Only “Aryans” were allowed to serve, that is, not Jews or Gypsies. Most of the soldiers and officers previously served in the army of the Czechoslovak Republic. They retained the old Czechoslovak uniform, emblems and system of awards. In 1944, a uniform corresponding to German standards was introduced.
The protectorate's armed forces initially numbered 7,000 men and consisted of 12 battalions of 480 men each. In addition to infantry companies, they included bicycle companies and horse squadrons.
The armament consisted of modernized Mannlicher rifles, light and heavy machine guns, produced at the Ceska Zbrojovka factories.
The protectorate's armed forces were required to guard roads, bridges, warehouses and other strategic facilities, carry out rescue and engineering work, and assist the police. The former brigadier general of the Czechoslovak army Jaroslav Eminger (1886 - 1964) was appointed commander (inspector general).
On May 8, 1944, 11 Bohemian battalions arrived in Northern Italy to guard rear communications. During the first months, 800 Bohemian soldiers went over to the side of the Italian partisans.
Soon they had the opportunity to reach the location of the Anti-Hitler Coalition troops, join the Czechoslovak armored brigade under the command of General Alois Lisa and participate in hostilities in France, in particular, in the siege of the port of Dunkirk. The remaining soldiers were disarmed by the Germans and sent to fortification work.
The battalion remaining in the protectorate guarded the residence of President Emil Gaha in Hradcany. On May 5, 1945, his soldiers took part in the Prague Uprising. They took part in the battles for the city radio station and Prague Castle, and also captured a German armored train.
After the liberation of Czechoslovakia, General Jaroslav Eminger was accused of collaboration and on March 31, 1947, he was stripped of his military rank and awards.
General Jaroslav Eminger (fourth from left in a raincoat).
Bohemian Battalion during the Prague Uprising in May 1945
Czechs in the SS.
Germans born in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia could join the Wehrmacht and the SS without restrictions. There were no restrictions for the Czechs, but they mainly carried out labor duties.
At the same time, in 1939 - 1944. some Czechs joined the SS and took part in the fighting on the fronts of World War II. For example, the son of the Minister of Education in the Czech government of the protectorate, Emmanuel Moravec, Igor volunteered for the SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf") and was awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.
Membership card of the "Aryan Guard - Czech Fascists", 1939.
On May 29, 1942, the so-called “Kuratorium pro vychovu mladeze v Cechach a na Morave (KVMCM)” arose in the protectorate. This organization accepted youth aged 10 to 18 years. Lectures were given here about National Socialism, the benefits of cooperation with the Germans, and the victories of the German army.
The authorities provided “Curatorship” with sports grounds and camps where competitions were held in hockey, skiing, athletics, and football. The organization trained instructors (from among Czech supporters of Nazism), the youth of “Curatorship” participated in racial studies of the Nazis.
Senior members of the "Curatorship" could enlist in the SS special forces (Oddily ZZ), and junior members - in the "Exemplary Link" (Vzorne roje). In the future, these units were to become the basis of the Czech SS.
A delegation of Czech peasants at a reception with the Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heindrich. Autumn 1941
In February 1945, the first recruitment of Czechs took place into the SS police regiment "Brisken", which was included in the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division, sometimes called "Bohemia-Moravia" (German: Bohmen-Mahren) or "Bachka" (31. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division). The division was severely understaffed. Retreating under the attacks of the Red Army, probably defeated in Königgrätz on 5.1945.
In the same year, about one thousand former soldiers and commanders of the Czechoslovak cavalry became part of the newly formed 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Lützow".
Subordinate to the 1st SS Panzer Corps "Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler", the division's battle group, retreating through Hungary to Austria, took part in fierce battles with the advancing units of the Red Army.
Some soldiers from the division took part in the mass escape from the prisoner of war camp in Altheim (date of escape - May 13, 1945); The escape was undertaken after the regular Wehrmacht units were liberated from the camp, while the SS remained imprisoned.
The surviving Czech SS men were captured by Soviet and American troops. Some soldiers and officers escaped captivity and returned to Czechoslovakia in May 1945.
During the anti-German Prague Uprising on May 5, 1945, the SS Volunteer Company "St. Wenceslas" (Svatovaclavska dobrovolnicka rota ZZ) was formed from young activists of various Czech fascist organizations that appeared in the country during the occupation, and soldiers of the SS special forces (Oddily ZZ). . The company joined the German garrison of the Czech capital.
At the beginning of March 1945, secret negotiations were held in Germany on the urgent mobilization of Czech and Slovak volunteers who were supposed to delay the advance of Soviet troops in Germany and Czechoslovakia.
Young Czech fascists. 1942
The initiative to attract Czechs and Slovaks to the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS was expressed by Emmanuel Moravec, Minister of Youth Affairs of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, who was supported by the Czech Anti-Bolshevik League and even the Government of the Protectorate.
The idea was also supported by Dr. Toyner (a Czech fascist, one of the leaders of the Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Protectorate), Dr. Victorin and the German consultant Dr. Kraniche. According to the plans, the Germans were going to attract at least a thousand volunteers.
The commander of the Czech SS company is SS Brigadeführer Bernhard Voss.
The formation began on March 5 by order of Karl-Hermann Frank, the training camp was located in the village of Ukhnosht-Chepertse. However, anti-war sentiment among the population of the occupied lands was so high that only 50 people came to the camp by March 21.
