History of Czechoslovak nationality

The history of Czechoslovak nationality involves the rise and fall of national feeling among Czechs and Slovaks. Once forming a rather unified group, they were historically separated, unified under a democratic system, separated during threat of war, and reunified under an authoritarian regime. However, a democratization process has lead to a definition of separate statehood for the majority of Czechs and Slovaks.

History

Ancient time

The Czechs and Slovaks are both ethnic Slavs and speak very similar languages. Moreover, these peoples once formed a very unified group of tribes, which were basically indistinguishable from one another. It is through history and different circumstances, it is believed, that those tribes acquired the characteristics that made them Czechs and Slovaks. As to where exactly the Slav tribes came from, historians cannot agree.

Empires

Great Moravia

“The Slavonic tribes of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia were formerly embraced within the great Moravian Empire.” [ Kunoši, A. (1944). "The basis of Czechoslovak unity." London: A. Dakers limited.] Under the rule of Prince Mojmir, A.D. 830, Moravia was a very powerful Empire. It extended further under the rule of Svatopluk and became the most powerful Slavonic state of Christendom.

However, the tribes living in today’s Slovakia were conquered by Magyar (Hungarian) tribes and were separated from the Moravians and Bohemians. In 1025, Slovakia indeed became a part of the Hungarian Empire, thus reducing, but not ending relations between the Czechs and Slovaks. And in the 15th Century, Czech Hussites invaded Slovakia, restoring Czechoslovak unity. In this period, culture expanded mostly through literature, creating nationalist feelings. Nevertheless, the Czechs and Slovaks were still far from forming a strong united country and Slovakia remained under Hungarian influence.

The Habsburg Empire

“In 1526 Bohemia became part of the Habsburg crown but it was not until the battle of the White Mountain in 1620 that Bohemian independence was liquidated and the native, Czech aristocracy dispossessed.” [Crampton, R. J. (1994). "Eastern Europe in the twentieth century." London ; New York : Routledge] As for Moravia, it also became part of the Habsburg Empire in 1648. Thus, the Czech lands and Slovakia were divided between Austria and Hungary. This division remained even after the two Empires joined into the Dual Monarchy.

The conditions under which Czechs and Slovaks lived in their respective Empire differed much. On the one hand, Czechs rather had quite independence vis-à-vis the Austrians. Their culture and language could continue to live and expend, even though Czech remained mainly spoken by the peasantry. Crampton, "Eastern Europe in the twentieth century."] Moreover, they had representation into the Austrian Parliament.

In the 1860s, organizations such as sokols started to promote Czech national identity. . Then, educated Czech demanded to participate more in the administration of their land. They wanted to have similar privileges as the Magyars, or Hungarians, and Germans, but were unable to form a united force. Thus, the Czech national movement was mostly suppressed [ Čada, V. (1987). "The birth of Czechoslovakia." S. Matoušková (Trans.) Prague: Orbis Press Agency.] .

On the other hand, Slovaks were living under harsher conditions in the Hungarian Empire. Having no political nor economic power, they were dominated by the Hungarians who tried to assimilated them through Magyarisation process as Slovak schools were closed. [ Kunoši, "The basis of Czechoslovak unity."] Under such conditions, “the development of a national identity was much more complex and slower”. [ Čada, "The birth of Czechoslovakia."] Having cultural ties with the Czechs, Slovaks were divided between associating with the Czechs or seeking for a separate existence. Moreover, the appeal of joining the Czechs was great since they considered Slovaks as members of their own people and often defended Slovak interests in the Austrian Parliament.

WWI and the Inter-War Period

“‘Czechoslovakism’ was mainly a product of the first world war.” It is in France that the three founders of the Czechoslovak National Council, Masaryk, Beneš, and Štefánik, met. This Council was seeking for complete independence rather than only more autonomy in the Habsburg Empire. “On 6 January 1918 Czech deputies in the Reichsrat issued the ‘Twelfth Night Declaration’ demanding self-determination for the Czechoslovaks”. And on October 28, the National Council seized power and Czechoslovakia was created. The Czechoslovak state was conceived as a parliamentary democracy.

If some argues that the feelings of unity that Czechs and Slovaks had for each other might be the primary reason for the creation of Czechoslovakia, there were also clear demographic incentives. "One in three of the population of the Czechs lands was German. The Czechs could not be confident of defending the new state against a German minority which constituted approximately a third of the population; association with the Slovaks would decrease the minority to just under a quarter and thus make it much more manageable." The Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920 identified the "Czechoslovak nation" as the creator and principal constituent of the Czechoslovak state and established the "Czechoslovak language" as the official language. The concept of the Czechoslovak nation was necessary in order to justify the establishment of Czechoslovakia towards the world, because otherwise the statistical majority of the Czechs as compared to Germans would be rather weak.

