The Rise of the Third Reich

Since the Czechoslovak crisis occurred in February 1936, Infantry General Hersmann has been staying at the Eastern Front Command in Dresden, waiting for orders from Berlin at any time - the order to go to war with Czechoslovakia!

Three armored divisions, three motorized infantry divisions, eighteen infantry divisions and two mountain infantry divisions are already in place. Thousands of combat aircraft from the German Air Force's Fourth Air Force also arrived at various frontline airports. More than a dozen "Ferena" radar systems developed by GEMA had been deployed on the northern line of the Czech-German border before the end of 1935.

A detachment of the Miuta Special Forces affiliated to the Military Intelligence Agency has also sneaked into the Sudetenland and connected with the German Party. The German Party had been infiltrated by the Stasi organization as early as the 1920s. The party Most of the leaders were co-communicators of the Stasi. A large amount of weapons and equipment were also delivered to these special forces squads and the German Party through border smuggling and night airdrops.

The Germans in the Sudeten Mountains have begun to arm themselves. A war inside and outside to invade Czechoslovakia seemed imminent.

However, military invasion has never been Hessman's first choice. Conquering the enemy without fighting, and also taking over the entire Czech Republic reasonably and legally, is the first plan in the "Green Plan".

On April 5, 1936, the month-long League of Nations investigation finally gave its results:

First, the Czechs and Slovaks are not the same nation, and the foundation of the Czechoslovak nation-state does not exist;

Second, the Czech population is only about 5.95 million, accounting for 47% of the total population of the Czechoslovak Republic;

Thirdly, the Czech politicians Masaryk and Beneš used deceptive means to deceive the Allies in 1919, making the Czech minority the dominant ethnic group in Czechoslovakia;

Fourth. The Czechs have long monopolized the political, economic and cultural education in Czechoslovakia, constituting oppression and discrimination against the Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, Ukrainians and other ethnic minorities within the territory;

Fifth. There is a large amount of evidence showing that Czech troops committed genocide against Hungarians and Slovaks in Slovakia and Carpathian Ukraine during the Hungarian War;

Sixth. There is no evidence that there is any connection between the assassination of former Czechoslovak President Masaryk and the Sudeten German Party;

Seventh. A large number of Czechoslovak troops were stationed in the Sudetenland, posing a serious threat to the survival of the Germans in the region!

The above seven opinions were called by later history: Seven Articles on the Destruction of Czechoslovakia.

However, they do reflect the real situation that existed in Czechoslovakia at that time - in the original history, after the Germans, Poles, Hungarians and Ukrainians in the territory were cleared (Carpathian Ukraine belonged to the Soviet Union), the Czech Republic The country of Slovakia is still unable to maintain itself and was split into two during the drastic changes between the Soviet Union and the East. Through this historical fact, one can imagine what Czechoslovakia was like before World War II.

After the "Seven Articles on the Destruction of Czechoslovakia" were announced, Hersmann was recalled to Berlin to participate in a joint military-political meeting aimed at thoroughly solving the Czechoslovak problem.

The meeting was held at the German Presidential Palace at 73 Wilhelm Street, with the elderly Ludendorff personally presiding over the meeting.

After Ribbentrop - who was a representative of the League of Nations investigation mission sent by Germany - reported the results of the League of Nations investigation. The German president coughed slightly and said in a low voice: "Well, the situation in Czechoslovakia is very clear. This is an illegally established country! So what should we do?"

"Mr. President is right," Hersman immediately took over the topic, "Czechoslovakia was established by a few Czech politicians using conspiracy and deception, so we must ask the League of Nations to deem it illegal...Czechoslovakia should first Return to the status quo before the Treaty of Saint-Germain.

Then, under the auspices of the League of Nations and based on the principles of democracy, national self-determination and local autonomy, the major ethnic groups such as Czechs, Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, Ukrainians and Poles formed a multi-ethnic confederal democratic state. "

Hirschman proposed "Confederacy" rather than "Confederacy."

The two are not the same concept at all. The typical example of a modern federal country is the United States. Although the central government and local governments are decentralized, the power of the central government is still relatively large, and the federal constitution and laws are higher than local constitutions and laws. In fact, the federal system of the United States is a polycentric composite republic.

Moreover, after the Civil War, the authority of the U.S. federal government increased significantly, and local governments basically did not dare to confront the federal government.

In addition, the United States in the 1920s and 1930s was a country where ethnic groups were divided based on skin color. There was basically no mainstream white family.

