Remembering 86 Years Since Germany’s Historic Invasion of Czechoslovakia
On this day, March 15, in 1939, eighty-six years ago, Adolf Hitler presented Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha with a grim ultimatum: either accept becoming a protectorate of Germany or risk complete annihilation.
After Hácha hesitantly consented to surrender his nation’s autonomy, the German military began its advance. This marked the start of a prolonged and difficult six-year occupation.
On September 30, 1938, renowned leaders, including Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, came together to sign the Munich Pact. This agreement effectively sealed the unfortunate fate of Czechoslovakia, surrendering it to German control in the name of maintaining peace.
Initially, the pact was intended to cede only the Sudetenland to Hitler, the region of Czechoslovakia that housed approximately 3 million ethnic Germans. However, it also provided the Nazi regime access to crucial resources: 66 percent of Czechoslovakia’s coal, 70 percent of its iron and steel, and 70 percent of its electricity. Stripped of these vital materials, the Czech nation found itself defenseless against Germany’s impending domination.
Regardless of the various concessions the Czech government made to appease Hitler—such as disbanding the Communist Party and suspending all Jewish educators from German-majority schools—rumors persisted about the imminent “incorporation of Czechoslovakia into the Reich.”
Indeed, by as early as October 1938, Hitler had signaled his intention to compel the central government of Czechoslovakia to grant Slovakia its independence, thereby making the remaining Czech state “even more completely at our mercy,” as noted by Hermann Goering.
On March 14, 1939, Slovakia proclaimed its self-styled “independence” (which actually meant full dependence on Nazi Germany), as the threat of invasion silenced any debate within the Czech region.
Then, on March 15, 1939, during a tense meeting with Czech President Emil Hácha—a leader viewed as frail and potentially senile—Hitler issued a dire threat of a bombing campaign against Prague unless Hácha granted him unrestricted passage for German troops into Czech territory.
The clock was ticking for the president. The German troops were set to begin their march at 6 a.m. that morning regardless of his decision. Caught completely off guard, President Hácha initially sat in stunned silence, seemingly paralyzed and unable to respond.
Clearly frustrated, Hitler ordered Hácha to an adjacent room for further discussions with Hermann Göring and Joachim von Ribbentrop. The two Nazis wasted no time in confronting the frail president, pressuring him to sign a document of surrender that lay before him on the table.
After gathering his thoughts, Hácha defiantly refused to sign the document. The Nazis pressed him further, even offering him a pen to sign. Again, he declined. It was at this moment that Göring played his trump card, warning the Czech president that if he did not comply, the German Air Force would level half of Prague within just two hours. Upon hearing this threat, the weak president collapsed onto the floor in distress.
The Nazis panicked, fearing they had frightened him to death. They quickly summoned Hitler’s personal physician, Dr. Theodor Morell, who rushed in and administered an injection of vitamins to revive the president. Once Hácha regained his composure, the Nazis handed him a phone, connecting him to his government in Prague.
Speaking into the phone, Hácha reluctantly urged his government to surrender peacefully to the Nazis. After this, he was escorted back into the presence of Hitler.
At exactly 3:55 a.m. on Wednesday, March 15, the Czech president signed the document that stated he had “confidently placed the fate of the Czech people and country in the hands of the Führer of the German Reich.”
Later that same day, Hitler triumphantly declared to the German people, “Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist!” just before he departed for his entry into Prague.
That evening, Hitler made his highly anticipated entrance into the historic city, leading a convoy of ten vehicles.
