Losses of Italy According to official Italian figures, before the armistice concluded on September 8, 1943, the Italian armed forces, excluding the losses of local soldiers of the colonial army, lost 66,686 killed and died of wounds, 111,579 missing and died in captivity and 26,081

Losses of Malta Losses of the civilian population of Malta from German-Italian air raids are estimated at 1.5 thousand people. 14 thousand bombs were dropped on the island, about 30 thousand buildings were destroyed and damaged. The relatively small number of victims is due to the fact that the population

Albanian casualties Albanian casualties, both military and civilian, were estimated after the war by the United Nations Relief and Reconstruction Organization at 30,000. In Albania, about 200 Jews were killed by the Nazis. All of them were citizens of Yugoslavia. According to official

Losses of Yugoslavia The losses of Yugoslavia in the Second World War during the time of Tito were officially estimated at 1,706 thousand dead and died of starvation and disease. However, the American Bureau of the Census in 1954 estimated Yugoslavia's military losses at 1,067,000 dead. At the same time, American

Losses of Bulgaria The losses of the Bulgarian troops during the occupational service in Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941-1944, mainly as a result of clashes with local partisans, amounted to about 3 thousand people. According to Bulgarian communists, more than 15,000

Greek losses According to the official Greek data of the National Council for Reparations, the losses of the Greek armed forces amounted to 13,327 dead, 62,663 wounded and 1,290 missing during the Italo-Greek war of 1940-1941, 1,100 dead in the Greek units,

Finnish losses In the Soviet-Finnish, or Winter, war in November 1939 - March 1940, the Finnish army lost 18,139 killed, 1,437 died from wounds and diseases, 4,101 missing and 43,557 wounded, surviving, out of 337 thousand people. drafted into the army. Of the 4101 missing 847

Presentation of evidence by the assistant to the chief prosecutor from the USSR L. N. Smirnov under the prosecution section “Crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union, Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Greece” [Transcript

Losses ... In any feast, to the noise and din of the departed, remember; although they are invisible to us, they see us. (I. G.) ... When I was awarded the highest officer rank, my son Seryozha and my friend and brother of my wife, lieutenant colonel of the medical service Ruzhitsky Zhanlis Fedorovich, were most happy about this.

This article examines aspects of the participation of the State of Czechoslovakia in World War II, from the beginning of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945.

Czechoslovakia arose from the fragments of Austria-Hungary after the First World War, while the Versailles Treaty freed it from reparations, distributed mainly between Germany and Austria. This allowed the Czechoslovaks to get ahead in industrial development Germany.

The industry of Czechoslovakia, including the military, was one of the most developed in Europe (for example, the Skoda factories in less than a year - from the moment of occupation by Germany and before the start of the war with Poland - produced almost as much military products as in the same time, the entire military industry of Great Britain). The army of Czechoslovakia was excellently armed and relied on powerful fortifications in the Sudetenland. However, it was the Sudetenland that was predominantly populated by Germans, who, in Czechoslovakia, which proclaimed sovereignty, in the words of Ernst Nolte, "rooted in the opinion that they suffered injustice on the part of the Czechs, and not on the part of general historical processes" and tried to defend "their privileged position", being essentially "the remnants of medieval East Germanic colonization".

On May 21, the Polish ambassador in Paris, Lukasiewicz, assured the US ambassador to France, Bullitt, that Poland would immediately declare war on the USSR if he tried to send troops through its territory to help Czechoslovakia.

On May 27, in a conversation with the Polish ambassador, French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet stated that "Goering's plan for the division of Czechoslovakia between Germany and Hungary with the transfer of Cieszyn Silesia to Poland is not a secret."

On September 21, Czechoslovakia's territorial claims in the form of ultimatums were presented by Poland and Hungary, concentrating their troops along the border. Soviet troops on the western borders of the USSR were put on alert to come to the aid of Czechoslovakia.

Keitel was asked at the Nuremberg Trials: "Would Germany have attacked Czechoslovakia in 1938 if the Western powers had supported Prague?"

The answer was: “Of course not. We were not strong enough from a military point of view. The goal of Munich (i.e. reaching an agreement in Munich) was to push Russia out of Europe, buy time and complete the armament of Germany.

The territory of Czechoslovakia was reduced by 38%, the country turned into a narrow and long, easily vulnerable state, which later became a protectorate of Germany. German troops were 30 km from Prague. In addition, on December 3, 1938, a secret agreement was concluded with Czechoslovakia, according to which she could not "keep fortifications and barriers on the border with Germany." The fate of the remaining territory of the country was thus a foregone conclusion.

Meanwhile, in Czechoslovakia, a serious conflict was brewing between the Slovak nationalists and the Prague government, which was used by Hitler as a pretext for the annexation of the "Remainder of the Czech Republic" (German: Rest-Tschechei).

