History of Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)
Despite initially developing effective representative institutions alongside a successful economy, the deteriorating international economic situation in the 1930s gave rise to growing ethnic tensions.
The dispute between the Czech and German populations, fanned by the rise of Nazism in neighbouring Germany, resulted in the loss of territory under the terms of the Munich Agreement and subsequent events in the autumn of 1938, bringing about the end of the First Republic.
On 12 November 1918, a Republic of German Austria was declared, with the intent of unifying with Germany, relying on President Wilson's principle of self-determination.
The Czech delegation was led by Kramář and Beneš, premier and foreign minister respectively, of the Czechoslovak provisional government.
The conference approved the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, to encompass the historic Bohemian Kingdom, Moravia and Silesia, as well as Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia.
[4] Also the British David Lloyd George initially called for a rectification of the German-Bohemian border, but surrendered to Clemenceau's intention to keep down the Germans.
In January 1920 the Czechoslovak army, breaking prior agreements with Poland, crossed the demarcation line and by force of arms occupied the Trans-Olza region, where a 60% majority of the population was Polish, compared to 25% Czechs.
Beneš had served as Czechoslovak foreign minister from 1918 to 1935, and created the system of alliances that determined the republic's international stance until 1938.
A democratic statesman of Western orientation, Beneš relied heavily on the League of Nations as guarantor of the post war status quo and the security of newly formed states.
From 1928 and 1940, Czechoslovakia was divided into the four "lands" (Czech: země, Slovak: krajiny); Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia.
Although in 1927 assemblies were provided for Bohemia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia, their jurisdiction was limited to adjusting laws and regulations of the central government to local needs.
The political vehicle for this agitation was the newly founded Sudeten German Party (Sudetendeutsche Partei - SdP) led by Konrad Henlein, and financed with Nazi money.
On 24 April, the SdP issued the Carlsbad Programme, demanding autonomy for the Sudetenland and the freedom to profess Nazi ideology.
The organization was sheltered, trained and equipped by German authorities and conducting cross border terrorist operations into Czechoslovak territory.
Relying on the Convention for the Definition of Aggression, Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš[9] and the government-in-exile[10] later regarded 17 September 1938 as the beginning of the undeclared German-Czechoslovak war.
