There are no eternal friends, no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. In the turbulent and revolutionary twentieth century, this sentence can be described as vividly reflected in the international relations at that time. After the end of World War I in 1918, the victorious Entente side, under Wilson's principle of "national self-determination", fostered many emerging nationalist states, which were their bargaining chips to maintain order in Central Europe. One of these countries was once instructed by the West to interfere in the revolutions of its neighbors, but when it was invaded by a foreign enemy, it was ruthlessly betrayed by the West.
Military Network - Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan · IX
This country is Czechoslovakia. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were established on top of the ruins of the Empire and formed a federal state under the conciliation of the Entente. In fact, as early as when the Czech Republic was still subordinate to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its bourgeoisie had a very obvious centrifugal tendency. For example, during World War I, many Czech soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian army mutinied and surrendered, defecting to the Allied camp. To this end, the Allies also specially formed the "Czech Army", which used to attack the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the past. By the time the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, Czechoslovakia was the first country to declare independence.
At that time, the Czech Republic, which was valued by Britain and France, had two major advantages. First of all, the Czech Republic inherited a large number of Austro-Hungarian industries, and the arms manufacturing industry was very developed, which could not only meet the needs of its own army, but also had other surplus weapons exported abroad; Second, the Czech Republic's presence in Central Europe was like a steel knife inserted into the Germanic settlements, which was an excellent tool for Britain and France to prevent the resurgence of Germany. Therefore, for a long time after independence, Czechoslovakia received strong support from Britain and France (especially France), and was also pulled into the "Little Entente" military bloc by France.
Czechoslovakia was also quick to submit its name. In 1919, the Soviet Revolution broke out in Hungary, which posed a great threat to the interests of Britain and France in Central Europe. The Allies, terrified, instigated Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia to form an intervention force to intervene militarily in the Hungarian Soviet Revolution. During this period, Czechoslovakia was arguably both an agent and a bloodied man, and finally in late 1919 the Soviet regime was crushed and the Hungarian Revolution failed. In view of this performance, Czechoslovakia can also be said to have gained a lot in the Trianon Treaty of 1920, which divided Hungary.
Czechoslovakia's pandering to the Allies drew hostility from Germany and Hungary. Therefore, after Hitler came to power in Germany in the thirties, the nail in the eye of Czechoslovakia was extremely conspicuous in the eyes of Germany. In 1938, Germany demanded the cessation of the Germanic Sudetenland on the grounds of "national self-determination". Faced with such a situation, Czechoslovakia, while carrying out military mobilization, also hoped that Britain and France could come forward to reconcile. However, Britain and France were pursuing a "policy of appeasement" at that time, and did not pay due attention to the Czech request.
Even at the Munich Conference in September 1938, Czech interests were ruthlessly betrayed. Neither Britain nor France wanted to go to war with Germany, so they preferred to sacrifice Czech national sovereignty to "calm things down". Immediately after the entry into force of the Munich Agreement, Germany sent troops to occupy the Sudetenland and subsequently all of the Czech Republic; Hungary also took advantage of this opportunity to send troops to occupy the southern region and the Transcarpathian region; Poland also took advantage of the looting and sent troops to occupy the Cechim area. As a result, under the partition and dismemberment of its neighboring countries, Czechoslovakia soon fell completely.
Later, during World War II, the Czech Republic became a German occupation zone, and Slovakia became a German puppet state. Czech resources, foreign exchange and military industry were all controlled by Germany, and they were forced to produce weapons and equipment for the German troops on the front line. In addition, Germany also plundered various war resources, including fuel and food, in Czech territory, causing the Czech Republic to suffer huge property losses. The number of Czech benevolent men who were arrested and killed was also extremely high. It was not until the end of World War II that Czechoslovakia was restored with the assistance of the Red Army.
It can also be seen from the history of Czechoslovakia that in the international game, the first consideration is the issue of interests. From another point of view, the Western camp seems to be particularly interest-oriented. In modern history, there have often been cases in the Western bloc that have "betrayed" their teammates for profit, as was the case in Czechoslovakia in the past and Ukraine now.