Czech CKD TNH 8.2 ton tank, later renamed BMM by Germans:
Posted on 08/14/2008 5:41:41 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
From the incident when two Czechoslovak airplanes flew over the German fortified town of Glatz in a promontory so projecting into Czechoslovakia as to make the explanation of an accident due to loss of orientation inherently probable the Germans are seeking to create a casus belli, threatening a second Almeria on the Czechoslovak frontier in the event of a repetition.
Once again Czechoslovakia is subjected to a test of her nerves, this time even more severe than before May 21: a barrage of false assertions and distorted facts – heavier than that which heralded reports of troop concentrations on May 19 - that might well be the prelude to a lightning attack. German plans for such an attack are well known.
Constant Fear of Attack
There is not a single day when those responsible for Czechoslovakia’s destinies have not to consider the possibility of an assault on the most frivolous excuse with the object, as German military experts in Berlin boast, of wiping out the Czechoslovak defense forces within two or three days.
Against all this they are standing firm. Against the German experts’ views that the Czech defenses would be destroyed within three days, the Czech experts declare they could hold out unaided for from three to six months, during which France and Russia would fulfill their treaty obligations. It is believed that it is not against the wishes of Germany’s rulers, that the Czech intelligence receives such full reports of military preparations. Authorities here incline to the view they would hear less were invasion really pending.
It is considered here that there is no inherent justification for the latest German explosion, since on the balance it is unlikely that Germany really intends plunging Europe into war next week; there remains as an explanation only Lord Runciman. Sent out by his friend Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, under the thin pretext that he is a private philanthropist rushing in where the angels of peace fear to tread, the Germans calculate he can be used to secure every concession such as would enable Hitler to achieve his aims to disrupt and dominate the republic by the threat of, but without resort to, war. So the electricity in the atmosphere is artificially increased to the point where an explosion is to seem inevitable to the mediator unless he can extort a Czech surrender.
To Put On “Pressure”
Rightly or wrongly the Czechs assume he has come determined to increase British pressure long exercised on President Eduard Benes and Premier Milan Hodza to this end. They are certain that the British official view is that the republic has got to go anyway since Hitler demands it and it is better for the world that she should be quietly and expeditiously asphyxiated rather than resist an attack with the sword and so make an unpleasant mess in Europe’s drawing room.
In this trial of nerves Lord Runciman’s hopes for success depend on the strength of his own and Mr. Chamberlain’s nerves. If either allows himself to be stampeded into demanding Czechoslovakia’s surrender on the vital point of territorial autonomy and recognition of the “Sudeten German folk group” as a legal personality the Runciman mission is doomed to failure. Any government agreeing thus to surrender would be swept off overnight.
Official Britain apparently professes to believe and wishes also that the Czechs believe that the hopes of support from France and Russia are baseless – that the French people would refuse to fight for them, that the Red army is worthless, that Czechoslovakia has no hope of surviving a general European war, but has only the choice between peacefully surrendering or being stamped into the soil within a few days. On each point informed Czechoslovak opinion is precisely the opposite. Therefore, defeatism from abroad has little hope for success. If Lord Runciman’s nerves are good enough to hold out through the German barrage of talk – and to convince the Sudetens that Britain will not acquiesce to the destruction of Czechoslovakia and that the Sudetens must become good citizens of the republic – there is much success possible.
What Mediator Could Do
Certainly he could persuade the Czechs to go farther even than the recent generous nationalities statute toward realizing full equality of all peoples in such questions as language, the widest local self government without imperiling the central authority and securing full proportionality of State employment.
The last, naturally, will be subject to the proviso that until the Sudeten Germans have given solid proofs of loyalty it will be impossible to entrust them with positions where they could endanger national security. Within such obvious safeguards Lord Runciman could secure reparation for every mistake the Czechs undoubtedly have made in past years, thus laying the foundations for decent relations in the future between all citizens of the republic. But this presupposes that the Sudetens really seek reforms and not disintegration and that Mr. Chamberlain desires no dissolution but preservation of this bulwark of Britain’s route to the East, which is a democratic republic and an ally of France And Russia.
