The partition of Czechoslovakia in 1938–1939.

German occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945) began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by the ethnic German population living in those regions. New and extensive Czechoslovak border fortifications were also located in the same area.

Following the Anschluss of Nazi Germany and Austria, in March 1938, the conquest of Czechoslovakia became Hitler's next ambition. The incorporation of the Sudetenland into Nazi Germany left the rest of Czechoslovakia weak and it became powerless to resist subsequent occupation. On 16 March 1939, the German Wehrmacht moved into the remainder of Czechoslovakia and, from Prague Castle, Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The occupation ended with the surrender of Germany following World War II.^[1]

Demands for Sudeten autonomy[link]

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From left to right: Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini, and Ciano pictured before signing the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland to Germany.

Sudeten German pro-Nazi leader Konrad Henlein offered the Sudeten German Party (SdP) as the agent for Hitler's campaign. Henlein met with Hitler in Berlin on 28 March 1938, where he was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the Czechoslovak government led by president Edvard Beneš. On 24 April, the SdP issued the Karlsbader Programm, demanding autonomy for the Sudetenland and the freedom to profess Nazi ideology. If Henlein's demands were granted, the Sudetenland would then be able to align itself with Nazi Germany.

"I am asking neither that Germany be allowed to oppress three and a half million Frenchmen, nor am I asking that three and a half million Englishmen be placed at our mercy. Rather I am simply demanding that the oppression of three and a half million Germans in Czechoslovakia cease and that the inalienable right to self-determination take its place." - Adolf Hitler's speech at the NSDAP Congress 1938

The Munich Agreement[link]

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Edvard Beneš, the second President of Czechoslovakia and leader of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile.

As the previous appeasement of Hitler had shown, the governments of France, the United Kingdom and Czechoslovakia were set on avoiding war at any cost. The French government did not wish to face Nazi Germany alone and took its lead from the British government and its Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain believed that Sudeten German grievances were justified and that Hitler's intentions were limited. Britain and France, therefore, advised Czechoslovakia to concede to the Nazi demands. Beneš resisted, and on 20 May a partial mobilization was under way in response to possible German invasion. Ten days later, Hitler signed a secret directive for war against Czechoslovakia to begin no later than 1 October.

In the meantime, the British government demanded that Beneš request a mediator. Not wishing to sever his government's ties with Western Europe, Beneš reluctantly accepted. The British appointed Lord Runciman and instructed him to persuade Beneš to agree to a plan acceptable to the Sudeten Germans. On 2 September, Beneš submitted the Fourth Plan, granting nearly all the demands of the Karlsbader Programm. Intent on obstructing conciliation, however, the SdP held demonstrations that provoked police action in Ostrava on 7 September. The Sudeten Germans broke off negotiations on 13 September, after which violence and disruption ensued. As Czechoslovak troops attempted to restore order, Henlein flew to Germany, and on 15 September issued a proclamation demanding the takeover of the Sudetenland by Germany.

On the same day, Hitler met with Chamberlain and demanded the swift takeover of the Sudetenland by the Third Reich under threat of war. The Czechs, Hitler claimed, were slaughtering the Sudeten Germans. Chamberlain referred the demand to the British and French governments; both accepted. The Czechoslovak government resisted, arguing that Hitler's proposal would ruin the nation's economy and lead ultimately to German control of all of Czechoslovakia. The United Kingdom and France issued an ultimatum, making a French commitment to Czechoslovakia contingent upon acceptance. On 21 September, Czechoslovakia capitulated. The next day, however, Hitler added new demands, insisting that the claims of ethnic Germans in Poland and Hungary also be satisfied.

The Czechoslovak capitulation precipitated an outburst of national indignation. In demonstrations and rallies, Czechs and Slovaks called for a strong military government to defend the integrity of the state. A new cabinet — under General Jan Syrový — was installed, and on 23 September a decree of general mobilization was issued. The Czechoslovak army — modern and possessing an excellent system of frontier fortifications — was prepared to fight. The Soviet Union announced its willingness to come to Czechoslovakia's assistance. Beneš, however, refused to go to war without the support of the Western powers.

On 28 September, Chamberlain appealed to Hitler for a conference. Hitler met the next day, at Munich, with the chiefs of governments of France, Italy and Britain. The Czech government was neither invited nor consulted. On 29 September, the Munich Agreement was signed by Germany, Italy, France, and Britain. The Czechoslovak government capitulated on 30 September and agreed to abide by the agreement. The Munich Agreement stipulated that Czechoslovakia must cede Sudeten territory to Germany. German occupation of the Sudetenland would be completed by 10 October. An international commission representing Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Czechoslovakia would supervise a plebiscite to determine the final frontier. Britain and France promised to join in an international guarantee of the new frontiers against unprovoked aggression. Germany and Italy, however, would not join in the guarantee until the Polish and Hungarian minority problems were settled.

On 5 October, Beneš resigned as President of Czechoslovakia, realising that the fall of Czechoslovakia was a fait accompli. Following the outbreak of World War II, he would form a Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London.

The first Vienna Award[link]

In early November 1938, under the first Vienna Award, which was a result of the Munich agreement, Czechoslovakia (and later Slovakia) — after it had failed to reach a compromise with Hungary and Poland — was forced by Germany and Italy to cede southern Slovakia (one third of Slovak territory) to Hungary, while Poland invaded Zaolzie territory shortly after.

As a result, Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia lost about 38% of their combined area to Germany, with some 3.2 million German and 750,000 Czech inhabitants. Hungary, in turn, received 11,882 km² (4,588 sq mi) in southern Slovakia and southern Ruthenia; according to a 1941 census, about 86.5% of the population in this territory was Hungarian. Meanwhile Poland annexed the town of ÄŒeský Těšín with the surrounding area (some 906 km² (350 sq mi), some 250,000 inhabitants, Poles made about 36% of population^[2]) and two minor border areas in northern Slovakia, more precisely in the regions SpiÅ¡ and Orava. (226 km² (87 sq mi), 4,280 inhabitants, only 0.3% Poles).

Soon after Munich, 115,000 Czechs and 30,000 Germans fled to the remaining rump of Czechoslovakia. According to the Institute for Refugee Assistance, the actual count of refugees on 1 March 1939 stood at almost 150,000.^[3]

On 4 December 1938, there were elections in Reichsgau Sudetenland, in which 97.32% of the adult population voted for Nazi Party. About 500,000 Sudeten Germans joined the Nazi Party which was 17.34% of the German population in Sudetenland (the average Nazi Party participation in Nazi Germany was 7.85%). This means the Sudetenland was the most "pro-Nazi" region in the Third Reich.^[4] Because of their knowledge of the Czech language, many Sudeten Germans were employed in the administration of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and in Nazi organizations (Gestapo, etc.) The most notable was Karl Hermann Frank, the SS and police general and Secretary of State in the Protectorate.

