Ceský obsah:

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 1918, a resolution calling for an independent state. That evening Bohemia was virtually free of Austrian rule (except for some contested areas). Two days later other Czechoslovak provinces followed suit.

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 :

"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.