Citizendia
Your Ad Here

The Beneš decrees is a current popular term (officially they are called Decrees of the President of the Republic - dekrety presidenta republiky) for a series of laws enacted by the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile during World War II in the absence of Czechoslovak parliament (see details in Czechoslovakia: World War II (1939 - 1945)). Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society The Czechoslovak government-in-exile (sometimes styled officially as provisional government of Czechoslovakia was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Following the Anschluss of Nazi Germany and Austria in March 1938 Nazi leader Adolf Hitler 's next target for annexation was Czechoslovakia Today, the term is most frequently used for the part of the decrees that dealt with the status of Germans and Hungarians in postwar Czechoslovakia; these provisions have become a symbol for historical debates over the flight and expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia during and after World War II and its ramifications in today's politics. The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as Hungarians (or Magyars, magyarok are an Ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of expulsions of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.

Contents

Overview

The decrees were issued by President Edvard Beneš. This is a list of Presidents of Czechoslovakia, both elected and acting Edvard Beneš ( pronounced) ( May 28 1884 Kožlany, Bohemia (then part of Austria-Hungary The decrees can be divided into three parts:

  1. 1940–1944
    These decrees were issued during the London exile. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. They were mainly related to the creation of Czechoslovak exile government (including its army) and its organization.
  2. 1943–1945
    Also issued in exile. Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The main theme was the transition of control of liberated area of Czechoslovakia from Allied armies and the organization of a post-war Czechoslovak government. In general allies are people groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose
  3. 1945 (ending October 26)
    A new post-war government was created in Košice consisting of parties united in National Front with a strong influence of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death Košice (; Hungarian: Kassa; (also known by other alternative names) is a city in eastern Slovakia. The National Front (in Czech: Národní fronta, in Slovak: Národný front) was the coalition of parties which headed the re-established The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak Komunistická strana Československa (KSČ was a political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between But a new parliament had not been created yet, so the will of the government was implemented by decrees of president. Decrees were created by the government and were signed by Beneš. Beside several laws about nationalization of heavy industry these include some very controversial laws mainly connected with confiscation of ethnic Germans' and Hungarians'[1] property. Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the Public ownership of a national government For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as Hungarians (or Magyars, magyarok are an Ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. Property is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual

All of the decrees were retroactively ratified by the Provisional National Assembly on March 5, 1946 by constitutional act No. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 57/1946 Sb.

List of more controversial decrees

Post-war settlement in Europe and the Beneš decrees

The Beneš decrees are most often associated with the forcible "population transfer" (deportation) in 1945-47 of about 2. Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion Deportation, not to be confused with Extradition, generally means the expulsion of someone from a place or Country. 6 million former Czechoslovak citizens of German ethnicity (see also Sudetenland) to Germany and Austria. Sudetenland ( Czech and Polish: Sudety) is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the western regions of However, they do not directly refer to it. Their advocates argue that the German exodus from Eastern Europe was agreed upon by the victorious Allied powers at the Potsdam conference. The German exodus from Eastern Europe refers to the exodus of ethnic German populations from lands to the east of present-day Germany and Austria. The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, Germany, from July 16,

Despite many disputes, it is generally assumed by both advocates and opponents of the decrees that by their enforcement, Czechoslovakia collectively punished ethnic German and Hungarian minorities by expropriation and deportation to Germany, Austria, and Hungary for their alleged collaborationism with Nazi Germany and Hungary against Czechoslovakia during their struggle for secession from Czechoslovakia and annexation by Nazi Germany and Hungary. Code Enforcement is the act of enforcing a set of rules Principles or Laws (especially written ones) and insuring observance of a system of Expropriation refers to Confiscation of Private property with the stated purpose of establishing social equality. Collaborationism, can describe the Treason of cooperating with enemy Forces occupying one's Country. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Secession (derived from the Latin term secessio is the act of withdrawing from an organization union or especially a political entity Annexation ( Latin ad, to and nexus, joining is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity (either adjacent or non-contiguous Advocates of the decrees describe that struggle as irredentism while opponents claim that the right of self-determination of minorities was denied and that their ethnic area was made part of Czechoslovakia against their wishes after World War I. Irredentism is any position advocating Annexation of territories administered by another State on the grounds of common Ethnicity or prior historical possession Self-determination is defined as free choice of one’s own acts without external compulsion and especially as the freedom of the people of a given Territory to determine their World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Some of the decrees concerned the expropriation of the property of wartime "traitors" and collaborators accused of treason, but of all Germans and Hungarians collectively. The pursuit of Nazi collaborators refers to the post-WWII pursuit and apprehension of individuals who were not citizens of the Third Reich at the outbreak of World War II They also ordered the removal of citizenship for people of all German and Hungarian ethnic origin. (The provisions were cancelled for the Hungarians in 1948. ) This was then used to confiscate their property and expel around 90% of the ethnic German population of Czechoslovakia. The Germans were collectively accused of supporting the Nazis (through the Sudeten German Party—a political party led by Konrad Henlein)—and the Third Reich's annexation of the German populated Czech borderland in 1938. The Sudeten German Party (in German Sudetendeutsche Partei, abbreviation SdP) was created by Konrad Henlein under the name Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront DrJur Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein ( May 6, 1898 - May 10, 1945) was the most important pro- Nazi politician in Czechoslovakia Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Almost every decree explicitly stated that the sanctions did not apply to anti-fascists, though the term anti-fascist was not explicitly defined . Some 250,000 Germans, some anti-fascists, but also people crucial for industries were allowed to remain in Czechoslovakia.

