The Hyphen War (in Czech Pomlčková válka, in Slovak Pomlčková vojna — literally "Dash War") was the tongue-in-cheek name given to the conflict over what to call Czechoslovakia after the fall of Communism. Geographical renaming is the act of changing the name of a geographical feature or area. ... Communism refers to a theoretical system of social organization and a political movement based on common ownership of the means of production. ...

The Communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia fell in November 1989. But in 1990, the official name of the country was still the "Czechoslovak Socialist Republic" (in Czech and in Slovak Československá socialistická republika, or ČSSR). President Václav Havel proposed merely dropping the word "Socialist" from the name, but Slovak politicians wanted a second change. They demanded that the country's name be spelled with a hyphen (e.g. "Republic of Czecho-Slovakia" or "Federation of Czecho-Slovakia"), as it was spelled from Czechoslovak independence in 1918 until 1920, and again in 1938 and 1939. President Havel then changed his proposal to "Republic of Czecho-Slovakia". Communism refers to a theoretical system of social organization and a political movement based on common ownership of the means of production. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Václav Havel with the Order of Canada Václav Havel, GCB, CC (IPA: ) (born October 5, 1936) is a Czech writer and dramatist. ... The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... A hyphen ( -, or ‐ ) is a punctuation mark. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1920 (MCMXX) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

However, on March 29, 1990, the Czechoslovak parliament resolved that the country's long name was to be spelled without a hyphen in Czech ("Czechoslovak Federative Republic") and with a hyphen in Slovak ("Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic"). March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap years). ... This article is about the year. ...

This solution was found to be unsatisfactory, and less than a month later, on April 20, 1990, the parliament changed the name again, to the "Czech and Slovak Federative Republic" (Czech: Česká a Slovenská Federativní Republika, Slovak: Česká a Slovenská Federatívna Republika, or ČSFR). April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ...

Incidentally, the compromise required even more linguistic wrangling than first appears. Generally, only the first word of country names is capitalized in Czech and Slovak. Capitalizing all of the words eliminated the problem of whether to capitalize "Slovenská". For any word written in a language with whose alphabet or alphabet equivalent has two cases, such as those using the Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, or Armenian alphabet, capitalization is the writing of that word with its first letter in majuscules (uppercase) and the remaining letters in minuscules (lowercase). ...

Although the Slovaks were demanding a hyphen, the Czechs called it a pomlčka, or dash, although there is a clear difference between a hyphen and a dash in Czech and Slovak spelling (a hyphen is used to mark a connection between two words, while a dash is used in other cases). Nonetheless, English language media generally refer to the conflict as the "Hyphen War". A dash is a punctuation mark, and is not to be confused with the hyphen, which has quite different uses. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

While the Hyphen War was not really deserving of the name, it demonstrated that there were serious differences between Czechs and Slovaks regarding the identity of their shared country. Over the following two years, more substantial disputes arose between the two halves of the federation. In 1992, Czech and Slovak politicians agreed to split the country into two states — the so-called Velvet Divorce — which became effective on 1 January 1993. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The Velvet Divorce is a journalistic term for the dissolution of the former country of Czechoslovakia into the nations of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, effective January 1, 1993. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

External links

• "Velvet Revolution to Velvet Divorce", Hoover Institution (PDF)