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the start of democratic reforms in former Czecho- slovakia, up until the signing of the Czech-German declaration on mutual relations and their future development in January 1997. In the introduction, relations between these countries before 1989 are outlined, with emphasis on the meaning and practi- cal implementation of the so-called Prague Agreement of 1973. The period 1989-90 is seen in the light of the new historical chances and hopes that the political changes brought. However, soon after the mood turned more sober, in the period from German unification to the end of the Czechoslovak Federation. Ne- gotiations on the Czechoslovak-German treaty signed in February 1992 clearly showed that relations were only very slowly emerging from their past captivity. After the birth of the Czech Republic, relations became more intense in the eco- nomic sphere, but stagnated politically. The events that arose from the 1938 Munich Agreement, the consequences of German occupation and the post-war transfer of Sudeten Germans, were the subject of debate and controversy at the highest political level. Negotiations on the Czech-German declaration clarified all aspects of bilateral prob- lems and speeded up the dialogue between both societies. The quality and stability of Czech-German relations are directly linked to the creation of a new, unified and peaceful Europe. Czech Sociological Review, 1998, Vol. 6 (No. 2: 149-172) 1. A Historical Introduction: A Brief Outline of Relations between West Germany and the former Czechoslovakia before 1989 The basically pragmatic relations between West Germany (the old FRG) and the former Czechoslovakia had already begun to change before 1989 with the start of a number of collaborative projects. In 1967 it was agreed to set up commercial representations with consular powers in both Prague and Frankfurt. This had a rather ambivalent effect as it contributed to a review of the Hallstein doctrine but at the same time reflected the en- trenched Czech position which wanted to finally break with this doctrine – in the interests of East Germany (GDR) – by exclusively pressing for full diplomatic relations. On 13 December 1966, Chancellor Kiesinger’s so-called grand coalition of the CDU/CSU/SPD listed the normalisation of relations between Czechoslovakia and West Germany and the elimination of the effects of the Munich Agreement as one of its aims (following on from the so-called peace note of the Federal Government on 24 March that year). Even greater emphasis was put on this by Willy Brandt’s social-liberal coalition in its foreign-policy platform announced on 28 October 1969.1 Paradoxically this took place *) Direct all correspondence to PhDr. Miroslav Kunštát, Institute for International Studies of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Rytířská 31, 110 00 Praha 1. 1) Europa-Archiv, Folge 7/1966, pp. D 172-D 173. In the so-called peace note, the Federal Gov- ernment had stated its view that the Munich Agreement (implicitly accepted as having been in 149 Czech Sociological Review, VI, (2/1998) only a few days after the Czechoslovak government took unilateral measures to drasti- cally limit the almost free movement of persons to Germany and other western countries (subject only to normal visa regulations). The initial rather exploratory negotiations from the period of the Prague Spring, which the former Czechoslovak Foreign Minister, Jiří Hájek described in his memoirs,2 could only be followed up in a completely new, i.e., multilateral framework. These were characterised by the relatively well-defined but unsophisticated standpoints of the then German opposition (CDU/CSU), in commenting on the ratification of the so-called Treaty of Prague between Czechoslovakia and West Germany (dating to the first quarter of 1974 and not, unfortunately, taken into account in Brach’s otherwise very worthy 1973 work on the treaty),3 although the cutting edge of their criticisms was understandably directed at the main figures of the new German ‘Ostpolitik’, Egon Bahr and Willi Brandt. The so-called Heck Statement which represented the views of a minority of the foreign committee of the German Bundestag, on 11 June 1974, presented the following picture:4 According to it, the Federal Republic of Germany was being de facto “forced” by the Soviet Union – by promises of concessions on internal German relations, on Berlin, etc. – to respect the connections between the Czechoslovak-Soviet treaty of 6 May 1970, Article 6 of which states that the 1938 Munich Agreement was forced on Czechoslovakia under the threat of force and an aggressive war (…) and therefore that “all its conse- quences are invalid”, and the Soviet-German treaty of August 1970, based on the so- called ‘Bahr Plan’ from late May of that year, as well as the even clearer consequences of the German-Soviet communiqué from Oreanda on 18 July 1971. This almost literally adopted into Czechoslovak-German affairs the relevant points of the Bahr Plan agreed between Bahr and Gromyko immediately after the latter’s return from Prague, where he went for the signing of the new Czechoslovak-Soviet Treaty. In Oreanda it was clearly stated that “the relevant treaties with the German Democ- ratic Republic, the Polish People’s Republic and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic form an indivisible whole” and that “questions arising in negotiations between the Fed- force up to 15. 