Czechoslovakia (WFAC)

Czechoslovakia (Czech and Slovak: Československo) was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1939, when it was conquerred and annexed by Germany and Hungary. It was composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. After 1933 Czechoslovakia remained the only functioning democracy in eastern Europe as other eastern European states had authoritarian or autocratic regimes leading them.

Despite enormous pressure from Nazi Germany and the Sudeten German minority living in the country, Czechoslovakia refused to abide by the Munich Agreement, and was subsequently invaded by Nazi Germany on October 1, 1938, and later invaded by Hungary and Poland. In 1938 Czechoslovakia was conquerred by Germany and Hungary, and Germany directly annexed the Sudetenland and established the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia as a Reich Protectorate. Hungary annexed Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine.

Economy
The new nation had a population of over 13.5 million. It had inherited 70 to 80% of all the industry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including the porcelain and glass industries and the sugar refineries; more than 40% of all its distilleries and breweries; the Škoda Works of Plzeň (Pilsen), which produced armaments, locomotives, automobiles, and machinery; and the chemical industry of northern Bohemia. Seventeen percent of all Hungarian industry that had developed in Slovakia during the late 19th century also fell to the republic. Czechoslovakia was one of the world's 10 most industrialized states.

The Czech lands were far more industrialized than Slovakia. In Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, 39% of the population was employed in industry and 31% in agriculture and forestry. Most light and heavy industry was located in the Sudetenland and was owned by Germans and controlled by German-owned banks. Czechs controlled only 20 to 30 % of all industry. In Slovakia 17.1% of the population was employed in industry, and 60.4% worked in agriculture and forestry. Only 5% of all industry in Slovakia was in Slovak hands. Carpathian Ruthenia was essentially without industry.

In the agricultural sector, a program of reform introduced soon after the establishment of the republic was intended to rectify the unequal distribution of land. One-third of all agricultural land and forests belonged to a few aristocratic landowners—mostly Germans (or Germanized Czechs – e.g. Kinsky, Czernin or Kaunitz) and Hungarians—and the Roman Catholic Church. Half of all holdings were under 20,000 m². The Land Control Act of April 1919 called for the expropriation of all estates exceeding 1.5 sq km of arable land or 2.5 sq km of land in general (5 sq km to be the absolute maximum). Redistribution was to proceed on a gradual basis; owners would continue in possession in the interim, and compensation was offered.