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128-787: A catalyst for the split was the condemnation by the PCE of the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968. PCOE was legalized in 1977, during the Spanish transition to democracy . Its sister organisation in Catalonia was the Partit Comunista Obrer de Catalunya . PCOE had a youth organization called the Communist Youth Federation of Spain ( Federación de Jóvenes Comunistas de España ). In

256-832: A Foreign Ministry spokesman replied, "Nineteen years." Dubček lent his support to the Velvet Revolution of December 1989. After the collapse of the Communist regime that month, Dubček became chairman of the federal assembly under the Havel administration. He later led the Social Democratic Party of Slovakia , and spoke against the dissolution of Czechoslovakia before his death in November 1992. The Warsaw Pact invasion included attacks on media establishments, such as Radio Prague and Czechoslovak Television , almost immediately after

384-414: A Soviet satellite state until 1989 when the Velvet Revolution peacefully ended the communist regime; the last Soviet troops left the country in 1991. After the invasion, Czechoslovakia entered a period known as normalization (Czech: normalizace , Slovak: normalizácia ), in which new leaders attempted to restore the political and economic values that had prevailed before Dubček gained control of

512-463: A UN vote was taken with ten members supporting the motion; Algeria, India, and Pakistan abstained; the USSR (with veto power) and Hungary opposed. Canadian delegates immediately introduced another motion asking for a UN representative to travel to Prague and work toward the release of the imprisoned Czechoslovak leaders. By 26 August, a new Czechoslovak representative requested the whole issue be removed from

640-564: A civilian vicus and several farms of the villa rustica type. The name of this settlement was Gerulata . The military fort had an auxiliary cavalry unit, approximately 300 horses strong, modelled after the Cananefates . The remains of Roman buildings have also survived in Stupava , Devín Castle , Bratislava Castle Hill, and the Bratislava- Dúbravka suburb. Near the northernmost line of

768-639: A committee in April 1968, headed by the poet Jaroslav Seifert , to investigate the persecution of writers after the Communist takeover in February 1948 and rehabilitate the literary figures into the Union, bookstores and libraries, and the literary world. Discussions on the current state of communism and abstract ideas such as freedom and identity were also becoming more common; soon, non-party publications began appearing, such as

896-571: A lasting legacy in Central and Eastern Europe. The Glagolitic script and its successor Cyrillic were disseminated to other Slavic countries, charting a new path in their sociocultural development . Following the disintegration of the Great Moravian Empire at the turn of the tenth century, the Hungarians annexed the territory comprising modern Slovakia. After their defeat on the river Lech ,

1024-481: A loosening of restrictions on the media , speech and travel . After national discussion of dividing the country into a federation of three republics, Bohemia , Moravia – Silesia and Slovakia , Dubček oversaw the decision to split into two, the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic . This dual federation was the only formal change that survived the invasion. The reforms, especially

1152-584: A low-key response to the invasion. After 1968 the U.S. recognized Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe, a development that was in the interests of the United States according to some analysts. In April 1969, Dubček was replaced as first secretary by Gustáv Husák , and a period of " normalization " began. Dubček was expelled from the KSČ and given a job as a forestry official. Husák reversed Dubček's reforms, purged

1280-525: A major scandal. Like the Italian and French Communist parties, the majority of the Communist Party of Finland denounced the occupation. Nonetheless, Finnish president Urho Kekkonen was the first Western politician to officially visit Czechoslovakia after August 1968; he received the highest Czechoslovak honours from the hands of President Ludvík Svoboda , on 4 October 1969. A schism occurred between

1408-656: A marasmus of censorship and trials, that this or that could happen, are simply weak people, who can live only in illusions of certainty." Slovakia This is an accepted version of this page – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  –  [ Legend ] Slovakia , officially the Slovak Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe . It

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1536-578: A meeting of the Central Committee of the Party. Novotný then invited the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Soviet Union , Leonid Brezhnev , to Prague that December, seeking support; Brezhnev, however, was surprised at the extent of the opposition to Novotný and so he rather supported his removal. Dubček replaced Novotný as First Secretary on 5 January 1968. On 22 March, Novotný resigned and

1664-516: A period of relative prosperity. There was progress in not only the development of the country's economy but also culture and educational opportunities. Yet the Great Depression caused a sharp economic downturn, followed by political disruption and insecurity in Europe. In the 1930s, Czechoslovakia came under continuous pressure from the revanchist governments of Germany, Hungary and Poland who used

1792-504: A request for intervention to the Soviets. The invasion was followed by a previously unseen wave of emigration , which was stopped shortly thereafter. An estimated 70,000 citizens fled the country immediately with an eventual total of some 300,000. Until recently there was some uncertainty as to what provocation , if any, occurred to make the Warsaw Pact armies invade. Preceding the invasion

1920-473: A rival continuation of the Magyar state that practised religious tolerance and normally had Ottoman backing. Upper Hungary, modern Slovakia, became the site of frequent wars between Catholics in the west territory and Protestants in the east, as well as against Turks; the frontier was on a constant state of military alert and heavily fortified by castles and citadels often manned by Catholic German and Slovak troops on

2048-436: A sense of trust among the media, the government, and the citizens. It was under Goldstücker that the journal's name was changed to Literární listy , and on 29 February, the Union published the first copy of the censor-free journal. By August, Literární listy had a circulation of 300,000, making it the most published periodical in Europe. At the 20th anniversary of Czechoslovakia's " Victorious February ", Dubček delivered

2176-508: A series of outposts around and just south of the Danube , the largest of which were known as Carnuntum (whose remains are on the main road halfway between Vienna and Bratislava ) and Brigetio (present-day Szőny at the Slovak-Hungarian border). Such Roman border settlements were built on the present area of Rusovce , currently a suburb of Bratislava . The military fort was surrounded by