By the end of April, the number of volunteer detachments barely exceeded 70 people. Most of the volunteers were members of the SS paramilitary forces, where they were recruited only due to their good knowledge of the German language and supposedly being granted a pure-blooded German ancestry.
SS Brigadeführer Bernhard Voss was invited to command the company; the training was conducted by Lieutenant Bavel. This company was a Czech SS unit, their only weapons were outdated rifles with bayonets and one machine gun. Their uniform was exactly the same as that of the government troops of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
After fighting with their rebel compatriots and soldiers of the First Division of the Russian Liberation Army under the command of General Vlasov in Prague, this unit was able to reach the American occupation zone (Karlovy Vary - Pilsen - Ceske Budujevice).
On April 5, one of the soldiers tried to desert, but their escape was discovered, and those who escaped were shot on the spot. On the night of May 8-9, some soldiers loyal to the Reich fled into the forests, but were captured by Soviet or American units.
Those who managed to break through to the West escaped prosecution by joining the French Foreign Legion. Some of them even participated in the Indochina War (they took part in the Battle of the Valley of Clay Jars) and the Vietnam War.
ROA soldiers in Prague.
Bohemian and Moravian Germans who became citizens of the Reich overwhelmingly supported the de facto occupation of the Czech Republic by Germany. They actively joined the SS, the Wehrmacht and provided all possible assistance to the German authorities. Anti-German and anti-German sentiments grew among the urban population - part of the workers, intelligentsia and students.
The first significant act of civil disobedience was the rallies on October 28, 1939 in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Kladno and other cities of Bohemia and Moravia, dedicated to the anniversary of the creation of the Czechoslovak state.
The crowd chanted: “We want freedom!” and "German police are German pigs!" Clashes occurred with Czech police and Gestapo agents, during which one person, 22-year-old miner Vaclav Sedlacek, was killed and several were seriously injured. About 700 protesters were also arrested.
Young Czech Nazis.
On November 11, 1939, Charles University medical student Jan Opletal died from wounds received during the dispersal of a rally. His funeral on November 15 turned into a massive student demonstration, which was dispersed by the police.
About 1,000 people were arrested and sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On November 17, 9 participants in this demonstration were executed. After this, all Czech higher education institutions were closed, including Charles University.
The situation escalated sharply after Czech saboteurs, abandoned by British intelligence, made an attempt on May 27, 1942, on Reinhard Heindrich, who, being slightly wounded, died as a result of blood poisoning after surgery.
Czech saboteurs Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis took refuge in the crypt of the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague. Their location was revealed by the traitor Karel Curda.
The priest and members of the church clergy who sheltered Heydrich's killers were arrested. The Orthodox Bishop of Prague, Gorazd (Matej Pavlik), who was in Berlin at that time and knew nothing about these events, arrived in Prague and declared that he was ready to share the punishment that his subordinates would suffer.
He was executed on September 4, 1942. Along with him, the cathedral priests Vaclav Cikl and Vladimir Petrk, as well as the church elder Jan Sonnevend, were executed.
The Czech Orthodox Church was banned, its property was confiscated, churches were closed, the clergy were arrested and imprisoned. Throughout the Protectorate, the German authorities introduced martial law, which was lifted on July 3, 1942.
Acting Reich Protector of the Czech Republic after the assassination of Heydrich, Colonel General of Police Kurt Daluege. After the war he was handed over to the Czechs and hanged.
Division and destruction of Czechoslovakia as an independent state with the participation of Germany, Hungary and Poland in 1938-1939. These events are not officially included in the history of World War II, but are inextricably linked with it and may well be the first stage of this war.
1. Polish 7TR tanks enter the Czech city of Teshin (Cieszyn). October 1938
3. Poles replace the Czech name of the city with the Polish one at the city railway station in Tesin.
4. Polish troops enter Cieszyn
5. Polish soldiers pose with the deposed Czechoslovak coat of arms at the telephone and telegraph building they captured during Operation Zaluzhye in the Czech village of Ligotka Kameralna (Ligotka Kameralna-Polish, Komorní Lhotka-Czech), located near the town of Tesin.
6. Polish tank 7TR from the 3rd armored battalion (tank of the 1st platoon) overcomes the Czechoslovak border fortifications in the area of the Polish-Czechoslovak border. The 3rd Armored Battalion had a tactical sign “Silhouette of a bison in a circle”, which was applied to the tank turret. But in August 1939, all tactical signs on the towers were painted over, as if they were unmasking.
7. Handshake of Polish Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigła and German attaché Colonel Bogislaw von Studnitz at the Independence Day parade in Warsaw on November 11, 1938. The photograph is notable because the Polish parade was particularly linked to the capture of Cieszyn Selesia a month earlier.
8. An armored unit of Polish troops occupies the Czech village of Jorgov during the operation to annex the Czechoslovak lands of Spis. In the foreground is a Polish TK-3 wedge.
9. Polish troops occupy the Czech village of Jorgov during the operation to annex the Czechoslovak lands of Spis.
The future fate of these territories is interesting. After the collapse of Poland, Orava and Spis were transferred to Slovakia. After the end of World War II, the lands were again occupied by the Poles, the government of Czechoslovakia was forced to agree to this. To celebrate, the Poles carried out ethnic cleansing against ethnic Slovaks and Germans. In 1958 the territories were returned to Czechoslovakia. Now they are part of Slovakia. - approx. b0gus
10. Polish soldiers at a captured Czech checkpoint near the Czechoslovak-German border, near the pedestrian bridge built in honor of the anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph in the Czech town of Bohumin. The not yet demolished Czechoslovakian border pillar is visible.
