„Na pana Špínu profesora si dejte v Praze též pozor, jest to Čech rozený, ale škodlivý teď Němec.“ K činnosti čelného představitele německého aktivismu v první Československé republice Franze Spiny
“Na pana Špínu profesora si dejte v Praze též pozor, jest to Čech rozený, ale škodlivý teď Němec.” About the Activity of the Chief Representative of the German Activism Franz Spina in the First Czechoslovak Republic

Summary/Abstract: Franz Spina belonged to the most prominent political representatives of the German national minority in the first Czechoslovak Republic. Immediately after the establishment of a new state, he started to participate in political life; he concerned himself with the agrarian movement. Later on, shortly after joining the parliament in 1920, he realized that attempts on territorial disintegration could not be successful. In the first half of 1920s he became a chief propagator of a policy of so-called activism, i.e. searching for a way of taking a more active cooperation with authorities as well as better understanding between the majority of Czech nation and the most numerous German minority. This issue was concluded with entering of two German ministers into the nationally mixed government in autumn 1926. This achievement has been the climax of Spina’s political career. When the economic crisis had errupted, he tried to cooperate in arrangements to farmers’ benefit. But at the same time he was forced to face the growing pressure of negativistic parties that cricitized his policy. After the establishment of SHF, Spina had strived to cooperate with Henlein but he soon understood that the accord would not be reached. At the beginning of the year he still actively attempted to improve the situation of German minority (February Agreement), however the atmosphere of that time has not been favourable to the positive solution of the Czechoslovakian matter. He abnegated his parliamentary mandate in March 1938 and he died pretty tired and exhausted in autumn of the same year due to the attacks on his personality.

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