2304-423: A small fraction of the union sympathized with radical socialists, especially Ludvík Vaculík , Milan Kundera , Jan Procházka , Antonín Jaroslav Liehm , Pavel Kohout and Ivan Klíma . A few months later, at a meeting of Party leaders, it was decided that administrative actions against the writers who openly expressed support of reformation would be taken. Since only a small group of the union held these beliefs,

2432-430: A speech explaining the need for change following the triumph of socialism. He emphasized the need to "enforce the leading role of the party more effectively" In April, Dubček launched an " Action Programme " of liberalizations, which included increasing freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of movement, with economic emphasis on consumer goods and the possibility of a multiparty government. The programme

2560-785: A time. The territory of Slovakia was liberated by Soviet and Romanian forces by the end of April 1945. After World War II, Czechoslovakia was reconstituted and Jozef Tiso was executed in 1947 for collaboration with the Nazis. More than 80,000 Hungarians and 32,000 Germans were forced to leave Slovakia, in a series of population transfers initiated by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference . Out of about 130,000 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia in 1938, by 1947 only some 20,000 remained. The NKVD arrested and deported over 20,000 people to Siberia As

2688-467: Is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi), hosting a population exceeding 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Bratislava , while the second largest city is Košice . The Slavs arrived in

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2816-623: Is not known what happened with both Mojmír II and Svatopluk II because they are not mentioned in written sources after 906. In three battles (4–5 July and 9 August 907) near Bratislava , the Magyars routed Bavarian armies. Some historians put this year as the date of the break-up of the Great Moravian Empire, due to the Hungarian conquest; other historians take the date a little bit earlier (to 902). Great Moravia left behind

2944-708: Is primarily known for its collaboration with Nazi Germany, which included sending troops to the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and the Soviet Union in 1941. On 24 November 1940, Slovakia joined the Axis when its leaders signed the Tripartite Pact . The country was strongly influenced by Germany and gradually became a puppet regime in many respects. Meanwhile, the Czechoslovak government-in-exile sought to reverse

3072-606: The 1983 regional elections in the Valencian Community , PCOE obtained 6,416 votes (0.34%). It had an electoral pact with Partido Comunista de España Unificado ahead of the regional elections in Madrid of the same year. When PCEU and other groups unified themselves as the Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain , PCOE chose not to participate in the merger. In 1985, the majority faction, led by Enrique Lister , decided to dissolve

3200-628: The 2016 Spanish general election , again only fielding candidates in Córdoba and Sevilla . In 2018, the party contested the Andalusian regional election , competing in the constituencies of Córdoba (975 votes, 0,26%) and Sevilla (2,230 votes, 0,25%). At the April 2019 Spanish election , the PCOE improved its election results compared to 2016. The party contested eight constituencies and gained 9.094 votes. In 2021,

3328-485: The Bratislava Declaration . The declaration affirmed unshakable fidelity to Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism , declared an implacable struggle against "bourgeois" ideology and all "anti-socialist" forces. The Soviet Union expressed its intention to intervene in any Warsaw Pact country if a "bourgeois" system—a pluralist system of several political parties representing different factions of

3456-617: The Brezhnev Doctrine . On the night of 20–21 August, Eastern Bloc armies from four Warsaw Pact countries—the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary—invaded the ČSSR. That night, 165,000 troops and 4,600 tanks entered the country. They first occupied the Ruzyně International Airport , where air deployment of more troops was arranged. The Czechoslovak forces were confined to their barracks, which were surrounded until

3584-467: The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and continued until 21 August 1968, when the Soviet Union and most Warsaw Pact members invaded the country to suppress the reforms. The Prague Spring reforms were a strong attempt by Dubček to grant additional rights to the citizens of Czechoslovakia in an act of partial decentralization of the economy and democratization . The freedoms granted included

3712-482: The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in April, Dubček announced a political programme of " socialism with a human face ". At the time of the Prague Spring, Czechoslovak exports were declining in competitiveness, and Dubček's reforms planned to solve these troubles by mixing planned and market economies . Dubček continued to stress the importance of economic reform proceeding under Communist Party rule. Freedom of

3840-552: The East German Communist Party and the Icelandic Socialist Party because of the latter's disapproval of the invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia, causing relations between Iceland and East Germany to deteriorate. The Portuguese communist secretary-general Álvaro Cunhal was one of few political leaders from western Europe to have supported the invasion for being counter-revolutionary , along with

3968-523: The Eastern Bloc after having been heavily criticized, led to a partial opening up of the regime and influenced the relaxation of censorship . It also had an international impact as a representative from all Eastern Bloc countries were invited to the Conference; only the Soviet Union did not send any representative. This conference had a revolutionary effect and paved the way for the reforms while making Kafka

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4096-704: The Egri , Budin and Uyvar eyalets . Thököly 's kuruc rebels from the Principality of Upper Hungary fought alongside the Turks against the Austrians and Poles at the Battle of Vienna of 1683 led by John III Sobieski . As the Turks withdrew from Hungary in the late 17th century, the importance of the territory composing modern Slovakia decreased, although Pressburg retained its status as

4224-728: The Gravettian culture, principally in the river valleys of Nitra , Hron , Ipeľ , Váh and as far as the city of Žilina , and near the foot of the Vihorlat , Inovec, and Tribeč mountains, as well as in the Myjava Mountains. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth bone (22,800 BCE), the famous Venus of Moravany . The statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany . Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of

4352-553: The Hallstatt period disappeared in Slovakia during the century before the middle of first millennium BCE, after strife between the Scytho -Thracian people and locals, resulting in abandonment of the old hill-forts. Relatively depopulated areas soon caught the interest of emerging Celtic tribes, who advanced from the south towards the north, following the Slovak rivers, peacefully integrating into

