The Strange New Country created in Europe that never existed before: Czechoslovakia

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[I've often wondered about Czechoslovakia, but it was only the other day when looking at some Hitler WW2 stuff that I discovered that Czechoslovakia has no prior history. It was only created in 1918 by the "Allies" of WW1. I can't believe that a European country would have a shorter history than say Rhodesia, but that is true. I'm astounded by it. And a big part of its population was German. At the time it was created it even included a few hundred thousand Ukranians!!! It is a bizarre creation from WW1! It seems Hitler did not like this artificial country. Jan]

This was it’s population in 1921:
Ethnicities of Czechoslovakia in 1921[21]
Czecho slovaks 8,759,701 64.37%
Germans 3,123,305 22.95%
Hungarians 744,621 5.47%
Ruthenians 461,449 3.39%
Jews 180,534 1.33%
Poles 75,852 0.56%
Others 23,139 0.17%
Foreigners 238,784 1.75%
Total population 13,607,385

The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, when philologists and educators, influenced by Romanticism, promoted the Czech language and pride in the Czech people. Nationalism became a mass movement in the second half of the 19th century. Taking advantage of the limited opportunities for participation in political life under Austrian rule, Czech leaders such as historian František Palacký (1798–1876) founded various patriotic, self-help organizations which provided a chance for many of their compatriots to participate in communal life before independence. Palacký supported Austro-Slavism and worked for a reorganized federal Austrian Empire, which would protect the Slavic speaking peoples of Central Europe against Russian and German threats.

An advocate of democratic reform and Czech autonomy within Austria-Hungary, Masaryk was elected twice to the Reichsrat (Austrian Parliament), from 1891 to 1893 for the Young Czech Party, and from 1907 to 1914 for the Czech Realist Party, which he had founded in 1889 with Karel Kramář and Josef Kaizl.

During World War I a number of Czechs and Slovaks, the Czechoslovak Legions, fought with the Allies in France and Italy, while large numbers deserted to Russia in exchange for its support for the independence of Czechoslovakia from the Austrian Empire.[15] With the outbreak of World War I, Masaryk began working for Czech independence in a union with Slovakia. With Edvard Beneš and Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Masaryk visited several Western countries and won support from influential publicists.[16] The Czechoslovak National Council was the main organization that advanced the claims for a Czechoslovak state.[17]