11. Polish troops occupy the Czech town of Karvin during Operation Zaluzhye. The Polish part of the population greets the troops with flowers. October 1938.
The Czechoslovak city of Karvin was the center of heavy industry in Czechoslovakia, coke production, and one of the most important centers of coal mining in the Ostrava-Karvin coal basin. Thanks to Operation Zaluzhye carried out by the Poles, former Czechoslovak enterprises already at the end of 1938 provided Poland with almost 41% of the iron smelted in Poland and almost 47% of the steel.
12. Bunker of the Czechoslovak fortification line in the Sudetes (“Beneš Line”).
13. Sudeten Germans break down a Czechoslovak border post during the German occupation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in late September-early October 1938.
14. German troops enter the Czech city of As (on the border with Germany in the Sudetenland, the westernmost city of the Czech Republic). Local Germans, who made up the majority of the region's population at the time, joyfully welcomed unification with Germany.
15. Commander-in-Chief of the German Ground Forces, Colonel General Walter von Brauchitsch welcomes German tank units (PzKw I tanks) at the parade in honor of the annexation of the Czech Sudetenland to Germany. Appointed to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces with the rank of Colonel General shortly before the operation to annex the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany, Walter von Brauchitsch was one of the organizers of this operation
16. Column of Czechoslovak tanks LT vz. 35 before shipping to Germany. In the foreground is a tank with registration number 13.917, which entered service with the Czechoslovak Army in 1937. Was assigned to PUV-1 (PUV - Pluk Utocne Vozby - literally: regiment of assault vehicles). In 1942, it was converted by the Germans into an artillery tractor (Mörserzugmittel 35(t).
17. Units of the Polish 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment of the 10th Mechanized Brigade are preparing for a ceremonial parade in front of the regiment commander to mark the end of Operation Zaluzhye (occupation of Czechoslovak territories).
18. Handshake of Polish Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigła and German attache Major General Bogislaw von Studnitz at the Independence Day parade in Warsaw on November 11, 1938. The photograph is notable because the Polish parade was particularly linked to the capture of Cieszyn Selesia a month earlier. A column of Cieszyn Poles specially marched at the parade, and in Germany the day before, from November 9 to 10, 1938, the so-called “Crystal Night” took place, the first mass act of direct physical violence against Jews on the territory of the Third Reich.
19. Soldiers of the Czechoslovak border detachment “State Defense Units” (Stráž obrany státu, SOS) from battalion No. 24 (New Castles, Nitra) on the Maria Valeria Bridge over the Danube in Parkano (present-day Šturovo) in southern Slovakia are preparing to repel Hungarian aggression.
20. Funeral of the Carpathian Sich members and soldiers of the Czechoslovak troops who died in battle with the Hungarian troops that invaded Czechoslovakia.
21. Italian-made Fiat Ansaldo CV-35 wedges of the Hungarian occupation forces enter the streets of the Czechoslovak city of Khust.
After Slovakia declared its independence on March 14, 1939 under pressure from Hitler and Czechoslovakia disintegrated, Hungary received permission from Germany to occupy part of Slovakia - Subcarpathian Ruthenia. On March 15, the Prime Minister of Subcarpathian Ruthenia, Augustin Voloshin, declared the independence of Carpathian Ukraine, which was not recognized by other states. On March 16, 1939, Hungarian troops launched an assault on Khust, which included the 24th Hungarian Border Guard Battalion and the 12th Scooter Battalion, and captured the city.
22. Hungarian Italian-made Fiat Ansaldo CV-35 wedges and soldiers on the street of the captured Czechoslovak city of Khust in Carpathian Ukraine. In the background is the headquarters building of the “Karpatska Sich” with traces of battles.
23. Civilians greet Hungarian soldiers with flowers in an occupied Slovak village in southern Slovakia (Slovak name - Horná zem, Hungarian - Felvidék) with a significant Hungarian population
24. Fraternization of soldiers of the Hungarian and Polish occupation forces in occupied Czechoslovakia.
25. Ruler (regent) of the Kingdom of Hungary, Admiral Miklos Horthy (on a white horse) at the head of a parade of Hungarian troops in the occupied Czechoslovak city of Kosice (in Hungarian Kassa) after its occupation on November 2, 1938.
26. German officers at the Czechoslovak-German border observe the capture of the city of Bohumin by Polish troops. Germans stand on a pedestrian bridge built in honor of the anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph.
March 15 marks 70 years since the Nazi occupation of Prague and the disappearance of the Czech Republic from the map of Europe, which became the prologue to the beginning of World War II. For many, it is a mystery how the powerful Czechoslovak army did not resist the aggressors. But the answer lies in politics. Chekhov was “surrendered” to Hitler by the Western democracies - England and France, and this fact is considered the greatest disgrace in the history of diplomacy. And then only the USSR came out in defense of the Czechs.
The occupation of Prague on March 15, 1939 marked the end of the chain of events in 1938-1939. It began on September 29-30, 1938, when fascist Italy, as well as Great Britain and France, agreed with Germany’s demand to secede from the 14 million-strong Czechoslovakia a third of its territory, populated mainly by Germans. The West, in the form of an ultimatum, demanded that the Czechs come to terms with the loss. President Edvard Benes yielded to pressure from the Western allies and soon left office, emigrating to London. The only country that protested about this was the USSR.
