Czechoslovakia: The Path to Lidice, #1

By Alan Gerrard

The Path to Lidice is a series of ebooks that look into the relationships between Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, and the USA from the mid-1930s to the late 1960s. Roughly, this equates to the accession to supreme power in Germany of Adolf Hitler and ends with the fall of Alexander Dubček, the liberalizing President of Czechoslovakia in 1969. In doing so, the series examines international efforts to build a new Lidice from two main perspectives: the US-inspired Lidice Lives campaign, and its UK counterpart, the Lidice Shall Live movement. 

 

Often overlooked by historians, both are sometimes treated as a distant by-product of Operation Anthropoid - the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. Save the general references, such as "Lidice was rebuilt with the help of British miners..." there has been a dearth of satisfactory material dealing with how the village of Lidice came to be rebuilt, following its destruction at the hands of the Nazis, amongst our bookshelves and in the download sections of libraries.

2022 is the 80th Anniversary of the Lidice Shall Live campaign and Lidice Lives, and we thought we would lay things out for you.   

 

The story starts in Munich and the signing of the agreement which seals the fate of the Czechoslovak nation. In London Chamberlain returns a hero but the euphoria soon corrodes as it soon transpires that Hitler's demands have not abated. Indeed, Nazi Germany was to occupy the whole of Bohemia and Moravia on the 15th March 1939. 

 

By September 1941 Recihprotektor Von Neurath is deemed to be too soft on the Czechs. To his replacement death is vapid and the Czechs are inferior. A more disturbing vision for the future one could not conjure...
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alan Gerrard
• Release date: Nov 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201514587

Book preview

Published by Theartbay Gallery

2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published on behalf of Lidice Lives:

26 Christchurch Street

Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent

Staffordshire

ST4 3AD

© Alan Gerrard

Artwork – Harry Davies

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

DEMOCRACY & DEMANDS

GOD HELP YOUR SOULS

ABANDONMENT

HEYDRICH, CARROTS AND STICKS

WIPING OUT THE STIGMA OF PASSIVITY

OPERATION ANTHROPOID

REPRISALS

LIDICE

THE PATH TO LIDICE – VOLUME 1

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

DEMOCRACY & DEMANDS

Czechoslovakia was officially created on the 28th October 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War. A significant minority of the population were Germans who lived in the Sudetenland, historically rich areas which bordered on Germany and the fledgling Austrian nation. At the beginning of 1938 Czechoslovakia was coming under pressure from Germany. Its western frontiers were surrounded by the new Greater German Reich. Here were the impressive power houses of the Czech states, the factories, the mines. Here too were the fortifications vital for the Czechs' defence capabilities. The Czechs had an efficient, well-equipped army. Yet against the enemy within they had few defences. The three million Germans who lived in the Sudetenland were fed propaganda sponsored by the Third Reich across the border. This was intended to increasingly agitate the feelings of dislike and contempt felt amongst Sudeten Germans towards their Czech rulers. In April 1938, Conrad Henlein, leader of the Nazi inspired and backed German Sudeten Party demanded self-government for the Sudetenland, in a move supported by Hitler.

It was a cruel demand. The Czechs stood to lose not just the Sudeten Germans but their industrial backbone and defensive strength as well. The Czech President, Eduard Beneš, seemed to have the choice of hanging on to the Sudetenland and risking a war with Germany or giving it up and hoping to live in peace. If he decided to NOT relinquish the Sudetenland he could rely on the support of a highly motivated Czech people, palpably angered by the Führer's demands. He would send out mobilization papers to his army and hope to call out Henlein's and Hitler's bluff. Beneš could also appeal for help from France, Czechoslovakia's ally since 1924. But this was a prospect which alarmed the French Government, led by Édouard Daladier. In April, Daladier flew to London to sound out the British reaction to increasing tension over the Sudetenland. He was told by Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain to expect no help from Britain. The Maginot Line was in fact where France's military strategy stopped. The immensely strong and expensive system of fortifications the French had built along the German border had to pay for itself. This was the answer to any future threats from Germany in the west. From the Maginot Line, to Daladier and Chamberlain, the Sudetenland looked an exceptionally long way away.

Hitler pressed harder. On Sunday 12th September 1938, at a Nuremberg mass rally he castigated the Czechoslovakian Government as a rogue state demanding self-determination for the oppressed Sudeten Germans. He also promised to send them military assistance. Taking encouragement from the Führer's words, Henlein encouraged the Sudeten Germans to arm themselves. The situation threatened to embroil Europe in war and Britain with it.

Neville Chamberlain, acting entirely on his own initiative decided to intervene. He flew out