3. 1939) was “torn up” by Hitler himself and had no territorial significance. As it had already stated on several occasions, the Federal Government therefore had no territorial claims to Czechoslovakia. It stressed, “…dass dies die verantwortliche Darstellung der deutschen Politik ist”. In its answer to this note in May 1966, the Czechoslovak government insisted on an explicit declaration that the Munich Agreement had been invalid from the outset. C.f. Europa-Archiv, Folge 11/1966, pp. D 287-D 289 and Deutsche Politik 1966, Tätigkeitsbericht der Bundes- regierung (17), Bonn 1967, p. XVI and pp. 10-11; Jahresbericht der Bundesregierung 1969 (20), Bonn 1970, pp. 39, 84-85. For a summary see e.g. Müller, A.: Die Tschechoslowakei auf der Suche nach Sicherheit, Berlin 1977, pp. 164-220, 361-381. C.f. also Müller, A., Utitz, B.: Deutsch- land und die Tschechoslowakei, Freudenstadt 1972. 2) Hájek, J.: Begegnungen und Zusammenstösse. Erinnerungen des ehemaligen tschecho- slowakischen Aussenministers, Freiburg/Br. pp. 178-181, 210-211; Hájek, J.: Paměti (Memoirs), Prague 1997, pp. 278-279. See also Šnejdárek, A.: “Jaké vztahy k NSR?” (What Sort of Relations with Germany?), Rudé právo, 17. 4. 1968, or Müller, A.: “Die Haltung der ČSSR gegenüber der BRD während des Prager Demokratisierungsprozesses”, Osteuropa 4/1969, and many others. 3) Břach, R.: Smlouva o vzájemných vztazích mezi ČSSR a SRN z roku 1973 (The 1973 Treaty on Relations between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany), Prague 1994. 4) Deutscher Bundestag (DBT) – 7 Wahlperiode, Drucksache 7/2270. 150 Miroslav Kunštát: Czech-German Relations after the Fall of the Iron Curtain eral Republic of Germany and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic which relate to the invalidity of the Munich Agreement must be resolved in a way that is acceptable to both parties.” The 1973 Treaty of Prague did not however just resolve the problem of the Munich Agreement. Its fruits, in the form of humanitarian supplements, were
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 Introduction
    Notes 1 Introduction 1. What belongs together will now grow together (JK). 2. The well-known statement from Brandt is often wrongly attributed to the speech he gave one day after the fall of the Berlin Wall at the West Berlin City Hall, Rathaus Schöneberg. This error is understandable since it was added later to the publicized version of the speech with the consent of Brandt himself (Rother, 2001, p. 43). By that time it was already a well known phrase since it featured prominently on a SPD poster with a picture of Brandt in front of the partying masses at the Berlin Wall. The original statement was made by Brandt during a radio interview on 10 November for SFP-Mittagecho where he stated: ‘Jetzt sind wir in einer Situation, in der wieder zusammenwächst, was zusammengehört’ (‘Now we are in a situation in which again will grow together what belongs together’). 3. The Treaty of Prague with Czechoslovakia, signed 11 December 1973, finalized the Eastern Treaties. 4. By doing this, I aim to contribute to both theory formation concerning inter- national politics and foreign policy and add to the historiography of the German question and reunification policy. Not only is it important to com- pare theoretical assumptions against empirical data, by making the theoretical assumptions that guide the historical research explicit, other scholars are enabled to better judge the quality of the research. In the words of King et al. (1994, p. 8): ‘If the method and logic of a researcher’s observations and infer- ences are left implicit, the scholarly community has no way of judging the validity of what was done.’ This does not mean that the historical research itself only serves theory formation.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking the Regional Order for Post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia
    Rethinking the Regional Order for Post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia Samuel Charap, Jeremy Shapiro, Alyssa Demus Perspective EXPERT INSIGHTS ON A TIMELY POLICY ISSUE C O R P O R A T I O N Contents Historical Precedents ...................................................................................... 8 Committing to a New Status Quo: A Proposal .............................................13 Why This Approach Can Work ......................................................................21 Conclusion ....................................................................................................32 Appendix A: Survey Results .........................................................................34 Appendix B: Survey Methodology .................................................................37 Notes .............................................................................................................39 References ....................................................................................................43 Abbreviations ................................................................................................47 About the Authors .........................................................................................47 The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. Cover image: Getty Images/E+/emrah_oztas
    [Show full text]
  • On Some Implications of the Prince of Liechtenstein V. Germany
    ᭧ EJIL 2002 ............................................................................................. A Trojan Horse for Sudeten Claims? On Some Implications of the Prince of Liechtenstein v. Germany Andrea Gattini* Abstract For the last 10 years, Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein has been suing Germany in various courts, including the German Federal Constitutional Court, the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice. Originally, the subject of the Prince’s claim was the ownership of a painting seized, among other property belonging to the Prince’s father, by Czechoslovakia in 1945. Now, the Prince is claiming reparation for the alleged German decision to treat Liechtenstein assets as ‘German’ for the purpose of war reparations. The article maintains that the real motive for the claim is an attempt to reignite an international juridical-political debate on the merits of the 1945 Benes Decrees and of the still unsettled Sudeten claims. Such issues give rise to a wealth of international law problems of general interest. The article mainly focuses on the human rights issues which faced the European Court of Human Rights. 1 The Historical Background of the Post-War Confiscation of Property of German Nationals in Czechoslovakia Following the Second World War, the property of individuals of German and Hungarian nationality or ethnicity was confiscated in the Republic of Czechoslovakia by a series of Presidential Decrees1 (the ‘Benes Decrees’), such individuals thus being * Associate Professor of International Law, University of Urbino, Italy. The author wishes to thank Professor Bruno Simma, Professor Christian Tomuschat, Dr Bardo Fassbender and Dr Andreas Paulus for their helpful comments and constructive criticisms.
    [Show full text]
  • The German Bundestag in the Reichstag Building
    The German Bundestag in the Reichstag Building The German Bundestag in the Reichstag Building 6 Foreword by the President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble Hans Wilderotter 9 “Here beats the heart of democracy” Structure and function of the Bundestag 10 The ‘forum of the nation’: the Bundestag at the heart of the German Constitution 14 “Representatives of the whole people”: the Members of Parliament 22 “The President shall represent the Bundestag”: the President of the Bundestag, the Presidium and the Council of Elders 32 “Permanent subdivisions of the Bundestag”: the parliamentary groups 40 “Microcosms of the Chamber”: the committees 48 Strategy and scrutiny: study commissions, committees of inquiry, the Parliamentary Oversight Panel and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces 54 “The visible hub of parliamentary business”: the plenary chamber 62 “Federal laws shall be adopted by the Bundestag”: legislation and legislative processes 76 “Establishing a united Europe”: Bundestag participation in the process of European integration Content Hans Wilderotter 83 The long road to democracy Milestones in Germany’s parliamentary history 84 “... the real school of Vormärz liberalism”: parliaments in Germany before 1848 88 “We will create a constitution for Germany”: the German National Assembly in St Paul’s Church, Frankfurt am Main 106 A “written document as the Constitution of the Prussian Kingdom”: the constituent National Assembly and the Prussian House of Representatives in Berlin 122 Democracy without parliamentarianism:
    [Show full text]
  • MASARYK UNIVERSITY Willy Brandt and His Role in the Cold
    MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Department of International Relations and European Studies Willy Brandt and his role in the Cold War Diploma thesis Tomáš Kolár Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Vít Hloušek, Ph. D. UČO: 251550 Field of study: European studies Immatriculation year: 2011 Košice, 2013 Hereby I declare that I have written this thesis by myself, drawing only on the cited sources. In Košice, December 15, 2013 ............................. First of all, I would like to kindly thank doc. PhDr. Vít Hloušek, Ph.D., for his enthusiasm, support, guidance, valuable comments and remarks. Table of content List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 5 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 7 2 The development of the divided Germany in the context of the Cold War after WWII till 1961 ...... 11 2.1 Development in the GDR ............................................................................................................ 12 2.2 Development in the FRG ............................................................................................................ 13 2.3 Konrad Adenauerʼs era (1949-1963) .......................................................................................... 14 2.3 Berlin wall and its consequences ...............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Recognition of the DDR: Some Legal Aspects of West Germany's Foreign Policy and the Quest for German Reunification
    Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law Volume 7 Issue 1 Article 5 1974 Recognition of the DDR: Some Legal Aspects of West Germany's Foreign Policy and the Quest for German Reunification Karl M. Schwenkel Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Karl M. Schwenkel, Recognition of the DDR: Some Legal Aspects of West Germany's Foreign Policy and the Quest for German Reunification, 7 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 94 (1974) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol7/iss1/5 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. [Vol. 7: 94 NOTES Recognition of the DDR: Some Legal Aspects of West Germany's Foreign Policy and the Quest for German Reunification Introduction T IS PROBABLY SAFE to assert that the key to ddtente in Europe lies in resolution of the German situation, for it is Germany, lo- cated in the heart of Europe, where East abruptly meets West. For almost twenty-five years the German situation has remained a highly volatile center of controversy. In many instances, it has been the scene of traumatic confrontations marked by displays of deep emo- tionalism and drama. Both East as well as West understood the significance of a post-war Germany; each tried to strengthen their positions by attempting to bring Germany within their respective orbits.
    [Show full text]
  • The Annexation of the Baltic States and Its Effect on the Development of Law Prohibiting Forcible Seizure of Territory William J.H
    NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law Volume 6 Article 5 Number 2 Volume 6, No. 2, 1985 1985 The Annexation of the Baltic States and Its Effect on the Development of Law Prohibiting Forcible Seizure of Territory William J.H. Hough III Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/ journal_of_international_and_comparative_law Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Hough, William J.H. III (1985) "The Annexation of the Baltic States and Its Effect on the Development of Law Prohibiting Forcible Seizure of Territory," NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law: Vol. 6 : No. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/journal_of_international_and_comparative_law/vol6/iss2/5 This Notes and Comments is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@NYLS. THE ANNEXATION OF THE BALTIC STATES AND ITS EFFECT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LAW PROHIBITING FORCIBLE SEIZURE OF TERRITORY TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ....................................... 303 II. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF LAW PROHIBITING FORCIBLE SEIZURE OF TERRITORY ................................ 305 A. European Origins ............................... 305 B. Legal Development After the Peace of Westphalia 308 C. Title to Territory in the Colonial Era ............ 319 D. Post World War I Development .................. 321 E. Birth of the Stimson Doctrine of Nonrecognition of Forcible Seizure of Territory ..................... 326 III. THE ANNEXATION OF THE BALTIC STATES ................. 351 A. Origins of the Baltic States ...................... 351 B. Independence of the Baltic States ................ 355 C. Soviet Invasion and Incorporation of the Baltic S ta tes .......................................... 369 IV.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    I NTRODUCTION ( Ostpolitik marked a turning point in European history a er the Second World War. It contributed decisively to propelling East–West confronta- tion towards negotiation and dialogue in the early 1970s and set the stage for European developments over the following two decades. Ostpolitik is a German term literally meaning ‘Eastern policy’ but in English is usually applied to the policy initiated by Willy Brandt, the West German chancel- lor from 1969 to 1974. Ostpolitik was a complex and, at the time, a highly controversial endeavour and met with both high acclaim and harsh oppo- sition. From a scholarly viewpoint, Brandt’s Ostpolitik included several distinctive features that may be summarized in three main points. (1) As an integral part of East–West détente in the 1960s and 1970s, Ostpolitik was the West German contribution to relaxing Cold War tensions by nor- malizing political relations with the East. (2) Ostpolitik was an a empt to prepare the reunifi cation of Germany in the long term, through a ‘pol- icy of small steps’. (3) Ostpolitik aimed to address the consequences of the Nazi past and to initiate a process of reconciliation with the peoples of Eastern Europe. Because of its historical signifi cance, a multitude of academics have researched and analysed Ostpolitik from various per- spectives. The overwhelming majority of historical and political accounts scrutinize the fi rst two points while the third element – reconciliation – has a racted much less a ention. Perhaps this is due to the reluctance of political scientists and scholars of political history to work with the term ‘reconciliation’, which sits somewhat uneasily with notions of power pol- itics.
    [Show full text]
  • Prudence in Victory: the Management of Defeated Great Powers
    PRUDENCE IN VICTORY: THE MANAGEMENT OF DEFEATED GREAT POWERS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Paul Brian Fritz, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2006 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Randall L. Schweller, Advisor Professor John Mueller _____________________ Professor Theodore Hopf Advisor Graduate Program in Political Science ABSTRACT How should victorious states manage their vanquished foes to provide for stable post-war international politics? Though there is relatively little work on how states manage victory, the conventional wisdom in international relations scholarship is that moderation in victory is the only approach that will provide post-war stability. That is, defeated states should not be restricted in the post-war era, nor should the gains made by victors be too large. Otherwise, post-war stability is jeopardized. I argue that restrictive war-ending settlements tend to provide postwar stability when there is a large postwar gap in capabilities favoring the victors and those states actively enforce the settlement. When these conditions hold, postwar stability, defined as no or only minor alterations to the settlement attempted by the vanquished nation, can follow two pathways. The first is the acceptance of the restrictive settlement by the vanquished based on simple coercion, or where the defeated state is unable to challenge the settlement and thus grudgingly endures its treatment at the hand of the victors as long as the power gap favors the victors. The second, coercion plus socialization, is acceptance of the restrictive settlement by the defeated state based on legitimacy, or where the defeated state is eventually socialized to the settlement such that it no longer desires to challenge or alter the settlement even if the opportunity arises to do so.
    [Show full text]
  • Remembering Sudetenland: on the Legal Construction of Ethnic Cleansing
    Maurer School of Law: Indiana University Digital Repository @ Maurer Law Articles by Maurer Faculty Faculty Scholarship 2006 Remembering Sudetenland: On the Legal Construction of Ethnic Cleansing Timothy W. Waters Indiana University Maurer School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub Part of the Human Rights Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Waters, Timothy W., "Remembering Sudetenland: On the Legal Construction of Ethnic Cleansing" (2006). Articles by Maurer Faculty. 324. https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub/324 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by Maurer Faculty by an authorized administrator of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Remembering Sudetenland: On the Legal Construction of Ethnic Cleansing TIMOTHY WILLIAM WATERS* I. To Begin: Something Uninteresting, and Something New ......... 64 II. A im s of the A rticle ................................................................. 66 1II. An Attempt at an Uncontroversial Historical Primer .............. 69 A. Czechoslovakia and Munich .......................................... 69 B. The Bene§ D ecrees ........................................................ 70 C. The Expulsions or Transfers .......................................... 73 D. The Potsdam Agreement ..............................................
