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From the ArchivesCzechoslovakia’s Second Republic: a vain attempt to put the pieces together
The six months leading up to the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia
in March 1939 were a strange period. After Germany, Poland and Hungary had
annexed over a quarter of the country’s territory as a result of the
Munich Agreement in September 1938, it was hard to see how the rump
Czechoslovakia – the so-called “Second Republic” - could keep going.
But Radio Prague’s shortwave broadcasts continued, and not surprisingly
they focused on sustaining the much shaken international confidence in the
country. Here is the famous Czech professor and scholar of English
literature, Otakar Vočadlo, talking in November 1938. More
Czech HistoryIn the footsteps of their father: The journey of Mary and George Jaksch
In 1939, the chairman of the German Social Democratic Workers Party in the
Czechoslovak Republic, Wenzel Jaksch, saw himself forced to escape his
native land after it was invaded by Germany – staying would have put him,
who opposed the growing influence of the Nazis in Sudeten-German politics,
in grave danger. Wenzel Jaksch successfully escaped to London, via the
Beskydy Mountains and Poland. He later shared his amazing story – and
based on his written account, his children, George and Mary Jaksch, have
set out for a pilgrimage in their father’s footsteps, over 70 years
later. More
Czech HistoryWhen Czech mariners sailed the seas
The Czech lands have a long military history to be sure, but for a place
that lacks a sea there is a surprisingly interesting naval history as well.
Episodes of Czech sailors serving in the Austro-Hungarian Navy are the
subject of a series of books by military historian Jindřich Marek called
“Under the Austrian Flag”, “The Emperor’s Sharks” and “The
Pirates of Freedom”. In this week’s Czech History we look at some of
the heroic – and infamous – adventures of Czech mariners around the
time of the First World War. More
Current AffairsNew documentary opens up sensitive chapter in country's post-war history
In the run-up to the 66th anniversary of the end of WWII Czech public
television featured a documentary throwing more light on events that have
received little publicity in the past – the atrocities committed on
German civilians in post-war Czechoslovakia. The subject has been avoided
for years, but film director David Vondráček says Czechs need to hear
about what happened and face up to events they may not be proud of. More
From the ArchivesAfter Munich: Czechoslovakia left to her fate
In recent weeks, I’ve tried to capture something of the tense atmosphere
of the time leading up to the Munich Agreement of September 30 1938, when
the British and French Prime Ministers Chamberlain and Daladier allowed
Hitler to carve up Czechoslovakia and march unopposed into the Sudetenland.
The agreement left the country as a fragment of its former self; not only
Germany, but also Hungary and Poland, claimed large chunks of
Czechoslovakia’s borderlands. Here is how Radio Prague reported on the
final border agreement, reached some weeks after Munich was signed. The
scale of the loss is huge. More
From the ArchivesWarnings of Hitler's ambitions go unheeded
We quite often hear it said that in the run-up to World War Two, no-one
quite realized the scale of the threat that Nazi Germany posed in Europe.
When Hitler set his eyes on Czechoslovakia, there were plenty of
politicians in Western Europe who really seemed to believe him, when he
said that the Czech borderlands, the so-called Sudetenland, were his
“last territorial claim”. But Czech Radio’s archives show only too
clearly, that here in Prague there were also plenty of people who were only
too aware of the worldwide menace that Hitler posed. As Britain and France
pursued their policy of appeasement towards Germany, these were voices
that, tragically, remained unheard. More
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