protectorate · Germany and Central Europe

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

1939 CE – 1945 CE · capital Prague

Nazi-occupied Czech lands, nominally autonomous but ruled through terror, deportations and forced labour from 1939 to 1945.

Origins

After the Munich Agreement and the loss of the Sudetenland in 1938, Germany occupied the rest of Bohemia and Moravia on 15 March 1939, as Slovakia declared independence. The next day Hitler proclaimed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from Prague Castle.

Rule and society

A Czech government under President Emil Hácha remained in place, but real power lay with the Reich Protector, first Konstantin von Neurath and then Reinhard Heydrich. Czech universities were closed in 1939, and Czech industry, such as the Škoda works, served the German war effort. Heydrich was assassinated by Czech parachutists in 1942, and the Nazis destroyed the villages of Lidice and Ležáky in reprisal. Most Czech Jews were deported via Theresienstadt and murdered.

Decline and legacy

The Prague uprising broke out on 5 May 1945, and the Red Army entered Prague on 9 May. The territory was restored to Czechoslovakia, which expelled most of its German population in the following two years.

Lineage

Czechoslovakia 1918 CE – 1992 CEProtectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

Connections (1)

  • Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a protectorate of Nazi Germany1939 CE – 1945 CE

More states of Germany and Central Europe →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/protectorate-of-bohemia-and-moravia
MLA
“Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/protectorate-of-bohemia-and-moravia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/protectorate-of-bohemia-and-moravia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/protectorate-of-bohemia-and-moravia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