The Second Republic (October 1938 to March 1939)[link]

History of Czechoslovakia
This article is part of a series
Origins (1918)
First Republic (1918–1938)
Second Republic and World War II (1938–1945)
Third Republic (1945–1948)
Communist Era (1948–1989)
Velvet Revolution and Democracy (1989–1992)
Dissolution (1993)
v t e

The greatly weakened Czechoslovak Republic was forced to grant major concessions to the non-Czechs. The executive committee of the Slovak People's Party met at Žilina on 5 October 1938, and with the acquiescence of all Slovak parties except the Social Democrats formed an autonomous Slovak government under Jozef Tiso. Similarly, the two major factions in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, the Russophiles and Ukrainophiles, agreed on the establishment of an autonomous government, which was constituted on 8 October. Reflecting the spread of modern Ukrainian national consciousness, the pro-Ukrainian faction, led by Avhustyn Voloshyn, gained control of the local government and Subcarpathian Ruthenia was renamed Carpatho-Ukraine.

A last-ditch attempt to save Czecho-Slovakia from total ruin was made by the British and French governments, who on 27 January 1939, concluded an agreement of financial assistance with the Czech government. In this agreement, the British and French governments undertook to lend the Czech government ₤8 million and make a gift of ₤4 million. Part of the funds was allocated to help resettle Czechs who had fled from territories lost to Czechoslovakia in the Munich Agreement or the Vienna Arbitration Award.^[5]

Hácha, Hitler and Göring meeting in Berlin, 14/15 March 1939

First German poster in Prague, 15 March 1939

In November 1938, Emil Hácha — succeeding Beneš — was elected president of the federated Second Republic, renamed Czecho-Slovakia and consisting of three parts: Bohemia and Moravia, Slovakia, and Carpatho-Ukraine. Lacking its natural frontier and having lost its costly system of border fortification, the new state was militarily indefensible. In January 1939, negotiations between Germany and Poland broke down. Hitler — intent on war against Poland — needed to eliminate Czechoslovakia first. He scheduled a German invasion of Bohemia and Moravia for the morning of 15 March. In the interim, he negotiated with the Slovak People's Party and with Hungary to prepare the dismemberment of the republic before the invasion. On 13 March, he invited Tiso to Berlin and on 14 March, the Slovak Diet convened and unanimously declared Slovak independence. Carpatho-Ukraine also declared independence but Hungarian troops occupied it on 15 March and eastern Slovakia on 23 March.

Hitler summoned President Hácha to Berlin and during the early hours of 15 March, informed Hácha of the imminent German invasion. Threatening a Luftwaffe attack on Prague, Hitler persuaded Hácha to order the capitulation of the Czechoslovak army. Hácha suffered a heart attack during the meeting, and had to be kept awake by medical staff, eventually giving in and accepting Hitler's surrender terms. Then on the morning of 15 March, German troops entered Bohemia and Moravia, meeting practically no resistance (the only instance of organized resistance took place in Místek where an infantry company commanded by Karel Pavlík fought invading German troops). The Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine encountered resistance but the Hungarian army quickly crushed it. On 16 March, Hitler went to Czechoslovakia and from Prague Castle proclaimed the German protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

Thus, independent Czechoslovakia collapsed in the wake of foreign aggression and internal tensions. Subsequently, interwar Czechoslovakia has been idealized by its proponents as the only bastion of democracy surrounded by authoritarian and fascist regimes. It has also been condemned by its detractors as an artificial and unworkable creation of intellectuals supported by the great powers. Both views have some validity. Interwar Czechoslovakia comprised lands and peoples that were far from being integrated into a modern nation-state. Moreover, the dominant Czechs — who had suffered political discrimination under the Habsburgs — were not able to cope with the demands of other nationalities; however, some of the minority demands served as mere pretexts to justify intervention by Nazi Germany. Czechoslovakia was able to maintain a viable economy and a democratic political system under the adverse circumstances of the inter-war period.

Second World War[link]

Division of Czechoslovakia[link]

During World War II, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. Its territory was divided into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the newly-declared Slovak Republic, while the considerable part of Czechoslovakia was directly joined to the Third Reich. Some parts (e.g., Zaolzie, Southern Slovakia) were annexed by Poland and Hungary in the fall of 1938. The Zaolzie region was directly joined to the Third Reich after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.

The German economy — burdened by heavy militarisation — urgently needed foreign currency. Setting up an artificially-high exchange rate between the Czechoslavak Koruna and the Reichsmark brought consumer goods to Germans (and soon created shortages in the Czech lands).

Czechoslovakia was a major manufacturer of machine guns, tanks, and artillery, most of which were assembled in the Å koda factory and had a modern army of 35 divisions. Many of these factories continued to produce Czech designs until factories were converted for German designs. Czechoslovakia also had other major manufacturing companies. Entire steel and chemical factories were moved from Czechoslovakia and reassembled in Linz, Austria which incidentally remains a heavily industrialized sector of the country.

Czech resistance[link]

Beneš—the leader of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile — together with František Moravec — head of Czechoslovak military intelligence—organized and coordinated a resistance network. Hácha, Prime Minister Alois Eliáš, and the Czech resistance acknowledged Beneš's leadership. Active collaboration between London and the Czechoslovak home front was maintained throughout the war years. The most important event of the resistance was the Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, SS leader Heinrich Himmler's deputy and the then Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Infuriated, Hitler ordered the arrest and execution of 10,000 randomly selected Czechs, but, after consultations, he reduced his response.^[6] Over 10,000 were arrested, and at least 1,300 executed. The assassination resulted in one of the most well-known reprisals of the war. The villages of Lidice and Ležáky were completely destroyed by the Nazis; all men over 16 years of age from the village were murdered and the rest of the population was sent to Nazi concentration camps where many women and nearly all the children were killed.

The Czech resistance comprised four main groups:

• The army command coordinated with a multitude of spontaneous groupings to form the Defense of the Nation (Obrana národa, ON) with branches in Britain and France. Czechoslovak units and formations with overwhelming majority of Czechs (cca 82–85 %) served with the Polish Army (Czechoslovak Legion), the French Army, the Royal Air Force, the British Army (the 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade), and the Red Army (I Corps). Thousands of Czech troops fought alongside the British during the war in areas such as North Africa and Palestine.^[7] Among other, Czech fighter pilot, sergeant Josef FrantiÅ¡ek was one of the most famous Czech personalities as being among The Few's top aces in the Battle of Britain.

