European University Institute Library

The economy of ethnic cleansing, the transformation of the German-Czech borderlands after World War II, David W. Gerlach, Saint Peter's University, New Jersey

eng

index present

non fiction

The economy of ethnic cleansing

electronic resource

dictionaries

1006609563

David W. Gerlach, Saint Peter's University, New Jersey

Cambridge books online

the transformation of the German-Czech borderlands after World War II

In the wake of World War II the Sudetenland became the scene of ethnic cleansing, witnessing not only the expulsion of nearly 3 million German speakers, but also the influx of nearly 2 million resettlers. Yet mob violence and nationalist hatred were not the driving forces of ethnic cleansing; instead, greed, the search for power and property, and the general dislocation of post-war Central and Eastern Europe facilitated these expulsions and the transformation of the German-Czech borderlands. These overlapping migrations produced conflict among Czechs, hardship for Germans and facilitated the Communist Party's rise to power. Drawing on a wide range of materials from local and central archives, as well as expellee accounts, David Gerlach demonstrates how the lure of property and social mobility, as well as economic necessities, shaped the course and consequences of ethnic cleansing.--, Provided by publisher

In the wake of war : expulsions, violence and borderland life -- Divisions within the nation : resettlement, local power and settler conflicts -- Persian rugs and well-appointed farms : the politics of expropriation -- German workers, Czech settlers and labor politics -- Consolidating borderland industries : from confiscation to nationalization -- Borderlands transformed