Czechoslovakia

country in Central Europe, 1918–1992

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia[1] was a country in Europe. It split off from Austria-Hungary in 1918 and split apart in 1993.

Czechoslovakia
Československo
Česko‑Slovensko[a]
1918–1939
1945–1992
1939–1945: Government-in-exile
Motto: Pravda vítězí / Pravda víťazí’ (Czech / Slovak, 1918–1990)
’Veritas vincit’ (Latin, 1990–1992)
’Truth prevails’
Anthem: Kde domov můj (Czech)
’Where is my home’

Nad Tatrou sa blýska (Slovak)
’Lightning Over the Tatras’
Czechoslovakia during interwar period and Cold War
Czechoslovakia during interwar period and Cold War
CapitalPrague (Praha)
50°05′N 14°25′E / 50.083°N 14.417°E / 50.083; 14.417
Common languagesCzech · Slovak · German · Hungarian · Yiddish · Rusyn
Demonym(s)Czechoslovak
GovernmentFirst Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)
Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–1939)
Third Czechoslovak Republic (1945–1948)
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1948–1990)
Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (1990–1992)
President 
• 1918–1935
Tomáš G. Masaryk
• 1935–1938 · 1945–1948
Edvard Beneš
• 1938–1939
Emil Hácha
• 1948–1953
Klement Gottwald
• 1953–1957
Antonín Zápotocký
• 1957–1968
Antonín Novotný
• 1968–1975
Ludvík Svoboda
• 1976–1989
Gustáv Husák
• 1989–1992
Václav Havel
Prime Minister 
• 1918–1919 (first)
Karel Kramář
• 1992 (last)
Jan Stráský
Historical era20th century
• Independence
28 October 1918
1939
• Liberation
9 May 1945
25 February 1948
November–December 1989
31 December 1992
Population
• 1921
13,607,385
• 1992
15,600,000
CurrencyCzechoslovak koruna
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Austria-Hungary
Kingdom of Bohemia
Margraviate of Moravia
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Today part of Czech Republic
 Slovakia
 Ukraine
   Zakarpattia Oblast

In mid-1938 Nazi Germany took over Czechoslovakia and split off Slovakia. Sudetenland was annexed by Germany, other parts of Czechia became its protectorate named Bohemia and Moravia. After World War II the USSR liberated these lands and kept Zakarpattia because of the Ukrainian (Rusyn) majority in that region.

By 1948 pro-Soviet communists got the power finally and declared the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was a member of Warsaw Treaty Organization and COMECON , one of the richest countries of the Eastern Bloc. In the Prague Spring of the late 1960s, Czechoslovak leader Alexander Dubcek pursued his own policy of a ‘socialism with a human face’. In 1968 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia to restore the old system.

In 1989 Czechoslovakia peacefully changed its political system in the Velvet Revolution. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The countries separated in peace.

Official names change

Notes change

  1. In other recognized languages of Czechoslovakia:
    • German: Tschechoslowakei
    • Rusyn: Чеськословеньско, Cheskoslovensko
    • Yiddish: טשעכאסלאוואקיי, Tshekhaslavakey

References change

  1. "THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS".
  2. Votruba, Martin. "Czecho-Slovakia or Czechoslovakia". Slovak Studies Program. University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2009.