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This article is part of the Czech history series. |
| Samo's realm |
| Great Moravia |
For more details see History of Czechoslovakia and Czechoslovakia.
With the collapse of the Hapsburg monarchy at the end of World War I, the independent country of Czechoslovakia was formed, encouraged by, among others, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
Despite cultural differences, the Slovaks shared with the Czechs similar aspirations for independence from the Hapsburg state and voluntarily united with the Czechs. The Slovaks were not at the same level of economic and technological development as the Czechs, but the freedom and opportunity found in an independent Czechoslovakia enabled them to make strides toward overcoming these inequalities. However, the gap never was fully bridged, and the discrepancy played a continuing role throughout the 75 years of the union.
Although Czechoslovakia was the only central European country to remain a parliamentary democracy from 1918 to 1938, it faced problems with ethnic minorities, the most important of which concerned the country's large German population.
The ethnic Germans constituted more than 22% of the interwar state's population and were largely concentrated in the Bohemian and Moravian border regions, called the Sudetenland in German. Some members of this minority, which were predominantly sympathetic to Germany, undermined the new Czechoslovak state. Internal and external pressures culminated in September 1938, when France and the United Kingdom yielded to Nazi pressures at Munich and agreed to force Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.
Fulfilling Hitler's aggressive designs on Czechoslovakia, Germany invaded what remained of Bohemia and Moravia on 15 March 1939, establishing a German protectorate. The day before, Slovakia had declared independence and had become a puppet state of the Nazis.
The assassination of the Reichsprotector, Reinhard Heydrich, in 1942, by a group of Czech and Slovak freedom fighters - partisans, led to reprisals, including the annihilation of the village of Lidice. All adult male inhabitans were executed, while females and children were transported to concentration camps.
At the close of World War II, Soviet troops overran all of Slovakia, Moravia, and much of Bohemia, including Prague. In May 1945, U.S. forces liberated the city of Plzen and most of western Bohemia. A civilian uprising against the Nazi garrison took place in Prague in May 1945.
Following Nazi Germany's surrender, some 2.9 million ethnic Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia with Allied approval. Czechoslovakia fell within the SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1 sphere of influence.
Reunited after the war, the Czechs and Slovaks set national elections for the spring of 1946. The democratic elements, led by President Eduard Benes, hoped the Soviet Union would allow Czechoslovakia the freedom to choose its own form of government and aspired to a Czechoslovakia that would act as a bridge between East and West. The Czechoslovak Communist Party, which won 38% of the vote, held most of the positions in the government and gradually managed to neutralize or silence the anti-communist forces. Although the communist-led government initially intended to participate in the Marshall PlanThe Marshall Plan known officially following its enactment as the European Recovery Program (ERP), was the main plan of the United States for the reconstruction of Europe following World War II. The initiative was named for United States Secretary of Stat, it was forced by Moscow to back out. Under the cover of superficial legality, the Communist Party seized power in February 1948, Benes resigned and was succeeded by the Stalinist Klement GottwaldKlement Gottwald ( November 23, 1896 March 14, 1953) was a Czechoslovakian Communist politician, longtime leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC or CPCz or CPC). prime minister and president of Czechoslovakia. His first career was as a cabin.
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