The influence of the expulsion and replacement of Sudeten Germans in Kraslice

This bachelor's thesis deals with the effect of the forced expulsion of Germans from the town of Kraslice, and the replacement of the original population with newly arrived colonists from then-Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European countries in the 20th century. The introductory chapters provide historical context by describing Kraslice's history and the town's most prominent cultural and economic characteristics, and describe the process of expulsion in Kraslice. The core of the thesis is dedicated to both the short-term and long-term effects of population replacement. The post-war change in the local economy was mostly driven by the consolidation of pre-existing German businesses into two state-controlled companies, whose continuing function was key to the town's success. This transformation is therefore described with regards to its effects on Kraslice up to the present day. Due to strong anti-German sentiment after WWII, Kraslice's original culture was entirely wiped out (both figuratively and literally, as exemplified by the destruction of historical buildings) and replaced by the state-sanctioned "Slavic" culture, which was in reality a front for communist propaganda. For this reason, this thesis also details the absence of any cultural ties today's Kraslice has to the hundreds of years of..