The protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia is an artificial state entity that appeared in Europe on the eve of World War II. It arose as a result of the aggression of the Third Reich and continued to exist until the end of hostilities in Czechoslovakia.
According to a statement by representatives of the Reich, the protectorate represented the interests of the German-speaking inhabitants of these lands, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the population in this region were ethnic Czechs.
Start
In early October 1938, after the signing of the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was annexed by fascist Germany. Five months after the annexation, Czechoslovak President Emil Gahu was called to Berlin, where Hitler invited him to accept the occupation of Czechoslovakia without armed resistance.
Gahu's answer no longer mattered. The accession of Czechoslovakia to Germany was approved in advance by the highest ranks of the Reich, and after waiting for the winter, the Germans proceeded to annexation.
Annexation
On March 13, 1939, all periodicals in Germany published materials allegedly testifying to the inhumane attitude of the Czechs towards the Germans and the oppression of native German speakers. Already on March 15, over the Hradczyna - the old residence of Czech kings - the German flag fluttered. At the same time, the regular honor of the German army occupied Bohemia and Moravia. The third part of the country - Slovakia - was conditionally independent, but in fact also depended on Germany. The annexation has been completed.
In March 1939, a decree of Adolf Hitler was signed, according to which certain areas of the former Czechoslovakia fell under the protectorate. Bohemia and Moravia became politically, economically and socially dependent on Germany. German laws acted on the territory of the protectorate, the country was ruled by the proteges of the invading country. The Czechs did not have their own internal troops, their regular army was also disbanded - henceforth, the Germans took over the preservation of the borders of Czechoslovakia.
The executive branch in the country was supervised by a protector specially appointed by the Reich. The first to hold this post was Konstantin von Neurath. There was also a president who allegedly led the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Throughout the entire existence of this public entity, Emil Gahu remained its president.
Position reinforcement
Initially, the power of fascist Germany could be called moderate. Of course, many parties were banned, and all Jews in the country were dismissed from their posts and transferred to an illegal position. Nevertheless, enterprises worked in the country, educational institutions were opened, libraries and movie theaters worked. But gradually the country lost the remnants of formal independence and became a working appendage of the Third Reich.
Martial law
Gradually, the situation changed. Military action flared up, and Germany needed a large influx of cheap labor. The most accessible source for this was the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
To manage industry in the occupied territories, special departments were organized. The Czechs were supposed to work in the mining, metallurgical and defense industries, part of the Czech youth was sent to Germany. The production of consumer goods was curtailed; the capacities were directed at supplying the German army. For the population organized rations and grocery cards.
On October 28, mass protests of the intelligentsia and students stirred up all of Czechoslovakia. Protesters opposed the German occupation. The reaction of the German government was immediate. Mass raids and arrests of political opponents and active citizens began. On November 17, secondary and higher educational institutions were closed. Student leaders were arrested and then executed. Hundreds of people without trial were in concentration camps - this is how the βsoftβ protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia showed itself.
The period 1939-1945
The outbreak of World War II put all economic and social life in Czechoslovakia on a war footing. In order to stop the slightest protests and acts of disobedience, the internal forces that controlled the protectorate were completely reorganized.
Bohemia and Moravia became the career stage of one of the active supporters of the Reich, Reinhardt Heydrich. He was appointed head of the General Directorate of Imperial Security Forces. The puppet prime minister of the protectorate was arrested and then shot - allegedly for anti-German activities. The Czech government was dissolved, and all secular public institutions were closed.
German police, along with SS forces, began the persecution of Jews and dissidents. All persons of Jewish nationality were sent to concentration camps, and in the town of Terezin organized a ghetto that lasted until the very end of the war. Heydrich was soon injured, and then died. His successor, Kurt Daluge, continued the policy of repression. Two villages - LeΕΎaki and Lidice - were completely destroyed, and residents were shot.
The machine of reprisals, torture and executions operated all the time. The repressive apparatus was supervised by the well-established SS officers - Max Rozstock, Richard Schmidt and Ernst Hitzegrad. The protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during the years of their service lost about two hundred thousand people killed, tortured, missing. About 35,000 Czech workers were forcibly deported to Germany to work in military factories.
Conditional independence
Under the banner of the so-called liberation, the protectorates of Bohemia and Moravia (1939-1945) tried to appear in the international arena as an independent state. In this pseudo-state, own money was printed and postage stamps went. The Czechs were even allowed to adopt their own laws. There was also a protectorate flag of its own.
For their main symbol of the country, Bohemia and Moravia chose ancient Slavic colors - white, blue and red. This combination of colors is the only thing that has survived since the annexation. After the end of World War II, the tricolor flag remained the national flag of Czechoslovakia.