Czechoslovakia which country

Slovaks demanded more independence, but I think this would have been granted to them, and different concepts of economic reforms played a crucial role in the Czech-Slovak split. In this sense, the common Czech-Slovak state became a victim of diverse transition concepts. Between and , unemployment became a serious issue. This was a completely unknown phenomenon in Czechoslovakia before. There was a sharp surge in inflation due to the liberalisation of prices. A market exchange rate was introduced, approximately at the black market level, which involved a huge devaluation.

This somehow served as a protection from imports, because these became very expensive. The shock therapy resulted in a transformational recession, which not only led to high unemployment, high inflation and a sharp drop in GDP as consequences, but also to a strong increase in inequality, which we observe until today.

All of this eventually resulted in wide-spread disappointment and the social and political situation we witness today in both the Czech and Slovak republics as well as in other former Eastern Bloc countries. I would say it went together with the rapid transition and disappointments that inevitably followed.

Another point was that people had very unrealistic expectations after the regime change. The overwhelming majority was convinced that if a capitalist market economy was introduced, their income level would soon correspond to that of Austria - within 10 years at the latest, i. Actually, nobody in the country believed that it could be different or was unrealistic.

Yes, I never believed in a rapid convergence. In fact we dealt with economic catching-up intensively in our past wiiw studies. We wrote already by the end of s that the transition and convergence processes would last for a very long time, that it would be uneven, that there would be crises, and that not every country would be successful.

However, the trade reorientation was possible only gradually, not least because their products were simply not competitive. While the Czech Republic, for example, opened its markets almost completely after , trade openness was not at all reciprocal this changed in the late s. There were also Western proposals for the former Eastern bloc countries to first establish an economic integration zone among themselves.

Well, later on, in , EU accession negotiations actually started and in , 15 years after the Velvet Revolution, these countries were finally accepted to join the EU club. The accession negotiations were also very important for the establishment of democratic institutions in the country because human rights, independence of courts, the rule of law, etc.

All these issues we now witness in the association talks with Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova or the Western Balkan countries. It was a very important anchor for democratic and liberal reforms in all former Eastern Bloc countries and their societies. For both, I think the biggest challenge is a too strong dependence on the German economy, and a too strong dependence on the automotive industry. I personally do not see much perspective for the automotive industry in the medium and long run in Europe, not least because of different climate and societal changes.

This implies that another restructuring of the Czech and Slovak industries will rather soon be necessary. The Czech Republic probably has better pre-conditions for this, because its economy is more diversified, more flexible and not so much dependent on the manufacturing sector only.

As far as the Czech Republic is concerned, I also think the widespread aversion to European integration represents a very serious challenge. Part of Czechoslovakia until the "velvet divorce" in January , the Czech Republic has a robust democratic tradition, a highly-developed economy, and a rich cultural heritage. It emerged from over 40 years of Communist rule in , and was the first former Eastern Bloc state to acquire the status of a developed economy.

It joined the European Union in Communist rule had lasted since , when the restored pre-war democratic system was overthrown in a Soviet-backed coup. The "Prague Spring" of , when Communist leader Alexander Dubcek tried to bring in liberal reforms, was crushed by Warsaw Pact tanks. In , as the curtain was coming down on communism in the Kremlin, the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel emerged as the figurehead of the country's "velvet revolution" and became the first president of post-communist Czechoslovakia.

President: Milos Zeman. Milos Zeman, a former prime minister, won a second term as president in January Mr Zeman was 73 at the time he was re-elected, and bet on a populist anti-immigration stance to narrowly beat Jiri Drahos, a mainstream pro-European academic, in the run-off vote.

An economist by training, President Zeman is the last of the trio of heavyweights who shaped the country's post history, along with Vaclav Havel, the anti-communist dissident and later president who died in , and Vaclav Klaus, a former centre-right prime minister and president in He succeeded President Klaus in , becoming the first directly-elected president.

His predecessors where chosen by parliament. Prime minister: Andrej Babis. Eurosceptic, billionaire and former finance minister Andrej Babis was sworn in as prime minister for a second time in June , in another attempt at forming a stable government. His ANO party emerged as the largest party in the October elections and he formed a government two months later, but lost a confidence vote in January and now relies on Social Democrat and Communist support in parliament.

His term in office has been overshadowed by fraud allegations and an EU conflict-of-interest investigation, prompting his opponents to organise a huge rally in central Prague in June demanding his resignation. President Woodrow Wilson had a significant role in the founding of the Czechoslovakian Republic; thus, since Czechoslovakian independence, the United States and the Czechoslovakian Republic enjoyed close ties.

This friendship, however, was strained by the tensions of the Cold War as Czechoslovakian foreign policy from was the prerogative of the Soviet Union. National flag of Czechoslovakia, which was adopted by the Czech Republic in On September 3, , Secretary of State Robert Lansing announced that the United States recognized the Czecho-Slovak National Council, which was resident in Paris, as a de facto government at war with the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires and that it was prepared to enter into formal relations with it.

The first U. A consulate was opened in and closed April 9, , after Austria-Hungary severed diplomatic relations with the United States. It was closed in after the Communist Government of Czechoslovakia alleged that U. It became a Consulate in , but was closed in There is no record of any postwar consuls being appointed before it was permanently closed in A Commercial Agency was opened in Reichenberg Liberec in It became a Consulate in , was closed in , and did not reopen after World War I.

Richard Crane was appointed U. Minister to Czechoslovakia on April 23, He presented his credentials on June 11, and served until December 5, Minister Bedrich Stepanek presented his credentials on January 5, Wilbur J.

The United States did not recognize the establishment of a German protectorate over Bohemia and Moravia, or the establishment of the state of Slovakia. On September 4, , Anthony J.