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The Velvet Divorce: The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
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><span class="link__wrapper">History & Culture</span></a> <span id="breadcrumbs__separator_2-0" class="comp breadcrumbs__separator mntl-text-block">›</span></li> <li id="mntl-breadcrumbs__item_3-0" class="comp mntl-breadcrumbs__item mntl-block"><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/european-history-4133316" rel="nocaes" id="mntl-text-link_7-0" class="mntl-text-link mntl-breadcrumbs__link" data-tracking-container="true" ><span class="link__wrapper">European History</span></a> <span id="breadcrumbs__separator_3-0" class="comp breadcrumbs__separator mntl-text-block">›</span></li></ul> <div id="article-heading_1-0" class="comp article-heading mntl-article-header"> <h1 class="article-heading type--lion">The Velvet Divorce: The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia</h1> </div></div> </div><div class="loc article-post-header"><div id="post-header-social-block_1-0" class="comp post-header-social-block mntl-block"><div id="social-share-block_1-0" class="comp social-share-block mntl-block"><ul 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icon-caret-right text-btn-icon" > <use xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="#icon-caret-right" href="#icon-caret-right"></use> </svg> </a></div> </div><div class="loc article-pre-content"><div id="article-meta_1-0" class="comp article-meta mntl-block" data-tracking-container="true"><div id="reference-bylines_1-0" class="comp reference-bylines mntl-bylines right-rail__offset"><div id="mntl-bylines__group_1-0" class="comp mntl-bylines__group mntl-block mntl-bylines__group--author"><div id="mntl-bylines__item_1-0" class="comp mntl-bylines__item mntl-attribution__item mntl-attribution__item--has-date"> <span class="mntl-attribution__item-descriptor">By</span> <div data-tooltip="Robert Wilde is a historian who writes about European history. He is the author of the History in an Afternoon textbook series." tabindex="0" data-inline-tooltip="true"> <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/robert-wilde-1220771" rel="nocaes" data-trigger-link="true" class="mntl-attribution__item-name" tabindex="-1" >Robert Wilde</a> <div id="mntl-author-tooltip_1-0" class="comp mntl-author-tooltip mntl-tooltip mntl-group "> <div class="mntl-author-tooltip__top mntl-author-tooltip__top--no-image"> <div id="mntl-author-tooltip__name_1-0" class="comp mntl-author-tooltip__name mntl-attribution__item "> <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/robert-wilde-1220771" rel="nocaes" class="mntl-attribution__item-name" tabindex="0" >Robert Wilde</a> </div> <span id="mntl-author-tooltip__job-title_1-0" class="comp mntl-author-tooltip__job-title mntl-text-block">History Expert</span> <ul id="mntl-author-tooltip__education_1-0" class="comp mntl-author-tooltip__education mntl-block"><li id="mntl-author-tooltip__education-item_1-0" class="comp mntl-author-tooltip__education-item mntl-text-block">M.A., Medieval Studies, Sheffield University</li> <li id="mntl-author-tooltip__education-item_2-0" class="comp mntl-author-tooltip__education-item mntl-text-block">B.A., Medieval Studies, Sheffield University</li></ul> <div class="mntl-author-tooltip__bio"> Robert Wilde is a historian who writes about European history. He is the author of the History in an Afternoon textbook series. </div> </div> <div class="mntl-author-tooltip__bottom"> <span class="mntl-author-tooltip__learn-more-text">Learn about our</span> <a href="/about-us-4779650#toc-editorial-guidelines" rel="nocaes" class="mntl-author-tooltip__learn-more-link" >Editorial Process</a> </div> </div></div> </div> <div class="mntl-attribution__item-date">Updated on February 21, 2019</div></div> </div></div> </div><div class="loc article-content"><div id="article-content_1-0" class="comp article-content mntl-block"><div id="mntl-sc-page_1-0" class="comp mntl-sc-page mntl-block structured-content expert-content" data-sc-sticky-offset="85" data-sc-ad-label-height="24" data-sc-ad-track-spacing="100" data-sc-min-track-height="250" data-sc-max-track-height="600" data-sc-breakpoint="50em" data-sc-load-immediate="3" data-sc-content-positions="[1, 1050, 1250, 1550, 1950, 2350, 2750, 3150]" data-bind-scroll-on-start="true"><p id="mntl-sc-block_1-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html"> The Velvet Divorce was the unofficial name given to the separation of Czechoslovakia into Slovakia and the Czech Republic in the early 1990s, earned because of the peaceful manner in which it was achieved. </p> <div id="mntl-sc-block_2-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-adslot mntl-block"></div> <span class="heading-toc" id="toc-the-state-of-czechoslovakia"></span><h2 id="mntl-sc-block_3-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block reference-sc-block-heading mntl-sc-block-heading"> <span class="mntl-sc-block-heading__text"> The State of Czechoslovakia </span> </h2> <p id="mntl-sc-block_4-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html"> At the end of the <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-i-introduction-1222118" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1">First World War</a>, the German and Austrian/Hapsburg empires fell apart, enabling a set of new nation-states to emerge. One of these new states was Czechoslovakia. Czechs made up around fifty percent of the initial population and identified with a long history of Czech life, thought, and statehood; Slovaks comprised around fifteen percent, had a very