Moravia , Slovakia , and parts of Silesia and Ruthenia ( the Subcarpathian region ), with Prague as its capital . In this new country , according to a 1921 census , there were 354,352 Jews .
As Margaret Macmillan notes in her magisterial work , Paris 1919 , the leading Czechs of the day , Tomas Masaryk and Edward Benes , who in succession became the country ’ s first two presidents , were among the most popular and admired of the many political figures who came to Paris to make their claim for self-determination . “ Benes and Masaryk were unfailingly cooperative , reasonable , and persuasive as they stressed the Czechs ’ deep-seated democratic traditions and their aversion to militarism , oligarchy , high finance , indeed all that the old Germany and Austria-Hungary had stood for ,” she wrote .
In the ensuing 20 years , Czechoslovakia embraced democracy and quickly emerged as one of Europe ’ s leading industrial economies . Prague was a city infused with the energy and vitality of three dominant cultures — Czech , German , and Jewish . Franz Kafka — born in Prague in 1883 , a Jew , and most at home in the German language and culture — came to symbolize the genius emanating from this cultural crossroads , as well as the complicated psychological make-up of Jews of this milieu and generation . Assimilation , rejection of religion , and high rates of intermarriage were all quite prevalent at the time .
Then came the notorious events of 1938 . In the name of protecting the German-speaking population of Sudetenland , a Czechoslovak region abutting the German and Austrian borders , which Hitler claimed was the target of persecution and discrimination , the Third Reich demanded annexation .
In what became the quintessential act of appeasement , British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier , in September 1938 , agreed to Hitler ’ s terms at a meeting in Munich .
( In 2001 , Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Western nations , including the U . S ., not to “ appease the Arabs at our expense ... Israel will not be Czechoslovakia .” Sharon ’ s remarks were strongly criticized by the White House .)
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