Czechoslovakia

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
Flag (1920–1992) Lesser coat of arms (1920–1960)
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
Capital	Prague (Praha) 50°05′N 14°25′E
Common languages	Czech · Slovak · German · Hungarian · Yiddish · Rusyn
Demonym(s)	Czechoslovak
Government	First 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 era	20th century
• Independence	28 October 1918
• German occupation	1939
• Liberation	9 May 1945
• Coup d'état	25 February 1948
• Velvet Revolution	November–December 1989
• Dissolution	31 December 1992
Population
• 1921	13,607,385
• 1992	15,600,000
Currency	Czechoslovak 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

Flag from 1918-1920

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

• 1918–1920: Republic of Czechoslovakia (abbreviated RČS)/Czecho-Slovak State,^[2] or Czecho-Slovakia/Czechoslovakia
• 1920–1938: Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR), or Czechoslovakia
• 1938–1939: Czecho-Slovak Republic, or Czecho-Slovakia
• 1945–1960: Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR), or Czechoslovakia
• 1960–1990: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR), or Czechoslovakia
• April 1990: Czechoslovak Federative Republic (Czech version) and Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic (Slovak version)
  • The country subsequently became the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, ČSFR, or Československo (Czech version) and Česko-Slovensko (Slovak version).

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Notes

1. In other recognized languages of Czechoslovakia:

   • German: Tschechoslowakei
   • Rusyn: Чеськословеньско, Cheskoslovensko
   • Yiddish: טשעכאסלאוואקיי, Tshekhaslavakey