The Sudetenland: The Trigger for WWII

In the heart of central Europe, in the middle of a deep, dark forest, lies a mountain range that changed the world. It’s smaller than the Alps, less dramatic than the Dolomites, and far less romantic than the Carpathians. And yet, its place in modern European history is so vast, so great, that its reputation could dwarf even the Himalayas. Known as the Sudetes, this borderland between the forests of Germany and the hills of the Czech Republic may not be famous. But the region around it is. In 1938, the Sudetenland helped plunge Europe into war.

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Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Morris M.
Producer - Jennifer Da Silva
Executive Producer - Shell Harris

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Source/Further reading:

Early history: https://www.radio.cz/en/section/speci...
Some notes on 1620: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/...
https://www.radio.cz/en/section/czech...
1848: https://ww1.habsburger.net/en/chapter...
1919 fight for the Sudetenland: https://www.britannica.com/place/Aust...
In the First Czechoslovak Republic (1919-1938): https://www.britannica.com/topic/Czec...
Map, German population in Czechoslovakia, 1930: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Su...
(Lead up to WWII): https://www.britannica.com/place/Sude...
(Opinions of visitors in 1937 – including that the Sudetenland issue will resolve itself): https://www.radio.cz/en/section/archi...
(Overview of what some key players were thinking (apparently there was nearly a coup against Hitler over the issue!): https://spartacus-educational.com/GER...
Expulsion of the Germans: https://www.spiegel.de/international/...
“Wild Expulsions” and organized marches: https://www.radio.cz/en/section/speci...
https://www.radio.cz/en/section/talki...
2015 – Sudeten Germans association in Germany finally gives up claims on homeland: https://www.thelocal.de/20150302/worl...