Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

Socialist republic in Central Europe (1948–1989)

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Czechoslovak Republic
(1948–1960)
Československá republika

* * *

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
(1960–1990)
Československá socialistická republika

1948–1990

Flag

Coat of arms
(1960–1990)

Motto:
Pravda vítězí / Pravda víťazí
"Truth prevails"
Anthem: 'Kde domov můj' (Czech)
'Where my home is'

'Nad Tatrou sa blýska' (Slovak)
'Lightning Over the Tatras'

The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1989

Status| Satellite state of the Soviet Union (Until 1989) and member of the Warsaw Pact
Capital

and largest city

| Prague
50°05′N 14°25′E﻿ / ﻿50.083°N 14.417°E﻿ / 50.083; 14.417
Official languages|

* Czech
* Slovak

Religion

* Roman Catholicism (de facto)
* State atheism (de jure since the 1960 Constitution)

* Secular state (de jure until the 1960 Constitution )

Demonym(s)| Czechoslovak, Czechoslovakian
Government| Unitary Marxist–Leninist state (1948–1969)
Federal Marxist–Leninist state (1969–1990)
General Secretary|

• 1948–1953

| Klement Gottwald

• 1953–1968

| Antonín Novotný

• 1968–1969

| Alexander Dubček

• 1969–1987

| Gustáv Husák

• 1987–1989

| Miloš Jakeš

• 1989

| Karel Urbánek

• 1989–1990

| Ladislav Adamec
President|

• 1948–1953 (first)

| Klement Gottwald

• 1989–1990 (last)

| Václav Havel
Prime Minister|

• 1948–1953 (first)

| Antonín Zápotocký

• 1989–1990 (last)

| Marián Čalfa
Legislature| National Assembly
(1948–1969)
Federal Assembly
(1969–1990)
Historical era| Cold War

• Coup d'etat

| 25 February 1948

• Ninth-of-May Constitution

| 9 May 1948

• CSSR established

| 11 July 1960

• Warsaw Pact invasion

| 21 August 1968

• Federation law

| 1 January 1969

• Velvet Revolution

| 24 November 1989

• Constitutional amendment

| 23 April 1990

• End of the Government of National Understanding

| 27 June 1990
Area

• Total

| 127,900 km2 (49,400 sq mi)
Population

• 1986 estimate

| 15,600,000
HDI (1990 formula)|  0.931[1]
very high
Currency| Czechoslovak koruna (Kčs)
Calling code| 42
Internet TLD| .cs

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | Third Czechoslovak Republic

|

| Czech and Slovak Federative Republic |

|

Today part of|

* Czech Republic
* Slovakia

* a. ^ All permanent non-Soviet members of the Warsaw Pact, except Romania, were "European colonies".[2]

Part of a series on the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

* * *

History
Politics
Economy
Industry
Agriculture
Foreign trade
Transport
Education
Demographics
Government structure
Health and social welfare
Mass media
Resource base
Religion
Society

* * *

* v
* t
* e

The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, (Czech and Slovak: Československá socialistická republika, ČSSR) known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic (Československá republika), Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, or simply Czechoslovakia, was the Czechoslovak state from 1948 until 1989, when the country was under communist rule, and was regarded as a satellite state in the Soviet sphere of interest.[3]

Following the coup d'état of February 1948, when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power with the support of the Soviet Union, the country was declared a "people's democratic state" when the Ninth-of-May Constitution became effective. The traditional name Československá republika (Czechoslovak Republic), along with several other state symbols, were changed on 11 July 1960 following the implementation of the 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia as a symbol of the "final victory of socialism" in the country.

In April 1990, shortly after the Velvet Revolution, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was renamed to the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. On 10 December 1989, the National Government of Understanding was established with Marián Čalfa as Prime Minister, replacing a Ladislav Adamec led communist government, with a cabinet in which the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia held 10 of 21 seats, compared with the 15 of 20 seats they had held in the previous cabinet. The Communist Party continued to hold a strong plurality in government until democratic elections in June 1990 where the Civic Forum claimed victory, and a new government was formed on 27 June by Prime Minister Čalfa which led the government until its end.