The "confederacy" that Hersman planned to impose on Czechoslovakia was similar to the Holy Roman Empire. Each state that formed the Confederacy had its own "small central government", as well as military and diplomatic powers. There was no Confederate Central Army.

"What does it mean to return to the status quo before the Treaty of Saint-Germain?" Adolf Hitler had already heard another trap in Hessmann's words. “Should we restore the Kingdom of Bohemia and return Slovakia to Hungary?”

"This is impossible," Hessmann smiled and shook his head. "Britain and France will certainly not agree, but we should fight for the property of the Sudetenland and Austrian brothers... Since the Czechoslovak government is illegal, then its confiscation of Germans The property was also illegal and should be returned first, and then whether it should be confiscated again would be discussed during the confederation formation negotiations.”

During the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the German nation was the dominant nation and naturally had a high economic status. In the Kingdom of Bohemia at that time, a large amount of land, castles, and industrial and commercial enterprises belonged to the Germans. After the founding of Czechoslovakia, most of the German property was confiscated.

The "return" request now proposed by Hersman will immediately cause the central government of Czechoslovakia or the future state government of the Czech Republic to lose a large amount of property. At the same time, it can please the German aristocracy and capitalist class in the Austrian system - most of them own property on the territory of the original Kingdom of Bohemia.

"The repossession of property is completely legal!" Hersman smiled sarcastically and said, "I have consulted legal experts and the confiscation between 1919 and 1920 was based on the decree of the Czechoslovak government. If the government that issued the decree was illegal , then the legality of the law does not exist, so these properties should be returned!”

Hessmann's move was more vicious than Hitler's. Hitler followed a reckless path, but Hessmann was a reasonable man, and justice was on the side of the Germans—in history, truth was actually on the side of the Germans.

Czechoslovakia was a country founded on false accounting. Moreover, after the Czechs took power, they kicked the Slovaks aside, and the entire country's oil and water was controlled by the Czechs, who accounted for less than 50% of the population.

If the Allies had been reasonable in 1919 and 1920, Czechoslovakia should have been a federation composed of Czechs, Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, Ukrainians and Poles.

Of course, the Germans now have not only axioms, but also planes, artillery and tanks, and lots of them.

…

"The Germans are right!"

In the residence of the British delegation to the League of Nations, Neville Chamberlain, who had come to attend the League of Nations meeting, had just seen off Ribbentrop, the head of the German delegation, and then turned to French Defense Minister Edouard Dara, who was standing next to him. Said:

"Czechoslovakia was an illegally established republic... What should have been established was a federation or confederacy, not a nation-state. 47% of the people were enslaving 53% of the people. This is a scandal and must be corrected!"

"Yes, it must be corrected!" The short, fat, bald French Defense Minister with a fat head nodded repeatedly. "We can't think of any reason to oppose the Germans. It's different now than it was in 1919."

In 1919, Germany and Austria-Hungary had already knelt down. Now the Germans have stood up again, and they seem to be in cahoots with the Soviet Union!

"Yes, the situation is different now," Neville Chamberlain and Daladier turned around and walked towards the building where the British delegation was located. "It is necessary for the Czechs to return their usurped properties, but... the existence of this country is still beneficial to the stability of Central Europe, and this is what we should insist on."

If Czechoslovakia breaks up, the Germans are likely to swallow up the entire Czech region - the German-speaking area of ​​the Czech Republic is distributed around the entire region, forming a siege to the Czech-speaking area. If all the German-speaking Czech Republic joins Germany, it will be difficult for the remaining regions to survive independently.

In this way, the industrially developed Czech region will be completely annexed by Germany - Germany will not only get a large number of factories, but also increase their population by more than 9 million, reaching 75 million.

If you include the 8 million people in Austria and the 4 million people in the Baltics, Germany will have a population of 87 million, more than the United Kingdom and France combined!

"Perhaps a loose Bohemian Federation can be formed," Neville Chamberlain said. He did not agree with the formation of a confederation. The confederation was too loose.

He said: "The rights of the Germans in Bohemia should be fully guaranteed. They can recover their property, have their own autonomous government, and have their own defense force, but they cannot merge with Germany or Austria. Slovaks, Ukrainians, Hungarians and the Poles should also have the same rights as the Germans, and the Czech-controlled troops should first withdraw from the territories of other ethnic groups, and then hold negotiations on the establishment of a completely equal federation in Geneva to form a free and democratic federation based on general public opinion. The Commonwealth of Bohemia.”