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Concept
Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)
Summary
The military occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany began with the German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938, continued with the creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and by the end of 1944 extended to all parts of Czechoslovakia.
Following the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938 and the Munich Agreement in September of that same year, Adolf Hitler annexed the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. The loss of the Sudetenland was detrimental to the defense of Czechoslovakia, as the extensive Czechoslovak border fortifications were also located in the same area. As a consequence, the incorporation of the Sudetenland into Germany that began on 1 October 1938 left the rest of Czechoslovakia weak. Moreover, a small northeastern part of the borderland region known as Trans-Olza was occupied and annexed to Poland, ostensibly to "protect" the local ethnic Polish community and as a result of previous territorial claims. Furthermore, by the First Vienna Award, Hungary received the southern territories of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia, which were largely inhabited by Hungarians.
The Slovak State was proclaimed on 14 March 1939, and Hungary would occupy and annex the remainder of Carpathian Ruthenia the following day. On 15 March, during a visit to Berlin, the Czechoslovak president Emil Hácha was bullied into signing away his country's independence. On 16 March, Hitler proclaimed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from Prague Castle, leaving Hácha as the technical head of state with the title of State President. However, he was rendered all but powerless; real power was vested in the Reichsprotektor, who served as Hitler's personal representative.
In March 1944, Hungary was occupied by Germany as part of Operation Margarethe. Slovakia would share the same fate, following the August 1944 Slovak National Uprising. The occupation ended with the surrender of Germany at the end of World War II. During the German occupation, between 294,000 to 320,000 citizens were murdered (with Jews making up the majority of the casualties).
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