The Road to War 1936-1939. Part I
In 1936 Czechoslovakia was still a minor military power in Europe, surrounded by unfriendly neighbourghs. Her army numbered 25 divsions. When compared to Polands 43, Germanys 39 or Romanias 31 it seems small but the Czechoslovakians did enjoy a few big advantages over their neighbourghs.
First of all its western borders were protected by large fortifications situated in the mountains bordering Germany and Austria, called the Czech maginot line. While the fortifications were still incomplete they were quite formidable.
The second advantage was that the Czechoslovakian army posessed the worlds third largest armoured force and, arguably, the worlds best tanks. The majority of its tanks were the Škoda LT35 tanks, which boasted a 37mm main gun and an armour of 15-30mm, far better than, for example, the contemporary german AFV's
The third advantage lied in the fact that Czechoslovakia had close relationships to both France and Soviet Union. Military assistance from any of those countries could certainly deter any of the Czechoslovakian potential adversaries.
The first indications of trouble came when Germany remilitarized Rhineland on the 7th of march 1936. After that the German army began to grow steadily and so did its demands on Czechoslovakia and its other neighbourghs. Defying German pressure, the Czechoslovakian goverment ordered a the continuation of the building of the sudeten fortifications and also the enlargment of the army.
It was in accordance with the defensive strategy of the Czechoslovakian army that the main focus of the enlargement would be the construction of more defences and focusing on creating and training more infantry divisions. The size of the armoured corps was deemed sufficient and it was decided that further development into that area would be towards quality not quantity.
During the following 2-3 years the Czechoslovakian army lead the way with artillery and anti-tank weapons. It was the first army in the world to equip the 85mm gun for anti-tank purposes and to recognize the importance of automatic weapons, equiping full formations with the VZ-51 submachinegun.
After 1936 the German army was considered as the probable opponent in a coming war, and therefore the primary scenarios and plans for defence always assumed that the Czechoslovakian army would face a war with Germany. The main concept for operations during the war, which was drawn up by field marshal Krejci, was to tie down large German forces in the sudeten while the French army would move into southern Germany, capture Stuttgart, Nürnberg and München, relieve Czechoslovakian forces in southern Bohemia and then drive on towards Berlin, forcing a German surrender.
All those plans were thrown seriously out of balance when on the 12th of april 1938 Germany annexed Austria. Only three weeks after that a German plane crashed into Czechoslovakian territory near Teplice. On the plane plans for "Case Green", the attack on Czechoslovakia, were found. This lead to a sharp increase of tensions between Czechoslovakia and Germany.
During the next few months furious arguments and diplomatic maneuverings took place between France, Great Britain, Germany and Czechoslovakia, while the German divisions gathered on the borders in ever increasing numbers. On the 13th august 1938 the general mobilization was ordered in Czechoslovakia and the army was brought to full alert.
War, it seemed, would be unavoidable.
edit: could a mod please edit out the typo in the title?
