History of Czechoslovakia and Its Split

Most of the younger generation would not have heard about the nation of Czechoslovakia. This is because it is a country no longer in existence ever since it was split into two different countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The country Czechoslovakia is not longer in existence since 31 December 1992. The country is geographically located in Europe surrounded by Austria, Germany, Poland, and Hungary. The area known as Czechoslovakia was formed after the First World War ended and it existed from 1918 until 1992 comprising the historic land of Moravia, Slovakia, and Bohemia.

Interestingly enough, the national football team of Czechoslovakia is a consistent team throughout the international matches with 8 featuring in the FIFA World Cup placing second in 1934 and 1962.

ADVERT

The team also won the EUFA European Football Championship in 1976, placing third in 1980, and won the golden Olympics in 1980. Some of the popular footballers back then were Pavel Nedvěd, Antonín Panenka, Milan Baroš, Tomáš Rosický, Vladimír Šmicer, and Petr Čech in which all of them were born in Czechoslovakia.

For those who are wondering, the right way to pronounce the country will be "CHEK" + "oh" + "sluh" + "VAK" + "ee" + "uh".

Early History

The regions that comprised Czechoslovakia were originally habited by the Celtic, Germanic, and Slavic tribes. There were constant religious unrest, invasions, and riots among the people. Moravia and Bohemia were ruled together in their history but Slovakia was ruled under Hungary for 1000 years.

The difference in administration became the catalyst for the segregation of the country later on. In 1620, the Czechs were fighting in the White Mountain War and lost their sovereignty to Hapsburg Empire.

300 years later, the Czechs were under Austrian rule and after the First World War, the monarchy government fell and the free country of Czechoslovakia was founded.

During the Second World War, Czechoslovakia had a huge German population in which most of them were concentrated on the borders of Bohemia and Moravia(Sudetenland).

There were some who were in support of the German Nazis which causes tension inside out. In 1938, Czechoslovakia was forced to hand over Sudetenland to Germany. Hitler then attacked the regions of Bohemia and Moravia years later.

Slovakia became independent and became a puppet nation of Germany. When the Second World War ended, the Soviet army entered and conquered huge parts of Bohemia(including Prague), Moravia, and Slovakia. The US army managed to free a huge portion of western Bohemia and Plzen city in May 1945.

In the same month of May, a civil uprising occurred against Germany. After Germany lost, almost 2.9 million German ethnicities were forced to leave the country. At the same time, only thousands of Jews were left living on Czech soil and more than 100,000 of them were lost during the Holocaust.

Post-World War II

The Czechs and Slovakians set the democratic and national elections in the spring of 1946 in the hopes that the Soviet Union will allow them to form their own government. Most of the crucial positions have been won by the members of the Czechoslovakia Communist Party that worked towards neutralizing the anti-communist power and the coup that occurred on February 1948.

Czechoslovakia was ruled under a strict communist power for the next 10 years. The Warsaw Pact was signed in 1955 and this resulted in the establishment of a defense organization that comprised Czechoslovakia, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, and Romania.

This pact also gave power to the Soviet Union to control all armies under the respective countries. Other countries under the Warsaw Pact worried that the involvement of Czechoslovakia. They ultimately decided to arrange a war plan to attack and invade the country on 20 August 1968.

ADVERT

The government of Czechoslovakia announced that the attack was against the United Nations Charter and international law. But the parties that wished for this arrangement were forced to sign an agreement to allow the Soviets to remain there.

Until the late 1980s, the social climate and politics remain unchanged. Tensions start to rise when the Czechoslovakia Communist Party starts to fall apart in the early 1960s and the Slovakians that were a part of the leadership demanded more autonomy.

In 1968, the views on politics starts to shift towards reformation, and socialism that is led by a new Slovakian president, Alexander Dubcek. He has the ambition to realize a more democratic and socialist nation that guarantees certain rights such as freedom of religion, speech, news, assembly, and movement.

The locals start to show their support for the new Czechoslovakia.

ADVERT

Revolution

A drastic change occurred in 1989 when the communist police viciously break the peaceful demonstration that took place. Many people that were injured were students.

The Civic Forum was established to fight for civil freedom and bureaucracy change. The Communist Party quickly lost influence and was later replaced by a mixed government. A general election took place on June 1990 and more than 95% of the citizens cast out their vote.

The Civic Forum did not retain its leadership and was split into different parties with various agendas. This includes the Civic Democratic Alliance, Czech Social Democratic Party, and Civic Movement.

The Civic Democratic Party won in Czech in 1992 and the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia gain power in Slovakia driving the desire of Slovak to have their own autonomy.

The unity starts to dissipate by the end of the year and an agreement was made to allow the two republics to split into two. It was approved on 27 December 1992 and on 1st January 1993 Czech Republic and Slovakia were founded peacefully,

Source: