Who Started WW2? The Annexation of Czechoslovakia

Who Started WW2? Treaty of Versailles Series, Who Started WW2? Weimar Series, Who Started WW2? Unification- Austria Series, Who Started WW2? Munich Conference Series

A major source for this article is, 1939 – The War That Had Many Fathers by Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof (pages 221–231).

If you have been keeping up with my “Who Started WW2?” series, you will have been shown that the notion of a successful multi-ethnic Czechoslovakian democracy is nothing but a lie from the WW1 Allies that created it. It was a state that was destined to fail. It’s no wonder then that after Germany freed her people from the decidedly undemocratic rule of the Czech government, the Slovaks, Hungarians, Poles, and Ruthenians (Ukrainians) demanded the rights that had been promised to them in 1919 through the Pittsburgh Agreement and the Minority Agreement of Saint-Germain.

Orthodox mainstream sources, such as the USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia try to paint Hitler as some sort of rabble-rouser. If we were talking about someone who wasn’t the enemy of Jews and the WW2 Allies, they would have been praised for championing for the rights of mistreated ethnic minorities, which is exactly what Hitler did. When it is so crystal clear that these orthodox mainstream sources have double standards, it is clear that you cannot take anything they say at face value.

Now, let’s get into a breif recount of how Czechoslovakia came to be occupied by Germany. As Germany was reoccupying the territory lost to them in the Treaty if Versailles, Edvard Beneš stepped down from his presidency on October 4th, 1938. Reminder that Beneš—or Benis, as I like to call him—is the man who had orchestrated Czech dominance in the multi-ethnic state of Czechoslovakia. On November 30th, Dr. Emil Hácha stepped up as president.

On March 14th, 1939, Hácha requested an audience with Hitler, which was immediately granted. He arrived late in the evening via train, as he was in poor health and had a bad heart. Despite the short notice and late hour he was granted all the ceremonial honors that the head of a foreign state merits.

During the preliminary talks, Hácha tells Minister von Ribbentrop that he has come “to lay the fate of Czechia in the hands of the Fuhrer.” When Hácha finally met with Hitler, it was 1:15 am and he had already been informed that German troops had penetrated into Moravia-Ostrava on Czech territory. Despite this, Hácha meets Hitler with compliments and pleasantries. He said that Czechs and Germans have lived side by side for centuries and it has never gone as well as when they are on positive terms with the Germans. He also reiterates his desire to lay the fate of his people in Hitler’s hands.

Hitler’s response was amicable at first, but quickly he went on to list the reasons that the old Czechoslovakia has ruined German-Czech relations. Some of the things brought up to Hácha included that in 1936 the Czech government made an agreement with Paris to fall on Germany’s back in the event of a war. During negotiations of the League of Nations he Czech had always had a hostile attitude toward Germany, and in 1938 they mobilized against Germany without any reason. The map below illustrates the threat that a hostile Czechoslovakia poses. To put it poetically, it was a knife aimed right at Germany’s heart.

For comparison’s sake, here is a map of 1914 Germany:

Hitler had already put a plan into motion. His army was mobilized, ready to occupy the rest of Czechoslovakia. Hitler offered Hácha one of two choices: offer no resistance and his people “still have good prospects for the future,” or resist and “they [Czech troops] will be destroyed with all means at my disposal.” Hácha chose to offer no resistance. Therefore Germany annexed what remained of Czechoslovakia without major bloodshed.

Did Hitler use threats to force Hácha’s hand? Yes. Did the Czech government have it coming? Absolutely. Czechoslovakia was an unnecessary, fake country created by the overstepping of power by the WW1 victors—not too dissimilar to Kosovo today, actually. Czechoslovakia was created by these WW1 victors to be weaponized against Germany with no consideration to how they were going to affect the lives of millions of people. As a leader, it would have been irresponsible for Hitler to allow the Czech threat to remain. Thus the answer to the question posed in the last article, “was the annexation of remainder of Czechoslovakia proof of aggressive expansionism?”, is no. Hitler was doing what was needed to protect his country and his people. Any attempt for the WW2 Allies to paint it as a aggressive move is a lie to justify their aggressive actions.

Next up in my “Who Started WW2?” series I will be covering Kristallnacht, which took place from November 9–10, 1938. Stay tuned!