František Chvalkovský (30 July 1885, Jílové u Prahy – 25 February 1945) was a Czech diplomat and the fourth foreign minister of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Activities during the First Republic

In the newly-independent Czechoslovakia, Chvalkovský first became a secretary of Interior Minister Antonín Švehla. In 1920, he joined the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

and participated in the negotiations of the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

. He later served as ambassador to Japan, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

After Munich Agreement

The

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

ended the

First Republic of Czechoslovakia The First Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, První československá republika, sk, Prvá česko-slovenská republika), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( cs, První republika, Slovak: ''Prvá republika''), was the first Czechoslo ...

. Its previous pro-democratic and anti-totalitarian policies gave way to calls for authoritarian government and closer cooperation with

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

(more information: Second Czechoslovak Republic). The political elite, connected with former Czechoslovak President

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

, had to leave office and Chvalkovský became foreign minister. He tried to maintain the independence of the rump state by making concessions to neighbours in the hope of gaining time for a more favorable outcome in the future. He grossly underestimated Hitler's desire to occupy

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

and the hunger for revenge from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, who had been forced to make painful territorial concessions to Czechoslovakia after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He represented

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

during the Vienna Arbitration. Insufficient preparation forced Czechoslovakia to concede significant parts of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. When

declared independence on 14 March 1939, Chvalkovský travelled with Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in the hope that further concessions would preserve the independence of Czech lands.

Under Nazi rule

With the establishment of the

Protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

, there was no official place for the Czech

. In its last ruling, under German pressure, the Foreign Ministry ordered all Czechoslovak

ambassadors An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to close their

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

and to transfer them to the Germans. Patriotic clerks hoped that the ambassadors, free from direct Nazi pressure, would disobey the order and keep the embassies for the future benefit of the

government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a Sovereign state, country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Govern ...

. As a last resort, if the host government was hostile to them, they should transfer their embassy to the it, rather than Germany. However, many ambassadors did not read between the lines and obeyed the order literally, as they were used to doing, which caused significant damage to Czechoslovak interests. Given the sequence of events shaped by Chvalkovský, many countries, such as

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, a signatory of the

, initially considered the fall of Czechoslovakia to be a result of internal forces, rather than German aggression. Chvalkovský thus caused considerable damage to Czechoslovakia during that critical period. After the Foreign Ministry was closed in 1939, Chvalkovský became an envoy of the Protectorate in Germany. He was killed on a highway outside

during an Allied Air raid, strafed by a low-flying aircraft. The German High Command reported British strafing attacks near Berlin that day.''OKW Bericht'' for 25 February 1945

References

External links

František Chvalkovský's biography on the web site of Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In Czech.

In German.
František Chvalkovský's last days in the Third Reich
In English with links to German documents. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chvalkovsky, Frantisek 1885 births 1945 deaths People from Jílové u Prahy People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Foreign ministers of Czechoslovakia Government ministers of Czechoslovakia Ambassadors of Czechoslovakia to Japan Ambassadors of Czechoslovakia to the United States Ambassadors of Czechoslovakia to Germany Ambassadors of Czechoslovakia to Italy Deaths by airstrike during World War II Czechoslovak civilians killed in World War II