František Chvalkovský (30 July 1885,

Jílové u Prahy Jílové u Prahy () is a town in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,300 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative divi ...

– 25 February 1945) was a Czech diplomat and the fourth

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Activities during the First Republic

In the newly-independent Czechoslovakia, Chvalkovský first became a secretary of Interior Minister

Antonín Švehla Antonín Švehla (15 April 1873, in Hostivař – 12 December 1933 in Prague) was a Czechoslovak politician. He served three terms as the Interior Minister and three terms as the prime minister of Czechoslovakia. He is regarded as one of the ...

. 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 obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

and participated in the negotiations of the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

. He later served as

ambassador 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 ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

After Munich Agreement

The

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...

ended the

First Republic of Czechoslovakia The First Czechoslovak Republic, often colloquially referred to as the First Republic, was the first Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks. The country was commonly called Czechoslovakia a compou ...

. Its previous pro-democratic and anti-totalitarian policies gave way to calls for

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

government and closer cooperation with

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

(more information:

Second Czechoslovak Republic The Second Czechoslovak Republic (Czech language, Czech and ), officially the Czecho-Slovak Republic (Czech and Slovak: ''Česko-Slovenská republika''), existed for 169 days, between 30 September 1938 and 15 March 1939. It was c ...

). The political elite, connected with former

Czechoslovak President The president of Czechoslovakia (, ) was the head of state of Czechoslovakia, from the creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 until the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic on 1 January 1993. In periods when t ...

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 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

, 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 a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

and the hunger for revenge from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...

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

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He represented

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

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. When

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

Emil Hácha Emil Dominik Josef Hácha (; 12 July 1872 – 27 June 1945) was a Czech lawyer, the president of Czechoslovakia from November 1938 to March 1939. In March 1939, after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, Hácha was the nominal president of the newly ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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 (polity), 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 ...

, 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 denotes a ...

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 (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...

. 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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 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 Alumni of London Business School 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 British airstrikes during World War II Czechoslovak civilians killed in World War II