Border fortification in the Orlické hory © Ricky Yates

At the end of the First World War, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, President (1918-1935) of the newly declared independent nation of Czechoslovakia, was very keen that the western boundaries of the country should be the historic ones of Bohemia and Moravia which predominantly follow the ridges of the surrounding hills and mountains. This was for two main reasons. The first was to ensure that nearly all Czech speakers would be residing within the new nation. The second was to have borders that were relatively easy to defend, should conflict once more arise in the future.

However, as explained in a blogpost I wrote two years ago, one important consequence of the adoption of these borders was that many people of German ethnic origin were also incorporated within the new nation of Czechoslovakia. According to . . . → Read More: Czechoslovak border fortifications