similar language to the Czechs which helped bind the country together but had never been in their ‘own’ country. The rest of the population were German, Hungarian, Polish, and others, left by the problems of drawing boundaries to replace a polyglot empire. </p> <div id="mntl-sc-block_5-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-adslot mntl-block"></div> <p id="mntl-sc-block_6-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html"> In the late 1930s, Hitler, now in charge of Germany, turned his eye first on Czechoslovakia’s German population, and then on large parts of the country, annexing it. World War II now followed, and this ended with Czechoslovakia being conquered by the Soviet Union; a communist government was soon in place. There were struggles against this regime—the ‘Prague Spring of 1968’ saw a thaw in communist government that bought invasion from the <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-warsaw-pact-3878466" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1">Warsaw Pact</a> and a federalist political structure—and Czechoslovakia remained in the ‘eastern bloc’ of the <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/introduction-to-the-cold-war-in-europe-1221198" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="2">Cold War</a>. </p> <div id="mntl-sc-block_7-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-adslot mntl-block"></div> <span class="heading-toc" id="toc-the-velvet-revolution"></span><h2 id="mntl-sc-block_8-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block reference-sc-block-heading mntl-sc-block-heading"> <span class="mntl-sc-block-heading__text"> The Velvet Revolution </span> </h2> <p id="mntl-sc-block_9-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html"> At the end of the 1980s, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was faced with protests across Eastern Europe, the impossibility of matching the military spending of the west, and the urgent need for internal reforms. His response was as surprising as it was sudden: he ended the Cold War at a stroke, removing the threat of Soviet-led military action against former communist vassals. Without Russian armies to support them, communist government fell across Eastern Europe, and in the autumn of 1989, Czechoslovakia experienced a widespread set of protests which became known as the ‘Velvet Revolution’ because of their peaceful nature and their success: the communists decided not to use force to hang on and negotiated a new government, and free elections were held in 1990. Private business, democratic parties, and a new constitution followed, and Václav Havek became the President. </p> <div id="mntl-sc-block_10-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-adslot mntl-block"></div> <span class="heading-toc" id="toc-the-velvet-divorce"></span><h2 id="mntl-sc-block_11-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block reference-sc-block-heading mntl-sc-block-heading"> <span class="mntl-sc-block-heading__text"> The Velvet Divorce </span> </h2> <p id="mntl-sc-block_12-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html"> The Czech and Slovak populations in Czechoslovakia had been drifting apart over the course of the state’s existence, and when the gunpoint cement of communism had gone, and when the newly democratic Czechoslovakia came to discuss the new constitution and how to govern the nation, they found many issues dividing the Czechs and Slovaks. There were arguments over the varying sizes and growth rates of the twin economies, and of the power each side had: many Czechs felt the Slovaks had too much power for their respective numbers. This was exacerbated by a level of local federalist government which had created government ministers and cabinets for each of the two largest populations, effectively blocking full integration. There was soon talk of separating the two into their own states. </p> <div id="mntl-sc-block_13-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-adslot mntl-block"></div> <p id="mntl-sc-block_14-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html"> Elections in 1992 saw Vaclav Klaus become Prime Minister of the Czech region and Vladimir Meciar Prime Minister of the Slovak one. They had different views on policy and wanted different things from government, and were soon discussing whether to tie the region closer together or split it apart. People have argued that Klaus now took a lead in demanding a division of the nation, while others have argued Meciar was a separatist. Either way, a break seemed likely. When Havel encountered resistance he resigned rather than oversee the separation, and there wasn’t a statesman of sufficient charisma and sufficient support to replace him as a president of a unified Czechoslovakia. While politicians weren’t sure whether the general public supported such a move, negotiations developed in such a peaceful manner as to earn the name ‘Velvet Divorce.’ Progress was swift, and on December 31st, 1992 Czechoslovakia ceased to exist: Slovakia and the Czech Republic replaced it on January 1st, 1993. </p> <div id="mntl-sc-block_15-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-adslot mntl-block"></div> <span class="heading-toc" id="toc-significance"></span><h2 id="mntl-sc-block_16-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block reference-sc-block-heading mntl-sc-block-heading"> <span class="mntl-sc-block-heading__text"> Significance </span> </h2> <p id="mntl-sc-block_17-0" class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html"> The fall of communism in Eastern Europe led not just to the Velvet Revolution, but to the bloodshed of <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/yugoslavia-1221863" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1">Yugoslavia</a> when that state collapsed into warfare and an ethnic cleansing which still haunts Europe. The dissolution of Czechoslovakia made a stark contrast, and it proved that states can divide peacefully and that new states can form without the need for warfare. The Velvet Divorce also bought stability to central Europe at a time of great unrest, allowing the Czechs and Slovaks to sidestep what would have been a period of intense legal and political wrangling and cultural tension, and instead focus on state building. Even now, relations remain good, and there is very little in the way of calls for a return to federalism. </p></div> <div id="sources-and-citation_1-0" class="comp sources-and-citation mntl-block"><div id="citation-widget_1-0" class="comp citation-widget js-citation-widget" data-tracking-container="true"> <div class="citation-widget__container js-container"> <button class="citation-widget__button js-button"> <span class="citation-widget__cite-label">Cite this Article </span> <svg class="icon icon-cite citation-widget__icon-cite" > <use xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="#icon-cite" href="#icon-cite"></use> </svg> </button> <div class="citation-widget__window js-window"> <svg class="icon icon-close citation-widget__icon-close js-icon-close" > <use xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="#icon-close" href="#icon-close"></use> </svg> <div class="citation-widget__heading">Format</div> <a href="#" class="citation-widget__format-link citation-widget__format-link--active js-format-link">mla</a> <a href="#" class="citation-widget__format-link js-format-link">apa</a> <a href="#" class="citation-widget__format-link js-format-link">chicago</a> <div class="citation-widget__heading">Your Citation</div> <div class="citation-widget__content js-content"> <span class="citation-widget__citation citation-widget__citation--active js-active" data-citation-format="mla">Wilde, Robert. "The Velvet Divorce: The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/the-velvet-divorce-1221617.</span> <span class="citation-widget__citation" data-citation-format="apa">Wilde, Robert. (2023, April 5). The Velvet Divorce: The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-velvet-divorce-1221617</span> <span class="citation-widget__citation" data-citation-format="chicago">Wilde, Robert. "The Velvet Divorce: The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-velvet-divorce-1221617 (accessed February 27, 2025).</span> </div> <div class="citation-widget__copy-container"> <button class="citation-widget__copy-button js-copy-button"> <div class="citation-widget__copy-wrapper"> <svg class="icon icon-checkmark citation-widget__icon-checkmark" > <use xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="#icon-checkmark" href="#icon-checkmark"></use> </svg> <span class="citation-widget__copy-label js-copy-label">copy citation</span> </div> </button> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></div> </div><div class="loc article-right-rail"><div id="mm-ads-right-rail_1-0" class="comp mm-ads-right-rail mntl-block"><div id="sc-billboard-group_1-0" class="comp sc-billboard-group mntl-block js-scads-inline-content"><div id="mntl-block_2-0" class="comp mntl-block"><div id="ref-billboard1-sticky-dynamic_1-0" class="comp ref-billboard1-sticky-dynamic mntl-block"><div id="mm-ads-sc-sticky-square-ad_1-0" class="comp 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class="comp mm-ads-sc-sticky-square-ad mm-ads-squareFixed-sticky-dynamic mm-ads-sc-sticky-square scads-to-load right-rail__item" data-height="600" style="height: 600px;"><div id="mm-ads-sc-sticky-square-ad_12-0" class="comp mm-ads-sc-sticky-square-ad mm-ads-square mm-ads-gpt-adunit gpt square dynamic"> <div id="square-fixed" class="wrapper" data-type="square" data-pos="atf" data-priority="2" data-sizes="[[300, 250],"fluid"]" data-rtb="true" data-wait-for-third-party="false" data-targeting="{}"></div> </div></div></div></div> <div id="mntl-block_9-0" class="comp mntl-block"><div id="ref-billboard7-sticky-dynamic_1-0" class="comp ref-billboard7-sticky-dynamic mntl-block"><div id="mm-ads-sc-sticky-square-ad_13-0" class="comp mm-ads-sc-sticky-square-ad mm-ads-squareFixed-sticky-dynamic mm-ads-sc-sticky-square scads-to-load right-rail__item" data-height="600" style="height: 600px;"><div id="mm-ads-sc-sticky-square-ad_14-0" class="comp mm-ads-sc-sticky-square-ad mm-ads-square mm-ads-gpt-adunit gpt square dynamic"> <div id="square-fixed" class="wrapper" data-type="square" data-pos="atf" data-priority="2" data-sizes="[[300, 250],"fluid"]" data-rtb="true" data-wait-for-third-party="false" data-targeting="{}"></div> </div></div></div></div> <div id="mntl-block_10-0" class="comp mntl-block"></div> <div id="mntl-block_11-0" class="comp mntl-block"></div> <div id="mntl-block_12-0" class="comp mntl-block"></div></div></div> </div></article> <div id="prefooter--outbrain_1-0" class="comp prefooter--outbrain prefooter mntl-block"><div id="reference-outbrain_1-0" class="comp reference-outbrain mntl-outbrain"> <div class="OUTBRAIN js-outbrain-widget" data-src="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-velvet-divorce-1221617" data-widget-id="AR_1"></div> </div> <section id="masonry-list-section_1-0" class="comp masonry-list-section mntl-block" data-tracking-container="true"><ul id="mntl-masonry-tax-card-list_1-0" class="comp mntl-masonry-tax-card-list mntl-masonry-card-list 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