In exile in London with the outbreak of World War II, Edvard Beneš, the second president of Czechoslovakia, created government of Czechoslovakia in exile, which enjoyed the support of the anti-Hitler coalition (since the USA and the USSR joined it). [ ]

The quick and successful annexation of the relatively small but strategically important and economically significant Czechoslovakia, with its large (23.5%) German population, created the impression of an easy victory and encouraged Adolf Hitler to continue his offensive against the countries of Central Europe.

The population of Bohemia and Moravia was mobilized as a labor force, which was supposed to work for the victory of Germany. To control the industry were organized special administrations. Czechs were required to work in coal mines, in metallurgy and in the manufacture of armaments; part of the youth was sent to Germany. Nevertheless, as the German researcher Detlef Brandes notes. , iron ore mining remained at the pre-war level, work on the opening and preparation of deposits was abandoned, machines were overloaded; by 1944, production capacity had increased by only 18%.

During the first months of the occupation, German rule was relatively moderate. The actions of the Gestapo were directed mainly against Czech politicians and intellectuals. Nevertheless, .

The deportation of Jews to concentration camps was organized, and a ghetto was organized in the town of Terezin. In June 1942, after Heydrich's death, Colonel-General of Police, SS-Oberstgruppenführer Kurt Daluege was appointed his successor.

On February 14, 1945, 60 US Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft dropped 152 bombs on the most densely populated areas of Prague. More than a hundred unique historical buildings, dozens of important engineering and industrial facilities were destroyed, 701 people were killed and 1,184 people were injured.

The spontaneous resistance of the citizens of Czechoslovakia to the German occupation and the creation of the first underground organizations on the territory of Czechoslovakia and beyond its borders began shortly after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. So, on October 28, 1939, on the 21st anniversary of the declaration of independence of Czechoslovakia in 1918, protests against the occupation took place in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Kladno, which were suppressed. German troops opened fire on the demonstrators. On November 15, 1939, medical student Jan Opletal, who was wounded on October 28, died, his death caused student demonstrations. In response, the occupying authorities launched mass arrests: politicians, public figures, 1800 students and teachers. On November 17, all universities and colleges in the protectorate were closed, nine student leaders were executed, hundreds of people were sent to concentration camps.

Representatives of various organizations and associations of Czechoslovak emigrants in their activities focused on various states and political forces:

Anti-fascist resistance in Czechoslovakia took various forms, the forms of passive resistance (boycott, failure to comply with the orders of the occupation administration), as well as strikes, anti-fascist propaganda and sabotage (in particular, the production of substandard military products) became widespread. So, only during 1939 in the territory of Czechoslovakia there were 25 strikes for 31 industrial enterprise. On July 20, 1941, during the battles for the city of Türi (Estonian SSR), it was noticed that many mines fired by German troops did not explode. When studying them, it was found that instead of explosives, the mines were filled with sand; in one of the mines there was a note " help as much as we can”, written by Czechoslovak workers.

In November 1939, as a result of a series of arrests, the German secret services defeated " Political center» ( Politicke ústredi) - an underground organization that united supporters of E. Benes.

In early 1940, the underground anti-fascist organization ÚVOD ( Ústřední výbor odboje domacího).

In February 1940, special "extraordinary courts" were created to hear political cases.

In October 1940 there were protest actions of miners in Gandlova.

In general, in February 1942, the German occupation authorities registered 19 acts of sabotage and sabotage, in March 1942 - 32; in April 1942 - 34; in May 1942 - 51.

In the summer of 1942, in Prague, underground workers set fire to the Czech-Moravian-Kolben-Dansk factory.

In September 1942, underground workers sank barges with cargo for the German army on the Labe River.

In October 1942 on railway Prague - Benešov derailed an echelon, as a result, 27 platforms with tanks were broken.

In the summer of 1943, strikes took place among the workers of the Skoda factories, as well as the textile workers of Žilina and Ružomberok.

In December 1943, the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and a number of bourgeois underground organizations entered into an agreement on joint activities, as a result, the Slovak National Council was created.

In mid-March 1944, the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and several anti-fascist organizations in the Slovak army entered into an agreement on the coordination of activities.

In 1941, II was created in Cairo regional headquarters SOE, within which a department was created that was responsible for the activities of the British special services on the territory of Czechoslovakia.

Later, the British special services prepared and dropped into the occupied territory of Czechoslovakia several reconnaissance, sabotage and organizational groups:

On July 18, 1941, an agreement was signed between the USSR and the government of E. Benes on the restoration of diplomatic relations and mutual assistance in the fight against Germany, which provided for the creation of Czechoslovak military units on the territory of the USSR. On September 27, 1941, the Soviet-Czechoslovak military agreement was signed.

In October 1943, the formation of the 1st separate Czechoslovak fighter air squadron began in Ivanovo.

On December 30, 1943, the formation of the 2nd Czechoslovak Airborne Brigade began in the area of ​​​​the city of Efremov.