• BeneÅ¡'s collaborators, led by Prokop Drtina, created the Political Center (Politické ústÅ™edí, PÃ?). The PÃ? was nearly destroyed by arrests in November 1939, after which younger politicians took control.
• Social democrats and leftist intellectuals, in association with such groups as trade-unions and educational institutions, constituted the Committee of the Petition We Remain Faithful (PetiÄ?ní výbor VÄ›rni zůstaneme, PVVZ).
• The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSÄŒ) was the fourth major resistance group. The KSÄŒ had been one of over 20 political parties in the democratic First Republic, but it had never gained sufficient votes to unsettle the democratic government. After the Munich Agreement, the leadership of the KSÄŒ moved to Moscow and the party went underground. Until 1943, however, KSÄŒ resistance was weak. The Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in 1939 had left the KSÄŒ in disarray. But ever faithful to the Soviet line, the KSÄŒ began a more active struggle against the Nazis after Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941.

The names of executed Czechs, October 21, 1944

The democratic groups — ON, P�, and PVVZ — united in early 1940 and formed the Central Committee of the Home Resistance (�střední výbor odboje domácího, �VOD). Involved primarily in intelligence gathering, the �VOD cooperated with a Soviet intelligence organization in Prague. Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the democratic groups attempted to create a united front that would include the KSČ. Heydrich's appointment in the fall thwarted these efforts. By mid-1942, the Nazis had succeeded in exterminating the most experienced elements of the Czech resistance forces.

Czech forces regrouped in 1942–1943. The Council of the Three (R3) — in which the communist underground was also represented — emerged as the focal point of the resistance. The R3 prepared to assist the liberating armies of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. In cooperation with Red Army partisan units, the R3 developed a guerrilla structure.

Guerrilla activity intensified after the formation of a provisional Czechoslovak government in Košice on 4 April 1945. "National committees" took over the administration of towns as the Germans were expelled. More than 4,850 such committees were formed between 1944 and the end of the war under the supervision of the Red Army. On 5 May, a national uprising began spontaneously in Prague, and the newly formed Czech National Council (Česká národní rada) almost immediately assumed leadership of the revolt. Over 1,600 barricades were erected throughout the city, and some 30,000 Czech men and women battled for three days against 37,000–40,000 German troops backed by tanks and artillery. On 8 May, the German Wehrmacht capitulated; Soviet troops arrived on 9 May.

Slovak National Uprising[link]

The Slovak National Uprising ("1944 Uprising") was an armed struggle between Nazi German Wehrmacht forces and rebel Slovak troops from August–October 1944. It was centered at Banská Bystrica.

The rebel Slovak Army, formed to fight the Nazis, had an estimated 18,000 soldiers in August, a total which first increased to 47,000 after mobilisation on 9 September 1944, and later to 60,000, plus 20,000 partisans. However, in late August, German troops were able to disarm the Eastern Slovak Army, which was the best equipped, and thus significantly decreased the power of the Slovak Army. Many members of this force were sent to concentration camps in the Third Reich; others escaped and joined partisan units or returned home.

The Slovaks were aided in the Uprising by soldiers and partisans from the Soviet Union, France, Czechia and Poland. In total, 32 nations were involved in the Uprising.

Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile[link]

Reward poster for Josef ValÄ?ík, one of the assassins of Reinhard Heydrich.

Edvard Beneš had resigned as president of the first Czechoslovak Republic on 5 October 1938 after the Nazi coup. In London, he and other Czechoslovak exiles organized a Czechoslovak government-in-exile and negotiated to obtain international recognition for the government and a renunciation of the Munich Agreement and its consequences. After World War II broke out, a Czechoslovak national committee was constituted in France, and under Beneš's presidency sought international recognition as the exiled government of Czechoslovakia. This attempt led to some minor successes, such as the French-Czechoslovak treaty of 2 October 1939, which allowed for the reconstitution of the Czechoslovak army on French territory, yet full recognition was not reached. (The Czechoslovak army in France was established on 24 January 1940, and units of its 1st Infantry Division took part in the last stages of the Battle of France, as did some Czechoslovak fighter pilots in various French Fighter squadrons.)

BeneÅ¡ hoped for a restoration of the Czechoslovak state in its pre-Munich form after the anticipated Allied victory, a false hope. The government in exile—with BeneÅ¡ as president of republic—was set up in June 1940 in exile in London, with the President living at Aston Abbotts. On 18 July 1940, it was recognised by the British government. Belatedly, the Soviet Union (in the summer of 1941) and the U.S. (in winter) recognised the exiled government. In 1942, Allied repudiation of the Munich Agreement established the political and legal continuity of the First Republic and de jure recognition of BeneÅ¡'s de facto presidency. The success of the Operation Anthropoid — which resulted in the British backed assassination of one of Hitler's top henchmen, Reinhard Heydrich, by Jozef GabÄ?ík and Jan KubiÅ¡ on 27 May — influenced the Allies in this repudiation.

The Munich Agreement had been precipitated by the subversive activities of the Sudeten Germans. During the latter years of the war, Beneš worked toward resolving the German minority problem and received consent from the Allies for a solution based on a postwar transfer of the Sudeten German population. The First Republic had been committed to a Western policy in foreign affairs. The Munich Agreement was the outcome. Beneš determined to strengthen Czechoslovak security against future German aggression through alliances with Poland and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, however, objected to a tripartite Czechoslovak-Polish-Soviet commitment. In December 1943, Beneš's government concluded a treaty just with the Soviets.

Beneš's interest in maintaining friendly relations with the Soviet Union was motivated also by his desire to avoid Soviet encouragement of a post-war communist coup in Czechoslovakia. Beneš worked to bring Czechoslovak communist exiles in Britain into cooperation with his government, offering far-reaching concessions, including nationalization of heavy industry and the creation of local people's committees at the war's end. In March 1945, he gave key cabinet positions to Czechoslovak communist exiles in Moscow.

Especially after the Nazi reprisals for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, most of the Czech resistance groups demanded, based on German Nazi terror during occupation, the "final solution of the German question" (Czech: koneÄ?né Å™eÅ¡ení nÄ›mecké otázky) which would have to be "solved" by deportation of the ethnic Germans from their homeland.^[8] These reprisals included massacres in villages Lidice and Ležáky, although these villages were not connected with Czech resistance.^[9]

These demands were adopted by the Government-in-Exile, which sought the support of the Allies for this proposal, beginning in 1943.^[10][11][11] During the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Government-in-Exile promulgated a series of laws that are now referred to as the "Beneš decrees". One part of these decrees dealt with the status of ethnic Germans and Hungarians in postwar Czechoslovakia, and laid the ground for the deportation of some 3,000,000 Germans and Hungarians from the land that had been their home for centuries (see expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, and Hungarians in Slovakia). The Beneš decrees declared that German property was to be confiscated without compensation. However, the final agreement authorizing the forced population transfer of the Germans was not reached until 2 August 1945 at the end of the Potsdam Conference.