## Name

[edit]

The official name of the country was the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The name also means "Land of the Czechs and Slovaks" while Latinised from the country's original name - "the Czechoslovak Nation"[4] - upon independence in 1918, from the Czech endonym Češi - via its Polish orthography.[5]

The name "Czech" derives from the Czech endonym Češi via Polish,[5] from the archaic Czech Čechové, originally the name of the West Slavic tribe whose Přemyslid dynasty subdued its neighbors in Bohemia around AD 900. Its further etymology is disputed. The traditional etymology derives it from an eponymous leader Čech who led the tribe into Bohemia. Modern theories consider it an obscure derivative, e.g. from četa, a medieval military unit.[6] Meanwhile, the name "Slovak" was taken from the Slovaks. During the state's existence, it was simply referred to "Czechoslovakia", or sometimes the "ČSSR" and "ČSR" for short.

## History

[edit]

Main articles: History of Czechoslovakia and History of Czechoslovakia (1948–1989)

### Background

[edit]

Eastern Bloc

Republics of the USSR

* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Byelorussia
* Estonia
* Georgia
* Kazakhstan
* Karelia-Finland (1940–1956)
* Kirghizia
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Moldavia
* Russia
* Tajikistan
* Turkmenia
* Transcaucasia (1922–1936)
* Ukraine
* Uzbekistan

Allied and satellite states

* Afghanistan (1978–1989)
* Albania (until 1961)
* Angola
* Benin
* Bulgaria
* China (until 1961)
* Congo
* Cuba
* Czechoslovakia
* East Germany (until 1989)
* Ethiopia
* Grenada (1979–1983)
* Hungary
* Kampuchea
* Laos
* Mongolia
* Mozambique
* North Korea
* Poland (until 1989)
* Romania (until 1989)
* Somalia (until 1977)
* South Yemen
* Vietnam (North Vietnam, PRG)
* Yugoslavia (until 1948)

Related organizations

* Warsaw Pact
* Comecon
* Cominform
* World Federation of Trade Unions
* World Federation of Democratic Youth

Opposition

|  Anti-Soviet partisans

* Albania
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Poland
* Romania
* Serbia
* Ukraine

Guerrilla war in the Baltic states

* Soviet occupation
* Estonia
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Operation Jungle

Protests and uprisings

* Poland 1944–1989
* Poznań 1956
* 1980–89
* Plzeň 1953
* East Germany 1953
* Georgia 1956
* Hungary 1956
* Novocherkassk 1962
* Prague 1968
* Invasion
* Moscow
* Czechoslovakia 1976–1990
* Romania 1977
* Kazakhstan 1986
* Brașov 1987
* Tbilisi 1989
* Ukraine 1989–1991
* Baku 1990
* Lithuania 1991
* Riga 1991

Dissent

* Soviet
* Poland
* East Germany
* to Hong Kong
* North Korea

Cold War events

* Marshall Plan
* Czechoslovak coup
* Tito–Stalin split
* Berlin Blockade
* Korean War
* Secret Speech
* Sino-Soviet split
* Albanian–Soviet split
* De-satellization of the Socialist Republic of Romania
* Berlin Wall
* Cuban Missile Crisis
* Vietnam War
* Cuban intervention in Angola
* Afghan War
* 1980 Moscow Olympics
* 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
* Gulf War

Fall

* Singing Revolution
* Polish Round Table Agreement
* Revolutions of 1989
* Fall of the Berlin Wall
* January Events
* Barricades in Latvia
* Breakup of Yugoslavia
* Yugoslav Wars
* End of the Soviet Union
* Post-Soviet conflicts
* Fall of communism in Albania
* Dissolution of Czechoslovakia

* v
* t
* e

Before the Prague Offensive in 1945, Edvard Beneš, the Czechoslovak leader, agreed to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's demands for unconditional agreement with Soviet foreign policy and the Beneš decrees. While Beneš was not a Moscow cadre and several domestic reforms of other Eastern Bloc countries were not part of Beneš's plan, Stalin did not object because the plan included property expropriation and he was satisfied with the relative strength of communists in Czechoslovakia compared to other Eastern Bloc countries.[7]

In April 1945, the Third Republic was formed, led by a National Front of six parties. Because of the Communist Party's strength and Beneš's loyalty, unlike in other Central and Eastern European countries, USSR did not require Eastern Bloc politics or "reliable" cadres in Czechoslovak power positions, and the executive and legislative organs retained their traditional structures.[8] The Communists were the big winners in the 1946 elections, taking a total of 114 seats (they ran a separate list in Slovakia). Thereafter, the Soviet Union was disappointed that the government failed to eliminate "bourgeois" influence in the army, expropriate industrialists and large landowners and eliminate parties outside of the "National Front".[9] Hope in Moscow was waning for a Communist victory in the 1948 elections following a May 1947 Kremlin report concluding that "reactionary elements" praising Western democracy had strengthened.[10]