In April 1944, the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps was created in Rovno.

In June 1944, the 1st separate Czechoslovak fighter aviation regiment (32 aircraft) was created.

At the end of July 1944, the 1st separate Czechoslovak tank brigade was created (65 tanks, three tank and one motorized infantry battalion).

After the start of the Slovak National Uprising on August 30, 1944, Deputy Commander of the East Slovak Army, Colonel of the General Staff of Slovakia William Talsky and Major air force Slovakia Trinka with a group of officers and servicemen of the Slovak army. Together with them, an air group of 27 aircraft of the Slovak air force landed at the location of the Soviet troops (6 Focke-Wulf-189, 3 Messerschmitt-109B and 18 transport aircraft).

In December 1944, a separate mixed Czechoslovak air division was created (two fighter and one attack air regiment, a total of 99 aircraft and 114 pilots).

The USSR provided significant assistance in the creation and maintenance of the activities of the Czechoslovak military units. In total, only during 1944, the USSR handed over to them 9187 rifles and carbines, 5065 submachine guns, 520 light, heavy and anti-aircraft machine guns, 258 anti-tank rifles, 410 guns and mortars, 35 tanks and self-propelled guns, 28 armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles, 25 aircraft (excluding training weapons and captured weapons); in addition, only during 1944, 425 Czechoslovak military personnel were trained in ten Soviet military educational institutions.

From the moment of formation until the end of the war in hostilities against Nazi Germany and the satellite countries of the Third Reich, units of the 1st Czechoslovak Corps disabled 30,225 enemy troops, destroyed 156 tanks, 38 aircraft, 221 guns, 274 vehicles and a certain amount of other equipment, seized a significant amount of weapons, equipment and military equipment. The losses of the 1st Czechoslovak Corps amounted to over 11 thousand soldiers who died.

On May 15, 1945, all Czechoslovak units were merged into the 1st Czechoslovak Army.

Citizens of Czechoslovakia took an active part in.

On June 17, 1944, a resolution was adopted by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine “On rendering assistance to the Czechoslovak Communist Party in organizing partisan movement on the territory of Czechoslovakia", in accordance with which the Ukrainian Headquarters of the partisan movement began training Czechoslovak cadets and preparing Soviet-Czechoslovak partisan organizing groups for activities on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The first groups were transferred to the territory of Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1944. In total, in the period from August 1944 to April 1945, at the request of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, 37 partisan organizing groups were transferred from the USSR to the territory of the Czech Republic and Moravia. In February 1944, a Soviet partisan detachment was organized in northern Bohemia. The detachment was called "Konstantin", it was headed by Zhukovsky Konstantin Ivanovich, a native of the Voronezh region. He was in a concentration camp, escaped with a group of comrades, seized a weapon from the guards and disappeared into the forests. He had contact with factory workers. the detachment carried out sabotage in the Sudet region and in the city of Yablonets. In January 1945, there were 300 people in the detachment, the deputy commanders of the detachment were Soviet officers and sergeants of the Red Army. In 1945, the detachment met a sabotage group from the headquarters of Colonel Khan. After the meeting, they jointly led the subversive activities. In April 1945, the Konstantin detachment consisted of 3,000 fighters, of whom there were 6 women. On May 9, 1945, it merged with the 31st Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front. From May 24 to May 30, the partisan detachment and equipment were transferred to the Army at p / p 36595. Zhukovsky K. I. himself was sent for treatment to Prague for 2.5 months, where he prepared a report on the work done to the government of the Czech Republic and in the Central Asia of Moscow NPO THE USSR. For participation in the restoration of Czechoslovakia from the occupation of Germany during the war years, Zhukovsky was presented with a Skoda-Rapit car from General Vochek. The pass to leave the USSR was signed by the commander of the 88th Infantry Division.

In December 1944, the Soviet-Polish-Slovak partisan brigade named after I. Shchorsa (commander; the brigade included the Soviet partisan detachments named after Shchors, Vzryv and Sokol, as well as the Slovak partisan detachment Liptovsky). Having received information that the Germans began mining the city of Zakopane, the brigade made the transition to the city. On the evening of January 29, 1945, soldiers of the reconnaissance and assault group in civilian clothes entered the city and attacked the commandant's office, while the main forces of the brigade attacked the outskirts of the city. As a result, the German garrison was routed and the city cleared of mines.

On February 14, 1945, 62 US Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, each carrying 16,500-pound bombs, . 93 unique historical buildings and some statues on Charles Bridge were destroyed, about 200 were damaged, dozens of important engineering and industrial facilities were damaged, 701 were killed and 1184 people were injured, 11 thousand people were left homeless. Not a single military facility was damaged, among the dead were only civilians.

