The First Czechoslovak Republic

The formation of the independent state was welcomed by most inhabitants of the Ostrava region, however, at the same time the local mines were faced with a situation they were not prepared for. The newly formed republic represented only a small market, moreover, foreign entities were starting to establish themselves in the Czechoslovakian market, in particular from Poland and Germany. Export was therefore directed mainly at less developed countries of south-eastern Europe which did not possess their own sources.

During the First Republic the process of capital concentration further continued. The number of mining companies in the district decreased to seven by 1937:

• Rakouská báňská a hutní společnost (Austrian mining and metallurgical company)
• Vítkovické horní a hutní těžířstvo (Vítkovice mining and metallurgical association)
• Severní dráha Ferdinandova (The Northern railway of Ferdinand)
• Kamenouhlené závody Orlová-Lazy (Hard-coal works of Orlová-Lazy)
• Larisch-Monnichovy doly a koksovna (Mines and coking plant of Larisch-Monnich)
• Kamenouhelné doly a koksovna Jana Wilczka (Hard-coal mines and coking plant of Jan Wilczek)
• Státní báňské ředitelství v Porubě (State mining directorate in Poruba)

Despite the fact that the mines (as well as the whole Ostrava region) were severely afflicted by the world economic depression, on the whole, during the First Republic there was a new expansion in mining. Among others, this is evidenced by the figure of the total quantity of output of coal in 1937 – mining in the whole district amounted to a record-breaking nearly 13 million tons.