Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia Československo[a]
1918–1992 1939–1945: Government-in-exile
Flag Middle coat of arms (1918–1938 and 1945–1961)
Motto: 'Pravda vítězí / Pravda víťazí' (Czech / Slovak, 1918–1990) 'Veritas vincit' (Latin, 1990–1992) 'Truth prevails'
Anthem: 'Kde domov můj' (Czech) and 'Nad Tatrou sa blýska' (Slovak)
Czechoslovakia during the interwar period and the Cold War
Capital and largest city	Prague 50°05′N 14°25′E / 50.083°N 14.417°E / 50.083; 14.417
Official languages	Czechoslovak, after 1948 Czech · Slovak
Recognised languages	German Hungarian Rusyn Polish
Demonym(s)	Czechoslovak
Government	First Republic (1918–38) Second Republic (1938–39) Third Republic (1945–48) Socialist Republic (1948–89) Federative Republic (1990–92) Details Unitary parliamentary republic (1918–1938, 1945–1948) Federal authoritarian parliamentary republic (rump state) (1938–1939) Government-in-exile (1939–1945) Unitary Marxist-Leninist single-party socialist republic (1948–1969) Federal Marxist-Leninist single-party socialist republic (1969–1989) Federal parliamentary republic (1989–1992)
President
• 1918–1935	Tomáš G. Masaryk
• 1935–1938 · 1945–1948	Edvard Beneš
• 1938–1939	Emil Hácha
• 1948–1953	Klement Gottwald
• 1953–1957	Antonín Zápotocký
• 1957–1968	Antonín Novotný
• 1968–1975	Ludvík Svoboda
• 1976–1989	Gustáv Husák
• 1989–1992	Václav Havel
KSČ General Secretary / First Secretary
• 1948–1953	Klement Gottwald
• 1953–1968	Antonín Novotný
• 1968–1969	Alexander Dubček
• 1969–1987	Gustáv Husák
• 1987–1989	Miloš Jakeš
Prime Minister
• 1918–1919 (first)	Karel Kramář
• 1992 (last)	Jan Stráský
Legislature	Revolutionary National Assembly (1918–1920) National Assembly (1920–1939) Interim National Assembly (1945–1946) Constituent National Assembly (1946–1948) National Assembly (1948–1969) Federal Assembly (1969–1992)
History
• Proclamation	28 October 1918
• Munich Agreement	30 September 1938
• Dissolution	14 March 1939
• Re-establishment	10 May 1945
• Coup d'état	25 February 1948
• Soviet occupation	21 August 1968
• Velvet Revolution	17 – 28 November 1989
• Dissolution	1 January 1993
HDI (1990 formula)	0.897[1] very high
Currency	Czechoslovak koruna
Driving side	right
Calling code	+42
Internet TLD	.cs
Preceded by Austria-Hungary
Today part of	Czech Republic Slovakia Ukraine (Zakarpattia Oblast)
Calling code +42 was withdrawn in the winter of 1997. The number range was divided between the Czech Republic (+420) and Slovak Republic (+421). Current ISO 3166-3 code is "CSHH".

Czechoslovakia^[2] (/ˌtʃɛkoʊsloʊˈvækiə, -kə-, -slə-, -ˈvɑː-/ ^ⓘ;^[3][4] Czech and Slovak: Československo, Česko-Slovensko)^[5][6] was a landlocked state in Central Europe,^[7] created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland became part of Nazi Germany, while the country lost further territories to Hungary and Poland (the territories of southern Slovakia with a predominantly Hungarian population to Hungary and Zaolzie to Poland). Between 1939 and 1945, the state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and Carpathian Ruthenia became part of Hungary, while the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed in the remainder of the Czech Lands. In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies.

After World War II, Czechoslovakia was reestablished under its pre-1938 borders, with the exception of Carpathian Ruthenia, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR (a republic of the Soviet Union). The Communist Party seized power in a coup in 1948. From 1948 to 1989, Czechoslovakia was part of the Eastern Bloc with a planned economy. Its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of 1955. A period of political liberalization in 1968, the Prague Spring, ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by other Warsaw Pact countries, invaded Slovakia. In 1989, as Marxist–Leninist governments and communism were ending all over Central and Eastern Europe, Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their communist government during the Velvet Revolution, which began on 17 November 1989 and ended 11 days later on 28 November when all of the top Communist leaders and Communist party itself resigned. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.^[8]

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