As of May 1945, the German Army Group Center was in the Czech Republic with about 900,000 people (1,900 tanks, about 1,000 aircraft and 9,700 guns) under the command of 52-year-old Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner. Despite the fact that Berlin had already capitulated, and Hitler was dead, 200 kilometers east of Prague, the Germans fought stubborn battles with the Soviet troops. The Americans approached Prague at a distance of 80 km.

On May 2, Berlin fell, on the same day, late in the evening, a delegation of Czech officers arrived at the location of the 1st Infantry Division of the KONR, introducing themselves as representatives of the uprising headquarters in Prague and asking for help and support. "The Czech people will never forget that you helped us at a difficult time" they said. Negotiations were held on 3 and 4 May.

On the morning of May 5, the parties came to an agreement on the "joint struggle against fascism and Bolshevism." The Vlasovites were provided with maps of Prague and guides, and white-blue-red armbands were sewn on the sleeves of the servicemen to distinguish them from the Wehrmacht soldiers.

It is probably the calculation for military force The 1st Infantry Division of the KONR prompted the Czech leaders to start a popular uprising against the German occupation on May 5, since the civilian population had practically no weapons.

May 5 in the morning, following the permission of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to hang on the streets national flags Praguers began to protest against the invaders. German military units capitulation was offered, and the Czech troops and police were asked to join the rebels. The rebels occupied the post office and telegraph, a power station, railway stations with military echelons, including German armored trains, a number of large factories and the German air defense headquarters.

In response, the German police opened fire. The battle begins near the building of the Czech Radio and the construction of barricades in the city, of which more than 1600 were arranged. The commander of the 1st Infantry Division of the KONR, Major General Sergei Bunyachenko, ordered to support the uprising. 18,000 people moved into battle against yesterday's allies, capturing the airfield of Luftwaffe bombers in Ruzyn and the Prague region of Smichov, taking control of two bridges over the Vltava. On May 7, the Vlasovites broke into the center of Prague and cut through the German grouping on the left bank of the Vltava. Taking Mount Petřín and the Kuliszowice area, they captured about 10,000 Wehrmacht soldiers.

Upon learning of the uprising, Schörner begins an urgent transfer of reinforcements to the city.

On May 6, German SS units and three panzer divisions approached Prague. Pilot Heinrich Höffner dropped a bomb on the radio building. The Germans, with the help of tanks and aircraft, again captured part of Prague. The rebels suffered heavy losses, which forced them to turn on the radio "to all who hear them" for help. The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of General Ivan Stepanovich Konev at that moment were 200 km from the city, the Americans 80 km. But the Americans were not going to help.

On May 7, at 14:30, one of the last German bombs was dropped on the Mala Strana area. On the same evening, a German plane dropped a bomb on the Kinsky Palace on Old Town Square, next to which was the headquarters of the rebels.

In total, during the Prague operation, the losses of the Red Army amounted to 11997 people killed and 40501 wounded, material losses amounted to 373 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1006 artillery installations and 80 aircraft.

Soviet troops were withdrawn from the territory of Czechoslovakia after the war, in November 1945

In September 1938, Hitler presented Czechoslovakia and its Western allies with a demand to give Germany the Sudetenland, inhabited mainly by Germans. England and France, not wanting war, did not support territorial integrity Slavic country. Its president, Benes, was frightened by the all-conquering German military machine and after September 29-30 agreed with Hitler's demands. This is the standard story that is told about this. But there is another. To get to know her better, you need to look not at words, but at numbers.

Was Czechoslovakia weak?

As you know, World War II was a war of engines, especially tank ones. Of course, with the skill in it, it was possible to survive without having noticeable tank units(Finland), but still this is an exception, not the rule. Therefore, the analysis of combat capability must begin with them.

By September 1938, Prague had 350 tanks armed with 37 mm guns. There is a fact: the Wehrmacht in October 1938 in this parameter is difficult to distinguish from the Czechoslovak army. Formally, he had as many as 958 cannon tanks. The problem is that 823 of them were Pz.II - tanks armed with 20-mm cannons, with a projectile seven times lighter than the Czech 37-mm ones. The projectile of such a gun is the frontal armor of the Czech Lt. 35 did not break through. On the contrary, the Czech projectile pierced the frontal armor of all German tanks that existed at that time. The Germans also have 59 Pz.IIIs with "Czech" caliber guns and 76 Pz.IVs with more powerful 75mm guns. They, of course, evened the odds: their guns could cope with the Czech armor.

KwK 30. Collage © L!FE Photo: © Wikipedia Creative Commons

But there were few of them - Germany could put up 135 tanks against the Czechs, capable of hitting the Czechs. The Czechs could put up 350 vehicles capable of hitting any German. What is especially important: the Czech tanks were reduced to four highly mobile divisions - just like the German ones. While the tanks of France or the USSR in the late 30s were dispersed in brigades. That is, Czechoslovakia had more modern tanks than Germany, and at the same time reasonably organized them into "fists".