This event went down in history as the “Munich Agreement.” Over time, it came to be considered the greatest disgrace in the history of diplomacy. Western democracies (especially France, which had a mutual assistance treaty with Czechoslovakia) handed over their ally to the Nazis. Hungary and Poland also took part in the annexation of a number of lands from Czechoslovakia. The country lost a third of its territory and population, 40 percent of its industrial potential and powerful military fortifications. Its new boundaries were virtually bare.
On February 28, 1939, Germany refused to guarantee the inviolability of the Czech borders. On March 14, at the behest of Hitler, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus (present-day Transcarpathia) declared independence. On the same day, the Wehrmacht began the occupation of the Czech Republic, and on March 15, German units entered Prague. Czechoslovak troops were ordered not to resist. On March 16, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was created on the territory of the Czech Republic, which was actually controlled from Berlin. Six years of Nazi occupation began, and the existence of the Czechs as a nation was under threat.
Did Prague have any defensive capabilities? Regarding “military-technical” – they were. It is no coincidence that most of the generals, including the former commander of the Siberian Army Kolchak Radola Gaida, advocated a decisive rebuff to the invaders.
Czechoslovak fortifications in the Sudetes, according to military experts, made it possible not only to delay the German offensive, but also to “drive it into the ground.” Czechoslovakian aviation was equipped with some of the best fighters in the world - the French Devoitins, which, as experience in battles in Spain showed, were superior to the German Messerschmitts in flight performance. Gaining air supremacy would be a big problem for the Germans.
The Czechoslovak tank Pt-38 could claim to be the best in the world. German armored vehicles were then, in fact, still in their infancy. Against several hundred modern Pt-38 and Pt-35, the Germans could only field machine-gun “tanks” T-1 and weak T-2, whose 20-mm cannon was unable to penetrate the armor of their Czechoslovak opponents. And the 60 T-3 units in service with the Germans, capable of competing with them, were too few to turn the tide.
In any case, the high combat effectiveness of Czech tanks is proven by the fact that almost a quarter of the German tank forces that participated in the attack on the USSR were equipped with Czech vehicles. By the way, the famous “Tigers” and “Panthers” were made in the Czech Republic.
Foreign historians believe that the Czechs had one of the strongest armies in the world. Documents from the German archives indicate that Hitler’s generals did not allow the Fuhrer to support the attempts to revolt by the Sudeten Germans on the eve of the Munich Agreement, and the Czechs suppressed them in a few hours. To prevent a suicidal war, the German military had to shoot Hitler immediately after returning from Munich.
At the same time, Czechoslovakia's position was vulnerable. After Austria joined Germany in 1938, the country was surrounded on three sides by German territory. The human resources at Hitler's disposal were seven times greater than those of the Czech Republic. Hungary and Poland were not a reliable rear. Slovakia and Transcarpathia headed for secession. On the territory of the Czech Republic itself there lived three million Germans who were eager to join the Reich. Even after
The rejection of the border territories left hundreds of thousands of Germans there who dreamed of becoming Hitler’s “fifth column”. There was not a single city in the Czech Republic where ethnic Germans did not live.
But, in addition to the military component, there was a political one. The reaction of England, France and the USA to the occupation was sluggish. Only the Soviet Union protested. He was ready to provide military assistance to the Czechs, however, according to the mutual assistance agreements of 1935, he could only do this if France came to the aid of Czechoslovakia. And Paris betrayed its ally. In addition, the USSR and Czechoslovakia did not have a common border, and relations with Poland, through which military cargo could be transited, were strained. And President Benes did not ask for help from the USSR.
The Czech Republic, and Czechoslovakia as a whole, had a chance, but it was given up by politicians - both their own and Western ones. If it had not disappeared from the map of Europe, Hitler's hands would have been tied. And so the road to the beginning of World War II opened. “I brought you peace,” said British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain after the Munich Agreement. But in reality, his actions, as well as the overall policy of appeasing the aggressor, contributed to the outbreak of war. Regardless of whether or not the Czechs should have resisted the aggressors.
About the most important international events.
In September 1938, Hitler presented Czechoslovakia and its Western allies with a demand to give Germany the Sudetenland, populated mainly by Germans. England and France, not wanting war, did not support the territorial integrity of the Slavic country. Its president, Benes, was afraid of the all-conquering German military machine and, after September 29–30, agreed to Hitler’s demands. This is the standard story that is told on this matter. But there is another one. To get to know it better, you need to look not at words, but at numbers.
Was Czechoslovakia weak?
As you know, World War II was a war of engines, especially tanks. Of course, with skill it was possible to survive in it without having noticeable tank units (Finland), but still this is the exception, not the rule. Therefore, the analysis of combat effectiveness must begin with them.
By September 1938, Prague had 350 tanks armed with 37 mm cannons. There is a fact: the Wehrmacht in October 1938 in this parameter is difficult to distinguish from the Czechoslovak army. Formally, he had as many as 958 cannon tanks. The problem is that 823 of them were Pz.II - tanks armed with 20-mm cannons, with a shell seven times lighter than the Czech 37-mm. The shell of such a gun hit the frontal armor of the Czech Lt. Didn't make 35. On the contrary, the Czech shell penetrated the frontal armor of all German tanks that existed at that time. The Germans also have 59 Pz.III with “Czech” caliber guns and 76 Pz.IV with more powerful 75-mm guns. They, of course, evened the odds: their guns could cope with Czech armor.
