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Sudetenland
Sudetenland A term in use particularly after 1938 for the north-west frontier region of the Czech lands (Bohemia) which had become an area of German settlement over the course of centuries. In response to the rise of nationalism among both its German and Czech population, mutual antagonism arose, whipped up by the spread of cultural and linguistic associations. In 1919, it became part of Czechoslovakia under the terms of the Paris Peace Conference. This incited vociferous German protests, and led to sporadic violence between Germans and Czechs. In the June 1919 local elections, over 90 per cent of the German vote went to German ethnic parties. Many among the German-speaking population were mollified by the new country's liberal treatment of national minorities, and the relative financial prosperity of the new state, in marked contrast with the economic and political helter-skelter of Weimar Germany or Austria. However, the effects of the Great Depression, which hit its industries particularly hard, and the growth of the German Nazi movement both encouraged a revival of German nationalism. In May 1935, the Fascist Sudeten German Party (SDP) led by Konrad Henlein gained 63 per cent of the Sudeten German vote. The SdP subsequently exaggerated its demands so as to make them unacceptable to the Czech population, and this provided the background for Hitler's annexation of the area and the Munich Agreement.
After Germany's defeat in 1945, Czechoslovakia took possession of the area again. On 21 June 1945, the new government issued the Benes Decrees, according to which all Sudeten Germans were expropriated as collaborators. This document, whose implication of a collective guilt of all Sudenten Germans was never accepted by the latter, formed a crucial pillar of Czech identity. It surfaced to the political agenda in 2001, when it was used by the Czech Prime Minister, Zeman, to whip up nationalist fervour ahead of the 2002 general elections. In return, the Benes decrees were similarly invoked for populist purposes by Jörg Haider of Austria. |
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JAN PALMOWSKI. "Sudetenland." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAN PALMOWSKI. "Sudetenland." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-Sudetenland.html JAN PALMOWSKI. "Sudetenland." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-Sudetenland.html |
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Sudetenland
Sudetenland, originally the mountainous rim of Czechoslovakia's north-eastern Bohemia and northern Moravia that contained an overwhelmingly German population. Its broader definition encompasses all the German-inhabited regions of the Czechoslovakia contiguous to Austria and Germany.
The Versailles settlement put the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The ethnic composition of Bohemia and Moravia made the Sudetenland a highly contentious issue as, in these provinces, roughly 3 million Germans lived in the mountainous perimeter while the Czechs dominated the heartland. Czechoslovakia won control of the Sudetenland for historic and economic reasons, but at the cost of self-determination for its people. Although Czech policy towards its German population was relatively benign, the Sudeten Germans, led by Konrad Henlein, turned in the mid-1930s to Nazi Germany for support and by 1938 the future of Sudetenland had precipitated a major crisis between Czechoslovakia and Germany. Wishing to avoid a major European war, Britain, France, Italy, and Germany forced Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Germany in the Munich agreement. At the end of the Second World War, Czechoslovakia regained the Sudetenland and expelled its German population on the basis of Allied agreements reached at the Potsdam conference of July– August 1945 (see TERMINAL). Paul Latawski Bibliography Bruegal, J. W. , Czechoslovakia before Munich: The German Minority Problem and British Appeasement Policy (Cambridge, 1973). |
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I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Sudetenland." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Sudetenland." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-Sudetenland.html I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Sudetenland." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-Sudetenland.html |
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Sudetenland
Sudetenland, Czech Republic A part of Bohemia and named after the Sudeten mountain ranges (in Czech, Sudety). The region's name might possibly be translated as ‘Southlands’ from the German Süd ‘south’. Although largely populated by Germans, it had never been part of Germany before 1938. Formerly belonging to the Austro‐Hungarian Empire, in 1919 it was incorporated into the new state of Czechoslovakia. Following agitation by Adolf Hitler† in 1938, the Sudetenland was transferred to Germany. It was returned to Czechoslovakia in 1945 and the German population expelled.
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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Sudetenland." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Sudetenland." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Sudetenland.html JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Sudetenland." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Sudetenland.html |
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Sudetenland
Sudetenland An area of Bohemia in the Czech Republic adjacent to the German border, allocated to the new state of Czechoslovakia after World War I despite the presence of three million German-speaking inhabitants. The Sudetenland became the first object of German expansionist policies when the Nazis came to power; after war was threatened, it was ceded to Germany as a result of the Munich Agreement of September 1938. In 1945 the area was returned to Czechoslovakia, and the German inhabitants were expelled and replaced by Czechs.
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Cite this article
"Sudetenland." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Sudetenland." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-Sudetenland.html "Sudetenland." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-Sudetenland.html |
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Sudetenland
Sudetenland Border region of n Bohemia (Czech Republic), including part of the Sudeten Mountains. Largely populated by Germans, Nazi-inspired agitation in the 1930s demanded its inclusion in Germany. Britain and France gave approval for its annexation in the Munich Agreement (1938). After World War 2, it was restored to Czechoslovakia, and the German population was expelled.
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Cite this article
"Sudetenland." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Sudetenland." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Sudetenland.html "Sudetenland." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Sudetenland.html |
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Sudetenland
Sudetenland an area in the north-west part of the Czech Republic, on the border with Germany. Allocated to Czechoslovakia after the First World War, it became an object of Nazi expansionist policies and was ceded to Germany as a result of the Munich Agreement of September 1938.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Sudetenland." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Sudetenland." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Sudetenland.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Sudetenland." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Sudetenland.html |
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Sudetenland
Sudetenland former region, Czechoslovakia: see under Sudetes . |
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"Sudetenland." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Sudetenland." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-E-Sudetenl.html "Sudetenland." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-E-Sudetenl.html |
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Sudetenland
Sudetenland
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•graduand • hatband • armband
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•freehand • millhand • behindhand
•longhand
•beforehand, forehand
•shorthand • gangland • Lapland
•flatland • no-man's-land • Saarland
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•fenland • wetland • Sudetenland
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•confirmand • ordinand • Ferdinand
•Talleyrand • firebrand • Krugerrand
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•Streisand • ampersand
•bandstand, grandstand, handstand
•hatstand • kickstand • inkstand
•washstand • hallstand • news-stand
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"Sudetenland." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Sudetenland." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Sudetenland.html "Sudetenland." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Sudetenland.html |
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