End of the war[link]

Residents of Prague greet the Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev.

On 8 May 1944, Beneš signed an agreement with Soviet leaders stipulating that Czechoslovak territory liberated by Soviet armies would be placed under Czechoslovak civilian control.

On 21 September, Czechoslovak troops formed in the Soviet Union liberated the village Kalinov, the first liberated settlement of Czechoslovakia near the Dukla Pass in northeastern Slovakia. Czechoslovakia was liberated mostly by Soviet troops (the Red Army), supported by Czech and Slovak resistance, from the east to the west; only southwestern Bohemia was liberated by other Allied troops from the west. Except for the brutalities of the German occupation in Bohemia and Moravia (after the August 1944 Slovak National Uprising also in Slovakia), Czechoslovakia suffered relatively little from the war. Even at the end of the war, German troops massacred Czech civilians, as was for example in Massacre in Trhová Kamenice or Massacre in JavoříÄ?ko.

A provisional Czechoslovak government was established by the Soviets in the eastern Slovak city of Košice on 4 April 1945. "National committees" (supervised by the Red Army) took over the administration of towns as the Germans were expelled. Bratislava was taken by the Soviets on 4 April. Prague was taken on 9 May by Soviet troops during the Prague Offensive. When the Soviets arrived, Prague was already in a general state of confusion due to the Prague Uprising. Soviet and other Allied troops were withdrawn from Czechoslovakia in the same year.

On 5 May 1945, in the last moments of the war in Europe, the Prague uprising (Czech: Pražské povstání) began. It was an attempt by the Czech resistance to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation during World War II. The uprising went on until 8 May 1945, ending in a ceasefire the day before the arrival of the Red Army and one day after Victory in Europe Day.

It is estimated that about 345,000 World War II casualties were from Czechoslovakia, 277,000 of them Jews. As many as 144,000 Soviet troops died during the liberation of Czechoslovakia.^[12]

Annexation of Subcarpathian Ruthenia by the Soviet Union[link]

In October 1944, Subcarpathian Ruthenia was taken by the Soviets. A Czechoslovak delegation under František Němec was dispatched to the area. The delegation was to mobilize the liberated local population to form a Czechoslovak army and to prepare for elections in cooperation with recently established national committees. Loyalty to a Czechoslovak state was tenuous in Carpathian Ruthenia. Beneš's proclamation of April 1944 excluded former collaborationist Hungarians, Germans and the Rusynophile Ruthenian followers of Andrej Brody and the Fencik Party (who had collaborated with the Hungarians) from political participation. This amounted to approximately ⅓ of the population. Another ⅓ was communist, leaving ⅓ of the population presumably sympathetic to the Czechoslovak Republic.

Upon arrival in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, the Czechoslovak delegation set up headquarters in Khust, and on 30 October issued a mobilization proclamation. Soviet military forces prevented both the printing and the posting of the Czechoslovak proclamation and proceeded instead to organize the local population. Protests from Beneš's government were ignored^{[citation needed]}. Soviet activities led much of the local population to believe that Soviet annexation was imminent. The Czechoslovak delegation was also prevented from establishing a cooperative relationship with the local national committees promoted by the Soviets. On 19 November, the communists — meeting in Mukachevo — issued a resolution requesting separation of Subcarpathian Ruthenia from Czechoslovakia and incorporation into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. On 26 November, the Congress of National Committees unanimously accepted the resolution of the communists. The congress elected the National Council and instructed that a delegation be sent to Moscow to discuss union. The Czechoslovak delegation was asked to leave Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Negotiations between the Czechoslovak government and Moscow ensued. Both Czech and Slovak communists encouraged Beneš to cede Subcarpathian Ruthenia. The Soviet Union agreed to postpone annexation until the postwar period to avoid compromising Beneš's policy based on the pre-Munich frontiers.

The treaty ceding Carpathian Ruthenia to the Soviet Union was signed in June 1945. Czechs and Slovaks living in Subcarpathian Ruthenia and Ruthenians (Rusyns) living in Czechoslovakia were given the choice of Czechoslovak or Soviet citizenship.

Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia[link]

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Sudeten Germans are forced to walk past the bodies of 30 Jewish women starved to death by German SS troops

Czech territories with 50% or more German population^[13] before 1945

In May 1945, Czechoslovak troops took possession of the borderland. A Czechoslovak administrative commission composed exclusively of Czechs was established. Sudeten Germans were subjected to restrictive measures and conscripted for compulsory labor.^[14] On 15 June, however, Beneš called Czechoslovak authorities to order. In July, Czechoslovak representatives addressed the Potsdam Conference (the U.S., Britain and the Soviet Union) and presented plans for a "humane and orderly transfer" of the Sudeten German population. There were substantial exceptions from expulsions that applied to about 244,000 ethnic Germans who were allowed to remain in Czechoslovakia.

Following groups of ethnic Germans were not deported:

• anti-fascists
• persons crucial for industries
• those married with ethnic Czechs

It is estimated that between 700,000 and 800,000 Germans were affected by "wild" expulsions between May and August 1945.^[15] The expulsions were encouraged by Czechoslovak politicians and were generally carried out by the order of local authorities, mostly by groups of armed volunteers.^[16] However, in some cases it was initiated or pursued by assistance of the regular army.^[16]

The expulsion according the Potsdam Conference proceeded from 25 January 1946 till October of that year. An estimated 1.6 million ethnic Germans were deported to the American zone of what would become West Germany. An estimated 800,000 were deported to the Soviet zone (in what would become East Germany).^[17] Several thousand died violently during the expulsion and many more died from hunger and illness as a consequence. These casualties include violent deaths and suicides, deaths in "internment camps"^[18] and natural causes.^[19] The joint Czech-German commission of historians stated in 1996 following numbers: The deaths caused by violence and abnormal living conditions amount approximately to 10 000 persons killed. Another 5,000–6,000 people died of unspecified reasons related to expulsion making the total amount of victims of the expulsion 15,000-16 000 (this excludes suicides, which make another approximately 3,400 cases).^[20][21]

