[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

The next day, from Hradschin Castle, [Hitler] proclaimed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which though it professed to provide "autonomy and self-government" for the Czechs brought them, by its very language, completely under the German heel. All power was given to the "Reich Protector" and to his Secretary of State and his Head of the Civil Administration, who were to be appointed by the Fuehrer. To placate outraged public opinion in Britain and France, Hitler brought the "moderate" Neurath out of cold storage and named him Protector. The two top Sudeten leaders, Konrad Henlein and the gangster Karl Hermann Frank, were given an opportunity to get revenge on the Czechs by being appointed head of the Civil Administration and Secretary of State respectively. It was not long before Himmler, as boss of the German police, got a stranglehold on the protectorate. To do his work, he made the notorious Frank chief of police of the protectorate and ranking S.S. officer.

For a thousand years [Hitler said in his proclamation of the protectorate] the provinces of Bohemia and Moravia formed part of the Lebensraum of the German people . . . Czechoslovakia showed its inherent inability to survive and has therefore now fallen a victim to actual dissolution. The German Reich cannot tolerate continuous disturbances in these areas . . . Therefore the German Reich, in keeping with the law of self-preservation, is now resolved to intervene decisively to rebuild the foundations of a reasonable order in Central Europe. For in the thousand years of its history it has already proved that, thanks to the greatness and the qualities of the German people, it alone is called upon to undertake this task.

A long night of German savagery now settled over Prague and the Czech lands.

[beebuster2000]

“Stalin says: “there is small fear that ocupation of Prague has and danger for Soviet Russia”

amazing how everyone sailed blindly into WWII

[2banana]

And Chamberlain cancels a “trade parley” with Germany in response. Why does this remind me of the west today in response to islam...

[SamAdams76]

One of my favorite things about this series is the inclusion of original ads from those old newspapers.

Now I'm hungry for a Southern Rum Tart (only 27 cents - while they last!).

[SamAdams76]

Also, the extent by which European news dominated the front page in the U.S. papers from those days is staggering. We were definitely living in an Euro-centric world back in those days. These days, most Americans can't even name the leader of one European nation and probably don't care either.

Consider the amount of attention paid to the fact that Hitler had added 61,000 square miles to German territory by that time. Just for comparison, that is approx. the size of Wisconsin.

Anyway, I saw the ad for Old Humbolt whiskey, the banjo-playing "court jester" creeped me out!