Checoslovaquia

Checoslovaquia was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 to December 1992. It was formed from the union of two predominantly Slavic nations: Bohemia and Moravia (which formed the Czech part, known as the Czech Socialist Republic within the federation) and Slovakia (the Slovak Socialist Republic). The capital and largest city was Prague.

The country emerged after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire following World War I. In 1938, following the Munich Agreement, a large part of the Czech borderlands, the Sudetenland, was annexed by Nazi Germany. In March 1939, the remainder of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, with Bohemia and Moravia becoming a German protectorate and Slovakia becoming a separate German client state. After World War II, Czechoslovakia was reconstituted, although it fell under Soviet influence and became a communist state in 1948.

In 1968, a period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring was crushed by a Warsaw Pact invasion. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution peacefully overthrew the communist regime. Following this, discussions led to the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia into two independent states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which took effect on January 1, 1993.