This marked a new period of hope not only for the Ukrainians of Carpatho-Ukraine but also for Ukrainians throughout the world. Satisfaction in this was however mitigated by the fact that the Germans, to please Hungary, had turned over to that country large sections of the land, including the two chief cities of Uzhorod and Mukachevo, in which the leading educational and governmental institutions were located. The government was then compelled to meet in Hust, a small provincial town which contained almost no facilities. Yet despite all the hardships and the difficulties in setting up a government, the Ukrainians were enthusiastic, for now, at last, there was again a centre where Ukrainian life could develop freely without undue foreign interference. The Czech officials were recalled and the increasing autonomy of Slovakia completely isolated Carpatho-Ukraine from Czech influence. Ukrainians from all sections of the dismembered country flocked to Hust and were able to offer great help and assistance to the local population. Steps were taken to organize a small army and as in 1918 they took the name of the Riflemen of the Zaporozhian Sich. They unfurled the blue and yellow standard of Ukraine and it became clear to all that Carpatho-Ukraine was on the way to becoming a free and independent state. Under the conditions that prevailed, it was necessary for the young state to remain on friendly terms with Nazi Germany and to seek its protection against Hungary which was claiming the whole of its territory. The first Prime Minister, Andrew Brody, was soon removed by the Czechoslovak government in one of its last acts outside the borders of Bohemia and Moravia. The power then passed to Monsignor Andrew Voloshyn, who worked hard and steadily to make the new state successful. Throughout the winter of 1938–9 progress went on. There were repeated difficulties with Poland, which wished Hungary to annex the territory so as to remove the sympathy and support which the Ukrainians of Eastern Galicia felt for this new centre of Ukrainian freedom. Hungary continued to press demands upon the new state. Yet President Voloshyn had definite promises from Germany that its independence would be safeguarded and that peace would be maintained.