Editing Munich Agreement (section)

===== Czechoslovakia =====
The Czechoslovaks were dismayed with the Munich settlement. They were not invited to the conference and felt they had been betrayed by the British and French governments. Many [[Czechs]] and Slovaks refer to the Munich Agreement as the '''Munich [[Diktat]]''' ({{langx|cs|Mnichovský diktát}}; {{langx|sk|Mníchovský diktát}}). The phrase "[[Western betrayal|Munich Betrayal]]" ({{lang|cs|Mnichovská zrada}}; {{lang|sk|Mníchovská zrada}}) is also used because the military alliance Czechoslovakia had with France proved useless. This was also reflected by the fact that especially the French government had expressed the view that Czechoslovakia would be considered as being responsible for any resulting European war should the Czechoslovak Republic defend itself with force against German incursions.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kuklik|first=Jan|title=The validity of the Munich agreement and the process of the repudiation during the second world war as seen from a Czechoslovak perspective|page=346}}</ref>

The slogan "[[Nothing About Us Without Us|About us, without us!]]" ({{lang|cs|O nás bez nás!}}; {{lang|sk|O nás bez nás!}}) summarizes the feelings of the people of Czechoslovakia (now [[Slovakia]] and the [[Czech Republic]]) towards the agreement.<ref>{{cite news|date=19 July 2002|title=Czech Republic: Past Imperfect – 64 Years Later, Munich 'Betrayal' Still Defines Thought (Part 5)|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1100326.html}}</ref> With Sudetenland gone to Germany, [[Second Czechoslovak Republic|Czecho-Slovakia]] (as the state was now renamed) lost its defensible border with Germany and the Czechoslovak border fortifications. Without them its independence became more nominal than real. Czechoslovakia also lost 70 per cent of its iron/steel industry, 70 per cent of its electrical power and 3.5&nbsp;million citizens to Germany as a result of the settlement. The Sudeten Germans celebrated what they saw as their liberation. The imminent war, it seemed, had been avoided.{{sfn|Shirer|1960}}

The [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel laureate]], [[Thomas Mann]], took to pen and pulpit in defense of his surrogate homeland proclaiming his pride at being a Czechoslovak citizen and praising the republic's achievements. He attacked a "Europe ready for slavery" writing that "The Czechoslovak people is ready to take up a fight for liberty and transcends its own fate" and "It is too late for the British government to save the peace. They have lost too many opportunities." President Beneš of Czechoslovakia was nominated for a [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1939.<ref name=":0" />