CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECTS OF CZECHOSLOVAK MINORITIES

III. Czechoslovak Post-War Regulations of Minorities. Transfer of populations after the Second World War from Czechoslovakia It should be pointed out that immediately after the Second World War “the nationality was withdrawn en masse from persons of German and Hungarian races by Czechoslovakia and from persons of German race by Poland. Persons of German race were expelled to Germany under the Potsdam Agreement”. 45 One of the main reasons for this measure was that the inter-war practice confirmed that the Minorities Treaties of the League of Nations had been a failure because they did not prevent the Second World War and did not ultimately protect vulnerable minorities. One of the first tasks of the international community (represented by the victorious states during the Second World War) was to decide about measures aimed at preventing future armed conflicts due to minority pretexts and similar reasons. One such measure was a population transfer “accepted by the great powers immediately after the Second World War as a respectable means to resolve certain outstanding minority questions”. 46 In practice the Allied Control Council for Germany in 1945 approved the forcible transfer of 6.5 million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary, 47 and the 1946 Paris Peace Conference provided for the transfer of ethnic Italians, Croats, and Slovenes between Italy and Yugoslavia. The Protocol of the Proceedings of the Potsdam Agreement also stipulated (Chapter XII – Orderly Transfer of German Populations) that: The three governments having considered the questions in all its aspects recognize that the transfer to Germany of German populations or elements thereof remaining in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary will have to be undertaken. They agree that any transfers that take place should be effected in an orderly and human manner. 48 The exiled Czechoslovak government took into account the urgent need to adopt effective measures to prevent future danger from the German and Hungarian minority not only for internal and external security of Czechoslovakia but for the security of Europe in general. The “Memorandum of the Czechoslovak government on the Protection of the German Minority in Czechoslovakia” from 23 November 1944 presents the position of Czechoslovakia vis á vis these minorities in some details. 49 It is sufficient to briefly summarize some key points of the Memorandum’s conclusions. It underlined in the outset (para. 1) that the national minorities (and specially German) constituted a serious source of friction and conflict between nations and represented a potential danger to security. Since in the case of Czechoslovakia, the problem of this minority could not be solved by territorial adjustment which would have led to “absurd, morally inacceptable and politically dangerous result of justifying German aggression” while “depriving Czechoslovakia as a victim of German Aggression of its historical, natural and strategic frontiers”. (para. 2 of the Memorandum). Taking into account these circumstances, all Germans possessing Czechoslovak citizenship (with the exception of those who took active 45 UNDoc. A/CN.4/50: Report on Nationality, Including Statelessness by Manley O. Hudson, Special Rapporteur. op. cit., p. 10. 46 PREECE, J. J.:Minority Rights in Europe: From Westphalia to Helsinki. Review of International Studies , 1997, Vol. 23, No. 1. p. 85. 47 UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/214, p. 3. 48 Available at: https://www.nato.int/ebookshop/video/declassified/doc_files/Potsdam%20Agreement.pdf. 49 Available at: FRUS, 1945, pp. 1227-1237.

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