, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–1939
1945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 = , s1 = Czech Republic , flag_s1 = Flag of the Czech Republic.svg , s2 = Slovakia , flag_s2 = Flag of Slovakia.svg , image_flag = Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg , flag = Flag of Czechoslovakia , flag_type = Flag
(1920–1992) , flag_border = Flag of Czechoslovakia , image_coat = Middle coat of arms of Czechoslovakia.svg , symbol_type = Middle coat of arms
(1918–1938 and 1945–1961) , image_map = Czechoslovakia location map.svg , image_map_caption = Czechoslovakia during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

and the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, national_motto = , anthems =

, capital = Prague , largest_city = capital , coordinates = , official_languages = Czechoslovak, after 1948 Czech Slovak , recognised_languages = , demonym = Czechoslovak , government_type =

, title_leader = President , leader1 =

Tomáš G. Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berd ...

, year_leader1 = 1918–1935 , leader2 = Edvard Beneš , year_leader2 = , leader3 = Emil Hácha , year_leader3 = 1938–1939 , leader4 = Klement Gottwald , year_leader4 = 1948–1953 , leader5 = Antonín Zápotocký , year_leader5 = 1953–1957 , leader6 = Antonín Novotný , year_leader6 = 1957–1968 , leader7 = Ludvík Svoboda , year_leader7 = 1968–1975 , leader8 = Gustáv Husák , year_leader8 = 1976–1989 , leader9 = Václav Havel , year_leader9 = 1989–1992 , title_representative = KSČ General Secretary / First Secretary , representative1 = Klement Gottwald , year_representative1 = 1948–1953 , representative2 = Antonín Novotný , year_representative2 = 1953–1968 , representative3 = Alexander Dubček , year_representative3 = 1968–1969 , representative4 = Gustáv Husák , year_representative4 = 1969–1987 , representative5 = Miloš Jakeš , year_representative5 = 1987–1989 , title_deputy = Prime Minister , deputy1 = Karel Kramář , year_deputy1 = 1918–1919 (first) , deputy2 = Jan Stráský , year_deputy2 = 1992 (last) , legislature = National Assembly (1948–1969)
Federal Assembly (1969–1992) , era = , event_start = Proclamation , date_start = 28 October , year_start = 1918 , event1 = Munich Agreement , date_event1 = 30 September 1938 , event2 = Dissolution , date_event2 = 14 March 1939 , event3 = Re-establishment , date_event3 = 10 May 1945 , event4 = Coup d'état , date_event4 = 25 February 1948 , event5 = Soviet occupation , date_event5 = 21 August 1968 , event6 = Velvet Revolution , date_event6 = 17 – 28 November 1989 , event_end = Dissolution , date_end = 31 December , year_end = 1992 , cctld =

.cs .cs was for several years the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Czechoslovakia. However, the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, and the two new countries were soon assigned their own ccTLDs: .cz and .sk respec ...

, calling_code = +42 , HDI = 0.810 , HDI_ref = , HDI_year = 1992 , currency = Czechoslovak koruna , drives_on = right , footnotes = Calling code +42 was withdrawn in the winter of 1997. The number range was divided between the :Czech Republic ( +420) and :Slovak Republic ( +421). , footnotes2 = Current ISO 3166-3 code is "CSHH". , today = Czechoslovakia (; Czech and sk, Československo, ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the ...

, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

became part of Germany, while the country lost further territories to Hungary and Poland. Between 1939 and 1945 the state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and the remaining territories in the east became part of Hungary, while in the remainder of the Czech Lands the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed. In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies. After World War II, the pre-1938 Czechoslovakia was reestablished, with the exception of Carpathian Ruthenia, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR (a republic of the Soviet Union). From 1948 to 1989, Czechoslovakia was part of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

with a command economy. Its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of 1955. A period of political liberalization in 1968, the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, 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 Sec ...

, ended violently when the Soviet Union, assisted by other Warsaw Pact countries, invaded Czechoslovakia. In 1989, as Marxist–Leninist governments and communism were ending all over Central and Eastern Europe, Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their communist government on 17 November 1989 in the Velvet Revolution. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia as the result of national tensions of the

Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...

Characteristics

;Form of state *1918–1938: A democratic republic championed by Tomáš Masaryk. *1938–1939: After the acquisition of

by Nazi Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections among the Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A strip of southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia was redeemed by Hungary, and the Zaolzie region was annexed by Poland. *1939–1945: The remainder of the state was dismembered and became split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the

Slovak Republic Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, while the rest of Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied and annexed by Hungary. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and their Allies; after the

German invasion of Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, it was also recognized by the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia adhered to the