TIME: Almanac 1990s

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<text id=93CT1854> <title> Slovakia--History </title> <history> Compact ALMANAC--CIA Factbook Europe Slovakia </history> <article> <source>CIA World Factbook</source> <hdr> History </hdr> <body> [Note: Czechoslovakia divided to become The Czech Republic and Slovakia in January 1993.] The Czechs lost their national independence to Austria in 1620 at the Battle of White Mountain and, for the next 300 years, were ruled by the Austrian monarchy. With the collapse of the monarchy at the end of World War I, an independent country of Czechoslovakia was formed with the assistance of President Woodrow Wilson. The Slovaks, ruled by the Hungarians for 1,000 years, joined in the common country 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 the new Czechoslovak Republic enabled them to make rapid strides toward overcoming these differences. Although Czechoslovakia was the only East European country that remained an effective parliamentary democracy throughout 1918-38, it was plagued with minority problems, the most important stemming from the country's large German population. Constituting more than 22% of the population and largely concentrated in the Bohemian and Moravian border regions (the Sudetenland), this minority was encouraged to reject Czech-German reconciliation in the new Czechoslovak country by nationalistic elements urged on in large part by Nazi Germany. Internal and external pressures culminated in September 1938, when, at Munich, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom acceded to Nazi pressure and agreed to force Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Germany. Fulfilling Hitler's aggressive designs on all of Czechoslovakia, Germany invaded what remained of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939, established a German "protectorate," and created a puppet state out of Slovakia. With the support of Slovak communists, Slovak democratic forces engineered a revolt in the summer of 1944. It failed because of German military action and the Soviet refusal to intervene or to permit more than token U.S. and British help (including a U.S. Air Force airlift of supplies and an Office of Strategic Services mission). Soviet troops overran all of Slovakia and Moravia and much of Bohemia, including Prague, were overrun in the winter and spring of 1944-45. U.S. forces liberated the city of Plzen and most of western Bohemia in May 1945. In Prague, a civilian uprising against the German garrison had taken place in early May 1945. Following Germany's surrender, some 2.5 million ethnic Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia. From May 1945 until the spring elections of 1946, the country was ruled by a coalition government that included Communist Party members. The democratic elements, led by President Eduard Benes, hoped the Soviet Union would allow Czechoslovakia freedom to choose its own form of government, and aspired to a Czechoslovakia that would act as a bridge between East and West. This objective was sustained by Czechoslovakia's highly developed economy, its strong democratic traditions, and its readiness to accept considerable socialization of the economic system. The Communist Party, however, which won 38% of the vote in the 1946 election, held most of the key positions and gradually managed to neutralize or silence anticommunist forces. Although the Benes government initially hoped to participate in the Marshall Plan, it was forced by Moscow to back out. Under the cover of superficial legality, the communists seized power in February 1948. After extensive purges modeled on the Stalinist pattern in other East European states, the communist Party tried 14 of its former leaders in November 1952 and sentenced 11 to death. For more than a decade thereafter, the Czechoslovak communist leadership was characterized by its stability of tenure under the leadership of party chief Antonin Novotny. The 1968 Soviet Invasion The communist leadership allowed only a little relaxation in the early 1960s. However, in the mid-1960s, discontent arose within the ranks of the Communist Party Central Committee because of the slow pace of economic reform, resistance to cultural liberalization, and the desire of Slovaks within the leadership for a larger share of the country's investment resources. The discontent culminated with the removal of Novotny from party leadership in January 1968 and from the presidency of the republic in March. He was replaced as party leader by a longtime, Soviet-educated party activist of Slovak origin, Alexander Dubcek, and as president by Gen. Ludvik Svoboda, a military hero of both world wars. In addition to Novotny, many other orthodox communists were subsequently forced from party and government positions. After January 1968, the Dubcek leadership began practical steps toward political, economic, and social reforms that promised a better life for the Czechoslovak people. In addition, it called for politico-military changes in the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact and Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CEMA). The leadership affirmed its loyalty to socialism and the Warsaw Pact but also expressed the desire to improve relations with all countries of the world regardless of their social systems. A program adopted in April 1968 set guidelines for a modern, humanistic-socialist democracy that would guarantee freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and travel; insulate the government from the Communist Party; create independent courts; introduce multiple-choice, secret-ballot elections; and effect economic reforms. After 20 years of little participation, the public gradually began to take an interest in the government and leadership. Dubcek became a popular national figure and the first Czechoslovak communist leader to enjoy broad public support. Internal reforms and foreign policy statements of the Dubcek leadership created great concern among some of the other Warsaw Pact communist government and parties. On the night of August 20, 1968, Soviet, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Polish, and