4480-731: The Hunnic empire . In 568, a Turko-Mongol tribal confederacy, the Avars , conducted its invasion into the Middle Danube region. The Avars occupied the lowlands of the Pannonian Plain and established an empire dominating the Carpathian Basin . In 623 , the Slavic population living in the western parts of Pannonia seceded from their empire after a revolution led by Samo , a Frankish merchant. After 626,

4608-470: The Little Carpathians . During Hallstatt times, monumental burial mounds were erected in western Slovakia, with princely equipment consisting of richly decorated vessels, ornaments and decorations. The burial rites consisted entirely of cremation. Common people were buried in flat urnfield cemeteries. A special role was given to weaving and the production of textiles. The local power of the "Princes" of

4736-714: The Luxembourg party and conservative factions of the Greek party . Most countries offered only vocal criticism following the invasion. The night of the invasion, Canada, Denmark, France, Paraguay, the United Kingdom, and the United States requested a meeting of the United Nations Security Council . At the meeting, the Czechoslovak ambassador Jan Mužík denounced the invasion. Soviet ambassador Jacob Malik insisted

4864-558: The Middle Paleolithic era (200,000–80,000 BCE) come from the Prévôt (Prepoštská) cave in Bojnice and from other nearby sites. The most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium (c. 200,000 BCE), discovered near Gánovce , a village in northern Slovakia. Archaeologists have found prehistoric human skeletons in the region, as well as numerous objects and vestiges of

4992-668: The Munich Agreement and the subsequent German occupation of Czechoslovakia and to return the Republic to its 1937 boundaries. The government operated from London and it was ultimately considered, by those countries that recognised it, the legitimate government for Czechoslovakia throughout the Second World War. As part of the Holocaust in Slovakia , 75,000 Jews out of 80,000 who remained on Slovak territory after Hungary had seized southern regions were deported and taken to German death camps . Thousands of Jews, Gypsies and other politically undesirable people remained in Slovak forced labour camps in Sereď , Vyhne, and Nováky. Tiso, through

5120-404: The Ottoman Empire . After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , the state of Czechoslovakia was established, incorporating Slovakia. In the lead up to World War II , local fascist parties gradually came to power in the Slovak lands, and the first Slovak Republic was established as a clerical fascist client state under the control of Nazi Germany . In 1940,

5248-545: The Principality of Nitra was given to his nephew Svätopluk as an appanage . The rebellious prince allied himself with the Franks and overthrew his uncle in 870. Similarly to his predecessor, Svätopluk I (871–894) assumed the title of the king ( rex ). During his reign, the Great Moravian Empire reached its greatest territorial extent, when not only present-day Moravia and Slovakia but also present-day northern and central Hungary , Lower Austria , Bohemia , Silesia , Lusatia , southern Poland and northern Serbia belonged to

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5376-424: The Slánský trial , may have been considered as early as 1963, but did not take place until 1967. In the early 1960s , Czechoslovakia underwent an economic downturn. The Soviet model of industrialization applied poorly to Czechoslovakia since the country was already quite industrialized before World War II while the Soviet model mainly took into account less developed economies. Novotný's attempt at restructuring

5504-458: The Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina, and Radošina. These findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe . During the Bronze Age , the geographical territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BCE. Major cultural, economic, and political development can be attributed to

5632-488: The Treaty of Saint Germain in 1919 and Treaty of Trianon in 1920. In the peace following the World War, Czechoslovakia emerged as a sovereign European state. It provided what were at the time rather extensive rights to its minorities. During the Interwar period , democratic Czechoslovakia was allied with France, and also with Romania and Yugoslavia ( Little Entente ); however, the Locarno Treaties of 1925 left East European security open. Both Czechs and Slovaks enjoyed

5760-490: The Velvet Revolution peacefully ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia, sometimes referred to as the Velvet Divorce . Slovakia is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy . The country maintains a combination of a market economy with a comprehensive social security system, providing citizens with universal health care , free education , and one of

5888-409: The hardliners grew concerned about the reforms, which they feared might weaken the position of the Bloc in the Cold War . At a meeting in Dresden, East Germany on 23 March, the leaders of the "Warsaw Five" ( USSR , Hungary , Poland , Bulgaria and East Germany ) questioned the Czechoslovak delegation over the planned reforms, suggesting any talk of "democratization" was a veiled criticism of

6016-418: The independence for the territories of Bohemia , Moravia , Silesia , Upper Hungary and Carpathian Ruthenia from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and proclaimed a common state, Czechoslovakia . In 1919, during the chaos following the break-up of Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia was formed with numerous Germans , Slovaks , Hungarians and Ruthenians within the newly set borders. The borders were set by

6144-411: The "Land of the Slavs " ( Slovensko in Slovak stemming from the older form Sloven/Slovienin ). As such, it is a cognate of the words Slovenia and Slavonia . In medieval Latin, German, and even some Slavic sources, the same name has often been used for Slovaks, Slovenes, Slavonians, and Slavs in general. According to one of the theories, a new form of national name formed for the ancestors of

6272-445: The "capitalist classes"—was ever established. After the conference, the Soviet troops left Czechoslovak territory but remained along its borders. As these talks proved unsatisfactory, the Soviets began to consider a military alternative. The Soviet policy of compelling the socialist governments of its satellite states to subordinate their national interests to those of the Eastern Bloc (through military force if needed) became known as

6400-478: The Avar power started a gradual decline but its reign lasted to 804. The Slavic tribes settled in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the fifth century. Western Slovakia was the centre of Samo 's empire in the seventh century. A Slavic state known as the Principality of Nitra arose in the eighth century and its ruler Pribina had the first known Christian church of the territory of present-day Slovakia consecrated by 828. Together with neighbouring Moravia ,

6528-458: The German cleric Wiching the Bishop of Nitra . After the death of Prince Svatopluk in 894, his sons Mojmír II (894–906?) and Svatopluk II succeeded him as the Prince of Great Moravia and the Prince of Nitra respectively. However, they started to quarrel for domination of the whole empire. Weakened by an internal conflict as well as by constant warfare with Eastern Francia , Great Moravia lost most of its peripheral territories. In

