| Czechoslovakia (Czech: Československo, Slovak: Česko-Slovensko/before 1990 Československo)
was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1992 (except for the World War II period). On January 1, 1993, it peacefully split into the Czech Republic and
Slovakia, in what was known as the Velvet Divorce, by analogy with the Velvet
Revolution.
Basic characteristics
Form of state:
- 1918-1968 (except for 1938-1945): a centralized country;
- 1969-1992: a federal republic consisting of the Czech Socialist Republic
(1990-1992: Czech Republic) and the Slovak Socialist Republic (1990-1992: Slovak Republic);
Neighbors: Germany (1945-1990: West Germany and East Germany), Poland, Soviet Union (1992: Ukraine), Romania (till 1939), Hungary, Austria
Topography: Generally irregular terrain. Western area part of north-central European uplands. Eastern region made up of
northern reaches of Carpathian Mountains and Danube Basin lands.
Climate: Predominantly continental but varied from moderate temperatures of Western Europe in the west to more severe
weather systems affecting Eastern Europe and the western Soviet Union in the east
Official names
- 1918-1920: Czecho-Slovak Republic or Czechoslovak Republic (abbreviated RČS); short form Czecho-Slovakia
or rarely Czechoslovakia
- 1920-1938 and 1945-1960: Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR [initially abbreviated RČS]); short form
Czechoslovakia
- 1938-1939: Czecho-Slovak Republic; Czecho-Slovakia
- 1960-1990: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR); Czechoslovakia
- April 1990: Czechoslovak Federative Republic (Czech version) and Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic (Slovak version),
- afterwards: Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (ČSFR, with the short forms Czechoslovakia (Czech version) and
Czecho-Slovakia (Slovak version))
Coat of arms
- 1920-1945: [1] (http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18znm.gif) small version, [2] (http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18zns.gif) middle version, [3] (http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18znv.gif) big version
- 1945-1960: [4] (http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18znm.gif)
- 1960-1990: [5] (http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs60znm.gif)
- 1990-1992: [6] (http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs90zn.gif)
History
Main article: History of
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia arose in October 1918 as one of the succession states of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I. It consisted
of the present-day territories of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and (until 1939) Carpatho-Ukraine (Ruthenia).
It was the most industrialized part of the former Austria-Hungary, was a democratic republic throughout the pre-World War II
period, but was characterized by ethnic problems. The ethnic problems were due to the fact that the second and third largest
ethnic groups (Germans and Slovaks, respectively) were not fully satisfied with
the dominance of the Czechs, and that the Germans and Hungarians of Czechoslovakia have never really accepted the creation of the new state.
Czechoslovakia was to become Hitler's target. After the Munich Agreement of 1938, Hitler's troops invaded the ethnic-German border
regions of Bohemia and Moravia (the
Sudetenland), Hungary received southern Slovakia, and Slovakia and Ruthenia received an autonomous status for a while. Finally Czechoslovakia ceased to exist
in March 1939, when Hitler occupied whole of the Czech lands and (the remaining) Slovakia was forced to declare independence.
After World War II, the pre-war Czechoslovakia was reestablished, the
Germans were expelled from the country and Ruthenia was
occupied by (officially "given to") the Soviet Union. Three years later the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power (1948–1989) and the country came under the influence of the Soviet Union. Except for a short period in the late 1960s (the Prague Spring) the country was characterized by
the absence of democracy and relative economic backwardness compared to Western Europe. In the religious sphere, atheism was officially promoted and taught. In 1969,
Czechoslovakia was turned into a federation of the Czech lands and
Slovakia.
In 1989, the country became a democratic country again through the Velvet revolution. In 1992, the
federal parliament decided to split the country in the Czech Republic
and Slovakia as of January 1,
1993.
Heads of State and Government
International agreements and membership
After WWII, active participant in Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), Warsaw Pact, United Nations and its specialized agencies, and Movement of Nonaligned Nations; signatory of conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe
Administrative divisions
- 1918 – 1923: different systems on former
Austrian territory (Czechia) and on former Hungarian territory (Slovakia and Ruthenia): 3 lands [země] (also called district
units [obvody]) Bohemia, Moravia,Silesia + 21 counties [župy] in today’s Slovakia + 2? counties in today’s Ruthenia; both lands and
counties were divided in districts [okresy]
- 1923 – 1927: like above, except that the
above counties were replaced by 6 (grand) counties [(veľ)župy] in today‘s Slovakia and 1 (grand) county in
today‘s Ruthenia, and the number and frontiers of the okresy were changed on these two territories
- 1928 – 1938: 4 lands [in Czech: země /
in Slovak: krajiny] Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia; divided in districts [okresy]
- late 1938 – March 1939: like above, but
Slovakia and Ruthenia were promoted to “autonomous lands“
- 1945 – 1948: like 1928 – 1938, except
that Ruthenia became part of the Soviet Union
- 1949 – 1960: 19 regions [kraje] divided in
270 districts [okresy]
- 1960 - 1992 :10 regions [kraje]+ Prague+ (since 1970) Bratislava; divided in
109 - 114 districts [okresy]; the kraje were abolished temporarily in Slovakia in 1969 – 1970 and for many functions since
1991 in Czechoslovakia; in addition, the two republics Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic were established in
1969 (without the word “Socialist” since 1990)
Population and ethnic groups
Main article: Population and Ethnic Groups of Czechoslovakia
Religion
Main article: Religion in Communist Czechoslovakia
In 1991: Roman Catholics 46.4%, Evangelic Lutheran 5.3%, Atheist 29.5%, n/a 16.7%, but there were huge differences between the
2 constituent republics – see Czech Republic and Slovakia
Health, social welfare and housing
Main article: Health and Social Welfare in Communist Czechoslovakia
After WWII, free health care available to all citizens. National health planning emphasized preventive medicine; factory and
local health-care centers supplement hospitals and other inpatient institutions. Substantial improvement in rural health care in
1960s and 1970s.
