The largest event in the history of modern Europe was the collapse of Czechoslovakia. The reasons for this lie in the political, military and economic situation in the state. Decades separate Czechia and Slovakia from the split date. But at present, this issue is the subject of close study of historians, political scientists and other experts.
1968: prerequisites for decay
The collapse of Czechoslovakia occurred in 1993. However, the premises of this event were laid much earlier. On the night of August 20-21, 1968, the formations of Soviet arimia, the German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland, with a total strength of 650 thousand troops, invaded Czechoslovakia and occupied the state. The leadership of the country (Dubcek, Chernik and Liberty) was arrested. The leaders who remained at large abandoned collaborationism. Civilians tried to show resistance, about 25 citizens died in the midst of anti-Soviet demonstrations. The leadership of the USSR strove to create a pro-Soviet government in Czechoslovakia. Under these conditions, the autonomy of Slovakia increased within the borders of the new federal state, which was proclaimed with the onset of 1969.
The revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989
By the end of the 1980s in Czechoslovakia, the discontent of the population increased with the autocracy of the communist party. In 1989, in Prague from January to September, many demonstrations were held, which the police dispersed. The main protesting force was the student body. On September 17, 1989, a large mass took to the streets, and many were beaten by police, and universities were closed at that time. This event was the impetus for decisive action. Representatives of the intelligentsia and students began a strike. The union of the entire opposition - the Civil Forum - on November 20, under the leadership of Vaclav Havel (photo below), called for a mass protest. At the end of the month, about 750 thousand demonstrators took to the streets of Prague and demanded the resignation of the government. The goal was achieved: unable to withstand the pressure, Gustav Husak left the post of president , many officials resigned. The events of the peaceful change of leadership of Czechoslovakia later received the name "velvet revolution." The events of 1989 predetermined the collapse of Czechoslovakia.
Elections 1989-1990
The post-communist elites of the formed parts of the state have chosen a course towards independent existence. In 1989, at the end of December, the Federal Assembly elected Vaclav Havel as President of Czechoslovakia, and Alexander Dubcek as chairman. The meeting became a representative body due to the resignation of a large number of co-optations and communists of the political movements Civil Forum and Public Against Violence.
Havel Vaclav arrived in Moscow in February 1990 and received an apology from the Soviet government for the events of 1968, when Soviet troops made an armed invasion. In addition, he was assured that the military forces of the USSR would be withdrawn from Czechoslovakia at the end of July 1991.
In the spring of 1990, the Federal Assembly passed a series of laws permitting the organization of private enterprise, and generally agreed to privatize state-owned industrial enterprises. In early June, free elections were held, which accounted for 96% of the total number of voters. The candidates for the political movements Civil Forum and the Public Against Violence wore victory with great advantage. They received more than 46% of the vote and the majority in the Federal Assembly. In second place by the number of votes cast were the Communists, who were chosen by 14% of citizens. The third place was taken by a coalition consisting of groups of Christian democrats. On July 5, 1990, the new Federal Assembly re-elected Havel Wenceslas for a two-year presidential term, and Alexander Dubcek (photo below) - respectively, as chairman.
The split of the Society Against Violence movement
The disintegration of Czechoslovakia took hold in March 1991, when there was a split in the political movement “Public Against Violence”, as a result of which most of the distinguished groups formed the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia party. Soon, a split arose in the ranks of the Civil Forum with the formation of three groups, one of which was the Civil Democratic Party. Negotiations between the leaders of Slovakia and the Czech Republic were resumed in June 1991. By that time, the leadership of the Civil Democratic Party had come to the conclusion that the meeting would not yield positive results, and therefore turned to the consideration of the “velvet divorce” scenario.
The hyphenated war
The cessation of the existence of the communist regime in 1989 accelerated the events that provoked the collapse of Czechoslovakia. Czech leaders wanted the state name to be spelled together, while their opponents - Slovaks - insisted on hyphenation. Paying tribute to the national feelings of the Slovak people, in April 1990, the Federal Assembly approved the new official name of Czechoslovakia: the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (CSFR). The parties managed to come to a compromise, since the name of the state in Slovak could be spelled, and in Czech - together.
"Czechoslovak Forest"
The collapse of Czechoslovakia was also affected by the results of negotiations between the prime ministers of the national governments of Slovakia and the Czech Republic - Vladimir Meciar and Vaclav Klaus. The meeting took place in Brno at the Tugendgat villa in 1992. According to the memoirs of its participant Miroslav Macek V. Klaus took a chalk, a blackboard and drew a vertical line, indicating that there is a vertical state at the top, and a division below. Between them was a wide scale, including a federation and a confederation. The question arose, on which section of this scale was a meeting possible? And this place was the bottom point, meaning "divorce." The discussion did not end until V. Klaus came to the conclusion that those conditions that are diplomatically favorable for Slovaks are in no way considered acceptable to the Czechs. The collapse of Czechoslovakia was obvious. Villa Tugendgat became for this state a kind of Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Further negotiations on the preservation of the federation were not held. As a result of the diplomatic meeting, a constitutional act was signed that secured the legal right to transfer the main ruling powers to the republics.
Velvet Divorce
The year of the collapse of Czechoslovakia was approaching. General elections in the republic were held in June 1992. The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia gained more votes in Slovakia, and the Civil Democratic Party in the Czech Republic. There was a proposal to create a confederation, but it did not find support from the Civil Democratic Party.
Slovak sovereignty was proclaimed on July 17, 1992 by the Slovak National Council. President Havel Vaclav resigned . In the fall of 1992, most of the state powers were transferred to the republics. The Federal Assembly at the end of November 1992 by a margin of only three votes approved the Law, which proclaimed the cessation of the Czechoslovak Federation. Despite the confrontation both on the part of the majority of Slovaks and Czechs, at midnight on December 31, 1992, both parties decided to dissolve the federation. The collapse of Czechoslovakia took place in the year that became the starting point in the history of two newly created states - the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.
After the split
The state peacefully divided into 2 independent parts. The collapse of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia contradictory impact on the further development of the two states. In a short period, the Czech Republic was able to put in place radical reforms in the economy and create effective market relations. This became a determining factor that allowed the new state to become a member of the European Union. In 1999, the Czech Republic joined the ranks of the North Atlantic military bloc. Economic transformations in Slovakia were more complicated and slower; the issue of its entry into the European Union was resolved with complications. And only in 2004 did it become part of it and became a member of NATO.