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6656-399: The Habsburg side. By 1648, Slovakia was not spared the Counter-Reformation , which brought the majority of its population from Lutheranism back to Roman Catholicism . In 1655, the printing press at the Trnava university produced the Jesuit Benedikt Szöllősi's Cantus Catholici, a Catholic hymnal in Slovak that reaffirmed links to the earlier works of Cyril and Methodius. The Ottoman wars ,

6784-464: The Hungarian state. The ethnic composition of Slovakia became more diverse with the arrival of the Carpathian Germans in the 13th century and the Jews in the 14th century. A significant decline in the population resulted from the invasion of the Mongols in 1241 and the subsequent famine. However, in medieval times the area of Slovakia was characterised by German and Jewish immigration, burgeoning towns, construction of numerous stone castles, and

6912-423: The Hungarians abandoned their nomadic ways and settled in the centre of the Carpathian valley, slowly adopting Christianity and began to build a new state—the Hungarian kingdom . In the years 1001–1002 and 1018–1029, Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Poland , having been conquered by Boleslaus I the Brave . After the territory of Slovakia was returned to Hungary, a semi-autonomous polity continued to exist (or

7040-399: The KSČ. Gustáv Husák , who replaced Dubček as First Secretary and also became President , reversed almost all of the reforms. The Prague Spring inspired music and literature including the work of Václav Havel , Karel Husa , Karel Kryl and Milan Kundera 's novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being . The process of de-Stalinization in Czechoslovakia had begun under Antonín Novotný in

7168-508: The Kremlin's approval. Mao Zedong saw the Brezhnev Doctrine as the ideological basis for a Soviet invasion of China, and launched a massive propaganda campaign condemning the invasion of Czechoslovakia, despite his own earlier opposition to the Prague Spring. Speaking at a banquet at the Romanian embassy in Beijing on 23 August 1968, the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai denounced the Soviet Union for "fascist politics, great power chauvinism, national egoism and social imperialism", going on to compare

7296-419: The Osi and Cotini , existed in western and central Slovakia from 8–6 BCE to 179 CE. In the second and third centuries CE, the Huns began to leave the Central Asian steppes . They crossed the Danube in 377 CE and occupied Pannonia , which they used for 75 years as their base for launching looting-raids into Western Europe. However, Attila's death in 453 brought about the disappearance of

7424-420: The PCOE is forming the Coalition for Communist Unity with the PCPE in the Madrid regional election . Prague Spring Incidents The Prague Spring ( Czech : Pražské jaro , Slovak : Pražská jar ) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic . It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of

7552-441: The Roman hinterlands, the Limes Romanus , there existed the winter camp of Laugaricio (modern-day Trenčín ) where the Auxiliary of Legion II fought and prevailed in a decisive battle over the Germanic Quadi tribe in 179 CE during the Marcomannic Wars . The Kingdom of Vannius , a kingdom founded by the Germanic Suebi tribes of Quadi and Marcomanni , as well as several small Germanic and Celtic tribes , including

7680-416: The Romanian Communist Party , already a staunch opponent of Soviet influences and a self-declared Dubček supporter, gave a public speech in Bucharest on the day of the invasion, depicting Soviet policies in harsh terms. Albania withdrew from the Warsaw Pact in opposition, calling the invasion an act of " social imperialism ". In Finland, a country under some Soviet political influence, the occupation caused

7808-502: The Security Council's agenda. Shirley Temple Black visited Prague in August 1968 to prepare for becoming the US Ambassador for reformed Czechoslovakia. However, after the 21 August invasion, she became part of a U.S. Embassy-organized convoy of vehicles that evacuated U.S. citizens from the country. In August 1989, she returned to Prague as U.S. Ambassador, three months before the Velvet Revolution that ended 41 years of Communist rule. The United States, West Germany and NATO maintained

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7936-598: The Slavic vernacular. On Rastislav's request, two brothers, Byzantine officials and missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius came in 863. Cyril developed the first Slavic alphabet and translated the Gospel into the Old Church Slavonic language. Rastislav was also preoccupied with the security and administration of his state. Numerous fortified castles built throughout the country are dated to his reign and some of them (e.g.,  Dowina , sometimes identified with Devín Castle ) are also mentioned in connection with Rastislav by Frankish chronicles. During Rastislav's reign,

8064-401: The Slovaks between the 13th and 14th century, possibly due to foreign influence; the Czech word Slovák (in medieval sources from 1291 onward). This form slowly replaced the name for the male members of the community, but the female name ( Slovenka ), reference to the lands inhabited ( Slovensko ) and the name of the language ( slovenčina ) all remained the same, with their base in

8192-436: The Soviet border. The Soviets were represented by almost the full Politburo that met for the first time outside the territory of the Soviet Union; also the Czechoslovak delegation included the full membership of the Presidium, but the main agreements were reached at the meetings of the "fours" – Brezhnev, Alexei Kosygin , Nikolai Podgorny , Mikhail Suslov – Dubček, Ludvík Svoboda , Oldřich Černík , Josef Smrkovský . At

8320-448: The Soviet model. The Polish Party leader Władysław Gomułka and János Kádár were less concerned with the reforms themselves than with the growing criticisms levelled by the Czechoslovak media, and worried that the situation might be "similar to...the 'Hungarian counterrevolution' ." Some of the language in the Action Programme may have been chosen to assert that no "counterrevolution" was planned, but Kieran Williams suggests that Dubček

8448-458: The State became federalised, with Diets in Slovakia and Ruthenia. The remainder of Czechoslovakia was renamed Czecho-Slovakia and promised a greater degree of Slovak political autonomy. This, however, failed to materialise. Parts of southern and eastern Slovakia were also reclaimed by Hungary at the First Vienna Award of November 1938. After the Munich Agreement and its Vienna Award , Nazi Germany threatened to annex part of Slovakia and allow

8576-432: The Warsaw Pact actions were "fraternal assistance" against "antisocial forces". The British government strongly condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, although it cautiously avoided making any diplomatic moves that may have provoked a Soviet counter-response and a jeopardisation of détente . The United Kingdom's foreign policy toward the Soviet Union was minimally impacted in the long-term, and quickly reverted to

8704-421: The Warsaw Pact and promised to curb "anti-socialist" tendencies, prevent the revival of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party and control the press more effectively. The Soviets agreed to withdraw their armed forces still in Czechoslovakia after manoeuvres in June and permit the 9 September Party Congress . On 3 August representatives from the "Warsaw Five" and Czechoslovakia met in Bratislava and signed

8832-411: The aggrieved minorities in the country as a useful vehicle. Revision of the borders was called for, as Czechs constituted only 43% of the population. Eventually, this pressure led to the Munich Agreement of September 1938, which allowed the majority ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland , borderlands of Czechoslovakia, to join with Germany. The remaining minorities stepped up their pressures for autonomy and

8960-548: The capital of Hungary until 1848 when it was transferred back to Buda. During the revolution of 1848–49 , the Slovaks supported the Austrian Emperor , hoping for independence from the Hungarian part of the Dual Monarchy , but they failed to achieve their aim. Thereafter, relations between the nationalities deteriorated (see Magyarisation ), culminating in the secession of Slovakia from Hungary after World War I. On 18 October 1918, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk , Milan Rastislav Štefánik and Edvard Beneš declared in Washington, D.C.

9088-449: The communist leaders from the secret police or prisons where they were held. Most importantly, this new self-called freedom and the introduction of television into the lives of everyday Czechoslovak citizens moved the political dialogue from the intellectual to the popular sphere. Initial reaction within the Communist Bloc was mixed. Hungary 's János Kádár was highly supportive of Dubček's appointment in January, but Leonid Brezhnev and

9216-581: The country joined the Axis when its leaders signed the Tripartite Pact . The local Jewish population was heavily persecuted, with almost 70,000 Jews being murdered or deported . Internal opposition to the fascist government's policies culminated in the Slovak National Uprising , itself triggered by the Nazi German occupation of the country. Although the uprising was eventually suppressed, partisan resistance continued, and Czechoslovak independence

9344-590: The country, involving attempted fraternization , sabotage of street signs, defiance of curfews, etc. While the Soviet military had predicted that it would take four days to subdue the country, the resistance held out for almost eight months until diplomatic maneuvers finally circumvented it. It became a high-profile example of civilian-based defense ; there were sporadic acts of violence and several protest suicides by self-immolation (the most famous being that of Jan Palach ), but no military resistance. Czechoslovakia remained

9472-461: The cultivation of the arts. The arrival of German element sometimes proved a problem for the autochthonous Slovaks (and even Hungarians in the broader Hungary), since they often quickly gained most power in medieval towns, only to later refuse to share it. Breaking of old customs by Germans often resulted in national quarrels. One of which had to be sorted out by the king Louis I. with the proclamation Privilegium pro Slavis (Privilege for Slovaks) in

9600-571: The day to allow for a "day of reflection" for the editorial staffs. Writers and reporters agreed with Dubček to support a limited reinstitution of the censorship office, as long as the institution was to only last three months. Finally, by September 1968, the Czechoslovak Communist Party plenum was held to instate the new censorship law. In the words of the Moscow-approved resolution, "The press, radio, and television are first of all

9728-416: The decentralization of administrative authority, were not received well by the Soviets, who, after failed negotiations, sent half a million Warsaw Pact troops and tanks to occupy the country. The New York Times cited reports of 650,000 men equipped with the most modern and sophisticated weapons in the Soviet military catalogue. A massive wave of emigration swept the nation. Resistance was mounted throughout

9856-535: The economy, the 1965 New Economic Model , spurred increased demand for political reform as well. The liberalization of 1960s enabled a partial reclaiming of the political and cultural legacy of the First Czechoslovak Republic and its figures such as Tomáš Masaryk , which was ideologically suppressed in the Stalinist era as bourgeois nationalist and liberal capitalist . This reclamation can be seen in

9984-529: The empire, but the exact borders of his domains are still disputed by modern authors. Svatopluk also withstood attacks of the Magyar tribes and the Bulgarian Empire , although sometimes it was he who hired the Magyars when waging war against East Francia . In 880, Pope John VIII set up an independent ecclesiastical province in Great Moravia with Archbishop Methodius as its head. He also named

10112-507: The end of August. When the weeklies Reporter and Politika responded harshly to this threat, even going so far as to not so subtly criticize the Presidium itself in Politika , the government banned Reporter for a month, suspended Politika indefinitely, and prohibited any political programs from appearing on the radio or television. The intellectuals were stuck at an impasse; they recognized

10240-618: The formation of Great Moravia . In the 10th century, after the dissolution of Great Moravia, the territory was integrated into the Principality of Hungary , which then became the Kingdom of Hungary in 1000. In 1241 and 1242, after the Mongol invasion of Europe , much of the territory was destroyed, but was recovered largely thanks to Béla IV . During the 16th and 17th centuries, southern portions of present-day Slovakia were incorporated into provinces of

10368-563: The forms Slovakia and Schlowakei starting to appear in the 16th century. The present Slovak form Slovensko is first attested in the year 1675. The oldest surviving human artefacts from Slovakia are found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom and are dated at 270,000 BCE, in the Early Paleolithic era. These ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from

10496-589: The government's increasing normalization, but they were unsure whether to trust that the measures were only temporary or demand more. For example, still believing in Dubcek's promises for reform, Milan Kundera published the article "Cesky udel" (Our Czech Destiny) in Literarni listy on 19 December. He wrote: "People who today are falling into depression and defeatism, commenting that there are not enough guarantees, that everything could end badly, that we might again end up in