Following Czechoslovakia's brief consideration of taking Marshall Plan funds,[11] and the subsequent scolding of Communist parties by the Cominform at Szklarska Poręba in September 1947, Rudolf Slánský returned to Prague with a plan for the final seizure of power.[12] Thereafter, Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin arranged a communist coup d'état, followed by the occupation of non-Communist ministers' ministries, while the army was confined to barracks.[13]

On 25 February 1948, Beneš, fearful of civil war and Soviet intervention, capitulated and appointed a Communist-dominated government who was sworn in two days later. Although members of the other National Front parties still nominally figured, this was, for all intents and purposes, the start of out-and-out Communist rule in the country.[14][15][16] Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk, the only prominent Minister still left who was not either a Communist or fellow traveler, was found dead two weeks later.[17] On 30 May, a single list of candidates from the National Front, which became an organization dominated by the Communist Party, was elected to the National Assembly.

### Czechoslovak Republic (1948–1960)

[edit]

After the passage of the Ninth-of-May Constitution on 9 June 1948, the country was reconstituted as a "people's democratic state." Although the Ninth-of-May Constitution was superficially similar to the 1920 independence constitution, it was close enough to the 1936 Soviet Constitution that Beneš refused to sign it. He had resigned a week before it was finally ratified, and died in September. The Ninth-of-May Constitution confirmed that the KSČ possessed absolute power, as other Communist parties had in the Eastern Bloc. On 11 July 1960, the 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia was promulgated, changing the name of the country from the "Czechoslovak Republic" to the "Czechoslovak Socialist Republic". It declared Czechoslovakia to be a socialist state led by the KSČ, codifying the actual state of affairs since 1948.

### 1968–1990

[edit]

Main articles: Normalization (Czechoslovakia) and History of Czechoslovakia (1989–1992)

In 20–21 August 1968 the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. The invasion stopped Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring liberalisation reforms and strengthened the authoritarian wing of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ).

Except the Prague Spring in the late-1960s, Czechoslovakia was characterized by the absence of democracy and competitiveness of its Western European counterparts as part of the Cold War. In 1969, the country became a federative republic comprising the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic.

Under the federation, social and economic inequities between the Czech and Slovak halves of the country were largely eliminated. Several ministries, such as Education, were formally transferred to the two republics. The centralized political control of the Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalization.

The 1970s saw the rise of the dissident movement in Czechoslovakia, represented (among others) by Václav Havel. The movement sought greater political participation and expression in the face of official disapproval, making itself felt by limits on work activities (up to a ban on any professional employment and refusal of higher education to the dissident's children), police harassment and even prison time.

In late 1989, the country became a democracy again through the Velvet Revolution. In 1992, the Federal Assembly decided it would break up the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993.

## Geography

[edit]

The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was bounded on the west by West Germany and East Germany, on the north by Poland, on the east by the Soviet Union (via the Ukrainian SSR) and on the south by Hungary and Austria.

## Politics

[edit]

Main article: Politics of Communist Czechoslovakia

Further information: Eastern Bloc politics

The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) led initially by First Secretary Klement Gottwald, held a monopoly on politics. Following the 1948 Tito–Stalin split, increased party purges occurred throughout the Eastern Bloc, including a purge of 550,000 party members of the KSČ, 30% of its members.[18][19]

The evolution of the resulting harshness of purges in Czechoslovakia, like much of its history after 1948, was a function of the late takeover by the communists, with many of the purges focusing on the sizable numbers of party members with prior memberships in other parties.[20] The purges accompanied various show trials, including those of Rudolf Slánský, Vladimír Clementis, Ladislav Novomeský and Gustáv Husák (Clementis was later executed). Slánský and eleven others were convicted together of being "Trotskyist-zionist-titoist-bourgeois-nationalist traitors" in one series of show trials, after which they were executed and their ashes were mixed with material being used to fill roads on the outskirts of Prague.[18]

Antonín Novotný served as First Secretary of the KSČ from 1953 to 1968. Gustáv Husák was elected first secretary of KSČ in 1969 (changed to General Secretary in 1971) and president of Czechoslovakia in 1975. Other parties and organizations existed but functioned in subordinate roles to KSČ. All political parties, as well as numerous mass organizations, were grouped under the umbrella of National Front of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Human rights activists and religious activists were severely repressed.