The best assessment of the quality of Czech tanks was that they were actively used in the Panzerwaffe for many years after the capture of Czechoslovakia. Their production at local factories continued for a very long time - some of these machines reached Stalingrad, in the ranks of the Wehrmacht, of course. It is interesting that the Germans did not put Soviet, French and other tanks into service in such quantities, preferring the Czech ones. Guderian also noted this in "Memoirs of a Soldier": "I examined the materiel of the Czech armored forces, which impressed me with complete suitability. This materiel served us well during the campaigns in Poland and France."

The great advantage of the Czechs was that their army did not have such a colossal gap in normal military construction as Germany, shackled by the Versailles restrictions. Because of them, the Germans did not have tanks for a very long time, and by September 1938 their Panzerwaffe was three years old. The soldiers and officers of these troops had little experience. In March 1938, during a peaceful march to Austria after the Anschluss, German tank units lost 30 percent of their tanks standing on the roads from breakdowns.

Needless to say, the machines that Peaceful time would just refurbish war time it would be harder to fix. In addition, marches from Germany to Austria went along good (already at that time) roads. In Czechoslovakia, the Germans would have to fight, moving off-road, along anti-tank barriers (about them - below). How many tanks would they lose on the march in such conditions?

The Czechs were also good with aviation. Their main aircraft - the B.534 fighter - was not inferior, if not superior in performance to all German fighters, except for the Bf 109. The Luftwaffe had the latter, but still in small quantities. In addition, most of them, like the best German pilots, were in Spain, where they fought an air war with Soviet aircraft. It was almost impossible to transfer them quickly. The Czechs also had decent bombers, albeit less than the Germans.

How the Slavs impressed Hitler

Finally, do not write off and strengthen. Prague launched their construction in the mid-30s and therefore managed to take into account the experience of the French Maginot defensive line. In total, more than ten thousand pillboxes and more than a thousand forts were built, distributed in the most tank-accessible directions. They were available both from the border with Germany and on the Austrian border. Pillboxes and forts withstood direct hits of shells up to 152-155 millimeters. From the frontal projections they were covered, heaping boulders, on which they also poured earth. An ordinary projectile detonated on them even before contact with reinforced concrete.

Loopholes were only on the flanks of heavy structures. They shot through the space in front of the neighboring fortification, but were out of direct line of sight of the enemy. To shoot at them, the Germans would have to bring infantry and tanks between two fires - substituting for cannons and machine guns from both flanks at once. Most light pillboxes were armed with a pair of machine guns. The forts also had cannons.

All of them had not only communication systems, armored plates for mechanized closing of embrasures, but also diesel generators, sewerage and other life support systems. Including air filters, with which it was possible to protect the garrisons from chemical attacks.

The Czechs also came up with a number of their own - unique - innovations in the field of defense. One of them was the Czech anti-tank hedgehog - or "Czech hedgehog", as it is called in a number of European languages. They are widely known to our reader as a symbol of the Soviet anti-tank defense, but the USSR only borrowed this invention. Initially, these were concrete structures in the form anti-tank hedgehogs, and then their more efficient and cheaper metal versions. Running into them, the tank practically lost the contact of the tracks with the ground, and the thin lower armor (in 1938 - no thicker than 10 millimeters) often made its way through the rail or the concrete part of the hedgehog. It was useless to fire at them: even jumping from a close gap, the hedgehog simply rolled over, remaining a formidable obstacle. Tanks learned how to overcome them normally only starting with large and massive structures - such as the German "Panthers" or "Tigers" of 1943. Even in post-war tests against Soviet ISs, the Czech military noted: in 60 percent of cases, hedgehogs heavy tanks could not overcome.

In 1938-1939, there were no "Tigers" and "ISs" at all. Because the metal hedgehog - that is, the majority Czech hedgehogs- was extremely difficult to overcome anti-tank obstacle, which had to be removed under enemy fire. Barbed wire, pillboxes, and even anti-tank guns were placed near the hedgehogs in the Czech defense lines. In addition, the Czech industry was very powerful - and not only weapons, which, by the way, exported then more weapons than German. It was not difficult to rivet more scraps of rails.

Albert Speer

The future Minister of Armaments of the Third Reich, Albert Speer, summed up the Germans’ feelings about these fortifications quite well: “The Czech defensive fortifications caused general surprise. To the amazement of specialists, trial firing at them showed that our weapons, which were supposed to be used against them, were not effective enough. Hitler himself went to the former border to form his own opinion about the underground structures, and they made a strong impression on him.The fortifications are amazingly massive, exceptionally skillfully designed and, excellently taking into account the features of the landscape, deepened several tiers in the mountains: "With a strong defense, it would be very difficult to master them, it would cost us a lot of blood. And now we got it without spilling a drop. But one thing is clear: I will never allow the Czechs to build a new defensive line."