10624-490: The granting of presidential exceptions, allowed between 1,000 and 4,000 people crucial to the war economy to avoid deportations. Under Tiso's government and Hungarian occupation, the vast majority of Slovakia's pre-war Jewish population (between 75,000 and 105,000 individuals including those who perished from the occupied territory) were murdered. The Slovak state paid Germany 500 RM per every deported Jew for "retraining and accommodation" (a similar but smaller payment of 30 RM

10752-405: The initial tanks rolled into Prague on 21 August 1968 . While both the radio station and the television station managed to hold out for at least enough time for initial broadcasts of the invasion, what the Soviets did not attack by force they attacked by reenacting party censorship . In reaction to the invasion, on 28 August 1968, all Czechoslovak publishers agreed to halt production of newspapers for

10880-410: The instruments for carrying into life the policies of the Party and state." While that was not yet the end of the media's self-called freedom after the Prague Spring, it was the beginning of the end. During November, the Presidium, under Husak, declared that the Czechoslovak press could not make any negative remarks about the Soviet invaders or they would risk violating the agreement they had come to at

11008-578: The invasion of Czechoslovakia to the American war in Vietnam and more pointedly to the policies of Adolf Hitler towards Czechoslovakia in 1938–39. Zhou ended his speech with a barely veiled call for the people of Czechoslovakia to wage guerrilla war against the Red Army. The next day, several countries suggested a United Nations resolution condemning the intervention and calling for immediate withdrawal. Eventually,

11136-461: The late 1950s and early 1960s, but had progressed more slowly than in most other states of the Eastern Bloc . Following the lead of Nikita Khrushchev , Novotný proclaimed the completion of socialism , and the new constitution accordingly adopted the name change from "Czechoslovak Republic" to "Czechoslovak Socialist Republic". The pace of de-Stalinization, however, was sluggish; the rehabilitation of Stalinist-era victims, such as those convicted in

11264-947: The longest paid parental leaves in the OECD . Slovakia is a member of the European Union , the Eurozone , the Schengen Area , the United Nations , NATO , CERN , the OECD, the WTO , the Council of Europe , the Visegrád Group , and the OSCE . Slovakia is also home to eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The world's largest per-capita car producer, Slovakia manufactured a total of 1.1 million cars in 2019, representing 43% of its total industrial output. Slovakia's name means

11392-551: The maintenance of good relations with Western countries and cooperation with the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc nations. It spoke of a ten-year transition through which democratic elections would be made possible and a new form of democratic socialism would replace the status quo. Those who drafted the Action Programme were careful not to criticize the actions of the post-war Communist regime, only to point out policies that they felt had outlived their usefulness. Although it

11520-509: The meantime, the semi-nomadic Magyar tribes, possibly having suffered defeat from the similarly nomadic Pechenegs , left their territories east of the Carpathian Mountains , invaded the Carpathian Basin and started to occupy the territory gradually around 896. Their armies' advance may have been promoted by continuous wars among the countries of the region whose rulers still hired them occasionally to intervene in their struggles. It

11648-435: The meeting Dubček defended the proposals of the KSČ's reformist wing while pledging commitment to the Warsaw Pact and Comecon . The KSČ leadership, however, was divided between vigorous reformers (Smrkovský, Černík, and František Kriegel ) and hardliners ( Vasil Biľak , Drahomír Kolder , and Oldřich Švestka ) who adopted an anti-reformist stance. Brezhnev decided on compromise. The KSČ delegates reaffirmed their loyalty to

11776-601: The older form (compare to Slovenian counterparts). Most foreign translations tend to stem from this newer form ( Slovakia in English, Slowakei in German, Slovaquie in French, etc.). In medieval Latin sources, terms: Slavus , Slavonia , or Slavorum (and more variants, from as early as 1029) have been used. In German sources, names for the Slovak lands were Windenland or Windische Lande (early 15th century), with

11904-589: The party and rejoin the PCE , in a congress where the 10,000 members of the PCOE were represented. The majority of the members followed Lister and rejoined the PCE; however, a minority faction decided that they weren't going to join the PCE and kept the party alive, although severely weakened. Today, the party publishes Teoría Socialista and Análisis . The continued PCOE contested the 2015 Spanish elections , fielding candidates in two constituencies ( Córdoba and Sevilla ), and gaining 1,906 votes in total, and also competed in

12032-448: The party of its liberal members, and dismissed from public office professional and intellectual elites who openly expressed disagreement with the political transformation. (Many of those purged would later become the dissidents of Czechoslovak underground culture , active in Charter 77 and related movements which eventually met success in the Velvet Revolution .) Husák worked to reinstate

12160-639: The place of settlement for nearly two-thirds of the Magyar nobility fleeing the Turks and became far more linguistically and culturally Hungarian than it was before. Partly thanks to old Hussite families and Slovaks studying under Martin Luther , the region then experienced a growth in Protestantism . For a short period in the 17th century, most Slovaks were Lutherans . They defied the Catholic Habsburgs and sought protection from neighbouring Transylvania ,

12288-421: The power of the police and strengthen ties with the rest of the Communist bloc. He also sought to re- centralize the economy, as a considerable amount of freedom had been granted to industries during the Prague Spring. Commentary on politics was forbidden in mainstream media, and political statements by anyone not considered to have "full political trust" were also banned. The only significant change that survived

12416-524: The press opened the door for the first look at Czechoslovakia's past by Czechoslovakia's people . Many of the investigations centered on the country's history under communism, especially in the instance of the Stalinist -period. In another television appearance, Goldstücker presented both doctored and undoctored photographs of former communist leaders who had been purged, imprisoned, or executed and thus erased from communist history. The Writers' Union also formed

