Abstract
Czechoslovakia as a multinational state represents both failure and success: although it only existed for some seventy years before dividing into separate Czech and Slovak republics, the division itself was effected quickly and smoothly, without even the threat of physical violence. It is a particularly complex and interesting case because, in the course of their coexistence, the Czechs and Slovaks were subjected to the successive sudden changes of regime which were a feature of twentieth century history for much of Europe. However, problems of ethnic diversity cannot always be addressed in ideal political circumstances, and Czechoslovakia remains an important example which should not be neglected.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
See Chapter 1, Paragraph 3 of the 1920 constitution, Ústava republiky Československé z roku 1920, Prague, Auctoritas, 1992, p.11; Joseph Rothschild, East Central Europe between the Two World Wars, Seattle & London, University of Washington Press, 1974, pp. 73–135.
For further details of the election system, see: Eva Broklová, Československá demokracie: Politický systém ČSR 1918–1938, Prague, Sociologické nakladatelství, 1982, pp. 79–85;
Oskar Krejčí, Kniha o volácich, Prague, Victoria Publishing, 1994, pp. 134–41.
Compiled from census data in: Václav L. Beneš, ‘Czechoslovak Democracy and its Problems 1918–1920’, Victor S. Mamatey & Radomír Luža (eds), A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918–1948, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1973, p. 40.
See: Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, ‘Czechoslovakia: The Creation, Federalization and Dissolution of a Nation-State’, Regional Politics and Policy, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1993, p. 85.
The best account of Slovak politics in this period is contained in James Ramon Felak, ‘At the Price of the Republic’: Hlinkas Slovak Peoples Party, 1929–1938, Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994.
Pavol Frič, Zora Bútorová, Tatiana Rosová, ‘Česko-slovenské vzt’ahy v zrkadle empirického výskumu’, Socióldgia, Vol. 24, No. 1–2, 1992, pp. 43–74.
FOCUS, Aktuálne problémy Slovenska po rozpade ČSFR, Október 1993, Bratislava, 1993, pp.6–8.
Jan Měchýř, Slovensko v Československu: Slovensko-české vztahy 1918–1991, Prague, Práce, 1991, pp. 50–65.
See: Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918–1987, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1988, pp. 98–102.
See: Jaroslaw A. Piekalkiewicz, Public Opinion Polling in Czechoslovakia, 1968–69, New York & London, Praeger, 1972, pp. 110–12.
For more detailed discussion of this issue, see: Mathernova, ‘Czecho?Slovakia: Constitutional Disappointments’, A.E. Dick Howard (ed.), Constitution Making in Eastern Europe, Washington, Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1993, pp. 68–75;
Jiri Pehe, ‘The State Treaty between the Czech and Slovak Republics’, Radio Free Europe Report on Eastern Europe, 7 June 1991, pp. 11–15;
Jan Obrman, ‘Further Discussions on the Future of the Federation’, ibid., 20 September 1991, pp.6–10;
Jiri Pehe, ‘Czech and Slovak Leaders Deadlocked over Country’s Future’, ibid., 28 November 1991, pp.7–13.
See: Arend Lijphart, Democracy in Plural Societies: A Comparative Exploration, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1977, pp. 56–7.
The best English language account of this period is contained in Carol Skalnik Leff, The Czech and Slovak Republics: Nation versus State, Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1997.
Peter Bugge, ‘The Czech Republic’, Bogdan Szajkowski (ed.), Political Parties of Eastern Europe, Russia and the Successor States, Harlow, Longman, 1994, p. 150.
For further discussion of this point, see: Jiři Musil, ‘Czech and Slovak Society’, Government and Opposition, Vol.28, No.4, 1993, pp.479–95. This issue, as well as many others surrounding the division of Czechoslovakia, are dealt with in Jiři Musil (ed.), The End of Czechoslovakia, Budapest, Central European University Press, 1995.
See: Pavel Machonin, ‘Česko-slovenské vztahy ve světle dat sociologického výzkumu’, Fedor Gál a kol., Dneční krize československých vztahů, Prague, Sociologické nakladatelství, 1992, pp.97–101. More detailed figures, such as historical comparisons for food consumption and consumer goods, can be found in official statitistical yearbooks, such as Federální statistický úřad, Historická statistická ročenka ČSSR, pp.580–83 and 779–82.
See for example Jan Hartl, ‘Jací jsme a kam směřujeme’, Respekt, 6–12 September 1993, p.6; Marián Timoracký, ‘Verejná mienka o česko-slovenských vzt’ahoch’, Gál, Dnešní krize, pp.97–101.
AISA, Czechoslovakia — May 1990: Survey Report, Prague, 1990, appendix, p.1.
AISA, Czechs and Slovaks Compared: A Survey of Economic and Political Behaviour, Studies in Public Policy No.198, Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, 1992, pp. 6–7.
For more detailed discussion of this point, see: Karen Henderson, ‘Divisive Political Agendas: the Case of Czechoslovakia’, Patrick Dunleavy and Jeffrey Stanyer (eds), Contemporary Political Studies 1994: Proceedings of the Political Studies Association’s 1994 Annual Conference, Belfast, Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, 1994, pp. 408–12.
For further explanation of the terms, see: Arend Lijphart, Democracies: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-One Countries, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1984.
For further discussion of this point, see: Karen Henderson, ‘Czechoslovakia: Cutting the Gordian Knot’, Coexistence, Vol.31, No.4, December 1994, pp.314–17; Mathernova, ‘Czecho?Slovakia’, pp.64–5;
David Olson, ‘The Sundered State: Federalism and Parliament in Czechoslovakia’, Thomas F. Remington (ed.), Parliaments in Transition: The New Legislative Politics in the Former USSR and Eastern Europe, Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1994, pp. 100–3.
For a useful summary of public opinion surveys, see: Sharon Wolchik, ‘The Politics of Ethnicity in Post-Communist Czechoslovakia’, East European Politics and Society, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1994, pp. 176–81.
For an interesting analysis of the confusion surrounding the use of terms such as ‘confederation’ in Czechoslovak political discourse, see Ján Bunčák, Valentína Harmadyová, Zuzana Kusá, Politická zmena v spoločenksej rozprave, Bratislava, VEDA, 1996, pp.34–54.
For figures, see: Archie Brown and Gordon Wightman, ‘Czechoslovakia: Revival and Retreat’, Archie Brown and Jack Gray (eds), Political Culture and Political Change in Communist States, London, Macmillan, 2nd edn, 1979, pp.159–196; Frič, Bútorová, Rosová, ‘Česko-slovenské vzt’ahy’, pp. 44–52.
See: Ján Bunčák, ‘Slovensko — spoločnost’ v rekonštrukcii’, Sociológia, Vol. 25, No. 1–2, 1993, pp. 6–7.
AISA, Czechoslovakia — November 1990: Survey Report, Prague, 1990, Table 2. For further statistics on the same subject, see: Frič, Bútorová, Rosová, ‘Česko-slovenské vzt’ahy’, p.56.
FOCUS, Aktuálne problémy Slovenska December 1994, Bratislava, 1995, pp.37–9.
For 1994 Slovak election results, see: Karen Henderson, ‘The Slovak Republic’, Szajkowski (ed), Political Parties of Eastern Europe, Russia and the Successor States, p. 534.
FOCUS, Aktuálne problémy Slovenska po rozpade ČSFR, Október 1993, pp.6–8.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1999 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Henderson, K. (1999). Czechoslovakia. In: MacIver, D. (eds) The Politics of Multinational States. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27047-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27047-7_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-27049-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-27047-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)