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“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along…We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.” That was US President George W. Bush speaking in front of the Israeli Knesset on May 15th. The statement was not only controversial because it was viewed as a political attack on a fellow American – Senator Barack Obama - while away from American soil, but

When Nazi Germany occupied Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939, many Czech and Slovak professional soldiers and airmen decided to escape from the country, rather than hand over arms to the Germans. Six months later war broke out and many of them joined the French armed forces. When France was occupied, they escaped to Britain. This was how the Royal Air Force’s 310 and 312 Czechoslovak Fighter Squadrons came to be set up in July and August 1940, and they went on to play an important role in the Battle of Britain. They were also joined by the 311

In today’s Special, we look at Military Prague: a few of the key moments in the city’s history, from the first Slavonic settlements, to the founding of Prague Castle and achievements later in the 20th century. Like any major city, Prague’s military history is impossible to separate from other historical developments: technological, economic, and cultural. As a site in the Czech lands it is of course difficult to overstate its importance.

On May 5 1945, Czech Radio or Český Rozhlas formally turned against the Nazi German government occupying the country and called on protesters to openly oppose Nazi rule. Today marks the 63rd anniversary of this incident, which ultimately led to the liberation of the Czech lands from Nazi rule.

Memorial ceremonies have got underway in the west Bohemian city of Pilsen to mark the end of the Second World War and the liberation of the city by US troops on May 6, 1945. As every year, a number of Second World War veterans from the US and Belgium have accepted the invitation to attend the celebrations as guests of honour and the coming days are full of events, including a military parade, a veterans-car ride and an air show organized by the Czech Airforce.

Sixty-nine years ago this week, on March 14 1939, the Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha spoke to the nation. He had just returned from Berlin, where Hitler had given him a simple ultimatum: face either occupation or destruction. Hácha chose occupation:

Czech World War II hero Čestmír Šikola has died at the age of 89, the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes reported. Mr Šikola was one of the last surviving men to have been parachuted into occupied Bohemia and Moravia by the British. He used his skills as a wireless operator to send around 800 intelligence reports to London from the Protectorate between 1942 and 1945.

On Sunday The Counterfeiters, based on the memoirs of Prague resident Adolf Burger, won the Academy Award for best foreign language film. Mr Burger’s book The Devil’s Workshop tells the remarkable story of a Nazi scheme under which Jewish concentration camp prisoners – including the author – were put to work forging US and UK banknotes, with the aim of destabilising the Allies’ economies. Adolf Burger, who is 90, was in Hollywood to enjoy The Counterfeiters Oscar victory. To celebrate his success we are re-broadcasting Mr Burger’s story, which first

A replica of the Czech made Tatra aero sledge, which was produced for the Germans during the Second World War, has recently been made for a collector in the United States. The little car with skis instead of wheels and a large propeller at the back was intended to serve the German Army in Russia. On Tuesday the replica was successfully tested on the snow of Jeseníky Mountains.

In sombre tones the second Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš announced his resignation on Czechoslovak Radio on October 5 1938. Since becoming president in 1935, he had been haunted by the spectre of Nazi Germany, as Hitler had fuelled separatist sentiment among the country’s 3.5 million German speakers. Here is an extract from one of President Beneš’ vain appeals for reconciliation, in April 1938.