The Crossroads of Three Nations: Czechoslovak Ethnic Policy towards Railwaymen and Industrial Workers in Cieszyn Silesia, 1920–1938

Abstract

Abstract The abstract for your paper is included below. This will appear onlineonly. Cieszyn Silesia is a region which was divided between Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1920. Czechoslovakia obtained the industrially developed and strategically important part, which had a large Polish and German population. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the minority policy of the Czechoslovak state administration by focusing on the examples of state-run railway employees and workers in large, mostly private, industrial establishments. It discusses the mechanisms of an ethnic policy that functioned in a particular, distinctive region at the crossroads of three cultures—German, Polish and Czech. Policies towards minorities in Czechoslovakia in the period before the Munich Agreement of 1938 have often been regarded as democratic and tolerant. Nonetheless, the integration of Cieszyn Silesia was a significant challenge for Czechoslovak authorities and their actions were often in contradiction with liberal principles. This paper focuses not on the legislation, but on the practical approaches that contributed to the enhancement of the position of the Czech nation. In the case of both railwaymen and industrial workers, the state authorities took action that had a common goal—the Czechification of the region. The main difference in methods used against both groups depended on the direct dependence of the former (railwaymen) on the state as their employer. In the case of industrial workers, state policies had a less direct impact, but nonetheless created conditions conducive to discriminatory and assimilationist pressures.