Revocation of Decree No. 33/1945

On April 13, 1948, Czechoslovak government issued decree No. 76/1948 allowing those Germans and Hungarians still living in Czechoslovakia, to reinstate the Czechoslovak citizenship that had been revoked by decree No. 33/1945. The Slovakian Commissioner of the Interior also revoked the latter decree by issuing decree No. 287/1948.

Status today

With two exceptions, 89 of the Beneš decrees, edicts, laws and statutes, along with extensive pages of instruction for their enforcement, are kept valid by their continued existence in the statutes of the Czech Republic (1993) and the Slovak Republic (1993). These two successor states of the restored Czechoslovakia remain unwilling to revoke the edicts and laws so as not to contradict the results of WWII.

Impact on today's political relations

The continued validity of the decrees has affected to some extent the political relations between the Czech Republic and Slovakia and their neighbours, Austria, Germany and Hungary.

Those expellees organised within the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft (part of the Federation of Expellees) and associated political groups call for the abolition of the Beneš decrees as based on the principle of collective guilt. The Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft is an Organization representing Sudeten German refugees from the Sudetenland. The Federation of Expellees or Bund der Vertriebenen ( BdV) is a Non-profit organization formed to represent the interests of Germans who either fled their ---- Guilt is the Fact, state or Verdict (by a Court or other Tribunal) of an Offence, Crime, Violation European and international courts have refused to rule on cases concerning the decrees as most international treaties on human rights took effect after 1945/46. Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled

Former Czech Prime Minister Miloš Zeman insists that the Czechs would not consider repealing the decrees because of an underlying fear that doing so would open the door to demands for restitution. According to Time Magazine, former Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan argued, "Why should we single out the Beneš Decrees?… They belong to the past and should stay in the past. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Many current members of the E. U. had similar laws. " [2]

On 20 September 2007 the Slovak Parliament confirmed the decrees. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million All ethnically Slovak members voted for the decision, only Hungarian minority leaders voted against it[3]. Hungarians or Magyars are the largest ethnic minority of Slovakia, numbering 520528 people or 9 President of Hungary, László Sólyom thinks that it will put a strain on Hungarian-Slovak relations[4]. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic László Sólyom (ˈlaːsloː ˈʃoːjom) (born on January 3 1942) is the President of Hungary, having overcome the governing Hungarian

Liechtenstein recognizes neither the Czech Republic nor Slovakia due to the decrees and confiscation of property from the Prince of Liechtenstein due to his profiting from Nazism 1. The Principality of Liechtenstein (Fürstentum Liechtenstein) is a tiny doubly landlocked Alpine country in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland The Liechtenstein dynasty, or Princely Family of Liechtenstein, after which the sovereign principality between Switzerland and Austria was named in Franz Joseph II Prince of Liechtenstein, (Franz Joseph Maria Aloys Alfred Karl Johannes Heinrich Michael Georg Ignaz Benediktus Gerhardus Majella ( August 16, 1906

References

  1. ^ Visegrad Four dispute over Benes Decrees
  2. ^ Putting The Past To Rest - TIME
  3. ^ Beneš Decrees confirmed in Slovakia in Hungarian
  4. ^ Sólyom: Slovak decision unacceptable in Hungarian

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic