THE GERMAN ENCLAVE OF
SOUTHERN MORAVIA
By Salvatore
Ceský obsah:
Tento text se zabývá poštovní historií německé provincie
Německá jižní Morava.
Amid the turmoil
and chaos that prevailed in Austria-Hungary as the First World War neared its conclusion,
Emperor Karl, in an effort to stave off the downfall of his regime, signed his
"People's Manifesto" on 16 October 1918. It was published on the 18th
of October and made known to all of the country's varied provinces. This
Manifesto granted the different ethnic populations of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire the right to determine their own future through "National
Councils." These councils would represent their constituents and, in turn,
would do so in conjunction with the Imperial Government in Vienna. Thus, there
would have been created the United States of Austria-Hungary. The politicians
of the far-flung provinces of the monarchy accepted this offer of autonomy;
then went their separate ways.
All the German
parliamentary deputies, representing their respective areas in Northern
Bohemia, the Sudetenland [In 1918, the "Sudetenland" was located only
in Northern Moravia. This term came into general use at a later time to
indicate the land area populated with a majority of German language speaking
Czech citizens.] in Northern Moravia, German Southern Moravia, and the Bohemian
Waldgau [Forest District] in Southern Bohemia, met in the new Provisional
National Assembly of independent German-Austria in Vienna on 21 October 1918.
There they introduced and enacted resolutions stating that the Bohemian and
Moravian areas which they represented were to be considered as regions
belonging to the German-Austrian State; thereby ignoring the fact that this
state was on the verge of losing the war and, as a defeated nation, would no
longer have any authority to make such laws. Znaim town authorities, on 27
October 1918, issued a Proclamation of Nationality, affirming that Southern
Moravia was now in fact united to the Province of Lower Austria (Figure 1; this
resolution was accepted and approved by the Parliament of Lower Austria on 5
November 1918.)
The Czech
National Committee in Prague enacted and ratified, on 28 October
Personnel of the
Austrian Navy were sent to protect the area of German Southern Moravia on 27
October 1918. This was a rather large region, nearly 710 square miles, with a
population of 173,000, living in some 195 towns and villages, with 68 post
offices. The Czech National Committee in Brno/Brunn sent members of the Czech
military legion to enforce their new national borders. Armed militia, made up of
local nationals, joined the forces on both sides. The united Czech military
brought pressure to bear on the Austrian defenders and won their first victory
on 9 November, when Hustopece/Auspitz was occupied. Confrontations continued
for the next approximately seven weeks until all Austrian resistance ended on
17 December 1918. Znaim itself had been occupied on the previous day. German
Southern Moravia no longer existed. Thirty years later this German enclave
would revert back to the then Lower Donau Province, as it was known in Hitler's
Germany of 1938.
Mail cancelled
and dispatched during the 51 day siege is considered relatively rare, as it
could only be delivered to what was left of defeated German-speaking Austria.
The two parcel post receipt cards, illustrated at Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, are
examples of postal usage during the short existence of German Southern Moravia.
REFERENCES :
"Postmarks of German Southern
Moravia" by Lubor Kunc, appearing in "The Czechoslovak
Specialist," Nov/Dec 1995; Society
for Czechoslovak Philately .
"The Austrians - A Thousand Year
Odyssey, by Gordon Brook-Shepherd, 1996.
"The Greatest Treason - The Untold
Story of Munich," by Laurence Thompson, 1968.
"Nemesis at Potsdam - The
Anglo-Americans and the Expulsion of the Germans" (Revised Edition), by
Alfred M. De Zayas, 1979.
"The Coasts of Bohemia, A Czech
History," by Derek Sayer, 1998.
Road Map of the Czech Republic, Kummerly
& Frey, 1994-1995 Edition.
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