Czechoslovakia

"RČS" redirects here. For other topics, see RCS (disambiguation).

Czechoslovakia Československo
1918–1993 1939–1945: Government-in-exile
Flag of Czechoslovakia Flag (1920–1992) Middle coat of arms (1918–1938 and 1945–1961) of Czechoslovakia Middle coat of arms (1918–1938 and 1945–1961)
Motto: 'Pravda vítězí / Pravda víťazí' (Czech / Slovak, 1918–1990) 'Veritas vincit' (Latin, 1990–1993) 'Truth prevails'
Anthems: 'Kde domov můj' () 'Where my home is' File:Czech anthem.ogg 'Nad Tatrou sa blýska' () 'Lightning Over the Tatras' File:National anthem of Slovakia, performed by the United States Navy Band.ogg
Czechoslovakia during the interwar period and the Cold War Czechoslovakia during the interwar period and the Cold War
Capital and largest city	Prague 50°05′N 14°25′E Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.
Official languages	Czechoslovak, after 1948 Czech · Slovak
Recognised languages	German Hungarian Rusyn Polish
Demonym(s)	Czechoslovak
Government	First Republic (1918–38) Second Republic (1938–39) Third Republic (1945–48) Socialist Republic (1948–89) Federative Republic (1990–92) Details Unitary parliamentary republic (1918–1938, 1945–1948) Federal authoritarian parliamentary republic (rump state) (1938–1939) Government-in-exile (1939–1945) Unitary Marxist-Leninist single-party socialist republic (1948–1969) Federal Marxist-Leninist single-party socialist republic (1969–1989) Federal parliamentary republic (1989–1993)
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
• 1989–1993	Václav Havel
KSČ General Secretary / First Secretary
• 1948–1953	Klement Gottwald
• 1953–1968	Antonín Novotný
• 1968–1969	Alexander Dubček
• 1969–1987	Gustáv Husák
• 1987–1989	Miloš Jakeš
Prime Minister
• 1918–1919 (first)	Karel Kramář
• 1993 (last)	Jan Stráský
Legislature	National Assembly (1948–1969) Federal Assembly (1969–1992)
History
• Proclamation	28 October 1918
• Munich Agreement	30 September 1938
• Dissolution	14 March 1939
• Re-establishment	10 May 1945
• Coup d'état	25 February 1948
• Soviet occupation	21 August 1968
• Velvet Revolution	17 – 28 November 1989
• Dissolution	1 January 1993
HDI (1990 formula)	0.897 very high
Currency	Czechoslovak koruna
Driving side	right
Calling code	+42
Internet TLD	.cs
Preceded by Succeeded by File:Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg File:Flag of Hungary (1896-1915; angels; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg Austria-Hungary Czech Republic Slovakia File:Flag of Slovakia.svg.png
Today part of	Czech Republic Slovakia Ukraine (Zakarpattia Oblast)
Calling code +42 was withdrawn in the winter of 1997. The number range was divided between the Czech Republic (+420) and Slovak Republic (+421). Current ISO 3166-3 code is "CSHH".

Czechoslovakia (/ˌtʃɛkoʊsloʊˈvækiə[unsupported input]-kə-[unsupported input]-slə-[unsupported input]-ˈvɑː-/; Czech and Slovak: Československo, Česko-Slovensko) was a landlocked state in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland became part of Nazi Germany, while the country lost further territories to Hungary and Poland. Between 1939 and 1945, the state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and the remaining territories in the east became part of Hungary, while in the remainder of the Czech Lands, the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed. In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies.

After World War II, the pre-1938 Czechoslovakia was reestablished, with the exception of Carpathian Ruthenia, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR (a republic of the Soviet Union). From 1948 to 1989, Czechoslovakia was part of the Eastern Bloc with a planned economy. Its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of 1955. A period of political liberalization in 1968, the Prague Spring, ended violently when the Soviet Union, assisted by other Warsaw Pact countries, invaded Czechoslovakia. In 1989, as Marxist–Leninist governments and communism were ending all over Central and Eastern Europe, Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their communist government during the Velvet Revolution, which began on 17 November 1989 and ended 11 days later on 28 November when all of the top Communist leaders and Communist party itself resigned. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia as the result of national tensions of the Slovaks.

Characteristics

Form of state

• 1918–1938: A democratic republic championed by Tomáš Masaryk.
• 1938–1939: After the acquisition of Sudetenland by Nazi Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections among the Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A strip of southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia was redeemed by Hungary, and the Trans-Olza region was annexed by Poland.
• 1939–1945: The remainder of the state was dismembered and became split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic, while the rest of Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied and annexed by Hungary. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and their Allies; after the German invasion of Soviet Union, it was also recognized by the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia adhered to the Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of the United Nations.
• 1946–1948: The country was governed by a coalition government with communist ministers, including the prime minister and the minister of interior. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the Soviet Union.
• 1948–1989: The country became a Marxist-Leninist state under Soviet domination with a command economy. In 1960, the country officially became a socialist republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was a satellite state of the Soviet Union.
• 1989–1990: Czechoslovakia formally became a federal republic comprising the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic. In late 1989, the communist rule came to an end during the Velvet Revolution followed by the re-establishment of a democratic parliamentary republic.
• 1990–1992: Shortly after the Velvet Revolution, the state was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, consisting of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (Slovakia) until the peaceful dissolution on 31 December 1992.

Neighbors

• Austria 1918–1938, 1945–1992
• Germany (both predecessors, West Germany and East Germany, were neighbors between 1949 and 1990)
• Hungary
• Poland
• Romania 1918–1938
• Soviet Union 1945–1991
• Ukraine 1991–1992 (Soviet Union member until 1991)

Topography

The country was of generally irregular terrain. The western area was part of the north-central European uplands. The eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of the Danube River basin.

Climate

The weather is mild winters and mild summers. Influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, the Baltic Sea from the north, and Mediterranean Sea from the south. There is no continental weather.

Names

See also: Hyphen War and Name of the Czech Republic

• 1918–1938: Czechoslovak Republic (abbreviated ČSR), or Czechoslovakia, before the formalization of the name in 1920, also known as Czecho-Slovakia or the Czecho-Slovak state
• 1938–1939: Czecho-Slovak Republic, or Czecho-Slovakia
• 1945–1960: Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR), or Czechoslovakia
• 1960–1990: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR), or Czechoslovakia
• 1990: Czechoslovak Federative Republic (ČSFR)
• 1990–1992: Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (ČSFR), or Czechoslovakia

See also

• Effects on the environment in Czechoslovakia from Soviet influence during the Cold War
• Former countries in Europe after 1815
• List of former sovereign states

Sources

• "The First Czechoslovak Republic". The official website of the Czech Republic. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. {{cite web}}:

External links

• Online books and articles
• U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies, "Czechoslovakia"
• English/Czech: Orders and Medals of Czechoslovakia including Order of the White Lion
• Czechoslovakia by Encyclopædia Britannica
• Katrin Boeckh: Crumbling of Empires and Emerging States: Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia as (Multi)national Countries, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.

Maps with Hungarian-language rubrics:

• Border changes after the creation of Czechoslovakia
• Interwar Czechoslovakia
• Czechoslovakia after Munich Agreement

Template:Czechoslovakia topics Template:Dissolution of Austria–Hungary