In terms of political appointments, the KSČ maintained cadre and nomenklatura lists, with the latter containing every post that was important to the smooth application of party policy, including military posts, administrative positions, directors of local enterprises, social organization administrators, newspapers, etc. The KSČ's nomenklatura lists were thought to contain 100,000 post listings. The names of those that the party considered to be trustworthy enough to secure a nomenklatura post were compiled on the cadre list.[21]

### Leaders of the Communist Party

[edit]

See also: List of presidents of Czechoslovakia and List of prime ministers of Czechoslovakia

Flag of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. After February 1948, the Communist Party became the only autonomous political entity in the country. Presidential standard of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1990) Name  | Photo  | Title  | In office

|
|
|

Antonín Novotný |  | First Secretary  | 14 March 1953 – 5 January 1968
Alexander Dubček |  | First Secretary  | 5 January 1968 – 17 April 1969
Gustáv Husák |  | First Secretary /

General Secretary

| 17 April 1969 – 17 December 1987

as First Secretary 1969–1971
as General Secretary 1971–1987

Miloš Jakeš |  | General Secretary  | 17 December 1987 – 24 November 1989
Karel Urbánek |  | General Secretary  | 24 November 1989 – 20 December 1989
Ladislav Adamec |  | Chairman  | 21 December 1989 – 1 September 1990

### Foreign relations

[edit]

Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia was an active participant in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), Warsaw Pact, the UN and its specialized agencies, and Non-Aligned Movement; it was a signatory of conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

### Administrative divisions

[edit]

Main article: Administrative divisions of Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia in 1969

* 1960–1992: 10 regions (kraje), Prague, and (since 1970) Bratislava; divided in 109–114 districts (okresy); the kraje were abolished temporarily in Slovakia in 1969–1970 and for many functions since 1991 in Czechoslovakia; in addition, the two internal republics, the Czech Socialist Republic, and Slovak Socialist Republic, were established in 1969.

## Economy

[edit]

Main article: Economy of Communist Czechoslovakia

Further information: Eastern Bloc economies

Obverse of the 100 Kčs banknote of the State Bank of Czechoslovakia dated 1989

The CSSR's economy was a centrally planned command economy with links controlled by the communist party, similar to the Soviet Union. It had a large metallurgical industry, but was dependent on imports for iron and nonferrous ores. Like the rest of the Eastern Bloc, producer goods were favored over consumer goods, and as a result consumer goods were lacking in quantity and quality. This resulted in a shortage economy.[22][23] Economic growth rates lagged well behind Czechoslovakia's western European counterparts.[24] Investments made in industry did not yield the results expected, and consumption of energy and raw materials was excessive. Czechoslovak leaders themselves decried the economy's failure to modernize with sufficient speed.

In the 1950s, Czechoslovakia experienced high economic growth (averaging 7% per year), which allowed for a substantial increase in wages and living standards, thus promoting the stability of the regime.[25]

* Industry: extractive and manufacturing industries dominated this sector. Major branches included machinery, chemicals, food processing, metallurgy, and textiles. Industry was wasteful of energy, materials, and labor and slow to upgrade technology, but was a source of high-quality machinery and arms for other communist countries.
* Agriculture: minor sector but supplied bulk of domestic food needs. Dependent on large imports of grains (mainly for livestock feed) in years of adverse weather. Meat production constrained by shortage of feed, but high per capita consumption of meat.
* Foreign Trade: exports estimated at US$17.8 billion in 1985, of which 55% was machinery, 14% fuels and materials, and 16% manufactured consumer goods. Imports at estimated US$17.9 billion in 1985, of which 41% was fuels and materials, 33% machinery, and 12% agricultural and forestry products. In 1986, about 80% of foreign trade was with communist countries.
* Exchange Rate: the official, or commercial, rate was Kcs 5.4 per US$1 in 1987, whereas the tourist, or noncommercial, rate was Kcs 10.5 per US$1. Neither rate reflected purchasing power. The exchange rate on the black market was around Kcs 30 per US$1, and this rate would become official once the currency became convertible in the early 1990s.
* Fiscal Year: calendar year.
* Fiscal Policy: state almost exclusive owner of means of production. Revenues from state enterprises primary source of revenues followed by turnover tax. Large budget expenditures on social programs, subsidies, and investments. Budget usually balanced or small surplus.