Approximately 225,000 Germans remained in Czechoslovakia, of whom 50,000 emigrated or were expelled soon after.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Fall Grün, the Nazi invasion plan for Czechoslovakia rendered obsolete by the Munich Agreement.
• Concentration camps Lety and Hodonín in the Czech republic
• Czechoslovak border fortifications – built 1935–1938 against Nazi Germany
• Karel Pavlík
• Western betrayal

References[link]

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v t e Nazi–Soviet relations before 1941 Prior antagonism Anti-Comintern Pact Â· "Jewish Bolshevism" Â· Spanish Civil War Â· German occupation of Czechoslovakia Political Relations before 1941 Â· Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (negotiations) Â· Boundary and Friendship Treaty Â· Population transfers Â· Axis talks Â· Gestapo–NKVD Conferences Economic Economic relations Â· Commercial Agreement (1939) Â· Commercial Agreement (1940) Â· Border and Commercial Agreement (1941) Military Invasion of Poland Â· Soviet invasion of Poland Â· Occupation of the Baltic states Â· Winter War Â· Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina Â· Naval cruiser Lützow Â· Soviet offensive plans controversy Â· Basis Nord Â· Komet Northern Sea Route Raid Â· German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk Aftermath Operation Barbarossa Â· Eastern Front Â· KatyÅ„ massacre controversy Â· Falsifiers of History Â· Baltic Way Category

External links[link]

• Hitler’s directive for “Operation Greenâ€?

Czechoslovakia Československo, Česko‑Slovensko
â†?   â†? 1918–1992 →   →
Flag since 1920 Coat of arms in 1990–1992
Motto Czech: Pravda vítězí ("Truth prevails"; 1918–1990) Slovak: Pravda zvíťazí ("Truth prevails"; 1918–1990) Latin: Veritas vincit ("Truth prevails"; 1990–1992)
Anthem Kde domov můj and Nad Tatrou sa blýska (first verses only)
Capital	Prague (Praha)
Language(s)	Czech and Slovak
Government	Republic
President
- 1918–1935	Tomáš G. Masaryk (first)
- 1989–1992	Václav Havel (last)
Prime Minister
- 1918–1919	Karel Kramář
- 1992	Jan Stráský
History
- Independence	28 October 1918
- German occupation	1939
- Liberation	1945
- Dissolution	31 December 1992
Area
- 1921	140,446 km2 (54,227 sq mi)
- 1993	127,900 km2 (49,382 sq mi)
Population
- 1921 est.	13,607,385
Density	96.9 /km2  (250.9 /sq mi)
- 1993 est.	15,600,000
Density	122 /km2  (315.9 /sq mi)
Currency	Czechoslovak koruna
Internet TLD	.cs
Calling code	+42
Current ISO 3166-3 code:        CSHH
The calling code 42 was retired in Winter 1997. The number range was subdivided, and re-allocated amongst Czech Republic, Slovakia and Liechtenstein.

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia^[1] (Czech and Slovak: ÄŒeskoslovensko, ÄŒesko-Slovensko^[2]) was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992. From 1939 to 1945, the state did not de facto exist because of its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, but the Czechoslovak government-in-exile nevertheless continued to exist during this period. In 1945, the eastern part of Carpathian Ruthenia was taken over by the Soviet Union. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Basic characteristics[link]

Form of state:

• 1918 - 1938: A democratic republic.
• 1938 - 1939: After annexation of Sudetenland by Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections between Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A large strip of southern Slovakia and Ruthenia was annexed by Hungary, and the Zaolzie region was annexed by Poland.
• 1939 - 1945: The region split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and its Allies; after German invasion of Russia, it was also recognised by the USSR. Czechoslovakia was part of Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of United Nations.
• 1946 - 1948: The country was governed by a coalition government with Communist ministers, with the prime minister and the minister of interior. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the USSR.
• 1948 - 1989: The country became a communist state with a centrally planned economy. In 1960, the country officially became a socialist republic.
• 1969 - 1990: The federal republic consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic.
• 1990 - 1992: The federal democratic republic consisted of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

Neighbours:

• Austria, 1918–1938, 1945-
• Germany, 1918–1945, 1990-
• West and East Germany 1945 - 1990
• Poland
• Soviet Union 1945 - 1991
• Ukraine (1992)
• Romania (until 1939)
• Hungary

Topography:

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

Climate:

The weather was predominantly continental, but varied from the moderate temperature of Western Europe in the west, to more severe weather of Eastern Europe and the western Soviet Union in the east.

Official names[link]

• 1918 - 1920: Republic of Czechoslovakia (abbreviated RÄŒS)/Czecho-Slovak State,^[3] or Czecho-Slovakia/Czechoslovakia.
• 1920 - 1938: Czechoslovak Republic (ÄŒSR), or Czechoslovakia.
• 1938 - 1939: Czecho-Slovak Republic, or Czecho-Slovakia.
• 1945 - 1960: Czechoslovak Republic (ÄŒSR), or Czechoslovakia.
• 1960 - 1990: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ÄŒSSR), or Czechoslovakia.
• April 1990: Czechoslovak Federal Republic (Czech version) and Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic (Slovak version).
  • The country subsequently became the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, ÄŒSFR, or ÄŒeskoslovensko (Czech version) and ÄŒesko-Slovensko (Slovak version).

History[link]

Foundation[link]

Origins[link]

The area was long a part of the Austro Hungarian Empire until the Empire collapsed at the end of World War I. The new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk^[4] (1850–1937), who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He was succeeded by his close ally, Edvard Beneš (1884–1948).

The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, when philologists and educators, influenced by Romanticism, promoted the Czech language and pride in the Czech people. Nationalism became a mass movement in the last half of the 19th century. Taking advantage of the opportunities for limited participation in political life available under the Austrian rule, Czech leaders such as historian František Palacký (1798–1876) founded many patriotic, self-help organizations which provided a chance for many of their compatriots to participate in communal life prior to independence. At first, Palacký supported Austroslavism and worked for reorganized, federal, and Slavic-dominated Austrian Empire, which would protect Slavic peoples against Russian and German threats. The failure of the Revolution of 1848, however, crushed his hopes for Austroslavism.

An advocate of democratic reform and Czech autonomy within Austria-Hungary, Masaryk was elected twice to Reichsrat (Austrian Parliament), the first time being from 1891 to 1893 in the Young Czech Party and again from 1907 to 1914 in the Czech Realist Party, which he founded in 1889 with Karel Kramář and Josef Kaizl. With the outbreak of World War I, Masaryk began working for Czech independence in union with Slovakia. With Edvard Beneš and Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Masaryk visited several Western countries and won support from influential publicists.^[5]

Bohemia and Moravia, under Austrian rule, were Czech-speaking industrial centres, while Slovakia, which was part of Hungary, was an undeveloped agrarian region. Conditions were much better for the development of a mass national movement in the Czech lands than in Slovakia. Nevertheless, the two regions united and created a new nation.

