HISTORY

Czechoslovakia’s independence was established in 1918. Previously, Moravia and Bohemia had been under Austrian rule, while Slovakia came under the aegis of Hungary. During World War II, Bohemia and Moravia together became a German protectorate. After the war, a reconstituted Czechoslovakia was established under the supervision of the occupying Red Army. By 1948, as planned, the Communists had become the dominant political force in the country and took effective control, following elections that year. Soviet-style political and economic systems were put in place and Czechoslovakia became a firm Soviet ally, joining the Warsaw Pact and COMECON. The Government adhered closely to Soviet policy in all respects, until the emergence of a new leadership group under Alexander Dubcek in the late 1960s. In what became known as the ‘Prague Spring’, the Dubcek governments introduced a series of liberalizing reforms.

After several months, the Soviets decided that the reforms had gone too far and, after failing to persuade the Czechoslovaks to desist from their chosen course, sent the tanks in. Dubcek and his allies were deposed in favor of a hard-line leadership led by Gustav Husak. For the next two decades, Czechoslovakia barely deviated from the Soviet line. That was until the appointment of Mikhail Gorbachev as Soviet leader and his promotion of glasnost and perestroika. The Husak Government aligned itself with those, such as East Germany’s Honeker, who were opposed to such reforms. But four years later, as Eastern Europe was engulfed by political upheaval and massive demonstrations, the Communists were swept from office. The main opposition movement, Civic Forum, became the principal political force in the country; its most celebrated member, playwright Václav Havel, was appointed president, as the country set about introducing a pluralistic political system and market economy. Multi-party elections for a new National Assembly were won by Civic Forum, in June 1990. However, divisions within the victorious party quickly emerged.

The decisive split occurred in January 1991, when right-wing federal Finance Minister Václav Klaus, the architect and chief engineer of the privatization program, left the Forum with his supporters to create the Civic Democratic Party (ODS, Obcanské Demokratická Strana). Klaus emerged as the most powerful figure within the federal government. Meanwhile, there was a growing clamour in Slovakia, the eastern part of the country, for greater autonomy and, among a vocal and growing constituency, full independence. Despite the firm opposition of President Havel, who considered that the country could ill afford a split at that stage, the positions adopted by Czech and Slovak nationalists were endorsed by the people at the June 1992 national election. Klaus’ ODS won a substantial majority in the Czech part of the country, just as the main Slovak party – the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), led by an ex-communist turned nationalist, Vladimir Meciar – won the lion’s share in Slovakia. Division into two independent countries was quickly accepted as the only mutually acceptable option and took place formally on 1 January 1993.

Under Klaus’ premiership, the Czech Republic pursued a comprehensive program of market-oriented reforms and social policies designed to reduce the role of the state. A period of economic growth and rising prosperity for most of the population followed. After re-election in 1996, the ODS administration eventually fell to popular disillusionment and an economic slowdown in June 1998. The Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD), under Milos Zeman, managed to form a minority government with, improbably enough, the support of Klaus’ ODS. Also in 1998, Václav Havel, the country’s towering political figure, was comfortably re-elected to a second term as president, despite chronic ill health. Against expectations, the Social Democrats not only completed its term, which ended in 2002, but also won the ensuing general election in June. Zeman then ceded the premiership to Vladimir Spidla. However, Klaus remains a potent political figure after winning the March 2003 presidential vote by the narrowest of margins (see Government for details). In particular, he is known to be sceptical about aspects of the Czech Republic’s forthcoming entry into the European Union. Along with membership of NATO (of which the Czech Republic is now a member), this was a high priority for Czech governments since the break-up of the Soviet bloc. Around the time of official entry into the European Union in early 2004, Stanislav Gross succeeded Spidla's premiership.