### Resource base

[edit]

Main article: Resource base of Communist Czechoslovakia

After World War II, the country was short on energy, relying on imported crude oil and natural gas from the Soviet Union, domestic brown coal, and nuclear and hydroelectric energy. Energy constraints were a major factor in 1980s.

## Demographics

[edit]

### Society and social groups

[edit]

Main article: Society of Communist Czechoslovakia

Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1962.[26]

### Religion

[edit]

Main article: Religion in Communist Czechoslovakia

Religion was oppressed and attacked in communist-era Czechoslovakia.[27] In 1950 the government executed Operations K and R dismantle monastic life confiscate ecclesiastical property, and bring religious institutions under strict state control.[28][29] Later during the 1950s more than 6,000 religious people (some old and sick) received prison sentences averaging more than five years apiece. Between 1948 and 1968, the number of priests declined by half, and half the remaining clergy were over sixty years of age.[30] In 1991, 46.4% of Czechoslovaks were Roman Catholics, 29.5% were atheists, 5.3% were Evangelical Lutherans, and 16.7% were n/a, but there were huge differences between the 2 constituent republics – see Czech Republic and Slovakia.

## Culture and society

[edit]

### Health, social welfare and housing

[edit]

Main article: Health and Social Welfare in Communist Czechoslovakia

After World War II, free health care was available to all citizens. National health planning emphasized preventive medicine; factory and local health-care centers supplemented hospitals and other inpatient institutions. Substantial improvement in rural health care occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.

### Mass media

[edit]

Main article: Mass media in Communist Czechoslovakia

Further information: Eastern Bloc information dissemination

The mass media in Czechoslovakia was controlled by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). Private ownership of any publication or agency of the mass media was generally forbidden, although churches and other organizations published small periodicals and newspapers. Even with this informational monopoly in the hands of organizations under KSČ control, all publications were reviewed by the government's Office for Press and Information.

## Military

[edit]

Main article: Czechoslovak People's Army

## See also

[edit]

Part of a series on the

History of Czechoslovakia
| Origins of Czechoslovakia| 1918

|

Washington Declaration| 1918
Treaty of Saint Germain| 1919
Treaty of Trianon| 1920
First Czechoslovak Republic| 1918–1938
Munich Agreement| 1938
Second Czechoslovak Republic| 1938–1939
German occupation| 1938–1945
Bohemia and Moravia| 1939–1945
Slovak Republic| 1939–1945
Czechoslovak government-in-exile| 1939–1945
Third Czechoslovak Republic| 1945–1948
Coup d'état| 1948
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic| 1948–1989
Prague Spring/Invasion| 1968
Velvet Revolution| 1989
Post-revolution| 1989–1992
Federative Republic| 1990–1992
Dissolution of Czechoslovakia| 1992

* v
* t
* e

* Government structure of Communist Czechoslovakia
* Economy of Communist Czechoslovakia
* Resource base of Communist Czechoslovakia
* Society of Communist Czechoslovakia
* Health and social welfare in Communist Czechoslovakia
* Mass media in Communist Czechoslovakia
* Prague Spring
* Captive Nations
* Czech Socialist Republic
* Slovak Socialist Republic

## Sources

[edit]

1. ^ "Human Development Report 1990" (PDF). Human Development Reports.
2. ^ Vladimir Tismaneanu, Marius Stan, Cambridge University Press, 17 May, 2018, Romania Confronts Its Communist Past: Democracy, Memory, and Moral Justice, p. 132
3. ^ Rao, B. V. (2006), History of Modern Europe Ad 1789–2002: A.D. 1789–2002, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
4. ^ Masaryk, Tomáš. Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence. 1918.
5. ^ a b Czech. Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
6. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary. "Czech". Retrieved 11 February 2011.
7. ^ Wettig 2008, p. 45
8. ^ Wettig 2008, p. 86
9. ^ Wettig 2008, p. 152
10. ^ Wettig 2008, p. 110
11. ^ Wettig 2008, p. 138
12. ^ Grogin 2001, p. 134
13. ^ Grenville 2005, p. 371
14. ^ Grenville 2005, pp. 370–371
15. ^ Grogin 2001, pp. 134–135
16. ^ Saxonberg 2001, p. 15
17. ^ Grogin 2001, p. 135
18. ^ a b Crampton 1997, p. 262
19. ^ Bideleux & Jeffries 2007, p. 477
20. ^ Crampton 1997, p. 270
21. ^ Crampton 1997, p. 249
22. ^ Dale 2005, p. 85
23. ^ Bideleux & Jeffries 2007, p. 474
24. ^ Hardt & Kaufman 1995, p. 17
25. ^ Chris Harman, A People's History of the World, 1999, p 625
26. ^ "Vers la décriminalisation de l'homosexualité sous le communisme". February 2017.
27. ^ Catholics in Communist Czechoslovakia: A Story of Persecution and Perseverance
28. ^ ""Operation K" - How the Communists wiped out Czechoslovakia's monasteries in one brutal stroke". Radio Prague International. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
29. ^ "75 years ago, Operation Ř began: A silent war against faith and religious sisters". Radio Prague International. 24 July 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
30. ^ Minarik, Pavol (3 July 2023). "Official and underground: the survival strategy of the Catholic Church in Communist Czechoslovakia". Politics, Religion & Ideology. 24 (3): 332–351\. doi:10.1080/21567689.2023.2279161. ISSN 2156-7689.