Yes, Hitler was right. A huge advantage of the Czechs was a special "anti-tank" terrain, in which their positions were on the heights, and the enemy had to advance towards them in open areas. But this was not only at the forefront, but also in the depths of the country. Recall that even the Soviet army experienced huge problems with the offensive on Czechoslovak territory and captured Prague much later than Berlin. This is because the forested mountains are difficult terrain, and the roads in the narrow valleys between them are easy to defend. Unless, of course, there is someone.

What did the Czechs have with manpower? Here, at first glance, everything is bad. In terms of population, Czechoslovakia was like three Finlands, that is, many times inferior to Germany. However, the total number of manpower available for mobilization was two million people. Even a one-time mobilization without additional recruitment gave 972 thousand - one and a half times less than what the Wehrmacht could put up in this direction. And the Czechs also had an almost inexhaustible reserve ... of the Red Army.

red helping hand

Since the spring of 1938, the USSR has been offering help to the Czechs - both in manpower and aviation units. And not only help: in diplomatic correspondence, he openly threatened potential enemies of Czechoslovakia. When it became known that Poland, together with Germany, intended to seize the Cieszyn region from Prague, on September 23 the Polish government was warned. He was told that if the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia, it would consider it an act of aggression and would denounce the non-aggression pact with Poland without further warning. After that, Warsaw at any moment could get what happened to it after the real denunciation: a sudden attack by the Red Army from the east.

The USSR did not make a secret of the fact that it was ready to help the Czechs with troops, even if the Poles were against it. When the British press asked the Soviet ambassador in London how soviet soldiers get into Czechoslovakia without a common border, he replied: "If there was a will, there would be a way." Given the threats to Poland, this path is quite easy to imagine.

Kliment Voroshilov

The documents of the Soviet People's Commissariat of Defense indicate that on September 28, the Chief of the General Staff, Shapochnikov, forbade the dismissal of conscripts to the reserve in the western military districts. This meant, in fact, pre-war readiness. The USSR moved dozens of divisions to the borders. In the event of a war, the head of the People's Commissariat of Defense Voroshilov noted in those days, the Red Army is ready to send four air brigades to Czechoslovakia, consisting of 548 combat aircraft. The Czechoslovak government was immediately informed of this. However, it did not accept any help, which is why all Soviet readiness was in vain.

Why did the Czechs surrender without a fight?

All this is bewildering. There were more than tens of thousands of Czech pillboxes and forts, and on the Mannerheim Line, for example, there were only a few hundred. Their quality was also good - it impressed even Hitler, who usually treated the Slavs with contempt. Czech tanks clearly outnumbered the German ones, aviation was comparable in number, and taking into account Soviet military assistance - no matter how numerous. The excellent artillery of the Skoda is also familiar to our army - the Wehrmacht fired at us from it. The small arms of the Czechs of the USSR also tried on their own skin. Czech machine guns ZB-26 for their high fighting qualities SS troops preferred the German MG and fought with them. Why did the Czechs not dare to fight, surrendering to the German demands?

The most correct answer to this question is: why did they have to resist at all? Recall that Russia gained independence and sovereignty through war and need. Czechoslovakia received its statehood from the Allies after World War I on a silver platter. Before that, the Czechs did not have statehood for many centuries. And all these centuries they obeyed the Germans: first as part of the Holy Roman Empire, and then - the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian empires. If the Hungarians fought a bloody war for independence and won a place in the elite of the empire, then the Czechs could not do anything like that. All these centuries they were not so much an ethnos as an ethnic substratum - next to the Germans, who were actively absorbing this substratum. The key aristocratic surnames of the Czechs were Germanized (they, as a rule, could not even speak fluent Czech).

The Germanization of the Czechs was so obvious that even the SS leaders who planned the "Final Solution of the Czech Question" proposed not to destroy them (like the same Russians), but only to resettle them. Or simply rename them as Germans, as Heydrich suggested.

The German military, in contrast to the SS, from the Czech complaisance, on the contrary, was either funny or disgusting. Head of the Eastern Division of the High Command German army Major Kinzel put it best, perhaps:

"Question: in German official reports it was always said that, apart from snowfall, nothing prevented the victorious advance of the German troops. Therefore, snowfall was the only enemy?

Answer: this is correct. Communiqués always sound a little funny. But even funnier was what our military attache in Czechoslovakia told us before the occupation of Prague. I emphasize that the day before the occupation of Prague, our military attache made the following report to us here: "All our provocations are in vain, because the Czechs simply do not allow themselves to be provoked. When we send our people into the street to shout "Heil Hitler", the Czechs shout with them. When we force our people to shout "Down with the Republic!" - the Czechs shout with them, and when we tell our people that they should sing "Horst Wessel" in the streets, then the Czechs sing with them. With all our desire, we cannot such behavior of the Czechs provoke not the slightest incident." ...they gave us all their weapons... we got wonderful heavy artillery. And aviation is good. At first, we could not even believe ourselves that not a single gun, not a single machine gun was disabled. Not a single ammunition depot was blown up, not a single tank was emptied - everything was handed over in perfect order. ...At the same time, only one or two officers refused to give us a hand. Everyone else was crawling on their stomachs. It's just disgusting to have such opponents."

