Cedarford, you should recognize that practically the entire world, including Germany itself, has accepted the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia. Few people besides yourself consider the expulsion to be illegal or unjust.

The Sudeten Germans’ refusal to live peacefully with the Czechs within the borders established by the European powers after World War One was a crucial factor in the outbreak of World War Two. Thus, the Sudeten Germans themselves made their own continuing presence inside Czechoslovakia a danger to international peace at the end of World War Two. In order for World War Two to be concluded, the Sudeten Germans had to be expelled, because their presence in that particular location had been a crucial part of the cause of World War Two.

No European country, including Germany, has challenged the expulsion as illegal or unjust. On the contrary, practically every European recognizes the obvious fact that Europe has been a much better and more peaceful region ever since the expulsion was accomplished.

The expulsion of the Sudeten Germans also served as a wise lesson to all ethnic minorities in Europe after World War Two. In Czechoslovakia itself, the Polish and Hungarian minorities resigned themselves to living peacefully within the established borders. The Slovaks lived peacefully with the Czechs, and when Czechoslovakia itself eventually broke up, the Czechs and Slovaks accomplished the breakup cooperatively and peacefully.

After World War Two, all ethnic minorities accepted the reality that their own historical presence and ethnic resentments were subordinate in importance to international peace. If any ethnic minority tried to provoke an international conflict, then a possible consequence might be the international community’s sanction of the expulsion of that minority.