|
At the beginning
of the 20th century Bohemia was a part of Austrian
Empire. After World War I in 1918 Czechoslovakia
declared its independence. The new republic had
three parts: Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. The
popular Tomas Garigue Masaryk became the first
president.
In October
1938 the Nazis occupied the Sudetenland, with
the acquiescence of Britain and France, after
the infamous Munich Agreement. In March 1939 Germany
occupied Bohemia and Moravia. Slovakia proclaimed
independence as a Nazi puppet state.
After World War II in 1945 Czechoslovakia was
re-established as an independent state. In the
1946 elections, the Communists became the largest
party with 36% of the popular vote and formed
coalition government.
In 1948
the Communist staged coup d'etat and Czechoslovakia
became a communist country. In the 1960s Czechoslovakia
enjoyed a gradual liberalization under the reformist
general secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist
Party, Alexander Dubcek. But this short period
was crushed by a Soviet invasion in August 1968.
In 1969
the orthodox Gustav Husak replaced the reformist
Dubcek and Czechoslovakia stayed a communist country
under the Soviet influence. The communist government
resignated in November 1989 after a week of demonstrations
known as the Velvet Revolution. The popular Vaclav
Havel was elected president of the republic. At
the end of 1992 Czechoslovakia split into Czech
Republic (Bohemia and Moravia) and Slovak Republic
(Slovakia). This peaceful splitting is called
the Velvet Divorce. Twelve years later, on May
1, 2004 Czech Republic became a part of the European
Union.
|
