According to a popular saying, when Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918, it became an Austria-Hungary in miniature. This historian’s simile indicated that the nation-state of the Czechoslovaks displayed all the good and undesirable features of the Dual Monarchy. On the positive side, it was the only Central European polity where democracy survived throughout the interwar period. In general, the state was a welcoming home to three nations (the Czechs, Slovaks, and Ruthenians), and three sizeable minorities (Germans, Magyars, and Poles). The Czechoslovak economy (concentrated in the Czech lands, formerly Austria-Hungary’s most significant powerhouse) was the strongest in the region and enabled the fast development of historical Hungary’s backward regions of Slovakia, and, especially, Subcarpathian Ruthenia. On the other hand, the Czechoslovak democracy did not govern fairly, and it bestowed advantages upon the three ‘state nations,’ mainly toward the Czechs and the Slovaks. Pleas for more rights and decentralization on the part of the Slovaks and the Ruthenians were not heard in Prague, let alone those of the German and Magyar minorities. During the Great Depression, there were always more employment opportunities earmarked for Czechs and Slovaks than Germans or Magyars. Last but not the least, within the strict confines of legalism, measures were taken to assimilate the minorities. The minorities despised these measures and perceived them as unfair.