Chapter 19: Fall Grün – The Invasion of Czechoslovakia
As of 1 September 1939 a state of war existed between the German Reich and the nation of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia quickly called the Allies to arms and by nightfall of the 1 September Germany found herself at war with France (and her colonies), Britain (and her colonies), Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium as well. The Second World War had begun.
The first step was to neutralize and defeat Czechoslovakia. OKW had modified the original plans for Fall Grün (Case Green). OKH believed the campaign against the Czechs could be won in a matter of half a month, at the longest. Czechoslovakia was weakly defended with the ceding of the Sudetenland in 1938 to Germany and it would be frighteningly easy to split the country into two parts. In addition, the major cities of Prague and Bratislava sat close to the German-Czech frontier.
2nd Army would control the northern sector of the campaign while 3rd Army would man the southern sector. The 101st Independent Panzer Corps would strike a blow in central Czechoslovakia from the South in order to split the Czechs in two. Meanwhile, infantry would begin an assault against Prague on a wide front. In the South, an assault against Bratislava would begin right away. The city was close enough to the border to be attacked immediately. The same was true for Brno.
The plans for Fall Grün (Case Green).
By the late afternoon of 1 September, reports were already coming in to headquarters that the offensive had been a stunning success. The Czechs were fully mobilized and not caught off guard in any way, but they simply did not have the means to fight off the German assault. The Czech infantry division defending the city of Brno fled in the late afternoon after a short, but bloody scuffle with several advancing German infantry divisions. With the city abandoned, the 50th Infantry Division would quickly make its way in to occupy Brno on 3 September. The first of Czechoslovakia’s major cities had already fallen before sunset of the first day of war.
German Panzer 35(t) tanks race across the border. Perhaps it is ironic that these tanks
were actually designed and built by Czechoslovakia and were now being used against them.
In the evening hours, the first attacks on Prague began as several thousand German troops attacked the city’s western frontier. Simultaneously, the first of several great bombing raids took flight as several hundred FW 200 Condors razed the city center that night. The Condors’ main objective over the coming days was to attack the enemy troops stationed in and around the city, but the Fuehrer wanted to make it clear on the first night that nothing but unconditional surrender by the Czech government would be acceptable. The war would be short, but brutal.
On 2 September, attacks against the northern flank of Prague began in earnest. By 6 September, the outnumbered Czechs had fled after sustaining immense casualties and with that the Heer had exposed Prague’s northern flank. The city could now be attacked from two sides and, indeed, it was. By midday on 6 September, 4th, 14th, 76th, and 93rd Infantry Divisions were actively participating in a direct attack against the city while 3rd and 94th were held in reserve. The city was only defended by three Czech divisions, including one mountain division, along with two headquarters brigades. The odds were certainly not in the Czechs’ favors, but it was still expected to take at least a week to clear out the streets of Prague. As history has shown, street fighting is never an easy task to tackle.
On 7 September, elements of the 2nd Army united with the 3rd Army at Mikulov, officially severing the rump Czech state in two. Prague was now cut off from the remainder of Czechoslovakia and it was truly the beginning of the end for Czechoslovakia. There was no stopping the inevitable now.
Czechoslovakia was severed at midday on 7 September 1939.
Over the next two days, similar breakthroughs were made further west by the 101st Independent Panzer Corps and by 11 September, Prague was surrounded on three sides as Pelhrimov fell to the the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions. These two divisions would begin an assault from the south against the Czech capital city on 12 September.
By 11 September, the Battle of Bratislava had reached a breaking point. The city had been assaulted by four Germany infantry divisions for the last 10 days and only one division, the 10th Infantry Division led by General Hosek, remained to defend the city. However, this division found itself increasingly outnumbered and reinforcements were few and far between. The situation had been critical and the Germans sensed it. But the afternoon, advances had been made deep into the center of the city and the Czech defenses were literally crumbling. Underground Slovakian partisans had also began to rise up in the Czech Army’s rear and their effects began to be felt at last.
With the Battle of Bratislava winding down, the Czech central front had collapsed.
The Czech 10th Infantry Division finally broke down and was forced to retreat eastwards on 12 September, ending the Battle of Bratislava. The battle was especially bloody for both sides with the Germans sustaining 2250 casualties compared to the Czechs’ total of 2804. The Czech defenders had held out valiantly, but in the end it was in vain.
Further West, the Battle of Prague was also quickly approaching its logical conclusion. By the evening of 12 September, the Heer had taken 90% of the city and only the Czech 18th and 19th Infantry Divisions continued to offer the Germans meaningful resistance.
Finally, on 13 September the Czechs in the Prague pocket agreed to lay down their arms and surrender. After nearly 4500 casualties, the Czech defenders were worn down and the Czech officers finally saw the futility of their fight. The battle was also costly for the Heer as almost 2800 Germans lost their lives in the battle. In addition, Czech anti-aircraft guns were responsible for downing tens of German Condor bombers during the course of the battle.
The Battle of Prague was costly, but in the end it proved to have a decisive result.
A ceasefire was immediately ordered effective at sunset on 13 September. It took another day in order to draft the official surrender documents, however. In the end, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist on 15 September and was divvied up between Germany, Hungary, and the new nation of Slovakia, which was to be led by Jozef Tiso. In effect, the nation was a client state of the German Reich and immediately became a signatory of both the Anti-Comintern Pact and the Axis. The Germany-annexed portion of Czechoslovakia was to become the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
The campaign against Czechoslovakia was short, but bloody. In the end, the Czechs never really stood a chance. Their borders were simply not defendable in the long-term in their current state and their army was hopelessly outnumbered. Still, the Heer had performed admirably and the fact that Germany was able to defeat a modern, advanced nation like Czechoslovakia in only two weeks put the rest of the world on notice.
Now, Germany was able to turn her focus elsewhere, including on a potentially unsettling situation along the Western Front, where French and Dutch forces were trying to force a breakthrough at Duisburg.
A map of former Czechoslovakia following the partition of the country.