    [Show full text]
  • DAVIS-DISSERTATION-2017.Pdf (2.307Mb)
    TALES OF EXPULSION: REMEMBERING POPULATION TRANSFER IN WEST GERMANY AND THE CZECH LANDS, 1968-1997 A Dissertation by STEVEN B DAVIS ENJAMIN Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Adam R. Seipp Committee Members, Chester S. L. Dunning Stjepan G. Meštrović David Z. Chroust Head of Department, David Vaught May 2017 Major Subject: History Copyright 2017 Steven B. Davis ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates changing memory discourses of the post- World War II (WWII) expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia in late-Cold War Central Europe. By uncovering the grassroots networks of Czech and Sudeten German cooperation in which these discourses evolved I illustrate how this cooperation contributed to German-Czech understanding, after 1989. This dissertation addresses three crucial questions: Firstly, why did revision of the expulsion become an important issue for Czech dissidents and émigré activists across Europe? Secondly, how did the Catholic Sudeten German organization the Ackermann Gemeinde emerge as an important partner for Czech dissidents, ,the underground Czech Catholic, Church, and émigré activists during this period? And thirdly, how did these grassroots cooperations affect public discourse and policy in German-Czech relations after 1989? I argue that the push to reconcile disparate West German and Czechoslovakian narratives of the expulsion and the promotion of a shared cultural heritage illuminates an early process of transnationalizing historical memory and identity that defines more recent discourses of history-writing in Europe in the 21st century. This project explores assertions of a cosmopolitan Central European identity in Czechoslovakia and West Germany that emerged in Czech underground and émigré circles and in prominent sectors of Sudeten Germans in West Germany in the 1970s.
    [Show full text]
  • 6Th Century Ad Hunnic Invasions 350 Germanic Peoples 750 Bc B
    Bronze Age Europe Limesfall 1700 bc - 1200 bc 260 Celts Hunnic Invasions 800 bc - 6th century ad 350 Germanic peoples Battle of Strasbourg 750 bc 357 Cimbrian War Migration Period 113 bc – 101 bc 376 - 700 Gallic Wars Battle of Adrianople 58 bc - 50 bc 378 Battle of Vosges Edict of Thessalonica 58 bc 380 Caesar's Rhine bridges Massacre of Thessalonica 55 bc - 53 bc 390 Roman military camps of the Rhineland Crossing of the Rhine 16 bc 406 Battle of the Teutoburg Forest Sack of Rome 9 410 Limes Germanicus Battle of the Catalaunian Plains 10 - 250 June 20, 451 Revolt of the Batavi Battle of Nedao 69 - 70 454 Germania Inferior Sack of 455 83 – 475 455 Germania by Tacitus Odoacer 98 476 Marcomannic Wars Merovingian Dynasty 166 – 180 481 - 751 Crisis of the Third Century Francia 235 - 284 481 – 843 Early Middle Ages Destruction of the Irminsul 493-861 772 Ostrogothic Kingdom Conquest of the Lombard kingdom 493 - 553 773 - 774 Battle of Tolbiac Massacre of Verden 496 October 782 Baptism of Clovis I Widukind's surrender 496 785 Gothic War Medieval knighthood 535 - 554 8th - 14th century Rule of Saint Benedict Carolingian Renaissance 540 late 8th - 9th century Lombards Viking Age 568 - 774 793 - 1066 Saint Boniface's missions Coronation of Charlemagne 716 - 754 December 800 Tithe Holy Roman Empire 8th - 19th century 800 - 1806 Donar's Oak Louis the Pious 724 813 – 840 Battle of Tours Battle of Fontenoy October 732 841 Carolingian Dynasty Oaths of Strasbourg 751 - 888 842 Pepin the Short - King of the Francs Treaty of Verdun 751 - 768 843 Saint
    [Show full text]