Hitler's Central European Empire 1938-1945

by Jean, W. Sedlar

This unique book offers the first comprehensive overview of World War II in a part of Europe--Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic States, and Finland--that usually receives slight attention in the histories of the war. Hitler's attempt to create a great German empire in the East drew all of these countries unavoidably into either the German or the Soviet net. Nonetheless, their actual experiences in 1937-1945 were quite varied, a product of their past histories, the choices made by their prewar governments, and their different responses to the German and/or Soviet threat. Hitler's conquests in Central Europe occurred largely through diplomatic and economic pressure, not by direct military means, though the threat of force always loomed in the background. The refusal of France and Britain to defend Czechoslovakia at Munich in 1938 sent a clear message to Germany's neighbors that no help could be expected from the Great Powers. The Germans first took the Sudetenland and then entered Prague unopposed in March 1939. While the Czech lands became a German protectorate, Slovakia declared independence under German auspices. As war approached, Finland, Hungary, and Slovakia each made separate deals with Hitler, hoping in this way both to avoid war and to realize some of their own national aims. By contrast, Poland's refusal to become a German satellite led to war and subjugation. World War II began with Hitler's victory over Poland in September 1939, followed by the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland in accordance with the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Poland experienced massive terror, deportations, and economic exploitation, but developed a large-scale patriotic underground movement. The Soviets attacked Finland in the Winter War (1939-1940), leading the Finns to seek safety in cooperation with Germany. In 1940 the USSR absorbed the three Baltic States and deported a large fraction of the population. After Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, Finland, Hungary, and Slovakia served as his allies and sent troops to assist the Germans on the Soviet front. Wherever German control extended, the Jews were rounded up and murdered. Except for Poland and subsequently Finland in the Winter War (1939-1940), the Central European countries became the scene of major battles only in 1944-45. But even for Hitler's allies, German hegemony brought political subservience and economic exploitation, even as individual governments strove to maintain a degree of independence despite heavy German pressure. In the Czech lands German occupation caused economic hardship and sporadic Nazi terror, but Poland and the Baltic States experienced far more extensive oppression. The Baltic States and eastern Poland suffered a triple first by the Soviets in 1940, the Germans in 1941, and again by the Soviets in 1944. Sadly, the end of the war did not bring liberation to Central Europe, but instead (except in Finland) a renewed tyranny under Soviet Communist auspices.

472 pages, Hardcover

First published March 29, 2007