Sudetenland

Su·de·ten·land

geographical name \sü-ˈdā-t^ən-ˌland, -ˌlänt\

Definition of SUDETENLAND

region N Czech Republic in Sudety Mountains

Rhymes with SUDETENLAND

adrenal gland, analysand, back of one's hand, Bechuanaland, cloud-cuckoo-land, digestive gland, endocrine gland, fantasyland, Franz Josef Land, head-in-the-sand, mammary gland, misunderstand, multiplicand, pineal gland, Somaliland, to beat the band, vacationland, videoland, Witwatersrand

Sudetenland

   (Concise Encyclopedia)

Sections of northern and western Bohemia and northern Moravia around the Sudeten mountain ranges. Formerly part of Austria, the predominantly German-speaking area was incorporated into Czechoslovakia after World War I. Discontent among the Sudeten Germans was exploited in the mid-1930s by the Nazi Party and its local leader Konrad Henlein. The inflammatory situation convinced Britain and France that, to avoid war, Czechoslovakia must be persuaded to give the region autonomy. Adolf Hitler's demand that the region be ceded to Germany was initially rejected, but the cession was later accomplished by the Munich agreement. After World War II the region was restored to Czechoslovakia, which expelled its German inhabitants and repopulated the area with Czechs.