Czechoslovakia (German Heritage)

Czecho-Slovak Republic Česko-Slovenská republika (Czechoslovak) Timeline: German Heritage
Flag of Czecho-Slovakia Coat of arms
Motto:  Pravda vítězí / Pravda víťazí ”Truth prevails”
Anthem:  Kde domov můj (Czech) Nad Tatrou sa blýska (Slovak)
Capital		Prague
Largest city		Prague
Official languages		Czech and Slovak
Regional languages		Polish, Hungarian and German
Religion		51.7% Roman Catholic 21.5% non-declared or non-religious 12.6% Hussite 7.6% others
Demonym		Czechoslovak
Government		Federal Parliamentary Republic
-	President	Karel Schwarzenberg (KDU-ČSL)
-	Prime Minister	Petr Fiala (ČRS)
Population
-	2019 census	16,200,345
Currency		Koruna (CSK)
Time zone		CET
Date formats		dd.mm.yyyy
Drives on the		right
Internet TLD		.cs

Czecho-Slovakia, officially known as the Czecho-Slovak Republic (Czechoslovak: Česko-slovenská republika), is a sovereign state located in Central Europe. Czechoslovakia borders Germany and Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, and Hungary and Austria to the south.

Czechoslovakia is a landlocked state with a mostly temperate continental climate and oceanic climate. It is a federal parliamentary republic, with 16.2 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Prague, with 1.3 million residents; other major cities are Bratislava, Ostrava, and Pilsen.

The first real origins of Czechoslovakia are found in the Czechoslovak Legions, which fought on the side of the Allied Powers in World War I. Prominent Czech politician Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk pioneered and fought for the ideal of a Czechoslovak Republic both at home and in the offices of foreign nations. The victory of the Central Powers halted the plans for an independent Czechoslovakia, and reforms carried out by Karl I, Emperor of Austria reduced internal support for a Czechoslovak state. The Czech-speaking province of Bohemia gained independence from the United States of Greater Austria as the Czech Republic in July of 1932. After a Czech Intervention in the Third Balkan War, the Slovak-speaking part of Hungary were added to the Republic, creating the modern-day Czechoslovak Republic.

Under President Jan Masaryk (1948-1962), Czechoslovakia became a founding member of the Pan-European Community (PEC) along with Austria and Yugoslavia in 1956. Throughout the Cold War, Czechoslovakia would represent a “third position” in international relations as part of the non-aligned movement. After the fall of the German-backed European Economic Union, many European nations turned towards the PEC, which became the new dominant economic and political association on the continent.

History

Main Article: Origins of Czechoslovakia

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937), the first president of Czechoslovakia and the “founding father” of the Czechoslovak ideals.

The creation of Czechoslovakia in 1937 was the culmination of a struggle for ethnic identity and self-determination that had simmered within the multi-national empire ruled by the Austrian Habsburg family in the 19th century. The Czechs had lived primarily in Bohemia since the 6th century, and German immigrants had settled the Bohemian periphery since the 13th century. After 1526, Bohemia came under the control of the House of Habsburg as their scions first became the elected rulers of Bohemia, then the hereditary rulers of the country. Following the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, the Kingdom of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy as one of its three principal parts, alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. With the rise of nationalist political and cultural movements in the Czech lands (the Czech National Revival) and the Slovak lands (the Slovak National Revival instigated by Ľudovít Štúr), mounting ethnic tensions combined with repressive religious and ethnic policies (such as the forced Magyarization of Slovaks) pushed the cohesion of the multi-national Austro-Hungarian Empire ruled by the Habsburgs to breaking point.

Subject peoples all over the Austro-Hungarian empire wanted to be free from the rule of the old aristocracy and the imperial family. This frustration was partly eased by the introduction of local ethnic representation and language rights, however the First World War put a stop to these reform efforts and ultimately caused the internal collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the liberation of subject peoples such as the Czechs and Slovaks.

Although the Czechs and Slovaks speak languages that are very similar, the political and social situation of the Czech and Slovak peoples was very different at the end of the 19th century. The reason was the differing attitude and position of their overlords – the Austrians in Bohemia and Moravia, and the Hungarians in Slovakia – within Austria-Hungary. Bohemia was the most industrialized part of Austria and Slovakia was the most industrialized part of Hungary – however at very different levels of development. Furthermore, the Hungarians were far more determined to assimilate the Slovaks than the Austrians were to assimilate the Czechs.

Around the start of the 20th century, the idea of a "Czecho-Slovak" entity began to be advocated by some Czech and Slovak leaders after contacts between Czech and Slovak intellectuals intensified in the 1890s. Despite cultural differences, the Slovaks shared similar aspirations with the Czechs for independence from the Habsburg state.

Edvard Beneš (1884-1948), the Second President (1935-1947).

In 1917, during World War I, Tomáš Masaryk created the Czechoslovak National Council together with Edvard Beneš and Milan Štefánik (a Slovak astronomer and war hero). Masaryk in the United States (and in United Kingdom and Russia too), Štefánik in France, and Beneš in France and Britain worked tirelessly to secure Allied recognition. About 1.4 million Czech soldiers fought in World War I, 150,000 of which died.

After the war, Karl I, Emperor of Austria brought reform to the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, including Bohemia. In stark contrast, the Hungarian administration violently opposed any reform for the Slovak-speaking areas of Hungary.

Politics

  Republicans: 94 seats

  Czechoslovak People’s Party: 46 seats

  Slovak People’s Party: 24 seats

  National Social Party: 27 seats

  Social Democrats: 88 seats

  Communist Party: 17 seats

  Czech Nationalist: 4 seats