## References

[edit]

* Bideleux, Robert; Jeffries, Ian (2007), A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-36626-7
* Black, Cyril E.; English, Robert D.; Helmreich, Jonathan E.; McAdams, James A. (2000), Rebirth: A Political History of Europe since World War II, Westview Press, ISBN 0-8133-3664-3
* Crampton, R. J. (1997), Eastern Europe in the twentieth century and after, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-16422-2
* Dale, Gareth (2005), Popular Protest in East Germany, 1945–1989: Judgements on the Street, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-7146-5408-9
* Frucht, Richard C. (2003), Encyclopedia of Eastern Europe: From the Congress of Vienna to the Fall of Communism, Taylor & Francis Group, ISBN 0-203-80109-1
* Grenville, John Ashley Soames (2005), A History of the World from the 20th to the 21st Century, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-28954-8
* Grenville, John Ashley Soames; Wasserstein, Bernard (2001), The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century: A History and Guide with Texts, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-23798-X
* Grogin, Robert C. (2001), Natural Enemies: The United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War, 1917–1991, Lexington Books, ISBN 0-7391-0160-9
* Hardt, John Pearce; Kaufman, Richard F. (1995), East-Central European Economies in Transition, M.E. Sharpe, ISBN 1-56324-612-0
* Saxonberg, Steven (2001), The Fall: A Comparative Study of the End of Communism in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary and Poland, Routledge, ISBN 90-5823-097-X
* Wettig, Gerhard (2008), Stalin and the Cold War in Europe, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 978-0-7425-5542-6

## External links

[edit]

* RFE/RL Czechoslovak Unit, Blinken Open Society Archives, Budapest.

Links to related articles

* v
* t
* e

Timeline of Czechoslovak statehood

|  | Pre-1918 | 1918-1938 | 1938-1945 | 1945-1948 | 1948-1989 | 1989-1992 | 1993-

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Bohemia
Moravia
Silesia | Austrian Empire | First Republica | Sudetenlandb | Third Republic | Fourth Republice
1948-1960 | Czechoslovak Socialist Republicf
1960-1990 | Czech and Slovak Federative Republic
1990-1992 | Czech Republic
Second
Republicc
1938-1939 | Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
1939-1945
Slovakia | Kingdom of Hungary | Slovak Republic
1939-1945 | Slovakia
Southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukrained
Subcarpathian Ruthenia | Zakarpattia Oblastg
1944 / 1946 - 1991 | Zakarpattia Oblasth
1991-present
| Austria-Hungary |  | Czechoslovak government-in-exile |

a ČSR; boundaries and government established by the 1920 constitution.
b Annexed by Nazi Germany.
c ČSR; included the autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia.
d Annexed by Hungary (1939-1945).

e ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without a formal name change) under the Ninth-of-May Constitution following the 1948 coup.
f ČSSR; from 1969, after the Prague Spring, consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic (ČSR) and Slovak Socialist Republic (SSR).
g Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR.
h Oblast of Ukraine.