KwK 30. Collage © L!FE Photo: © Wikipedia Creative Commons
But there were only a few of them - Germany could field 135 tanks against the Czechs, capable of hitting the Czech ones. The Czechs could field 350 vehicles capable of hitting any German ones. What is especially important: Czech tanks were consolidated into four highly mobile divisions - just like the German ones. While the tanks of France or the USSR in the late 30s were dispersed in brigades. That is, Czechoslovakia had more modern tanks than Germany, and at the same time intelligently organized them into “fists”.
The best assessment of the quality of Czech tanks was that they were actively used in the Panzerwaffe for many years after the capture of Czechoslovakia. Their production at local factories continued for a very long time - some of these vehicles reached Stalingrad, in the ranks of the Wehrmacht, of course. It is interesting that the Germans did not put Soviet, French and other tanks into service in such quantities, preferring Czech ones. Guderian also noted this in “Memoirs of a Soldier”: “I examined the material part of the Czech armored forces, which impressed me with complete suitability. This material served us well during the campaigns in Poland and France.”
The huge advantage of the Czechs was that their army did not have such a colossal gap in normal military development as Germany, shackled by the Versailles restrictions. Because of them, the Germans did not have tanks for a very long time, and their Panzerwaffe was three years old by September 1938. The soldiers and officers of these troops had little experience. In March 1938, during the peaceful march to Austria after the Anschluss, German tank units lost 30 percent of their tanks stranded on the roads due to breakdowns.
Needless to say, machines that would simply be repaired in peacetime would be more difficult to repair in wartime. In addition, marches from Germany to Austria took place along good (even at that time) roads. In Czechoslovakia, the Germans would have to fight, moving off roads, along anti-tank barriers (more about them below). How many tanks would they have lost on the march in such conditions?
The Czechs did well with aviation. Their main aircraft, the B.534 fighter, was as good as, or even superior to, all German fighters except the Bf 109. The Luftwaffe had the latter, but still in small quantities. In addition, most of them, like the best German pilots, were in Spain, where they fought an air war with Soviet aircraft. It was almost impossible to transfer them quickly. The Czechs also had decent bombers, albeit smaller than the Germans.
How the Slavs impressed Hitler
Finally, don’t write off fortifications either. Prague started their construction in the mid-30s and therefore managed to take into account the experience of the French defensive Maginot Line. In total, more than ten thousand pillboxes and more than a thousand forts were built, distributed in the most tank-accessible directions. They were present both on the side of the border with Germany and on the Austrian border. Pillboxes and forts withstood direct hits from shells up to 152–155 millimeters. From the frontal projections they were covered by piling up boulders, on which they also poured earth. An ordinary shell detonated on them even before contact with reinforced concrete.
Embrasures were only on the flanks of heavy structures. They shot through the space in front of the neighboring fortification, but were out of line of sight of the enemy. To shoot at them, the Germans would have to bring infantry and tanks between two fires - exposing themselves to cannons and machine guns from both flanks at once. Most light pillboxes were armed with a pair of machine guns. The forts also had cannons.
All of them had not only communication systems, armor plates for mechanized closing of embrasures, but also diesel generators, sewage systems and other life support systems. Including air filters, with the help of which it was possible to protect garrisons from chemical attacks.
The Czechs also came up with a number of their own - unique - innovations in the field of defense. One of them was the Czech anti-tank hedgehog - or "Czech hedgehog", as it is called in a number of European languages. They are widely known to our readers as a symbol of Soviet anti-tank defense, but the USSR only borrowed this invention. At first these were concrete structures in the shape of anti-tank hedgehogs, and then their more effective and cheaper metal versions. Running over them, the tank practically lost contact of the tracks with the ground, and the thin lower armor (in 1938 - no thicker than 10 millimeters) was often pierced by a rail or concrete part of the hedgehog. It was useless to fire at them: even having jumped from a close explosion, the hedgehog simply rolled, remaining a formidable obstacle. Tanks learned to overcome them normally only starting with large and massive structures - such as the German "Panthers" or "Tigers" of 1943. Even during post-war tests against Soviet ISs, the Czech military noted: in 60 percent of cases, heavy tanks could not overcome hedgehogs.
In 1938–1939 there were no traces of any “Tigers” or “ISs”. That is why a metal hedgehog - that is, most Czech hedgehogs - was an extremely difficult anti-tank obstacle to overcome, which had to be removed under enemy fire. Barbed wire, pillboxes, and even anti-tank guns were placed near the hedgehogs in the Czech defense lines. In addition, the Czech industry was very powerful - and not only the arms industry, which, by the way, then exported more weapons than the German industry. It was not difficult to rivet more rail scraps.
Albert Speer
The future minister of armaments of the Third Reich, Albert Speer, summed up well the Germans’ feelings about these fortifications: “The Czech defensive fortifications caused general surprise. To the amazement of specialists, test firing at them showed that our weapons, which were supposed to be used against them, were not effective enough. Hitler himself went to the former border to form his own opinion about the underground structures, and they made a strong impression on him. The fortifications are amazingly massive, extremely skillfully designed and, excellently taking into account the features of the landscape, deepened into several tiers in the mountains: “With a strong defense it would be very it is difficult to master them; it would cost us a lot of blood. And now we got it without spilling a drop. But one thing is clear: I will never allow the Czechs to build a new defensive line."
Yes, Hitler was right. A huge advantage of the Czechs was their special “anti-tank” terrain, in which their positions were at heights, and the enemy had to advance towards them in open areas. But this happened not only at the forefront, but also in the depths of the country. Let us remember: even the Soviet army experienced enormous problems with the offensive on Czechoslovak territory and captured Prague well after Berlin. This is because forested mountains are difficult terrain, and the roads in the narrow valleys between them are easy to defend. If, of course, there is someone.
What did the Czechs have with manpower? Here, at first glance, everything is bad. In terms of population, Czechoslovakia was like three Finlands, that is, it was many times inferior to Germany. However, the total number of manpower available for mobilization was two million people. Even a one-time mobilization without additional recruitment yielded 972 thousand - one and a half times less than what the Wehrmacht could deploy in this direction. And the Czechs also had an almost inexhaustible reserve... of Red Army soldiers.
Red Helping Hand
Since the spring of 1938, the USSR has offered assistance to the Czechs - both manpower and air units. And not only help: in diplomatic correspondence he openly threatened potential opponents of Czechoslovakia. When it became known that Poland intended, together with Germany, to seize the Cieszyn region from Prague, the Polish government was warned on September 23. It was brought to his attention that in case of an invasion of Czechoslovakia, the USSR would consider it an act of aggression and would denounce the non-aggression pact with Poland without further warning. After this, Warsaw could at any moment receive what happened to it after the real denunciation: a sudden attack by the Red Army from the east.
The USSR made no secret of the fact that it was ready to help the Czechs with troops, even if the Poles were against it. When the British press asked the Soviet ambassador in London how Soviet soldiers would get into Czechoslovakia without a common border, he replied: “If there is a will, a way will be found.” Taking into account the threats to Poland, this path is quite easy to imagine.
Kliment Voroshilov
The documents of the Soviet People's Commissariat of Defense indicate that on September 28, the Chief of the General Staff, Shapochnikov, prohibited the transfer of conscripts to the reserve in the western military districts. This actually meant pre-war readiness. The USSR moved dozens of divisions to the borders. In the event of the outbreak of war, the head of the People's Commissariat of Defense Voroshilov noted in those days, the Red Army is ready to send four air brigades consisting of 548 combat aircraft to Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak government was immediately informed about this. However, it did not accept any help, which is why all Soviet readiness was in vain.
Why did the Czechs surrender without a fight?
All this is puzzling. There were more than ten thousand Czech pillboxes and forts, and on the Mannerheim Line, for example, there were only a few hundred of them. Their quality was also good - it impressed even Hitler, who usually treated the Slavs with contempt. Czech tanks were clearly superior to German ones, aviation was comparable in number, and taking into account Soviet military assistance, it was no less numerous. The excellent artillery of the Skoda is also familiar to our army - the Wehrmacht fired at us from it. The USSR also tried the small arms of the Czechs on its own skin. The SS troops preferred the Czech ZB-26 machine guns to the German MGs for their high combat qualities and fought with them. Why did the Czechs not dare to fight, surrendering to German demands?
The most correct answer to this question is: why did they have to resist at all? Let us remember that Russia gained its independence and sovereignty through war and need. Czechoslovakia received its statehood from the Allies after World War I on a silver platter. Before that, the Czechs did not have statehood for many centuries. And all these centuries they were subordinate to the Germans: first as part of the Holy Roman Empire, and then as part of the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian empires. If the Hungarians fought a bloody war for independence and won a place in the elite of the empire, the Czechs could not do anything like that. All these centuries they were not so much an ethnos as an ethnic substrate - next to the Germans who were actively absorbing this substrate. The key aristocratic names of the Czechs were Germanized (they, as a rule, could not even speak Czech fluently).
The Germanization of the Czechs was so obvious that even the SS leaders who were planning the “Final Solution of the Czech Question” proposed not to destroy them (like the same Russians), but simply to resettle them. Or simply rename them Germans, as Heydrich suggested.
The German military, in contrast to the SS men, found Czech complaisance alternately funny and disgusting. The head of the eastern department of the German High Command, Major Kinzel, perhaps expressed it best:
“Question: German official reports always said that, except for the snowfall, nothing hindered the victorious advance of the German troops. Therefore, the snowfall was the only enemy?
Answer: that's correct. Communiqués always sound a little funny. But even funnier was what our military attache in Czechoslovakia told us before the occupation of Prague. I emphasize that the day before the occupation of Prague, our military attaché made the following report to us here: “All our provocations are in vain, since the Czechs simply do not allow themselves to be provoked. When we send our people into the streets to shout “Heil Hitler,” the Czechs shout with them. When we force our people to shout “Down with the Republic!”, the Czechs shout with them, and when we tell our people that they should sing “Horst Wessel” in the streets, then the Czechs sing with them. With all our desire, we cannot Such behavior of the Czechs could provoke not the slightest incident." ...they gave us all their weapons... we received wonderful heavy artillery. And aviation is not bad. At first we couldn’t even believe ourselves that not a single cannon or machine gun was disabled. Not a single ammunition depot was blown up, not a single tank was emptied - everything was handed over in perfect order. ...At the same time, only one or two officers refused to give us a hand. Everyone else was crawling on their bellies. It’s just disgusting to have opponents like that.”
It cannot be said that this was only a Czech misfortune: the Lusatians and other Slavs are so Germanized today that they are difficult to distinguish from the Germans themselves. The only bad thing about this situation was that for some reason a people with such an undeveloped sense of nationality was given sovereignty that they did not really need. What is gained without a fight is often not appreciated. September 1938 is an excellent example of this. The main reason for the Czech capitulation was not the Munich Agreement. This reason was their reluctance to do anything for the sake of their independence.
A world war is a tornado crawling across the globe and sucking into itself countries, continents, the well-being of ordinary people and their lives...
Historians are always curious about the question: “Where was the starting point?” Unfortunately, there is never an exact answer to this question. Sooner or later, a certain opinion becomes primary and is included as a zero coordinate in encyclopedias and textbooks.
The lack of accurate knowledge gives rise to endless disputes and discussions. The consequence of ignorance is walking in the same rake...
The Second World War in this sense was no exception to the rule. The debate about its beginning and causes is still ongoing and the fate of this controversy is never to be stopped.
For example, Wikipedia honestly declares the date of the German invasion of Poland (09/1/1939) as the starting point of the Second World War. However, there are many historians who will link the beginning of this world disaster to 09/18/1931. It was on that day that Japan attacked Manchuria, and a whirlwind swept across the planet...
There will certainly be experts on the issue who argue that the beginning of World War II should be tied to 09/30/1938. It was on this day in Munich that the treaty was signed by Hitler, Deladier, Chamberlain and Mussolini, marking the beginning of the annexation of Czechoslovakia.
There are many opinions and dates. However, do not forget that each date has its own history and for each date there is a very important question: “Why?”
The main topic of my site is “Excursions around Prague and the Czech Republic” and, therefore, now the priority is to talk about the Czech Republic. Since the topic of Munich and Czechoslovakia flashes in the context of discussions about the Second World War, I will start with this.
So. On September 29, 1938, the so-called “Munich Agreement” was drawn up and signed the next day." This event has its own history...
In thatThe moment when all sorts of agreements were signed regarding the dismemberment of the empires of the losers in the First World War, Czechoslovakia arose, which included, among other things, Czech Silesia and the Sudetenland. The former Austrian duchy and part of German Austria, densely populated by the German population, were transferred under the jurisdiction of Czechoslovakia by the Treaty of Saint-Germain. Attempts by local Germans to shake up their rights and talk about national identity ended with the introduction of troops of the young Czechoslovak Republic into these territories and the rapid restoration of order. Among the silent Germans, the idea of uniting and starting to be friends against the Czechs began to gain momentum. The social movement that emerged on this wave transformed into the Sudeten-German Party, which:
– in the parliamentary elections in May 1935 received 68% of the vote and became the second most influential in Czechoslovakia
- began to take steps to reunite the Sudeten Germans with the Germans.
Thus, a powerful “fifth column” of the Third Reich was formed on the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic. The leader of the Czech Germans, Konrad Henlein, who initially demanded autonomy from the Czechoslovak government following the example of Switzerland, after a meeting with Hitler in March 1938, headed for unification with the German National Socialists and the inclusion of the Sudetenland into Germany.
The Czechs, seeing where the political vector is heading, again send troops to the Sudetenland and build fortifications and bunkers there. In Europe, an opinion is forming that a military conflict is about to break out, which could easily spread to neighboring countries, and subsequently lead to the start of another massacre. The Prime Ministers of England and France, Chamberlain and Deladier, on the one hand, and Duce Mussolini and the Fuhrer Hitler, on the other, negotiated, each trying to extract the maximum benefit from the situation. The result of the negotiations was the very “Munich Agreement”, the signing of which the Czechs were not allowed to sign at all. As a result, the Sudetenland went to the Third Reich, and Chamberlain and Deladier considered that the conflict was over and war would not happen.
An interesting question: why did Hitler need the Sudetenland?
Don’t think that the gop company from Berlin only wanted to restore the notorious historical justice...
The Hitlers needed the powerful industrial potential of the Sudetenland... Plants, factories and the subsoil of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia, by the way, at the end of the 30s was one of the most developed industrial countries in Europe.
As a result of all the political attacks, militaristic Germany gained powerful production capabilities!
Czechoslovakia's industrial potential was not Germany's only interest in its neighbors.
England is enemy No. 1 on the European continent for Nazi Germany. However, starting to fight with her, having at hand unfriendly Czechs who produce small arms, tanks, airplanes and also have a fairly powerful army, was stupid and short-sighted. Annexation of the Sudetenland was the first move in this chess game.
And the next move was to “break away” from Czechoslovakia to Slovakia. The Germans also carried out work in this direction ahead of time...
Having started a unification campaign during the First World War, the Slovaks and the Czechs agreed on parity federalization, which by 1938, however, had not materialized. What happens between partners when the “strong” (Czech Republic) cheats the “weak” (Slovakia)? The “weak” one has the Party of the Dissatisfied, which begins to look for a new company for the country with a strong leader.
Logical? Yes. New? No. It always works...
At the end of the scenario, which played out like clockwork, Slovakia separated from Czechoslovakia and the territory of the latter was reduced by almost 40%.
As a result of the Anschluss of Austria (March 1938), Germans also found themselves on the southern Czechoslovak borders. By the way, the Czechs either did not have any border fortifications or were present completely symbolically.
In the wake of negative events for the Czechoslovak political elite, President Benes, pushed in the back by Berlin, was forced to go into so-called exile... And in his place was a certain Emil Haha.
With the last couple of moves in this chess game, Czechoslovakia was checkmated. And on March 15, 1939, the German protectorate “Bohemia and Moravia” appeared on the ruins of this state.
Then the second series of adventures begins, now of the former Czechoslovak state, and this series is built according to a completely different scenario. Although, by the way, this scenario is not original either, but just played out once again...
Hitler at this moment was globally fascinated by the hunt for the free city of Danzig, which should become a reliable bridge between Germany and Prussia. His main interests are now concentrated on Poland. And in the territory remaining from the former Czechoslovakia, new orders are being established.
For their successful implementation, the figure of the Reich Protector appears above the figure of the president. The first to hold this position was Konstantin von Neurath, who was the Reich Protector of Foreign Affairs of Germany from 1932 to 1938.
The population of the protectorate is mobilized to work for the victory of the Reich, and special departments are created for control and organization. Germany does not need social explosions. She needs fruitful work from the Czechs in coal mines, in the metallurgical industry and in all other industries that strengthen the power of the Third Reich. Jews, gypsies and intellectuals are, of course, superfluous. They are isolated and destroyed. And with all the others, thoughtful and purposeful work is being done.
The Germans acted not only cruelly, but also competently. In the protectorate, unemployment significantly decreased, salaries were paid and social incentives were provided. packages. As a result, at first there were no powerful disturbances in the country.
In the summer of 1939, armed formations of the protectorate were established. To begin with, infantry, mounted squadrons and bicycle units. Their task (primarily) is to protect military facilities, communications, carry out engineering and rescue work, and assist the police. The total number of Czech employees at that time was about 8,000 people.
In May 1942, the “Supervisorship for the Education of the Youth of Moravia and Bohemia” was established. They were brought up there in accordance with the general ideas of National Socialism. Some of those “educated” subsequently ended up, for example, in SS special forces units, while others moved up the career ladder differently.
From young Czechs who underwent selective brainwashing, for example, a volunteer cavalry division and a volunteer SS company “St. Wenceslas” were formed...
Of course, there were Czechs who sought to break out of the territories controlled by the Reich, and from them the “Czechoslovak Legion”, Czechoslovak air units, a Czechoslovak division, artillery regiments, anti-tank batteries and much more were subsequently formed.
11/17/1939 The Czechoslovak National Committee, led by former President Benes, was recognized by the allies as the legitimate government of Czechoslovakia in exile.
Some of the Czechs forged the victory of the Reich in the rear, turning the handle of a machine or putting a bobbin on a spindle, some walked in the line of SS men, some flew on French planes and killed German aces, some partisans in the forests and blew up German convoys , and some fought shoulder to shoulder with the Russians as part of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
I am not at all going to talk in detail about all the events of that time, but I just want to show that on the territory of the former Czechoslovakia events developed, plus or minus, in the same way as they developed in all territories that came under the jurisdiction of Germany.
The Czech Republic, in a sense, is luckier than many other countries. Being part of the Reich, its territory was not subject to massive German air raids, accompanied by inevitable destruction.
The Germans did not bomb because it was “their own,” and the Allies did not bomb because the Czech Republic was not considered a pro-Nazi state. Perhaps, at the end of the war, areas and cities in which industrial facilities were concentrated, supplying the German army with their products, were bombed.
Bombs also rained down on Prague from time to time, however, compared, for example, with Dresden, it escaped with only a slight fright, surviving only one powerful bombing on February 14, 1945. Then the areas of Visegrad, Radlitz, Nuslej, Vinograd, Vršovice and Pankrac were affected. More than a hundred buildings were destroyed, 701 people were killed and 1,184 were injured. That night, almost 160 tons of bombs fell on Prague...
In 1944, several air raids on Prague targeted factories located in the Vysočany area.
During the May battles from 5th to 9th 1945, the airport, its surrounding areas, Vinohrady and slightly the historical center were seriously damaged. However, Prague was lucky to avoid total destruction.
I repeat, in my story about the Second World War and the Czech Republic, I deliberately do not concentrate on local events and names. My task is to briefly show the overall picture of what was happening in the Czech Republic at that time.
So, in the Czech Republic at that time there were those loyal to the fascist regime and there was anti-fascist resistance. Everything was.
Everyone knows how the Second World War ended. Germany lost the war.
On May 16, 1945, E. Beneš returned to Prague with the so-called “Beneš decrees” and, in accordance with this program, the restoration period began. But that is another story.
In conclusion of my essay about the Second World War and the Czech Republic, I would like to inform you that the Czechs celebrate the day of its end on the 8th, not the 9th of May. Many people don't know why this is so. And before I put the finishing touches, I’ll reveal this “open secret.”
In total, 2 acts of surrender of Nazi Germany were signed.
The first one was in Reims on 05/07/1945 at 02:40 local time. Stalin was not satisfied with this act and demanded that Zhukov accept general surrender from all types of armed forces of the Third Reich.
On 05/08/1945 in Berlin at 23:43 (also local time) another act of surrender was signed. At the same time, celebrations on this occasion began in many European cities.
And in Moscow at that moment it was already 00:43 9.05.1945 .
And finally, on September 2, 1945, Japan officially surrendered. This September day is considered the day the Second World War ended.
It is impossible to satisfy full interest in the topic being described with a small note on the site. As soon as during a tour of Prague someone becomes genuinely interested in its details, I promise a fascinating conversation for at least two hours.
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