The creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 was the culmination of the long struggle of the Czechs against their Austrian rulers and of the Slovaks against Hungarisation and their Hungarian rulers. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is part of the article History of Czechoslovakia The independence of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed on October 28, 1918, by the Czechoslovak National Council in Prague. ... == On the same day, Hitler met with Chamberlain at Berchtesgaden and demanded the swift return of the Sudetenland to the Third Reich under threat of war. ... The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia is a general term for the dissolution of the former country of Czechoslovakia into the nations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, effective January 1, 1993. ...

Early history

Although the Czechs and Slovaks have similar languages, they have a different mentality and different historical experiences. The ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks were maybe (see Samo) united in the so-called Samo‘s empire for some 30 years in the 7th century. The ancestors of the Slovaks and Moravians were then again united in Great Moravia between 833 and 907. The Czechs were only part of Great Moravia for some 7 years and split from it at the first opportunity in 895. Furthermore, in the 2nd half of the 10th century, the Czechs maybe conquered western Slovakia for some 30 years. This was the last time the two nations were united, because while the Hungarians had conquered Slovakia by the 11th century, the Czechs had their own state from around 900 to the 15th century, called the Bohemian Kingdom. Despite their separate strands of development, both Czechs and Slovaks struggled against a powerful neighboring nation (Germans for the Czechs, Hungarians for the Slovaks). For details see History of the Czech Republic and History of Slovakia. Contacts between the Czechs and Slovaks arose in the late 14th century, when the Slovaks started to study at the University of Prague, and in the 15th century with the campaigns of the Czech Hussite armies to Slovakia, and in the 17th century when Czech protestants fled to Slovakia. Also, the written Czech language was used by some educated Slovaks from the 15th century to the 18th century, besides Slovak and Latin (see History of the Slovak language). Formally, the Czechs and Slovaks were also “united“ in 1436 –1439, 1453-1457, 1490-1918, when Hungary (incl. Slovakia) and Bohemia and other Central European states were ruled by the same kings (since 1526 by the Habsburgs). King Samo (? – 658) was a merchant born in the Senonian country (Senonago) (probably todays Sens in France). ... Great Moravia was a Slavic empire existing in Central Europe between 833 and the early 10th century. ... The history of the Czech lands includes the following periods: Prehistory (700 000 BC – 400 BC) Celts (400 BC – 8 BC) – Boii Germanic tribes (8 BC – 511 AD) – Marcomanni & Quadi Slavs: Czechs & Moravians – since the 6th century (535?) Samo’s realm (623 &#8211... This article discusses the history of the territory of present-day Slovakia and of the Slovaks. ... This is a tabular history of the Slovak language. ...

Late 19th century and early 20th century

At the end of the 19th century, the situation of the Czechs and Slovaks was very different, due to the different stages of development of their overlords – the Austrians in Bohemia and the Hungarians in Slovakia – within Austria-Hungary. The only common feature was the fact that Bohemia was the most industrialized part of Austria and Slovakia that of Hungary – however at a different level:

• In Bohemia, a vigorous industrial revolution transformed a peasant nation into a differentiated society that included industrial workers, a middle class, and intellectuals. Under the influence of the Enlightenment and romanticism, the Czechs experienced a remarkable revival of Czech culture and national consciousness (nationals revival : late 18th century – around 1850). By the mid-nineteenth century, the Czechs were making political demands, including the reconstitution of an autonomous Bohemian Kingdom. Because of Austria's parliamentary system, the Czechs were able to make significant cultural and political gains, but these were vigorously opposed by Bohemia's Germans, who feared losing their privileged position. On the eve of World War I, the Czech leader Tomáš Masaryk began propagating the Czechoslovak idea, i.e., the reunion of Czechs and Slovaks into one political entity.
• The Slovaks, on the other hand, had no forum for political expression within Hungary, and national revival (late 18th century – around 1850) came more hesitantly to the Slovaks than to the Czechs. Slovakia was not industrialized until the end of the nineteenth century; therefore, the Slovaks remained primarily a rural people led by a small group of intellectuals. After the creation of the dual monarchy Austria-Hungary in 1867, a strong Hungarisation started in Hungary (see History of the Slovak language) and the Slovak national revival was severely repressed, so that on the eve of World War I, the Slovaks were struggling to preserve their newly found national identity (see below).