Founding[link]

Czechoslovakia in 1928.

Czechoslovakia was founded in October 1918, as one of the successor states of Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I and as part of the Treaty of St. Germain. It consisted of the present day territories of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia. Its territory included some of the most industrialized regions of the former Austria-Hungary.

Ethnicity[link]

The new country was a multi-ethnic state. The population consisted of Czechs (51%), Slovaks (16%), Germans (22%), Hungarians (5%) and Rusyns (4%).^[6] Many of the Germans, Hungarians, Ruthenians and Poles^[7] and some Slovaks, felt oppressed, however, because the political elite did not generally allow political autonomy for minority ethnic groups. This policy, combined with increasing Nazi propaganda especially in the industrialized German speaking Sudetenland, led to unrest among the non-Czech population.

The state nonetheless proclaimed the official ideology that there are no Czechs and Slovaks, but only one nation of Czechoslovaks (see Czechoslovakism), to the disagreement of Slovaks and other ethnic groups. Once a unified Czechoslovakia was restored after World War II (after the country had been divided during the war), the conflict between the Czechs and the Slovaks surfaced again.

Linguistic map of Czechoslovakia in 1930

Interwar[link]

The period between the two world wars saw the flowering of democracy in Czechoslovakia. Of all the new states established in central Europe after 1918, only Czechoslovakia preserved a democratic government until the war broke out. The persistence of democracy suggests that Czechoslovakia was better prepared to maintain democracy than were other countries in the region. Thus, despite regional disparities, its level of development was much higher than that of neighboring states. The population was generally literate, and contained fewer alienated groups. The impact of these conditions was augmented by the political values of Czechoslovakia's leaders and the policies they adopted. Under Masaryk, Czech and Slovak politicians promoted progressive social and economic conditions that served to defuse discontent.

Foreign minister Beneš became the prime architect of the Czechoslovak-Romanian-Yugoslav alliance (the "Little Entente", 1921–38) directed against Hungarian attempts to reclaim lost areas. Beneš worked closely with France. Far more dangerous was the German element, which after 1933 became allied with the Nazis in Germany. The increasing feeling of inferiority among the Slovaks, who were hostile to the more numerous Czechs, weakened the country in the late 1930s. Many Slovaks supported an extreme nationalist movement and welcomed the puppet Slovak state set up under Hitler's control in 1939.

Munich Betrayal[link]

In 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded control of the Sudetenland. Britain, and France at the Munich Conference ceded the control in the Appeasement, ignoring the military alliance Czechoslovakia had with France. In 1939, the remainder ("rump") of Czechoslovakia was invaded by Nazi Germany and divided into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the puppet Slovak State. Much of Slovakia and all of Subcarpathian Ruthenia were annexed by Hungary. Poland occupied Zaolzie, an area with Polish minority, in October 1938.

The eventual goal of the German state under Nazi leadership was to eradicate Czech nationality through assimilation, deportation, and extermination of the Czech intelligentsia; the intellectual elites and middle class made up a considerable number of the 200,000 people who passed through concentration camps and the 250,000 who died during German occupation.^[9] Under Generalplan Ost, it was assumed that around 50% Czechs would be fit for Germanization. The Czech intellectual elites were to be removed not only from Czech territories but from Europe completely. The authors of Generalplan Ost believed it would be best if they emigrated overseas, as even in Siberia they were considered a threat to German rule. Just like Jews, Poles, Serbs, and several other nations, Czechs were considered to be untermenschen by the Nazi state.^[10]

The deportation of Jews to concentration camps was organized, and the fortress town of Terezín was made into a ghetto way station for Jewish families. On June 4, 1942, Heydrich died after being wounded by an assassin in Operation Anthropoid. Heydrich's successor, Colonel General Kurt Daluege, ordered mass arrests and executions and the destruction of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. In 1943 the German war effort was accelerated. Under the authority of Karl Hermann Frank, German minister of state for Bohemia and Moravia, some 350,000 Czech labourers were dispatched to the Reich. Within the protectorate, all non-war-related industry was prohibited. Most of the Czech population obeyed quiescently up until the final months preceding the end of the war, while thousands were involved in the resistance movement.

For the Czechs of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, German occupation was a period of brutal oppression. Czech losses resulting from political persecution and deaths in concentration camps totaled between 36,000 and 55,000. The Jewish population of Bohemia and Moravia (118,000 according to the 1930 census) was virtually annihilated. Many Jews emigrated after 1939; more than 70,000 were killed; 8,000 survived at Terezín. Several thousand Jews managed to live in freedom or in hiding throughout the occupation.

On 9 May 1945 Soviet Red Army troops entered Prague.

Communist Czechoslovakia[link]

Spartakiad in 1960.

After World War II, pre-war Czechoslovakia was re-established, with the exception of Subcarpathian Ruthenia, which was annexed by the Soviet Union and incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Beneš decrees were promulgated concerning ethnic Germans (see Potsdam Agreement) and ethnic Hungarians. Under the decrees, citizenship was abrogated for people of German and Hungarian ethnic origin, who had accepted German or Hungarian citizenship during the occupations. In 1948, this provision was cancelled for the Hungarians, but only partially for the Germans. The government then confiscated the property of the Germans and expelled about 90% of the ethnic German population, over 2 million people. Those who remained were collectively accused of supporting the Nazis after the Munich Agreement, as 97.32% of Sudeten Germans voted for the NSDAP in the December 1938 elections. Almost every decree explicitly stated that the sanctions did not apply to antifascists. Some 250,000 Germans, many married to Czechs, some antifascists, and also those required for the post-war reconstruction of the country, remained in Czechoslovakia. The Beneš Decrees still cause controversy among nationalist groups in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Hungary.^[11]

Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied by (and in June 1945 formally ceded to) the Soviet Union. In the 1946 parliamentary election, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was the winner in the Czech lands, and the Democratic Party won in Slovakia. In February 1948 the Communists seized power. Although they would maintain the fiction of political pluralism through the existence of the National Front, except for a short period in the late 1960s (the Prague Spring) the country was characterised by the absence of liberal democracy. While its economy remained more advanced than those of its neighbours in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia grew increasingly economically weak relative to Western Europe.

Czechoslovakia in 1969.

