Czech Republic History

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Bohemia (which incorporates the modern-day Czech Republic) became increasingly controlled by the Habsburgs. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia became part of Austrian Empire and later of Austria-Hungary.

It was as a consequence of the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire after WW1 in 1918 that the Republic of Czechoslovakia was created. This newly established nation was the sum of the regions previously known as Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia, although it also included significant German, Hungarian, Polish and Ruthenian speaking minority communities. The new Czechoslavkian state granted significant rights to its minority populations, however notable was that these rights did not grant them any territorial political autonomy. This perceived lack of political freedom bred discontent and created a movement amongst the minorities which looked to break away from Czechoslovakia.

It was this discontent which was exploited by Adolf Hitler when, supported by Konrad Henlein's Sudeten German National Socialist Party, as part of the Munich Agreement he gained control of the largely German speaking Sudetenland. Subsequently Poland took up occupation of Polish inhabited areas around Ceský Tešín and, as part of the first Vienna aware in 1938, Hungary gained parts of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus, later to be renamed "Czecho-Slovakia".

The Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakian regions during WW2 created further significant change in the country's history. The occupation only ended in May 1945 with the arrival of Soviet and American armies and the Prague uprising. Subsequently almost all the 2.7 million German minority population of Czechoslovakia was expelled to Germany and Austria, often held in prisons, detention camps, and used in forced labour. Only those Germans who had been active in the anti-Nazi resistance movement and those crucial for the rebuilding of the Czechoslovakian economy were not expelled, although many later left of their own accord.

After the war the Czechoslovakian Communist Party rapidly grew in popularity and membership, and in the 1946 elections they won 38% of the votes and thereby the status of the largest parliamentary party. Initially they formed coalition governments however in 1948 the Communists took over or liberated (depending on who is asked) key locations in Prague and formed an all-Communist government.

Over the next 40 years the Communist government was a member of the 'Eastern Bloc' and pursued its Communist political programme including the nationalization of industry and establishment of a command economy. The emerging Communist economy proved very successful during the 1950s and 60s, but flagged in the 1970s and increasingly in the 1980s.

Initially the political climate was seen as highly oppresive, although increasingly in the 1960s, it became more transparent and tolerant as "socialism with a human face" was introduced during the Prague Spring. This increased openness was crushed on 21 August 1968 by the Warsaw Pact invasion. From 1968 until 1989 the political environment was returned to one of oppression and insulation under Soviet direction.

November 1989 was a key time in Czechoslovakia's history as the peaceful "Velvet Revolution" took place and eventually returned the country to democracy. The Slovak people's aspirations for their own political autonomy reached a pinnacle when in January 1993, there was peaceful agreement to split the country into two independent republics; the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

Since its beginnings, the Czech Republik has grown in international status. It has achieved this through many means including through establishing its place in international pacts, economic groups and treaties, such as its membership of the Visegrad Group, the OECD, NATO and most recently in May 2004 the European Union.

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