* v
* t
* e

Countries of Eastern and Central Europe during their Communist period

* Albania
* Bulgaria
* Czechoslovakia
* East Germany
* Hungary
* Poland
* Romania
* Yugoslavia

* Soviet Russia / Soviet Union: 1917–1927
* 1927–1953
* 1953–1964
* 1964–1982
* 1982–1991

* Byelorussia
* Ukraine

* Eastern Bloc
* Warsaw Pact
* Comecon

* v
* t
* e

Eastern Bloc

* Soviet Union
* Communism

Formation|

* Yalta Conference
* Soviet occupations
* Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
* Baltic states
* Hungary
* Romania
* 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état
* Berlin Blockade
* Soviet response to the Marshall Plan
* Tito–Stalin split

Soviet-allied states|

* People's Republic of Albania (to 1961)
* People's Republic of Bulgaria
* Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
* German Democratic Republic
* Hungarian People's Republic
* Polish People's Republic
* Socialist Republic of Romania
* Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (to 1948)

Organizations|

* Cominform
* COMECON
* Warsaw Pact
* World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)
* World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY)

Revolts and
opposition

* Goryani Movement
* 1949 East German State Railway strike
* Rebellion of Cazin 1950
* 1953 Plzeň uprising
* 1953 East German uprising
* 1956 Poznań protests
* 1956 Hungarian Revolution
* Prague Spring / Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
* 1970 Polish protests
* Croatian Spring
* June 1976 protests
* Solidarity / Soviet reaction / Martial law
* 1981 protests in Kosovo

Conditions|

* Emigration and defection (list of defectors)
* Sovietization of the Baltic states
* Information dissemination
* Politics
* Economies
* Telephone tapping

Dissolution|

* Revolutions of 1989
* Die Wende
* Fall of the Berlin Wall
* End of communism in Hungary
* Velvet Revolution
* Romanian revolution
* Fall of communism in Albania
* Singing Revolution
* Collapse of the Soviet Union
* Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
* January 1991 events in Lithuania
* January 1991 events in Latvia
* Breakup of Yugoslavia
* Yugoslav Wars

* v
* t
* e

Socialism by country

By country|

* Argentina
* Australia
* New Australia
* Bangladesh
* Brazil
* Lulism
* Canada
* China
* Communist
* since 1978
* Kuomintang
* Hong Kong
* Estonia
* Ethiopia
* Finland
* France
* Greece
* India
* Iran
* Italy
* Libya
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Pakistan
* Sri Lanka
* Sweden
* Tunisia
* United Kingdom
* Corbynism
* United States
* African-American
* Venezuela
* Chavismo
* Vietnam

History|

* United Kingdom
* United States

Regional variants|

* African
* Arab
* British
* Burmese
* Chinese
* European
* Israeli
* Melanesian
* Nicaraguan
* Tanzanian
* Venezuelan
* Vietnamese

Current and historical
socialist states|

| Africa|

* Angola
* Benin
* Burkina Faso
* Congo-Brazzaville
* Egypt
* Ethiopia
* 1974–1987
* 1987–1991
* Guinea
* Libya
* Madagascar
* Mozambique
* Seychelles
* Somalia
* Sudan

|

Americas|

* Cuba
* Grenada
* Chile
* Nicaragua

Asia|

* Afghanistan
* Burma
* Cambodia
* 1975–1979
* 1979–1992
* 1982–1992
* China
* Iraq
* North Korea
* Laos
* Mongolia
* South Yemen
* Syria
* Tuva
* Vietnam
* North Vietnam

| Short-lived|

* Azerbaijan People's Government
* East Turkestan
* Far East
* Fujian
* Gilan
* Inner Mongolia
* Jiangxi
* Kuwait
* Kurdish Republic of Mahabad
* North Korea (1946–1947)
* North Korea (1947–1948)
* Democratic Republic of Yemen
* South Vietnam

|

Europe|

* Albania
* Bulgaria
* Czechoslovakia
* Czech Republic
* Slovakia
* East Germany
* Hungary (1949–1989)
* Poland
* Romania
* Soviet Union
* Yugoslavia

| Short-lived|

* Alsace-Lorraine
* Banat
* Baranya–Baja
* Bavaria
* 1918–1919
* 1919
* Bessarabia
* Byelorussia (1919)
* Bremen
* Bihać
* Crimea (1919)
* Finland
* 1918
* 1939–1940
* Estonia (1918–1919)
* Galicia
* Hungary (1919)
* Ireland
* Naissaar
* Saxony
* Slovakia (1919)
* Tarnobrzeg
* Užice
* Würzburg
* Brussels Soldiers' Council

|

History of socialism

* v
* t
* e

Czech Republic articles

History|

* Únětice culture
* Boii
* Marcomanni
* Samo
* Great Moravia
* Přemyslid dynasty
* Lands of the Bohemian Crown
* Czech lands
* 1526-1648
* 1648-1867
* 1867-1918
* Czechoslovakia
* Franz Kafka
* Czech Republic

