March 15, 1939

German occupation of Czechoslovakia

Germany occupies Bohemia and Moravia as Czechoslovakia breaks apart

One Czech company at Místek opened fire anyway, hours after their own president had been threatened into ordering the army not to resist.

An overnight meeting in Berlin

President Emil Hácha had travelled to Berlin on 14 March 1939; the decisive meeting ran past midnight. Hitler told him German troops would enter the Czech lands that morning, and under threats that included the destruction of Prague, Hácha accepted an agreement placing the Czech country in Hitler's hands.

Hácha then ordered Czech authorities not to resist. His foreign minister, František Chvalkovský, signed the Berlin agreement with him.

Six in the morning to Prague Castle by evening

The principal German columns — 17 divisions plus three separate SS regiments were assigned to the operation — crossed the frontier at 6:00 a.m. Mechanized troops reached Prague around 9:00 a.m.

Executive power in the occupied lands passed immediately to a German military administration headed by the army commander-in-chief, Walther von Brauchitsch. Hitler reached occupied Prague Castle that evening.

The occupation was almost, but not entirely, unopposed: Czech soldiers at Místek fought German troops despite the general no-resistance order.

Two other things happened that day

At Khust, the Soim of Carpatho-Ukraine confirmed independence, adopted a republican constitution and elected Avgustyn Voloshyn president — while Hungarian forces were already invading. Hungary's occupation of Transcarpathia was not completed until 18 March.

The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was not created by the troop entry. Hitler's decree formally constituting it followed on 16 March.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 9 sources not yet audited

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What the sources leave uncertain

The main occupation is securely dated March 15, but German troops had already entered the Místek–Ostrava area on the evening of March 14.
Voloshyn's autonomous government announced independence on the evening of March 14; the elected Soim formally confirmed it on March 15.
The Protectorate was formally created by Hitler's decree of March 16, not by the troop entry alone on March 15.
Hungary's invasion was a process rather than a one-day annexation: it began around March 14 and the occupation of Transcarpathia was completed by March 18.