The “third Europe” to which Poland belongs, consisting of countries desirous of remaining neutral in the great game between the Western democratic powers and the totalitarian axis, is held to be not a coalition but merely a loose understanding among smaller States pursuing independent policies, refusing to be influenced by outside interests and sharing a common desire to avoid being involved in conflict and becoming the battlefield in a war between existing blocs.
Mind Their Own Business
It is asserted by the same circles that these countries mind their own business and that their object is peace. In brief, Poland merely aims at closer cooperation among these States without binding them by common policies or pacts.
This vague formula, translated into plain language, means that Poland desires to free herself of any international obligations that might involve her in war. She seeks the support of other countries where views on international cooperation and collective security have undergone a similar evolution.
At present the main object of Polish diplomacy is revision of the sanctions article in the League of Nations Covenant and possible reform of the Covenant itself. Poland unwillingly joined in sanctions against Italy three years ago and was the first to abandon them.
Warsaw’s hostility to Article XVI has grown with the Czechoslovak complications. It is believed not impossible, if the League were asked to deal with the case of Czechoslovakia in the event of German aggression that Poland might be automatically obliged to facilitate assistance to the victim of aggression. In practice that would amount to allowing Soviet munitions, if not Soviet troops or planes, passage over Polish territory.
Troop Passage Barred
But it is an axiom of Warsaw’s foreign policy that Soviet troops will never be allowed passage over Polish territory or even that of Rumania, Latvia or Estonia. Consequently it is considered that Article XVI should be revised and its clauses made optional, lest League membership become a liability to Poland instead of an asset.
A Baltic-Black Sea bloc under Poland’s leadership as a bulwark between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany would of course be the best instrument of such neutrality policies, but the idea is unfavorably received in the Scandinavian States and in Latvia, which fears it might be regarded by Moscow as a hostile, pro-German group.
Colonel Beck’s diplomacy now aims at obtaining an even balance between the Soviet and the Third Reich. The bloc idea was dropped immediately it became evident that it would remain outside the field of practical politics. It is believed now that a common attitude in Geneva toward Article XVI would provide a good substitute.
…might well be the prelude to a lightning attack.
Isn’t there a word for that in German?
A second article is entitled “Poland Denies ‘Buffer Bloc’ Plan,” an interesting account of how Germany and the democracies were keeping their eyes on Poland during this period.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
New York 11, Philadelphia 4.
Washington 4, Boston 1.
Cleveland 13, Chicago 4 (1st).
Chicago 2, Cleveland 1 (2d).
St. Louis 6, Detroit 3.
American League
……………………..Won….Lost…Percentage…….Games Behind
N. Y ………………...66……33…….667………………….-
Cleve………………...59……40…….596………………….7
Boston……………….55……42…….567………………….10
Wash..…………….....54……51…….514…………………..15
Detroit.………………49……54…….476………………….19
Chic.…………………43……52…….453………………….21
Phila...……………….37……61…….378………………….28 1/2
St. L………………….35……65….....350………………….31 1/2
GAMES TODAY
Philadelphia at New York (2, 2 P. M.) .
Boston at Washington.
Cleveland at Chicago.
Detroit at St. Louis.
National League
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
New York 11, Philadelphia 1 (1st).
Philadelphia 8, New York 2 (2d).
Brooklyn 3, Boston 1 (1st).
Boston 4, Brooklyn 3 (2d).
Chicago 11, Pittsburgh 5.
Other clubs not scheduled.
……………………..Won….Lost…Percentage…….Games Behind
Pitts …………………62……38…….620………………….-
N. Y.………………...59……45…….567…………………..5
Chic.…………………58……45…….563…………………..5 1/2
Cincin.………………56……46…….549…………………..7
Boston ………………48…...52……..480………………….14
Bklyn ……………….48…...54……..471…………………..15
St. L………………....43…...57……..430………………….19
Phila…………………31……68……..313………………….30 1/2
GAMES TODAY
New York at Philadelphia (2).
