CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 284, 12 September 1938, Page 8

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

FACTS ABOUT THE COUNTRY. The crisis over Czechoslovakia, which has been looming for some months, arose through complaints by the Sudeten-German minority in that country that they were being unfairly treated by the Government. The German Government supports the claims of the Sudeten-Germans, and the gravity of the situation became intensified following the anschluss between Germany and Austria—and the emphasis placed in German circles after the anscliluss on their slogan, “One Reich—One People.” Relevant facts concerning the problem are given below: Czechoslovakia: Its frontiers were fixed in 1919 by the Treaty of St. Germain, when the Allied and Associated Powers formally recognised the republic—a year after the independence of the Czechs and Slovaks had been proclaimed under the leadership of the late Professor T. G. Masaryk, who died last year, and President Benes. Territories: Bohemia and Moravia, and part of Silesia (formerly under Austrian rule), Slovakia, and Carpathian Ruthenia (formerly under Hungarian rule). Population : 15,000,000 —composed of 7,447,000 Czechs, 2,309,000 Slovaks, 3,231,688 Germans, 691,923 Magyars, ... 549,169 Ruthenians and 81,737 Poles. Under the treaty, all the nationals of the new State without distinction of /birth, race, language or religion, were declared equal in law with the right of minorities to use their own language and establish their own schools.

Area: 54,195 square miles. Production: Nearly 40 per cent of the population is agricultural. There are 4,000,000 farms and small holdings. Large tracts of the country are entirely forest—it is one of the most richly-wooded areas in Europe—but in recent years industrial development has increased a rich yield in coal, iron, graphite, copper and lead. Capital: Prague, with a population of nearly 900,000. Government: The National Parliament is composed' of a. Chamber of Deputies elected for a period of six years and containing 300 members and of a Senate with 150 members to be renewed every eight years. The electoral system is based on proportional representation ; and there are 14 main political parties. Religion: Three-quarters of the population is Roman Catholic. Education is compulsory, and the State possesses four universities. * Minorities complain that the guarantees of the 1919 treaty have not been fully carried out, and that the Czechs have dominated all other races. Among other, grievances is that they have not been given a fair share of State posts; and they allege discrimination in education grants, unemployment relief, State contracts and social welfare.