12544-582: The principality formed the core of the Great Moravian Empire from 833. The high point of this Slavonic empire came with the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius in 863, during the reign of Duke Rastislav , and the territorial expansion under King Svätopluk I . Great Moravia arose around 830 when Mojmír I unified the Slavic tribes settled north of the Danube and extended the Moravian supremacy over them. When Mojmír I endeavoured to secede from

12672-573: The region after the Hussite Wars . Owing to the Ottoman Empire 's expansion into Hungarian territory, Bratislava was designated the new capital of Hungary in 1536, ahead of the fall of the old Hungarian capital of Buda in 1541. It became part of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, marking the beginning of a new era. The territory comprising modern Slovakia, then known as Upper Hungary , became

12800-563: The remaining members were relied upon to discipline their colleagues. Control over Literární noviny and several other publishers was transferred to the Ministry of Culture, and even some leaders of the Party who later became major reformers—including Dubček—endorsed these moves. As President Antonín Novotný was losing support, Alexander Dubček, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Slovakia , and economist Ota Šik challenged him at

12928-541: The remaining regions to be partitioned by Hungary or Poland unless independence was declared. Thus, Slovakia seceded from Czecho-Slovakia in March 1939 and allied itself, as demanded by Germany, with Hitler's coalition. Secession had created the first Slovak state in history. A one-party clerical fascist Slovak Republic governed by the far-right Hlinka's Slovak People's Party was led by President Jozef Tiso and Prime Minister Vojtech Tuka . The (First) Slovak Republic

13056-518: The remnants of the local population. From around 500 BCE, the territory of modern-day Slovakia was settled by Celts , who built powerful oppida on the sites of modern-day Bratislava and Devín . Biatecs , silver coins with inscriptions in the Latin alphabet, represent the first known use of writing in Slovakia. At the northern regions, remnants of the local population of Lusatian origin, together with Celtic and later Dacian influence, gave rise to

13184-469: The renewed suppression of free speech. The generalized resistance caused the Soviet Union to abandon its original plan to oust the First Secretary. Dubček, who had been arrested on the night of 20 August, was taken to Moscow for negotiations. There, under heavy psychological pressure from Soviet politicians, Dubček and all the highest-ranked leaders but František Kriegel signed the Moscow Protocol . It

13312-653: The rivalry between Austria and Transylvania , and the frequent insurrections against the Habsburg monarchy inflicted a great deal of devastation, especially in the rural areas. In the Austro-Turkish War (1663–1664) a Turkish army led by the Grand Vizier decimated Slovakia. In 1682, the Principality of Upper Hungary , a short-lived Ottoman vassal state, was established in the territory of modern Slovakia. Prior to this, regions on its southern rim were already encompassed in

13440-657: The scholar Eduard Goldstücker became chairman of the Union of Czechoslovak Writers and thus editor-in-chief of Literární noviny , which under Novotný had been filled with party loyalists. Goldstücker tested the boundaries of Dubček's devotion to freedom of the press when on 4 February he appeared in a television interview as the new head of the union. During the interview he openly criticized Novotný, exposing all of Novotný's previously unreported policies and explaining how they were preventing progress in Czechoslovakia. Goldstücker suffered no repercussions, Dubček instead began to build

13568-511: The significant growth in production of copper, especially in central Slovakia (for example in Špania Dolina ) and northwest Slovakia. Copper became a stable source of prosperity for the local population. After the disappearance of the Čakany and Velatice cultures, the Lusatian people expanded building of strong and complex fortifications, with the large permanent buildings and administrative centres. Excavations of Lusatian hill forts document

13696-413: The status quo that existed prior to the Prague Spring following the brief period of intense criticism. One of the nations that most vehemently condemned the invasion was China, which objected furiously to the so-called "Brezhnev Doctrine" that declared the Soviet Union alone had the right to determine what nations were properly Communist and could invade those Communist nations whose communism did not meet

13824-471: The substantial development of trade and agriculture at that period. The richness and diversity of tombs increased considerably. The inhabitants of the area manufactured arms, shields, jewellery, dishes, and statues. The arrival of tribes from Thrace disrupted the people of the Kalenderberg culture, who lived in the hamlets located on the plain ( Sereď ) and in the hill forts like Molpír, near Smolenice , in

13952-494: The success of publications such as Tomáš G. Masaryk (1968) by Milan Machovec . In May 1963, some Marxist intellectuals organized the Liblice Conference that discussed Franz Kafka 's life, marking the beginning of the cultural democratization of Czechoslovakia which ultimately led to the 1968 Prague Spring , an era of political liberalization. This conference was unique because it symbolized Kafka's rehabilitation in

14080-520: The supremacy of the king of East Francia in 846, King Louis the German deposed him and assisted Mojmír's nephew Rastislav (846–870) in acquiring the throne. The new monarch pursued an independent policy: after stopping a Frankish attack in 855, he also sought to weaken the influence of Frankish priests preaching in his realm. Duke Rastislav asked the Byzantine Emperor Michael III to send teachers who would interpret Christianity in

14208-482: The symbol of the renaissance of Czechoslovak artistic and intellectual freedom. As the strict regime eased its rules, the Union of Czechoslovak Writers ( Czech : Svaz československých spisovatelů ) cautiously began to air discontent. In Literární noviny , the union's previously hard-line communist weekly, members suggested that literature should be independent of the Communist Party doctrine. In June 1967,

14336-599: The territory of the present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries. From the late 6th century, parts of modern Slovakia were incorporated in the Avar Khaghanate . In the 7th century, the Slavs played a significant role in the creation of Samo's Empire . In the 9th century, the Avar Khaghanate dissolved, and the Slavs established the Principality of Nitra , which was later conquered by the Principality of Moravia , leading to

14464-614: The threat of a counter-attack was assuaged. By the morning of 21 August Czechoslovakia was occupied. Romania and Albania refused to take part in the invasion. Soviet command refrained from drawing upon East German troops for fear of reviving memories of the Nazi invasion in 1938. During the invasion 72  Czechs and Slovaks were killed (19 of those in Slovakia), 266 severely wounded and another 436 slightly injured. Alexander Dubček called upon his people not to resist. Nevertheless, there