Brooklyn at Boston (2).
Chicago at Pittsburgh.
St. Louis at Cincinnati (2).
PS. The first part of that same Santayana quote is "Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. " As among savages, infancy is perpetual - that is a perfect description for the party of His Holy Changeness whose middle name must never be spoken.
What year was that from, because it’s certainly not 2008.
OH, OK, now I read the whole post, I realize this is your relatime +/- 70 thread. Man, you had this newb all messed up!
Interesting thread premise, thank you!
That Santayana guy was a smart cookie. I had never heard that part of the quote before. Thanks. Progressives seem to reject the idea of retentiveness altogether and so create political parties for dumb children.
Sorry about that. I usually include the original publication date in the title. Forgot this time.
You did include it in the byline, i just skipped over it. My fault, not yours.
Phillies in last place by 30.5 games ? Wow, 1938 was a bad year all round.
It is interesting. It goes to show a a year is a lifetime in politics. Within two years the subject of the article was history and Hitler was well on the way to consolidating his absolute power.
And the penultimate A's are 28 1/2 out.
Seems to me, the Czech and German forces were not quite as mis-matched as this report suggests. In 1938 Hitler's forces still had a long way to go to match the fierce image of military power that Hitler was projecting to the world.
Czech CKD TNH 8.2 ton tank, later renamed BMM by Germans:
…Runciman puttered about in the Sudetenland and in Prague, making ever more friendly gestures to the Sudeten Germans and increasing demands on the Czech government to grant them what they wanted. Hitler, his generals and his Foreign Minister were frantically busy. On August 23, the Fuehrer entertained aboard the liner Patria in Kiel Bay during naval maneuvers the Regent of Hungary, Admiral Horthy, and the members of the Hungarian government. If they wanted to get in on the Czech feast, Hitler told them, they must hurry. “He who wants to sit at the table,” he put it, “must at least help in the kitchen.” The Italian ambassador, Bernardo Attolico, was also a guest on the ship. But when he pressed Ribbentrop for the date of “the German move against Czechoslovakia” so that Mussolini could be prepared, the German Foreign Minister gave an evasive answer. The Germans, it was plain, did not quite trust the discretion of their Fascist ally. Of Poland they were now sure. All through the summer Ambassador von Moltke in Warsaw was reporting to Berlin that not only would Poland decline to help Czechoslovakia by allowing Russia to send troops and planes through or over her territory but Colonel Jozef Beck, the Polish Foreign Minister, was casting covetous eyes on a slice of Czech territory, the Teschen area. Beck already was exhibiting that fatal shortsightedness, so widely shared in Europe that summer, which in the end would prove more disastrous than the could possibly imagine.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Pg. 377
In this case, it meant, to the users, The Day of liberation of the oppressed German minority from the hated Czechoslovak rulers.
Der Tag turned out to be October 1.
Apparently the leaders of Poland were unable to read a map.
Here’s a link to a comparison of military power in the autumn of 1938. The Germans had the Czechs outnumbered about 2:1, leaving out their Polish and Hungarian allies. Germany itself had their most productive region, Bohemia, almost completely surrounded, and the entire country was surrounded by the allies. No foreign help could arrive.
http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Czechoslovak_Order_of_Battle_-_September_30,_1938_(Fall_Grün)
It seems likely the Czechs could have fought for more than two or three days, perhaps for much longer. But it also seems likely the end result would have been exactly the same.
The Czechs didn’t really know yet that fighting to the death was far preferable to being under Nazi rule.
Your link didn't work for me, but your point is probably somewhat valid.
It seems likely the Germans could have overwhelmed the Czechs in the summer of 1938. On the other hand, intangibles might play a role.
Was the German military really as ready for war then as Hitler implied? Or might a tenacious defense by the Czechs have produced results similar to those between the Soviets and Finns in 1939?
Pure numbers don't always tell the whole story.
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