Prior To Uprising
Several factors greatly influenced the daily life of the majority of people, including the militarization of the economy, the elimination of political rights, transportation to Germany for forced labor, and national oppression. Various forms of German oppression in the cities affected not only the working class, but also the "middle strata"—the small and middle businessmen, and the lower categories of state and civic employees, for example.
The most important task of the Czechs was to stop the Germans from disturbing what Czechoslovak territory they still occupied as well as to stop them from continuing the war on Czech soil. The goal of the resistance was to force the German occupants to retreat to Germany. The Czech Resistance needed the support and help of the Red Army in order to become fully liberated.
As the ending to the war was coming closer, it had a powerful effect on the residents of all over Czechoslovakia. In fact, it strengthened their longing to explicitly demonstrate their bitter hatred toward the German occupants. During the German occupation or protection of Czechoslovakia, tensions had built up because of oppression. This would later lead to the expulsion of three million Sudeten Germans from their homes of 800 years.
In the spring of 1945 throughout Czechoslovakia, there were both many large and small partisan groups that totaled about 7,500 men. These followers mostly took part in the "battle of the rails", in which they disturbed the railway and highway transportation, attacked trains and stations, as well as German troop trains, and damaged tracks and bridges. For example, there were some lines the Germans could use only in the daytime and not even every day.
On the eve of the uprising, the propaganda activities of the group called the Communist Youth, were in full swing, but didn’t last long. The communist groups whose solidarity had been broken by arrests in March were somehow able to work under the tough circumstances of illegality.
Read more about this topic: Prague Uprising
Famous quotes containing the words prior to, prior and/or uprising:
“The logic of the world is prior to all truth and falsehood.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“To John I owed great obligation;
But John, unhappily, thought fit
To publish it to all the nation:
Sure John and I are more than quit.”
—Matthew Prior (1664–1721)
“Ours is the old, old story of every uprising race or class or order. The work of elevation must be wrought by ourselves or not at all.”
—Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904)