Politics
Main articles: Czechoslovakia: 1918 -
1938 and Politics of
Communist Czechoslovakia
After WWII, monopoly on politics held by Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Gustáv Husák elected first secretary of KSC in 1969 (changed to general secretary in 1971) and president of
Czechoslovakia in 1975. Other parties and organizations existed but functioned in subordinate roles to KSC. All political
parties, as well as numerous mass organizations, grouped under umbrella of National Front of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
Human rights activists and religious activists severely repressed
Government
Main article: Government structure of Communist Czechoslovakia
Constitutional development
Czechoslovakia had the following constitutions throughout its history
(1918 – 1992):
- Temporary Constitution of November 14 1918 [democratic], see: Czechoslovakia: 1918 - 1938
- The 1920 Constitution (The Constitutional Document of the Czechoslovak Republic) [democratic, in force till 1948, several
amendments], see: Czechoslovakia: 1918 -
1938
- The 1948 Constitution (The Ninth-of-May
Constitution) [a Communist one]
- The 1960 Constitution
(The Constitution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic) [a Communist one till 1989] with amendments in 1968 (Czechoslovakia
turned into a federation), 1971, 1975, 1978, 1989 (leading role of the KSC abolished) and several times during 1990-1992 (e. g. 1990 change of the name of
Czechoslovakia, 1991 incorporation of the human rights charter)
Society and social groups
Main article: Society
of Communist Czechoslovakia
Education
Main article: Education in
Czechoslovakia
Education free at all levels and compulsory from age six to sixteen. Vast majority of population literate. Highly developed
system of apprenticeship training and vocational schools supplemented general secondary schools and institutions of higher
education
Resource base
Main article: Resource base of Communist Czechoslovakia
After WWII, country energy short, relying on imported crude oil and natural gas from Soviet Union, domestic brown coal, and
nuclear and hydroelectric energy. Energy constraints a major factor in 1980s.
Economy, foreign trade and financial system
Main articles: Economy
of Communist Czechoslovakia and Economic History of Communist Czechoslovakia
After WWII, economy centrally planned with command links controlled by communist party, similar to Soviet Union. Large metallurgical industry but dependent on imports for iron and
nonferrous ores.
- Industry: Extractive and manufacturing industries dominated sector. Major branches included machinery, chemicals, food
processing, metallurgy, and textiles. Industry wasteful of energy, materials, and labor and slow to upgrade technology, but
country source of high-quality machinery and arms for other communist countries.
- Agriculture: Minor sector but supplied bulk of food needs. Dependent on large imports of grains (mainly for livestock feed)
in years of adverse weather. Meat production constrained by shortage of feed, but high per capita consumption of meat.
- Foreign Trade: Exports estimated at US$17.8 billion in 1985, of which 55 percent machinery, 14 percent fuels and materials,
16 percent manufactured consumer goods. Imports at estimated US$17.9 billion in 1985, of which 41 percent fuels and materials, 33
percent machinery, 12 percent agricultural and forestry products other. In 1986, about 80 percent of foreign trade with communist
countries.
- Exchange Rate: Official, or commercial, rate Kcs 5.4 per US$1 in 1987; tourist, or noncommercial, rate Kcs 10.5 per US$1.
Neither rate reflected purchasing power. The exchange rate on the black
market was around Kcs 30 per US$1, and this rate became the official one once the currency became convertible in the early
1990s.
- Fiscal Year: Calendar year.
- Fiscal Policy: State almost exclusive owner of means of production. Revenues from state enterprises primary source of
revenues followed by turnover tax. Large budget expenditures on social programs, subsidies, and investments. Budget usually
balanced or small surplus.
Transportation and communications
Main article: Transportation
in Czechoslovakia
Mass media
Main article: Mass media in Communist Czechoslovakia
Sports
The Czechoslovakia
national football team was a consistent performer in the international scene, with 8 appearances in the FIFA World Cup Finals, finishing in second-place in 1934 and 1962. The team also won the European Football Championship in 1976.
Czechoslovakia also had a very strong national ice-hockey team that has won
many medals from the world championships and olympic games.
The famous tennis players Ivan
Lendl and Martina Navratilova were born in
Czechoslovakia.
Elmer Valo played in Major League Baseball between 1940 and
1961.
Culture
See:
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![[1]](http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18znm.gif){kind=link}
![[2]](http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18zns.gif){kind=link}
![[3]](http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18znv.gif){kind=link}
![[5]](http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs60znm.gif){kind=link}
![[6]](http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs90zn.gif){kind=link}
