Jaroslav Šůla, Sorbian Day in London in 1944 (Lusatian Sorbs and the Czechoslovakian government-in-exile in London)

The article of the Czech historian, based on historic sources and on the current Czech and Polish literature, describes the evolution of the views on possible solutions of the so called Sorbian case presented by Czech and Polish politicians on exile in London during the 2nd World War, and confronts them with opinions on Polish diaspora in London. While the priority of Czechoslovakian political emigration, governed by the president Edvard Beneš, was to lower the number of Germans living in Czechoslovakia after the end of the 2nd World War, even for the price of the territorial compromise with Germany (even though such a possibility was only considered in terms of Potsdam Conference), Czechoslovakian officers, mostly the 1st World War veterans (so called “legionnaires”) rejected the idea entirely and demanded the corrections of Czechoslovakian boarders with Germany, so in the event of future war with Germany, of which inevitability they were convinced, the Czechoslovakia would poses the strategic advantage. This is why they counted on adjoining the Lower and Upper Lusatia to Czechoslovakia or Poland. However they did not deal with the legal and administrative side of the issue. They were willing to solve the case also by occupation of the Lusatian territory. This solution was in compliance with Polish military representatives and, partly, with E. Beneš’s stand.At the end of the article the author describes the action of the Slavic Convent in London that took place in 1944. A renowned Czech politician, the slavophil and a friend of Lusatian Sorbs, pointed to the problem of this Slavic nation and demanded its freedom after the war victory. His contribution was published in London in form of a brochure and affected the general views on the possible solutions that could be applied in the central Europe, which, however never came into fruition. The article poses the point of reference for studies of latest Lusatian, Czechoslovakian and Polish history.