It cannot be said that this was only a Czech misfortune: Lusatians and other Slavs are Germanized today to such an extent that it is difficult to distinguish them from the Germans themselves. The only bad thing in this situation was that the people with such an undeveloped national sense were for some reason given sovereignty, which they did not really need. What is gained without a fight is often not appreciated. September 1938 is an excellent example of this kind. The main reason for the capitulation of the Czechs was not the Munich Agreement. This reason was their unwillingness to do anything for the sake of their independence.

Army of Czechoslovakia at the end of September 1938

If you carefully calculate, it turns out that the Czechs at the end of the mobilization had 21 infantry and four "fast" (rychlych) divisions. Plus, the 1st Infantry Division, which was deployed for mobilization in the Prague UR. Total 26 divisions of field troops.
There were 12 more so-called. border areas (hranicnich oblasti), which did not have a regular structure, but were approximately equivalent in number to an infantry division. According to their intended purpose, they were parts of the field filling of fortified areas.
There were also two "groups" (skupini) in the strength of about a division and one "group" in the strength of a brigade. Total: 40 and a half calculated divisions - 1.25 million people.

In 1938, the Germans confiscated in Czechoslovakia: aircraft - 1582, anti-aircraft guns - 501, anti-tank guns - 780, field guns - 2175, mortars - 785, tanks and armored vehicles - 469, machine guns - 43876, rifles - 1090000, pistols - 114000, cartridges - more than a billion shells - more than 3 million, armored trains - 17.
By no means all Czech guns came to the Germans as trophies. After Munich, the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense decided to reduce the army and began to sell weapons. It is known, for example, that they were looking for buyers for LT vz.34 tanks, but did not find them. But on artillery - they found it. Germany.
Quite shortly before the occupation, on February 11, 1939, the Czechs managed to sell to the Germans all their artillery of great and special power (17 305-mm mortars, 18 210-mm mortars and 6 240-mm guns) and part of the field artillery - 122 80-mm guns mod. .30, 40 (i.e., also, in general, all) 150-mm heavy howitzers mod. 15 and 70 150-mm howitzers mod. 14/19. With ammunition and tractors.

In the summer of 1939, the German authorities established the armed forces of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to support internal security and order. Only "Aryans" were allowed to serve, that is, neither Jews nor Gypsies.
Most of the commanders and soldiers had previously served in the Czechoslovak army. They even retained their former uniforms, emblems and awards (the German-style uniform was introduced only in 1944).

It is no secret that the patriotic upsurge in Czech society testified to its readiness to fight until the infamous Munich Agreement and the Vienna Arbitration of 1938 (according to which the Sudetenland was transferred to Germany, the southern regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus - to Hungary, and Cieszyn Silesia - Poland).
It is believed that the tragic autumn of 1938 actually suppressed the moral will of the Czechs to resist the aggressor, and they were seized with despondency and apathy, which contributed to the capitulation on March 14-15, 1939.
By the spring of 1939, the Czechoslovak army had been significantly weakened by the military policy of President Emil Hakhy, a well-known Germanophile, and his government, which had taken the course of maximum concessions to Hitler in order to avoid war.
In order not to "provoke the Germans", the reservists were demobilized, the troops returned to their places of permanent deployment, staffed according to the states of peacetime and partially framed.
According to the garrison schedule, the 3rd battalion of the 8th Silesian Infantry Regiment (III. prapor 8. pesiho pluku "Slezskeho") was stationed in the Chayankov barracks in the city of Mistek, consisting of the 9th, 10th and 11th infantry and 12 -th machine-gun company, as well as the "armor half-company" of the 2nd regiment of combat vehicles (obrnena polorota 2. pluku utocne vozby), which consisted of a platoon of tankettes LT vz.33 and a platoon of armored vehicles OA vz.30.
The head of the garrison was the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Karel Shtepina. Taking into account the fact that Slovak soldiers deserted en masse in light of the imminent independence of Slovakia and fled to their homeland through the nearby Slovak border, no more than 300 military personnel remained in the Chayankov barracks on March 14.
Most of them were ethnic Czechs, there were also a few Czech Jews, Subcarpathian Ukrainians and Moravans. About half of the soldiers were final draft recruits who had not yet completed basic training.