East German troops invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak Party and Government immediately declared that the invading troops had not been invited into the country and that their invasion was in violation of socialist principles, international law, and the UN Charter. The principal Czechoslovak leaders were forcibly and secretly taken to the Soviet Union. Under obvious Soviet duress, the Czechoslovaks engaged in a series of negotiations at Moscow on August 23-26, again on October 2-3, and finally at Prague on October 16. On that day, Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin, acting on behalf of all the invading countries, and Czechoslovak Premier Oldrich Cernik signed a treaty that provided for the "temporary" stationing of an unspecified number of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. In November, the troops of the other countries and some of the Soviet forces were withdrawn. In addition to accepting the "legalization" of stationing Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak leaders were forced to censor the media and to curb virtually all of the reforms that Dubcek had promoted. Dubcek was removed as party First Secretary on April 17, 1969, and was replaced by another Slovak, Gustav Husak. Later, Dubcek and many allies within the party were stripped of their other party positions in a purge of the Communist Party that lasted until 1971 and that reduced party membership by almost one-third. By October 27, 1969, the Soviets had achieved their basic objectives: the Czechoslovak liberalization movement was dismantled; elements of the orthodox Communist Party were back in control; and Soviet troops remained stationed in Czechoslovakia. On that date, General Secretary Husak, Prime Minister Cernik, and President Svoboda signed a joint communique with the Soviets at Moscow that justified the invasion, accepted the Brezhnev doctrine of limited sovereignty, avowed that stationing Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia was essential to the security of Czechoslovakia's western borders, and opened the way for the further integration of Czechoslovakia's economy with that of the Soviet Union. This relationship was further formalized in a 20-year Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance signed on May 6, 1970. In May 1975, Gustav Husak replaced the ailing Svoboda as president, retaining at the same time his position as Communist Party General Secretary. Milos Jakes, who presided over the purge of party members after the 1968 invasion, succeeded Husak as party general secretary in December 1987. Political Conditions In November 1989, student protests of police brutality ushered in a period of rapid changes that culminated, by year's end, in a new, noncommunist government and the election of dissident playwright Vaclav Havel as president. The new government ended the Communist Party's leading role in political life, eliminated restrictions on travel abroad, and passed legislation guaranteeing freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of conscience. All political prisoners were freed, and work began in earnest on democratic political reform. After Husak had consolidated the "normalization" of the post-1968 period, Czecholslovaks generally had retreated from political life. The roots of 1989's Civic Forum movement that effected the "gentle revolution" can be found in human rights activism. On January 1, 1977, more than 250 people signed a manifesto called Charter 77 criticizing the government for failure to implement human rights provisions of documents it had signed, among which are the constitution; the International Covenants on Political and Civil and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; and the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Although not organized in any real sense, Charter 77 constituted something of a citizens' initiative aimed at inducing the Czechoslovak Government to observe its formal obligations to respect the human rights of its citizens. To stifle opposition, Husak subjected Charter 77 signatories and other "dissident" groups to periodic harassment and persecution. This included both judicial and nonjudicial measures, ranging from loss of job or denial of educational opportunities for children to detention, trial, and imprisonment. The government also induced or forced human rights activists into exile abroad and deprived them of their citizenship. In October 1979, the government staged a "subversion" trial of six leading activists of the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted as a warning to other "dissidents." As political tension in neighboring Poland mounted during 1980-81, the government, perhaps fearing a "spillover" effect, became increasingly repressive in its treatment of Charter 77 and other activists. In March 1987, government efforts to neutralize the Jazz Section of the Czech Musicians' Union, which sought to promote freedom of cultural expression, resulted in the trial of several of the section's leaders after months of detention. Despite persecution, Charter 77 had grown to at least 1,500 signatories in 1989. More important, the charter had become only one of many independent initiatives critical of the government. These new groups helped launch a series of peaceful demonstrations by thousands of citizens in Prague in late 1988 and early 1989 that drew worldwide attention and a strong government response. The regime forcibly dispersed a series of demonstrations in January 1989 and subsequently imprisoned several prominent human rights activists,including Havel who served 4 months in prison on charges of incitement. In the events of November 1989, these disparate groups united to become Civic Forum, an umbrella group championing bureaucratic reform and civil liberties. Civic Forum quickly gained the support of millions of Czechs, as did its Slovak counterpart, Public Without Violence. Faced with overwhelming repudiation by the population, the Communist Party all but collapsed. Its leaders, Husak and party chief Milos Jakes, resigned in December 1989. Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, February 1990. ?