In 1968, when the reformer Alexander DubÄ?ek was appointed to the key post of First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, there was a brief period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring. In response, after failing to persuade the Czechoslovak leaders to change course, five other Eastern Bloc members of the Warsaw Pact invaded. Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia on the night of 20–21 August 1968.^[12] The General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev viewed this intervention as vital to the preservation of the Soviet, socialist system and vowed to intervene in any state that sought to replace Marxism-Leninism with capitalism.^[13] In the week after the invasion there was a spontaneous campaign of civil resistance against the occupation. This resistance involved a wide range of acts of non-cooperation and defiance: this was followed by a period in which the Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership, having been forced in Moscow to make concessions to the Soviet Union, gradually put the brakes on their earlier liberal policies.^[14] In April 1969 DubÄ?ek was finally dismissed from the First Secretaryship of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. Meanwhile, one plank of the reform programme had been carried out: in 1968-9, Czechoslovakia was turned into a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic. The theory was that under the federation, social and economic inequities between the Czech and Slovak halves of the state would be largely eliminated. A number of ministries, such as education, now became two formally equal bodies in the two formally equal republics. However, the centralised political control by the Czechoslovak Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalisation.

The 1970s saw the rise of the dissident movement in Czechoslovakia, represented (among others) by Václav Havel. The movement sought greater political participation and expression in the face of official disapproval, manifested in limitations on work activities, which went as far as a ban on professional employment, the refusal of higher education for the dissidents' children, police harassment and prison.

After 1989[link]

In 1989, the Velvet Revolution restored democracy. This occurred at around the same time as the fall of communism in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland. Within three years communist rule was extirpated from Europe.

Unlike Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, the end of communism in this country did not automatically mean the end of the "communist" name:^{[clarification needed]} the word "socialist" was removed from the name on 29 March 1990 and replaced by "federal".

In 1992, because of growing nationalist tensions, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved by parliament. On 1 January 1993 it formally separated into two completely independent countries: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

Heads of state and government[link]

• List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia
• List of Prime Ministers of Czechoslovakia
• see also leaders of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

Foreign policy[link]

International agreements and membership[link]

In the 1930s the nation formed a military alliance with France, which collapsed in the Munich Agreement of 1938. After World War II, active participant in Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), Warsaw Pact, United Nations and its specialized agencies; signatory of conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.^[15]

Administrative divisions[link]

• 1918 - 1923: Different systems in former Austrian territory (Bohemia, Moravia, a small part of Silesia) compared to former Hungarian territory (Slovakia and Ruthenia): three lands (zemÄ›) (also called district units (obvody)): Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, plus 21 counties (župy) in today's Slovakia and two(?) counties in today's Ruthenia; both lands and counties were divided into districts (okresy).
• 1923 - 1927: As above, except that the Slovak and Ruthenian counties were replaced by six (grand) counties ((veľ)župy) in Slovakia and one (grand) county in Ruthenia, and the numbers and boundaries of the okresy were changed in those two territories.
• 1928 - 1938: Four lands (Czech: zemÄ›, Slovak: krajiny): Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia, divided into districts (okresy).
• Late 1938 - March 1939: As above, but Slovakia and Ruthenia gained the status of "autonomous lands".
• 1945 - 1948: As in 1928–1938, except that Ruthenia became part of the Soviet Union.
• 1949 - 1960: 19 regions (kraje) divided into 270 okresy.
• 1960 - 1992: 10 kraje, Prague, and (from 1970) Bratislava (capital of Slovakia); these were divided into 109 - 114 okresy; the kraje were abolished temporarily in Slovakia in 1969 - 1970 and for many purposes from 1991 in Czechoslovakia; in addition, the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic were established in 1969 (without the word Socialist from 1990).

Population and ethnic groups[link]

Politics[link]

After WWII, a political monopoly was held by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC). Gustáv Husák was elected first secretary of the 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 the KSC. All political parties, as well as numerous mass organizations, were grouped under umbrella of the National Front. Human rights activists and religious activists were severely repressed.

Constitutional development[link]

Czechoslovakia had the following constitutions during its history (1918–1992):

• Temporary constitution of 14 November 1918 (democratic): see History of Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)
• The 1920 constitution (The Constitutional Document of the Czechoslovak Republic), democratic, in force until 1948, several amendments
• The Communist 1948 Ninth-of-May Constitution
• The Communist 1960 Constitution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic with major amendments in 1968 (Constitutional Law of Federation), 1971, 1975, 1978, and 1989 (at which point the leading role of the Communist Party was abolished). It was amended several more times during 1990–1992 (for example, 1990, name change to Czecho-Slovakia, 1991 incorporation of the human rights charter)

Economy[link]

After WWII, the economy was centrally planned, with command links controlled by the communist party, similarly to the Soviet Union. The large metallurgical industry was dependent on imports of iron and non-ferrous ores.

• Industry: Extractive industry and manufacturing dominated the sector, including machinery, chemicals, food processing, metallurgy, and textiles. The sector was wasteful in its use of energy, materials, and labor and was slow to upgrade technology, but the country was a major supplier of high-quality machinery, instruments, electronics, aircraft, airplane engines and arms to other communist countries.
• Agriculture: Agriculture was a minor sector, but collectivized farms of large acreage and relatively efficient mode of production enabled the country to be relatively self-sufficient in food supply. The country depended on imports of grains (mainly for livestock feed) in years of adverse weather. Meat production was constrained by shortage of feed, but the country still recorded high per capita consumption of meat.
• Foreign trade: Exports were estimated at US$17.8 billion in 1985. Exports were machinery (55%), fuel and materials (14%), and manufactured consumer goods (16%). Imports stood at estimated US$17.9 billion in 1985, including fuel and materials (41%), machinery (33%), and agricultural and forestry products (12%). In 1986, about 80% of foreign trade was with other communist countries.
• Exchange rate: Official, or commercial, rate was crowns (KÄ?s) 5.4 per US$1 in 1987. Tourist, or non-commercial, rate was KÄ?s 10.5 per US$1. Neither rate reflected purchasing power. The exchange rate on the black market was around KÄ?s 30 per US$1, which became the official rate once the currency became convertible in the early 1990s.
• Fiscal year: Calendar year.
• Fiscal policy: The state was the exclusive owner of means of production in most cases. Revenue from state enterprises was the primary source of revenues followed by turnover tax. The government spent heavily on social programs, subsidies, and investment. Budget was usually balanced or left small surplus.

Resource base[link]

After WWII, the country was short of energy, 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.

Transportation and communications[link]

Society and social groups[link]

Education[link]

Education free at all levels and compulsory from age six to 15. Vast majority of population literate. Highly developed system of apprenticeship training and vocational schools supplemented general secondary schools and institutions of higher education.

Religion[link]

In 1991: Roman Catholics 46.4%, Evangelic Lutheran 5.3%, Atheist 29.5%, n/a 16.7%, but there were huge differences between the two constituent republics – see Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Health, social welfare and housing[link]

After WWII, free health care was available to all citizens. National health planning emphasised preventive medicine; factory and local health care centres supplemented hospitals and other inpatient institutions. There was substantial improvement in rural health care during the 1960s and 1970s.

Mass media[link]

During Communist rule, the mass media in Czechoslovakia were controlled by the Communist Party. Private ownership of any publication or agency of the mass media was generally forbidden, although churches and other organizations published small periodicals and newspapers. Even with this information monopoly in the hands of organizations under KSČ control, all publications were reviewed by the government's Office for Press and Information.

Sports[link]

The Czechoslovakia national football team was a consistent performer on 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, came in third in 1980 and won the Olympic gold 1980.

The Czechoslovak national ice hockey team won many medals from the world championships and Olympic Games. Peter Šťastný, Jaromír Jágr, Peter Bondra, Petr Klíma, Marián Gáborík, and Pavol Demitra all come from Czechoslovakia.

Emil Zátopek, winner of four Olympic gold medals in athletics, is considered one of the top athletes in history.

Věra Čáslavská was an Olympic gold medallist in gymnastics, winning seven gold medals and four silver medals, and represented Czechoslovakia in three consecutive Olympics.

The famous tennis players Ivan Lendl, Miloslav MeÄ?íř, Hana Mandlíková, Martina Hingis Martina Navrátilová and Daniela Hantuchová were born in Czechoslovakia.

Culture[link]

• Czech Republic, Slovakia
• List of Czechs, List of Slovaks
• MDŽ
• Jazz in dissident Czechoslovakia

Postage stamps[link]

• List of people on stamps of Czechoslovakia
• Czechoslovakia's first issue
• Czechoslovakia stamp reused by Slovak Republic after 18 January 1939 by overprinting country and value

Timeline: From creation to dissolution[link]

See also[link]

• Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968
• Velvet Revolution of 1989
• Former countries in Europe after 1815
• Effects on the environment in Czechoslovakia from Soviet influence during the Cold War
• 1968 Red Square demonstration

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Czechoslovak Republic

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Heimann, Mary. Czechoslovakia: The State That Failed (2009). negative tone stressing purported maltreatment of minorities.
• Hermann, A. H. A History of the Czechs (1975)
• Kalvoda, Josef. The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (1986)
• Leff, Carol Skalnick. National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-87 (1988)
• Mantey, Victor. A History of the Czechoslovak Republic (1973)
• Myant, Martin. The Czechoslovak Economy, 1948-88 (1989)
• Naimark, Norman, and Leonid Gibianskii, eds. The Establishment of Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe, 1944-1949 (1997) online edition
• Paul, David. 'Czechoslovakia: Profile of a Socialist Republic at the Crossroads of Europe (1990)
• Renner, Hans. A History of Czechoslovakia since 1945 (1989)
• Seton-Watson, R. W. A History of the Czechs and Slovaks (1943)
• Stone, Norman, and E. Strouhal, eds.Czechoslovakia: Crossroads and Crises, 1918-88 (1989)
• Wheaton, Bernard; Zdenek Kavav. "The Velvet Revolution: Czechoslovakia, 1988-1991". (1992)
• Williams, Kieran, 'Civil Resistance in Czechoslovakia: From Soviet Invasion to "Velvet Revolution", 1968-89', in Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (Oxford University Press, 2009)
• Windsor, Philip, and Adam Roberts, Czechoslovakia 1968: Reform, Repression and Resistance. (1969)
• Wolchik, Sharon L. Czechoslovakia: Politics, Society, and Economics (1990)
• online books and articles

External links[link]

• U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies, "Czechoslovakia" in public domain
• Soviet Invasion of 1968^{[dead link]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Czechoslovakia

• Orders and Medals of Czechoslovakia including Order of the White Lion (in English and Czech)
• Czechoslovakia-The First Czechoslovak Republic
• Andropov to the Central Committee, about the Demonstration in Red Square Against the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 20 September 1968. Andrei Sakharov KGB file, Archieve posted at the Yale University, http://www.yale.edu/annals/sakharov/documents_frames/Sakharov_008.htm
• Hungarian Language Map, border changes after the creation of Czechoslovakia
• Map
• Map

v t e Council of Europe Institutions Secretary General Committee of Ministers Parliamentary Assembly Congress Court of Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights Commission for the Efficiency of Justice Commission against Racism and Intolerance Members Full Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia1 Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Observer Canada Israel Japan Mexico United States Vatican City Former Czechoslovakia (1991–1992) Saar (assoc. 1950–1956) 1 Provisionally referred to by the Council of Europe as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"; see Macedonia naming dispute.

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German conquests (in black/grey) in Europe, during World War II.

German–occupied Europe or Nazi Empire refers to the countries of Europe which were occupied by the military forces of Nazi Germany at various times between 1938 and 1945.

Some countries started the war as Allies of the United Kingdom or the Soviet Union, and were forced to surrender, or were subdued and then occupied. In some cases, the governments went into exile, or governments-in-exile were formed by some of their citizens, in other Allied countries. Other countries occupied by the Nazis were officially neutral. Some occupied countries were former members of the Axis powers, and were occupied by German forces at a later stage of the war.

Occupied countries[link]

The countries occupied included all or most of:

Country of occupation	See for further details
Albanian Kingdom	Albania under Germany
Federal State of Austria	Anschluss
Belgium	Military Administration in Belgium and North France
Byelorussian SSR	Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany
Czechoslovakia	German occupation of Czechoslovakia
Denmark	Occupation of Denmark
Estonia	Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany
France	German occupation of France during World War II
Kingdom of Greece	Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
Guernsey	Occupation of the Channel Islands
Kingdom of Hungary	Hungarian State
Kingdom of Italy	Italian Social Republic
Jersey	Occupation of the Channel Islands
Latvia	Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
Lithuania	Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany
Luxembourg	German occupation of Luxembourg in World War II
Monaco	History of Monaco
Netherlands	German occupation of the Netherlands
Norway	Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
Poland	German military administration in occupied Poland Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany General Government
San Marino	San Marino in World War II
Slovak Republic	Slovak National Uprising
Ukrainian SSR	Reichskommissariat Ukraine
Kingdom of Yugoslavia	Invasion of Yugoslavia

See also[link]

• Drang nach Osten ("The Drive Eastward")
• Lebensraum ("Living Space")
• European theatre of World War II
• Atlantic Wall
• New Order (political system)
• List of Nazi-German concentration camps
• Reorganization of occupied dioceses during World War II

External links[link]

• Map of Europe in 1942: