[2] Ethnic Germans migrated into the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electoral territory of the Holy Roman Empire, from the 11th century, mostly in the border regions of what was later called the "Sudetenland", which was named after the Sudeten Mountains.

[9] The term "Sudeten Germans" (Sudetendeutsche) came about during rising ethnic nationalism in the early 20th century, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the First World War.

Though they were living beyond the medieval Kingdom of Germany, an independent German Bohemian awareness, however, was not widespread, and for a long time, it played no decisive role in everyday life.

[13] On the other hand, the 18th-century Silesian Wars started by Prussian King Frederick II of Prussia against Austria resulted in the loss of the traditionally-Bohemian crown land and weakened Germans in the remaining parts of Bohemia.

Electoral officials were very careful to demarcate areas as clearly either German or Czech and to assure that there would be no conflict as to which ethnicity had a majority in any constituency.

The end of the war in 1918 brought about the partition of the multiethnic Austria-Hungary into its historical components, one of them, the Bohemian Kingdom, forming the west of the newly created Czechoslovakia.

The Austrian head of government, Ernst Seidler von Feuchtenegg, wanted to divide Bohemia by setting up administrative counties (Verwaltungskreise), which would be based on the nationalities of the population.

[11] On 14 October, Raphael Pacher succeeded, together with the social democrat, Josef Seliger, in uniting all German parties and members of parliament in Bohemia and Moravia into a coalition.

German Bohemia in the Eagle Mountains and in the area of Landskron merged with the so-called "Province of the Sudetenland", which had radically different borders than the later understanding of the term.

[23] American diplomat Archibald Coolidge insisted on respecting the Germans' right to self-determination and uniting all German-speaking areas with either Germany or Austria, with the exception of northern Bohemia.

[citation needed] The Sudetenland possessed huge chemical works and lignite mines as well as textile, china, and glass factories.

Already in 1936, Jaksch, together with Hans Schütz of the German Christian Social People's Party (Deutsche Christlich-Soziale Volkspartei) and Gustav Hacker of the Farmers' Association (Bund der Landwirte), formed the Jungaktivisten (Young Activists).

Nationalist sentiment flourished, however, among Sudeten German youths, who had a variety of organizations, such as the older Deutsche Turnverband and Schutzvereine, the Kameradschaftsbund, the Nazi Volkssport (1929) and the Bereitschaft.

On 1 October 1933, Konrad Henlein with his deputy, Karl Hermann Frank, aided by other members of the Kameradschaftsbund, a youth organization of mystical orientation, created a new political organisation.

Henlein suffered a severe blow to his reputation as well as political influence when his mentor, Heinz Rutha, was accused of homosexuality and committed suicide in prison.

The radical wing of the party pressured Henlein to resign, and the Czechoslovak security forces increased their efforts to frustrate the movement's activities.

Ronald Smelser noted that "backed to the wall, Henlein took what he thought to be the only step left to rescue his own position and the unity of his movement: he wrote a letter to Adolf Hitler.

Henlein, however, maintained secret contact with Nazi Germany and received material aid from Berlin, which told him to refuse every concession offered by Czechoslovakia.

[32] Johann Wolfgang Brügel also highlights that although Henlein became "Hitler's paladin", the SdP of 1935 represented a "conglomerate of practically all [political] colourings", and the opinion of the general Sudeten German population only supported autonomy within Czechoslovakia.

German Christian Socialists in Czechoslovakia suspended their activities on 24 March; their deputies and senators entered the SdP parliamentary club.

[31][35] Contemporary reports of The Times found that there was a "large number of Sudetenlanders who actively opposed annexation", and that the pro-German policy was challenged by the moderates within the SdP as well; according to Wickham Steed, over 50 % of Henleinists favoured greater autonomy within Czechoslovakia over joining Germany.

The region became the site of small-scale clashes between young SdP followers, equipped with arms smuggled from Germany, and police and border forces.

On 20 May, Czechoslovakia initiated a so-called "partial mobilization" (literally "special military precaution") in response to rumours of German troop movements.

[43] In August, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sent Lord Runciman, a faithful appeaser,[44] to Czechoslovakia to see if he could obtain a settlement between the Czechoslovak government and the Sudeten Germans.

Even as late as the time of my Mission, I could find no readiness on the part of the Czechoslovak Government to remedy them on anything like an adequate scale... the feeling among the Sudeten Germans until about three or four years ago was one of hopelessness.

I regard their turning for help towards their kinsmen and their eventual desire to join the Reich as a natural development in the circumstances.Britain and France then pressured the Czechoslovak government into ceding the Sudetenland to Germany on 21 September.

Because of their knowledge of the Czech language, many Sudeten Germans were employed in the administration of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia as well as in the Nazi oppressive machinery such as the Gestapo.

The remaining faculty, students, and administrators fled to Munich in Bavaria, where they established the Collegium Carolinum, a research institute for the study of the Bohemian lands.

Likewise, Argentina-based Princess Mercedes von Dietrichstein, daughter of Alexander von Dietrichstein, has spent long years legally battling to recover her family's assets (for example, Mikulov Castle) that were confiscated from them in the Sudetenland area by order of the President of Czechoslovakia Edvard Beneš, through the so-called Beneš Decrees, which dispossessed all ethnic Germans of their property and expelled them from their land.

[62] In the beginning the colony was difficult for them, since most of them were not farmers but had other professions, but they soon knew how to adapt and today the community is the seat of large yerba mate factories.