Republic of Czechoslovakia

Parliamentary democracy was advancing in Czechoslovakia, the industry was developing, literacy was on the increase, etc. The minority issue, however, would cause great conflicts. The Republic was formally a country of Czechs and Slovaks, while in reality the Slovak issue was treated as a minority issue. Along them came other numerous minorities like the Germans from Sudetenland who had been living there for centuries, who were called “immigrants” by president Tomáš Masaryk (ruled 1918-1935), the Polish and Hungarians. In total, these four peoples constituted 50% of Czechoslovakia. The Catholic Church lost its leading position in public life because of its clash with Hussitism (religious movement by Jan Hus in the 15^th century), whose “famous past” the Czech were reminiscing in the 19^th century, but mostly because of their close ties to the Habsburg dynasty.

Despite finding themselves in a common country, the Czech were more associated to the West throughout history, and the modern Czech nation was constructed through conflict with the Germans and imposition of German culture and political supremacy. Slovaks, on the other hand, had Hungarians and their politics as “the Others” to help form the Slovak identity. Moreover, there was never a Slovak medieval country (even though Slovak romanticists tend to present Moravia – see European championship 868), while its territory was, until 1918, called Upper Hungary. A schism was inevitable and would happen by the end of the thirties, when Hitler occupied Czechia and enabled Slovakia as a country under German protectorate.