14592-820: The trade union daily Práce (Labour). This was also helped by the Journalists' Union, which by March 1968 had already persuaded the Central Publication Board, the government censor, to allow editors to receive uncensored subscriptions to foreign papers, allowing for a more international dialogue around the news. The press, the radio, and the television also contributed to these discussions by hosting meetings where students and young workers could ask questions of writers such as Goldstücker, Pavel Kohout , and Jan Procházka and political victims such as Josef Smrkovský , Zdeněk Hejzlar, and Gustáv Husák . Television also broadcast meetings between former political prisoners and

14720-508: The unique Púchov culture , with advanced crafts and iron-working, many hill-forts and fortified settlements of central type with the coinage of the "Velkobysterecky" type (no inscriptions, with a horse on one side and a head on the other). This culture is often connected with the Celtic tribe mentioned in Roman sources as Cotini . From 2  CE , the expanding Roman Empire established and maintained

14848-556: The year 1381. According to this privilege, Slovaks and Germans were to occupy each half of the seats in the city council of Žilina and the mayor should be elected each year, alternating between those nationalities. This would not be the last such case. In 1465, King Matthias Corvinus founded the Hungarian Kingdom's third university, in Pressburg ( Bratislava ), but it was closed in 1490 after his death. Hussites also settled in

14976-543: The ČSSR government, but the Soviet Press printed an unsigned request—allegedly by Czechoslovak party and state leaders—for "immediate assistance, including assistance with armed forces". At the 14th KSČ Party Congress (conducted secretly, immediately following the intervention), it was emphasized that no member of the leadership had invited the intervention. More recent evidence suggests that conservative KSČ members (including Biľak, Švestka, Kolder, Indra, and Kapek) did send

15104-544: Was a rather calm period without any major events taking place in Czechoslovakia. In Czechoslovakia, especially in the week following the invasion, popular opposition was expressed in numerous spontaneous acts of nonviolent resistance . Civilians purposely gave wrong directions to invading soldiers, while others identified and followed cars belonging to the secret police . On 16 January 1969, student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest against

15232-675: Was agreed that Dubček would remain in office and a programme of moderate reform would continue. On 25 August citizens of the Soviet Union who did not approve of the invasion protested in Red Square ; seven protesters opened banners with anti-invasion slogans. The demonstrators were brutally beaten and arrested by security forces, and later punished by a secret tribunal; the protest was dubbed "anti-Soviet" and several people were detained in psychiatric hospitals. A more pronounced effect took place in Romania, where Nicolae Ceaușescu , General Secretary of

15360-416: Was based on the view that "Socialism cannot mean only liberation of the working people from the domination of exploiting class relations, but must make more provisions for a fuller life of the personality than any bourgeois democracy." It would limit the power of the secret police and provide for the federalization of the ČSSR into two equal nations. The programme also covered foreign policy, including both

15488-411: Was created in 1048 by king Andrew I ) called Duchy of Nitra . Comprising roughly the territory of Principality of Nitra and Bihar principality , they formed what was called a tercia pars regni , third of a kingdom. This polity existed up until 1108/1110, after which it was not restored. After this, up until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, the territory of Slovakia was an integral part of

15616-524: Was paid by Croatia ). After it became clear that the Soviet Red Army was going to push the Nazis out of eastern and central Europe, an anti-Nazi resistance movement launched a fierce armed insurrection, known as the Slovak National Uprising , near the end of summer 1944. A bloody German occupation and a guerilla war followed. Germans and their local collaborators completely destroyed 93 villages and massacred thousands of civilians, often hundreds at

15744-588: Was perhaps surprised at, but not resentful of, Soviet suggestions. In May, the KGB initiated Operation Progress, which involved Soviet agents infiltrating Czechoslovak pro-democratic organizations, such as the Socialist and Christian Democrat parties. The Soviet leadership tried to stop, or at least limit, the changes in the ČSSR through a series of negotiations. The Soviet Union agreed to bilateral talks with Czechoslovakia from 29 July to 1 August at Čierna nad Tisou , near

15872-720: Was re-established after the country's liberation at the end of the war. Following the Soviet-backed coup of 1948 , Czechoslovakia became a communist state within the Eastern Bloc , a satellite state of the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain and member of the Warsaw Pact . Attempts to liberalise communism culminated in the Prague Spring , which was suppressed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. In 1989,

16000-505: Was replaced by Ludvík Svoboda , who later gave consent to the reforms. Early signs of change were few. In an interview with KSČ Presidium member Josef Smrkovský published in the Party newspaper Rudé Právo with the title "What Lies Ahead", he insisted that Dubček's appointment at the January Plenum would further the goals of socialism and maintain the working class nature of the Party. However, right after Dubček assumed power,

16128-477: Was scattered resistance in the streets. Road signs in towns were removed or painted over—except for those indicating the way to Moscow. Many small villages renamed themselves "Dubček" or "Svoboda"; thus, without navigational equipment, the invaders were often confused. On the night of the invasion the Czechoslovak Presidium declared that Warsaw Pact troops had crossed the border without the knowledge of

16256-403: Was stipulated that reform must proceed under KSČ direction, popular pressure mounted to implement reforms immediately. Radical elements became more vocal: anti-Soviet polemics appeared in the press on 26 June 1968, and new unaffiliated political clubs were created. Party conservatives urged repressive measures, but Dubček counselled moderation and re-emphasized KSČ leadership. At the Presidium of

16384-474: Was the federalization of the country , which created the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic in 1969. In 1987, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged that his liberalizing policies of glasnost and perestroika owed a great deal to Dubček's "socialism with a human face". When asked what the difference was between the Prague Spring and Gorbachev's own reforms,

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