The 86-year-old former President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Thomas Brown. Garrig. Old Mr. Masaryk has been a little annoyed lately, he has been involved in a political murder!

In fact, it's not "involved", although the old man is old, he has a good memory. He also remembers that he once ordered to get rid of Milan. Restislav. Štfanik's order - the man who was killed was one of the three founding fathers of Czechoslovakia, the first Minister of Defense of the Republic!

Moreover, the old man remembered that he had an accomplice, the current president, Edward Edward, who was also one of the three founding fathers. Benes.

It seems to be a power struggle - two of the three Founding Fathers joined forces to murder the other. But old Mr. Masaryk knew that this murder between the three founding fathers was not for power, but for the country and the nation!

Milan. Restislav. Stefanik gave his life for the sake of his country and the nation, he was a noble man, and his murderer was no less noble.

And the real culprits in this murder are the more than 3 million Germans in Czechoslovakia! They are the third largest ethnic group in Czechoslovakia, after the Czechs with a population of more than 6 million and the Slovaks with a population of 1.9 million.

What the? More than 3 million people ranked third, and 1.9 million people ranked second?

That's right, that's the mathematics that characterizes Czechoslovakia. Otherwise, Czechoslovakia would have been renamed Czechoslovakia!

However, the math problems were not made exactly for the sake of a country, but so that Czechoslovakia could become a new nation-state. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 set a threshold for the nascent nation-state: a two-thirds majority of the population was required.

If there is no such majority, then the country can only become a federation. For Czechoslovakia, this meant that more than 3 million Germans could have their own free state. Having a Free State means self-government, having its own parliament and a small defense force. And also a referendum on secession from Czechoslovakia on the basis of the principle of national self-determination!

This was not allowed in 1919!

Czechoslovakia had to have a two-thirds majority of the population - but according to the Allies' censuses, Czechs made up only 50 per cent of the total population of Czechoslovakia, which was certainly less than that.

But it didn't bother Mr. Masaryk and Edward. Benes, who invented the "Czechoslovak nation" - a combination of Czechs and Slovaks to pretend to be a dominant nation, and at that time enlisted the support of General Stefanik, who "represented" the Slovaks.

And this kind of behavior is almost a false account on the national issue. Under the deliberate protection of the three major powers of Britain, France and the United States, it successfully passed the test. Czechoslovakia had a subject nation, while the Germans, Hungarians, Ukrainians, and Poles in Czechoslovakia lost their right to self-government.

The story should have ended happily, but no one thought that when the invincible Germans had chosen to submit, the Hungarians would refuse to accept their fate and would have to resist stubbornly.

And even more so Mr. Masaryk and Edward. What Benes did not expect was that under the manipulation of the Hungarian Bolshevik Party, the Slovaks would actually get a taste of the country for the first time -- a Soviet republic led by the Slovak Bolshevik Party.

Although this Soviet republic, which was destined to be intolerant of the Entente, could not exist for long, it nevertheless gave rise to the idea of independence or autonomy among some Slovak nationalists.

And Milan. Restislav. Štfaník was the leader of these Slovak nationalists, although at the time - at the time of the war against the Hungarian Bolsheviks - Štfanik did not propose Slovak autonomy or independence. But everyone knows that as long as Štfaník, the leader of Slovakia, exists. It's just a matter of time.

And once the Slovaks engage in "national autonomy," then the painting of the "Juche nation" in Czechoslovakia will also be torn off, so what reason do the more than 3 million Germans have not to engage in self-government?

Therefore, the plane on which General Stefanik, one of the three fathers, was traveling, could only be wrecked. It seemed to have been done seamlessly at the time, and it has not been exposed for so many years.

After defeating the Hungarian Bolsheviks (Slovak Bolsheviks), the Czechoslovak government also did a lot to pacify the Slovaks, such as providing subsidies to backward Slovak settlements and sending teachers and officials to help the Slovaks. The preservation of the Slovak language and culture also made the Slovaks a "second-class class" in Czechoslovakia. Superior to the Poles, Ukrainians, Hungarians and Germans......

