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Czechoslovakia Second Republic, 1938-39
As a result of the Munich Agreement, the greatly weakened
Czechoslovak Republic was forced to grant major concessions to
the non-Czechs. The executive committee of the Slovak Populist
Party met at Zilina on October 5, 1938, and with the acquiescence
of all Slovak parties except the Social Democrats formed an
autonomous Slovak government under Tiso. Similarly, the two major
factions in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, the Russophiles and
Ukrainophiles, agreed on the establishment of an autonomous
government, which was constituted on October 8, 1938. Reflecting
the spread of modern Ukrainian national consciousness, the proUkrainian faction, led by Volosin, gained control of the local
government, and Subcarpathian Ruthenia was renamed CarpathoUkraine
(see
Problem of Dissatisfied Nationalities
, this ch.).
In November 1938, Emil Hacha, succeeding Benes, was elected
president of the federated Second Republic, consisting of three
parts: Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Carpatho-Ukraine. Lacking
its natural frontier and having lost its costly system of border
fortification, the new state was militarily indefensible. In
January 1939, negotiations between Germany and Poland broke down.
Hitler, intent on war against Poland, needed to eliminate
Czechoslovakia first. He scheduled a German invasion of Bohemia
and Moravia for the morning of March 15. In the interim, he
negotiated with Slovak Populists and with Hungary to prepare the
dismemberment of the republic before the invasion. On March 14,
the Slovak Diet convened and unanimously declared Slovak
independence. Carpatho-Ukraine also declared independence, but
Hungarian troops occupied it and eastern Slovakia. Hitler
summoned President Hacha to Berlin.
During the early hours of March 15, Hitler informed Hacha of
the imminent German invasion. Threatening a Luftwaffe attack on
Prague, Hitler persuaded Hacha to order the capitulation of the
Czechoslovak army. On the morning of March 15, German troops
entered Bohemia and Moravia, meeting no resistance. The Hungarian
invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine did encounter resistance, but the
Hungarian army quickly crushed it. On March 16, Hitler went to
Czechoslovakia and from Prague's Hradcany Castle proclaimed
Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
Independent Czechoslovakia collapsed in the wake of foreign
aggression and internal tensions. Subsequently, interwar
Czechoslovakia has been idealized by its proponents as the only
bastion of democracy surrounded by authoritarian and fascist
regimes. It has also been condemned by its detractors as an
artificial and unworkable creation of intellectuals supported by
the great powers. Both views have some validity. Interwar
Czechoslovakia was comprised of lands and peoples that were far
from being integrated into a modern nation-state. Moreover, the
dominant Czechs, who had suffered political discrimination under
the Hapsburgs, were not able to cope with the demands of other
nationalities. In fairness to the Czechs, it should be
acknowledged that some of the minority demands served as mere
pretexts to justify intervention by Nazi Germany. That
Czechoslovakia was able under such circumstances to maintain a
viable economy and a democratic political system was indeed a
remarkable achievement of the interwar period.
Data as of August 1987
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