On March 14, German troops crossed the borders of the Czech Republic (Slovakia on this day, under the auspices of the Third Reich, declared independence) and in marching order began to advance deep into its territory.
Flying to Berlin for the fatal "consultations" with Hitler, President Emil Hacha ordered the troops to remain in their places of deployment and not to resist the aggressors.
Even earlier, capitulation orders began to be sent out by the discouraged Czechoslovak General Staff. Armored and mechanized advanced columns of the Wehrmacht moved in a race with these orders, mastering key points and objects.
In a number of places, individual Czech soldiers and gendarmes opened fire on the invaders, but the Nazis encountered organized resistance from an entire unit only in the Chayankov barracks.
With the beginning of the skirmish, the officer on duty, Lieutenant Martinek, announced a combat alarm in the garrison. Czech soldiers hurriedly sorted out weapons and ammunition. Captain Karel Pavlik raised his company and ordered to deploy the machine guns at its disposal (mostly manual "Ceska Zbroevka" vz.26) at improvised firing positions in upper floors barracks.
Shooters with rifles, including soldiers from other companies who voluntarily joined Pavlik's company, settled down at the window openings. The captain entrusted the command of the defense sectors to the senior non-commissioned officers (cetari) of his company, Stefek and Gole.

The first attempt by German soldiers to break through to the gates of the Chayankov barracks was easily repelled by the Czechs with losses for the attackers. Having retreated, Wehrmacht units began to take up positions under the cover of surrounding buildings.
An intense firefight ensued with the use of small arms and machine guns. According to eyewitnesses, locals, who suddenly found themselves at the epicenter of a real battle, hid in the cellars or lay down on the floor in their houses.
Only the owner of a pub located around the corner did not succumb to panic, who, already during the battle, began to serve the invaders who ran in to "wet their throats" for Reichsmarks.
The commander of the 84th Infantry Regiment, Colonel Steuver, soon arrived at the place of unexpected resistance. Having informed the division commander, General Koch-Erpach (General der Kavallerie Rudolf Koch-Erpach) and received the order to "solve the problem on our own", the colonel began to prepare a new attack on the Chayankov barracks.
To support the advancing infantrymen, on his orders, 50-mm and 81-mm mortars of the infantry units participating in the battle, one 37-mm RAK-35/37 anti-tank gun from the regiment's anti-tank company, and an armored vehicle (probably one of the attached reconnaissance regiment Sd.Kfz 221 or Sd.Kfz 222).
The headlights of German army vehicles were directed at the barracks, which was supposed to blind the eyes of Czech riflemen and machine gunners. The second attack was already quite thoroughly, albeit hastily, a prepared assault.

After a short fire preparation, the German infantry, supported by armored vehicles, again rushed to storm the Chayankov barracks. The soldiers of the guard, holding the advanced positions, two of whom were injured, were forced to leave the trenches and take refuge in the building.
Wehrmacht soldiers under fire reached the fence and lay down behind it. However, that was where their success ended. Mortar and machine-gun fire of the Germans and even 37-mm shells of their anti-tank guns could not cause significant damage to the powerful walls of the barracks, and serious losses to their defenders.
At the same time, the Czech machine guns fired heavily, and the arrows extinguished the car headlights one after another with well-aimed shots. A German car trying to break through the gate was forced to turn back after its commander (sergeant major) was killed in the tower, almost unprotected from above.
The battle by this time lasted more than 40 minutes. The ammunition of the Czechs was coming to an end, and Colonel Steuver was pulling all available forces to the barracks, so that the outcome of the struggle remained unclear ...
However, it was not another German assault that turned out to be decisive in the fate of the battle for the Chayankov barracks, but an order from the headquarters of the Czech 8th Infantry Regiment. Colonel Eliash ordered to immediately cease fire, enter into negotiations with the Germans and lay down their arms, in case of disobedience, threatening the "disobedient" with a military court.

After four hours of "interning", the Czech soldiers were allowed to return to their barracks, and the officers were placed under house arrest in their apartments. The wounded of both sides were treated by German and Czech military doctors, after which they were placed in a civilian hospital in the city of Mistek.
On the Czech side, in the battle for the Chayankov barracks, six soldiers were wounded, including two - seriously. The local population, fortunately, did not suffer, except for material damage. German losses amounted, according to various sources, from 12 to 24 killed and wounded.
The government of the perishing Czechoslovak Republic hastened to lay responsibility for the "unfortunate incident" in the town of Mistek on the officers commanding the garrison, but not one of them was brought to either the Czech or German military courts for these events.
The most dramatic was the fate of the commander of the desperate defense, Captain Karel Pavlik, who can safely be called one of the brightest figures of the Czech anti-Nazi resistance.
When in 1942 the Hitlerite secret police seized and forced to cooperate one of the leaders of JINDRA, Professor Ladislav Vanek, he handed over Karel Pawlik to the occupiers.
Captured Karel Pavlik, the Nazis, after interrogations and brutal torture, were sent to the infamous Mauthausen concentration camp. There, on January 26, 1943, an ailing and emaciated Czech hero was shot dead by an SS guard for refusing to obey.

http://samlib.ru/m/mihail_kozhemjakin/karel_pavlik.shtml