Geography|

* Cities and towns
* Czech lands
* Geomorphology
* Protected areas
* Rivers
* Urban planning

Politics|

* Administrative divisions
* Districts
* Municipalities
* Regions
* Constitution
* Elections
* Foreign relations
* Government
* Judiciary
* Law enforcement
* Law
* Army
* Parliament
* Political parties

Economy|

* Energy
* Electricity
* Koruna (currency)
* Oil and gas deposits
* Stock Exchange
* Tourism
* Transport
* Rail

Society|

* Crime
* Demographics
* Drug policy
* Education
* Healthcare
* Irreligion
* LGBT rights
* Prostitution
* Religion

Culture|

* Art
* Architecture
* Rondocubism
* Coat of arms
* Cuisine
* Wine
* Language
* Flag
* Literature
* Music
* Nationalism
* Panelák (architectural style)
* Philosophy
* Public holidays
* Sport
* Television
* World Heritage Sites

* Outline
* Index

* Category
* Portal

* v
* t
* e

Slovakia articles

History|

| Roman era|

* Pannonia
* Pannonian Limes
* Danubian Limes
* Laugaricio
* Gerulata
* Celemantia

|

Migration period|

* Hunnic Empire
* Ostrogothic Kingdom
* Avar Khaganate

Medieval Slavic states|

* West Slavs
* Samo's Empire
* Samo
* Principality of Nitra
* Pribina
* Great Moravia
* House of Mojmír
* Svatopluk the Great
* Balaton Principality

Kingdom of Hungary
Habsburg monarchy|

* Hungarian invasions of Europe (~800–970)
* Hungarian conquest (862–895)
* Principality of Hungary (895–1000)
* High Medieval Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1301)
* Late Medieval Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526)
* Hungarian–Ottoman Wars (1366–1718)
* Ottoman Hungary (1541–1699)
* Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)
* Austrian Empire (1804–1867)
* Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)
* Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918)
* Slovak Uprising (1848–1849)
* Slovak National Council
* Demands of the Slovak Nation
* Upper Hungary
* Treaty of Trianon (1920)

Czechoslovakia|

* Washington Declaration (1918)
* First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)
* Slovak Soviet Republic (1919)
* Munich Betrayal (1938)
* First Vienna Award (1938)
* Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–1939)
* Autonomous Land of Slovakia (1938–1939)
* Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)
* Czechoslovak government-in-exile (1939–1945)
* (First) Slovak Republic (1939–1945)
* Slovak National Uprising (1944)
* Iron Curtain
* Third Czechoslovak Republic (1945–1948)
* Czechoslovak coup d'état (1948)
* Fourth Czechoslovak Republic (1948–1960)
* Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1990)
* Prague Spring (1968)
* Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968)
* Slovak Socialist Republic (1969–1990)
* Velvet Revolution (1989)
* Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (1990–1992)
* Slovak Republic (1990–1992)
* Velvet Divorce (1992)

Geography|

* Castles
* Carpathians
* Cities and towns
* Districts
* Islands
* Municipalities
* National parks
* Protected areas
* Regions
* Rivers
* Tourism regions
* Traditional regions
* Wildlife
* World Heritage Sites (UNESCO)

Politics|

| National symbols|

* Anthem
* Coat of arms
* Patriarchal cross
* Flag
* Seal

|

* Constitution
* Elections
* Foreign relations
* Government
* Human rights
* LGBT
* Law enforcement
* Military
* National Council (parliament)
* Political parties
* President
* Prime Minister
* Referendums
* Slovak Government Flying Service

Economy|

* Banks
* Central bank
* Energy
* Euro (Slovak euro coins)
* Privatisation
* Stock exchange
* "Tatra Tiger"
* Telecommunications
* Tourism
* Transport

* Rail

Society|

* Crime
* Mafia
* Demographics
* Slovaks
* List of Slovaks
* Education
* Healthcare
* Identity card
* Language
* Passport
* Public holidays
* Remembrance days

Culture|

* Architecture
* Cinema
* Cuisine
* Beer
* Wine
* Literature
* Music
* Religion
* Shepherd's axe
* Sport

Media|

* Newspapers
* Radio
* Television

* Outline

* Category
* Portal

Portals:

* Czech Republic
* Slovakia
* Soviet Union
* Communism

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

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