Czech-German Relations and the Politics of Central Europe

In the aftermath of World War Two, approximately three million Sudeten-Germans were expelled from their homes in the former Czechoslovakia because of their part in the dismemberment of the Czechoslovak Republic by Nazi Germany in 1938-39. For many years their representatives, the Sudeten-German Association, attempted in vain to redress the wrong done to their people. However, the end of the Cold War has given a new impetus to their campaign. Currently they attempt to block Czech entry into the EU unless there is restitution of confiscated properties. Jürgen Tampke tells the story of the Sudeten-Germans from the beginning of their settlement seven hundred years ago in what is now the Czech Republic to current times.