Chezchoslovakian lands inside Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1911 ██ Czechs ██ Slovaks ██ Ruthenians/Ukrainians ██ Poles ██ Austrians/Germans ██ Hungarians ██ Romanians

At the turn of the century, the idea of a "Czecho-Slovak" entity began to be advocated by some Czech and Slovak leaders. In the 1890s, contacts between Czech and Slovak intellectuals intensified. The Czech leader Masaryk was a keen advocate of Czech-Slovak cooperation. Some of his students formed the Czechoslovak Union and in 1898 published the journal Hlas (The Voice). In Slovakia, some young Slovak intellectuals began to challenge the old Slovak National Party. But although the Czech and Slovak national movements began drawing closer together, their ultimate goals remained unclear. At least until World War I, the Czech and Slovak national movements struggled for autonomy within Austria and Hungary, respectively. Only during the war did the idea of an independent Czecho-Slovakia emerge. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, portrait by Josef Jindřich Šechtl, 1918 Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (IPA: ), sometimes called Thomas Masaryk in English, (March 7, 1850 - September 14, 1937) was an advocate of Czechoslovak independence during WW I and became the first President of Czechoslovakia. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... This is a tabular history of the Slovak language. ... Image File history File links Czech_and_Slovak_peoples_in_Austro-Hungarian_Empire. ... Image File history File links Czech_and_Slovak_peoples_in_Austro-Hungarian_Empire. ... Official languages Latin, German, Hungarian Established church Roman Catholic Capital & Largest City Vienna pop. ...

World War I (1914 – 1918)

At the outbreak of World War I, the Czechs and Slovaks showed little enthusiasm for fighting for their respective enemies, the Germans and the Hungarians, against fellow Slavs, the Russians and the Serbs. Large numbers of Czechs and Slovaks defected on the Russian front and formed the Czechoslovak Legion. Masaryk went to western Europe and began propagating the idea that the Austro-Hungarian Empire should be dismembered and that Czechoslovakia should be an independent state. In 1916, together with Edvard Beneš and Milan Rastislav Štefánik (a Slovak astronomer and war hero), Masaryk created the Czechoslovak National Council. Masaryk in the United States, Štefánik in France, and Beneš in France and Britain worked tirelessly to gain Allied recognition. When secret talks between the Allies and Austrian emperor Charles I (1916-18) collapsed, the Allies recognized, in the summer of 1918, the Czechoslovak National Council as the supreme organ of a future Czechoslovak government. Czech Legion, also called Czech-Slovak Legion was an armed force attached to the Russian army during the World War I. It played a prominent role in the Russian Civil War. ... Edvard BeneÅ¡ Edvard BeneÅ¡ with wife 1921, autochrome portrait by Josef JindÅ™ich Å echtl Edvard BeneÅ¡ (May 28, 1884 - September 3, 1948) was a leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement and the second President of Czechoslovakia. ... Å tefániks statue on Pragues Petřín Milan Rastislav Å tefánik (born July 21, 1880 in KoÅ¡ariská - died May 4, 1919 in Ivánka pri Dunaji) was a Slovak politician, diplomat, and astronomer. ...

In early October 1918, Germany and Austria proposed peace negotiations. On October 18, while in the United States, Masaryk issued a declaration of Czechoslovak independence. Masaryk insisted that the new Czechoslovak state include the historic Bohemian Kingdom, containing the German-populated Sudetenland. On October 21, however, German deputies from the Sudetenland joined other German and Austrian deputies in the Austrian parliament in declaring an independent German-Austrian state. Following the abdication of Emperor Charles on November 11, Czech troops occupied the Sudetenland. Sudetenland (German; Sudety in Czech and Polish) was the name used in the first half of the 20th century for the regions inhabited mostly by Germans in the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia associated with Bohemia. ...

Hungary withdrew from the Habsburg empire on November 1. The new liberal-democratic government of Hungary under Count Michael Karolyi attempted to retain Slovakia. With Allied approval, the Czechs occupied Slovakia, and the Hungarians were forced to withdraw. The Czechs and Allies agreed on the Danube and Ipeľ rivers as the boundary between Hungary and Slovakia; a large Hungarian minority, occupying the fertile plain of the Danube, would be included in the new state. The Danube (ancient Danuvius, ancient Greek Istros) is the longest river of the European Union and Europes second-longest[3] (after the Volga). ... Ipeľ (-Slovak, Hungarian: Ipoly, German: Eipel) is a 232 km long river in Slovakia and Hungary, tributary to the river Danube. ...

From creation to dissolution – Overview

References

This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain. The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA), freely available for use by researchers. ... The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789 by a constitutional convention, sets down the basic framework of American government in its seven articles. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...