Teacher | Student
Originally produced in: Deutschland
Also available in: en

Contents

  1. Map: Areas in the Czechoslovakian state founded in 1918 where the German-speaking parts of the population were a majority. [PNG Image]
  2. Minutes on a conversation between Hitler and Konrad Henlein. The Sudetenland welcomes the Führer. [JPG Image and Text]
  3. Speech of the “deputy Reichsprotketor” Reinhard Heydrich. Czech workers in a rolling mill of the Siemens works. [JPG Image and Text]
  4. German-Czech declaration on mutual relations and their future development, 21.1.1997. [Text]

Curricular level

Bavaria, Realschule, Class 9: Totalitarian rule, Second World War and the Consequences. Deutschland

Bavaria, Gymnasium, Class 9

  • National Socialism and Second World War
  • Blocking, German Separation and East-West Conflict up to the 1960s

Abstract

After the First World War, the Czechoslovak state in which the Germans formed only a minority was founded. The relationship between Germans and Czechs remained difficult as a result of the founding of the state. In 1938, the Sudetenland was annexed to the German Reich; on 30.9.1938, the NS regime occupied the remainder of Czechia (“Rest-Tschechei”) as well. All Czech resistance was fought against uncompromisingly by imprisonment, detention in concentration camps, death sentences and retaliatory measures. Resulting from the war, during the six-year NS reign in Czechia, there also was ruthless exploitation of Czech workers. After the war, the displacement of Germans from Czechoslovakia followed. This controversial topic strains the German-Czech relations up to the present. Only under the umbrella of the European Union, reconciliation gradually succeeds.

After the First World War, the Czechoslovakian state was founded against the declared intention of the population of German origin in Bohemia, Moravia and Moravian Silesia. The multinational state of the Hapsburg monarchy ruled by the Austrian Hapsburgs ceased to exist. In the new state dominated by the Czechs, the Germans, who had resided at its boarders for centuries, formed a minority. Annexation to Austria or the German Reich failed. The relationship between Germans and Czechs developed difficultly. Many Germans, instigated by national socialist parties, held on to the aim of annexation. With the Munich Agreement on 30.09.1938, the Sudetenland was annexed to the German Reich. On 15.03.1939, Slovakia became an independent state and the remainder of Czechoslovakia (“Rest-Tschechoslovakei”) was occupied by the German Wehrmacht. All Czech resistance was fought against uncompromisingly by imprisonment, detention in concentration camps, death sentences and retaliatory measures. Resulting from the war, during the six-year NS reign in Czechoslovakia, there also was ruthless exploitation of Czech workers. More than 600.000 were also employed in Germany as forced workers in the armament industry. After the war, there was violent encroachment on Sudeten Germans as well as detention, expropriation and displacement of about 2.9 million people from Czechoslovakia. This controversial topic strains the German-Czech relations up to the present. Today, both sides are zealous to achieve sincere reconciliation under the umbrella of the European Union.

Conceptual Objectives

  • The students should understand which sorrow the NS terror regime brought upon the Czechs.
  • The students should be able to understand why Germans were expelled from Sudetenland.
  • The students should be able to understand how difficult reconciliation between the Czechs and the Germans is, given the historical events.
  • The students should be able to understand which contribution to a reconciliation Europe/the EU is able to accomplish.

Methodological Objectives and Skills

  • Analyzing, interpreting and comparing of pictures
  • Analyzing, interpreting and comparing of historical textual sources
  • Analyzing, interpreting and comparing of historical maps

Suggestion of Activities

Map analysis: As an introduction, the students should analyze a map of Czechoslovakia founded in 1918 and connect their results to their previous knowledge from earlier history lessons.

Textual/image Interpretation: The students should integrate historical photographs and minutes of speeches from the years 1938, 1941 and 1943 in their historical context and relate their significance.

Textual interpretation: The students should be able to interpret a German-Czech declaration from 1997 from the aspect of reconciliation.

Suggestion of Evaluation

To assess the knowledge of the students, it is recommendable to be guided by the following questions:

  • Are the students able to recognize the different perspectives of Sudeten Germans and Czechs and relate to a common historical context?
  • Are the students able to integrate the events from the founding of the Czechoslovakian state in 1918 to the annexation of Sudetenland in 1938 in their correlation and chronological sequence?
  • Are the students able to relate the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the NS regime and resulting consequences?
  • Are the students able to understand how difficult reconciliation between Czechs and Germans is, given the historical events?
  • Are the students able to understand which role a joint Europe plays for the process of reconciliation?