Avia B.71 Light bomber

Avia B.71 in Luftwaffe service

Avia B.35 in Luftwaffe service

Avia B.534 Fighters

Letov S.328 Reconnaissance aircraft

Aircraft from the Czech Air Force were given to various German Balkan allies:

12 B-534s were given to the Bulgarian Air Force. They were later used (ineffectually) against B-24s on their way to and from Ploesti.

24 B-534s were given to the Slovakian Air Force (Slovakia was a puppet state formed form eastern Czechoslovakia); they were later used in Russia.

B-71s (licensed Soviet SB-2s) were given to the Bulgarian Air Force

Historical

In November 1938, Emil Hácha, succeeding Beneš, was elected president of the federated Second Republic, renamed Czecho-Slovakia and consisting of three parts: Bohemia and Moravia, Slovakia, and Carpatho-Ukraine. Lacking its natural frontier and having lost its costly system of border fortification, the new state was militarily indefensible. In January 1939, negotiations between Germany and Poland broke down. Hitler, intent on war against Poland, needed to eliminate Czechoslovakia first. He scheduled a German invasion of Bohemia and Moravia for the morning of March 15. In the interim, he negotiated with the Slovak People’s Party and with Hungary to prepare the dismemberment of the republic before the invasion. On March 13, he invited Jozef Tiso to Berlin and on March 14, the Slovak Diet convened and unanimously declared Slovak independence. Carpatho-Ukraine also declared independence but Hungarian troops occupied it on March 15 and eastern Slovakia on March 23. Hitler summoned President Hácha to Berlin and during the early hours of March 15, informed Hácha of the imminent German invasion. Threatening a Luftwaffe attack on Prague, Hitler persuaded Hácha to order the capitulation of the Czechoslovak army. On the morning of March 15, German troops entered Bohemia and Moravia, meeting no resistance. The Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine did encounter resistance but the Hungarian army quickly crushed it. On March 16, Hitler went to Czechoslovakia and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate (Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia).

Czechoslovakia was no pushover

Hitler was a savvy poker player, and correctly read the mood of the French and British — that they would have bent over backwards to avoid war with Germany, and they did. It must be remembered, though, that Germany in 1938 was unprepared for war. The Luftwaffe was still in its infancy, lacking the numerical strength necessary to mount a concerted campaign. The Wehrmacht lacked tanks and motor transport, and was still very dependent upon the railroads to deploy their troops. Hitler would not have been able to concentrate his forces against Czechoslovakia, either, lest the French decide to retake the Rhineland in retaliation. It was only after Chamberlain and Daladier had given their assurances that they would not attack Germany that he felt free to pursue his aggression in the East.

Czechoslovakia and the USSR had done some cooperating in the military field, as indeed two of their largest enemies were the same: Poland and Germany. During the late 1930s, some cooperation went on. For example, the Czechs shared their study on their 105mm field gun, and new Czech tanks were tested in the Soviet Union. The option of basing Red Air Force planes in Slovakia in case of war with Germany was also studied, and when the Munich Crisis came about, preparations were made to base between 450 and 600 fighters and bombers there.

Also, on 24 September 1938, the Romanian government acceded to Soviet requests for a ground and air corridor through Romania to Czechoslovakia, should that country be attacked. A refueling airfield was prepared near the Czechoslovak border, and the Soviets were allowed to move two divisions, including 300 tanks and 700 artillery pieces, through Romania within the first two weeks of a German attack.

The Czech armed forces, had they resisted, could have given the Germans a great deal of trouble. There can be no Blitzkrieg without tanks, and in 1938 the best the Germans could field were the PzKpfw I and a few PzKpfw IIs. In contrast, the Czechs had the excellent Škoda LT Vz.35 and the TNH LT Vz.38, better known as the PzKpfw 35(t) and PzKpfw 38(t). The Germans had nothing comparable. They themselves used these vehicles with considerable success in later years. As for aircraft, the Avia B.534 was dated conceptually, but it was an excellent aircraft. Probably no match for the Bf-109, it was still capable of intercepting any of the Luftwaffe bombers. The Czechs were also producing the SB-2 under license as the Avia B.71, and had begun to build a medium bomber force around this aircraft. Škoda artillery was and is among the finest in the world, and the Czech army had field artillery and anti-tank weapons which would have caused the Wehrmacht considerable grief.

The net effect could have changed twentieth century history. It is not generally appreciated that the German economy was in a perilous state in 1938. Hitler’s rearmament plans had all but bankrupted the economy. Much of what he spent on armaments was paid with unsecured credit notes, IOUs in effect, and he lost no time in repaying his arms suppliers and redeeming these notes with the proceeds from the Czech National Treasury. Even a slight delay in occupying Czechoslovakia could have upset his applecart, and caused a scandal in Germany which could have driven him from power. Alas, “what if . . .”