Extensive border fortifications were built in and around Náchod in the years prior to World War II to protect the territory of Czechoslovakia against the threat of German invasion. The border in the area of Náchod did not shift after the Munich Agreement, as no German speakers lived next to the border; on the contrary, eleven villages on the Silesian side of the border were populated by Czech speakers, who lived there till 1945 when eastern parts of Germany were ceded to Poland and former German citizens were expelled, ethnic Czechs included.