On 4 January 1919 Šnejdárek returned to Czechoslovakia as a French citizen. Within two weeks he had been appointed commander of the Army Inspectorate of Moravian Ostrava (at the time the city was divided into Silesian and Moravia parts), promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed commander of the Czechoslovak forces operating in Cieszyn Silesia. On 23 January his forces commenced military operation against Polish units, starting the Polish–Czechoslovak War. On 31 January, while Šnejdárek's troops were preparing for a battle at Skoczów, the Czechoslovak Minister of Defence called off the hostilities, and the war ended.