But what happened next made Mr. Masaryk and Edward . Benes, Czech politicians, did not expect this. The Slovaks did not appreciate it. The help of the Czechs seemed to them to be slavery and oppression - just as the Czechs had treated the Germanic peoples!

And in some places, the Slovaks were treated worse than the Czechs of the past, and even worse than they were before the collapse of Austria-Hungary.

After all, the economic growth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was still relatively good, and Austria-Hungary was still a very large market, although various nationalities were unhappy in the "prison" of Austria-Hungary, but they were economically interdependent.

And after the disintegration of the state. The large markets have been divided into small markets by the customs of various countries, and the interdependent nations have become enemies who share the same sky. Naturally, the industrially developed Czech Republic also lost most of its inherent market, and Slovakia became a dumping market for Czech industrial products. Slovak industry and commerce went bankrupt under the impact of Czech industry and commerce, and Slovak agricultural products and minerals could only be sold to the Czech Republic at low prices. As a result, Slovaks have a sense of exploitation.

In addition, the legacy of the Hungarian war, which took place in the twenties, has not been resolved - the partisans of the Hungarian Bolshevik Party and the Slovak Bolshevik Party. For many years it has been operating in the mountainous region on the border between Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The long-term encirclement and suppression of them by the Czechoslovak army, mainly Czechs, inevitably harmed many Slovak civilians.

As a result, the gap between the Czechs and the Slovaks became wider. By 1929, with the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States, the last safety valve of Slovak society had failed—immigration to the United States, which had been the best way for Slovaks, was now dead. And the standard of living of Slovaks plummeted as the Great Depression swept across Europe.

Under these circumstances, the originally moderate Slovak Catholic political forces also began to turn to the movement for autonomy - led by the Slovak Catholic priest Andrey. The Catholic Slovak People's Party, led by Hlinka, began to rise to prominence with the Slovak Bolshevik Party, and together with the Czechs.

Although this kind of commotion was annoying, the Czechoslovak government still had a way to deal with it - the Slovaks did not have a high degree of dislike for the Czechoslovak Republic, and were a little better than the Germans, Hungarians, Poles, and Ukrainians.

But not long ago, shocking news began to circulate in Slovakia: Milan, the leader of the Slovaks at the time. Restislav. Stefanik was killed by order of Czech President Masaryk!

This is not only hearsay, but also evidence! Testimonies of several Slovak veterans (supposedly close to Štfanik), as well as secret reports from French military advisers investigating Štfanik's death.

The Catholic Slovak People's Party took the opportunity to file a lawsuit in the Prague District Court against former President Masaryk.

"Father, we don't have to pay attention to the accusations, and you don't have to appear in court in person." The son of old Mr. Masaryk, Jan who had just returned from London. Masaryk (who was ambassador to London) stopped his father before he was about to leave for the court. "Britain and France are behind us and can take tough measures."

"No," Masaryk waved his hand on crutches, "we can't take too hard action against the Slovaks, that would lead to the disintegration of the country." They have 1.9 million people...... A quarter of the officers and non-commissioned officers in our army are Slovaks, and if we lose them, our army will be weakened. And the Germans, Hungarians, Ukrainians and Poles will also take the opportunity to make trouble. This is very bad for us. ”

Masaryk was a major promoter of the modernization of the Czechoslovak army, and through his efforts Czechoslovakia established a standing army of 160,000 to 180,000 men and a reserve army of 1 million men, all of which were well equipped with tanks and airplanes - all of which were produced by Czechoslovakia itself, and the Czech Republic had the famous arsenal Skoda and the three aircraft manufacturing companies of Letov, Egger and Avia.

But a strong army cannot have only weapons and no one! With a population of just over 6 million, the Czechs could not sustain a million-strong reserve army that would have to be made up of Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, and Ukrainian communities, the most reliable of which were the Slovaks, the most reliable of whom were the Czechs.

If the Slovaks and Czechs turn their faces, then the Hungarians, the Ukrainians will definitely follow, and then the Czechs will have to fight alone.

"There will be no problem," Masaryk smiled at his son, "their evidence is untenable...... In order to show our innocence, I would do well to be present, and I will also propose in court that the case be heard by an international tribunal. I believe that this will definitely shut up the Slovaks. (To be continued.) )