After WWI, Czechoslovakia was finally formed by combining the Czech lands, Bohemia and Moravia, the Slovak lands, and Carpathian Ruthenia, which was annexed in 1919 due to the Allies’ pressure. If the desire for a Czechoslovak nation had been expressed for a long time, the Slovaks in the 1920s, nevertheless, felt resentment because they were proportionally less represented into the Czechoslovak administration. This, however, can be explained by the fact that, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Czechs had the opportunity to develop an elite which could then lead the new country and that such an elite was totally absent in the Slovak population. Moreover, the formation of a Czechoslovak Hussite Church which conducted its services in Czech created large discontent. New national holidays, such as July 6, which commemorated the Czech reformer Jan Hus, created opposition within the Catholics. Also during the 1920s, the Slovaks became more and more literate, thus developing their own culture, and the structures promoting such a Slovak culture.

WWII or the Nazi Regime

The resentment felt by the Slovak population was expressed by the growing support it gave to the Nazi regime and policies. Thus, when Hitler decided to annex the Czech lands, Slovaks showed little opposition. Moreover, by acting this way, they were able to declare their independence, and became a protectorate of Nazi Germany. However, Slovaks soon realized that this clearly meant Nazi domination and control, not real independence. Soon, their support shifted back in favour of Czechoslovakism. Nevertheless, Czechoslovakia would continue to be under the influence of foreign forces.

oviet Regime

The Soviet troops having liberated the Czechs and Slovaks from Nazi domination in 1945, the Czechoslovakian state was restored. Moreover, Czechoslovakia was again a unitary state. After the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 the Slovak independence movement was suppressed and the Communist Party of Slovakia incorporated into the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. [ Latawski, P. (Ed.). (1995). "Contemporary nationalism in East Central Europe." New York : St. Martin’s Press.] In addition, “Slovaks communists who favoured a unitary state were installed in power.” [ Latawski, "Contemporary nationalism in East Central Europe."] The most important change in the 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia was that it severely limited the autonomy granted to Slovakia. This provision was the decision of President Antonín Novotný. The executive branch of the Slovak government was abolished and its duties assigned to the Presidium of the Slovak National Council, thus combining executive and legislative functions into a single body. The legislative National Assembly was given authority to overrule decisions of the Slovak National Council, and central government agencies took over the administration of the major organs of Slovak local government.

The situation changed under Khrushchev’s leadership. The new General Secretary had a very different perspective about nationalities and decided to rehabilitate Slovak nationalists. Moreover, the purges and destalinization process of the 1950s caused the revival of Slovak nationalism. On the one hand, many Slovaks had been purged from the Party, and on the other hand, the destalinization process asked for more concessions and compromises. Intellectuals began to have ideas of federalism and, thus, in October 1968, Czechoslovakia amended the 1960 Constitution by the Constitutional Law of Federation. The Slovaks were recognized as a separate nation and were given their own governmental bodies, namely the Slovak national council and the board of commissioners.

The Velvet Revolution and Divorce

With the end of the Soviet domination and the revolution of 1989, the historic differences between the Czechs and the Slovaks came back. Those were mainly expressed through different political and economic viewpoints. On the one hand, Slovaks were more attached and committed to state welfare and ownership. On the other hand, Czechs were wishing for a quick change to the western model of capitalism. [ Kellas, J. G. (1991). "The politics of nationalism and ethnicity." New York: St. Martin’s Press.] Moreover, there were intense debates on renaming the country, which various hyphened versions of Czechoslovakia. In addition, the system of checks and balances set up by the constitution made it possible for Slovak autonomists to bloc political institutions from functioning.

On July 17th, 1992, the Slovak national council adopted Slovakia’s declaration of sovereignty, and major constitutional changes gave the Slovaks their own state, which they had desired for a long time. Thus, Czechoslovakia was dissolved and replaced by the Czech and Slovak Federative Republics.

National Characteristics

Languages

Czech and Slovaks are still today very similar languages. Thus, at the time of their formation, Czech and Slovak were actually the same. They both come from Church Slavonic, the original language of Slav tribes and transformed into a literary language by Saints Cyril and Methodus, who brought Christianity to Eastern Europe. However, spoken Czech is today very different from Slavonic, due to the many reforms, notably those of Jan Huss. As for Slovak, it consists of many dialects. Those from the Western part resemble to Czech and those from the East are more similar to Slavonic. Differences between the Czech and Slovak languages can also be explained by the Magyarisation of Slovak which occurred mainly in the 19th Century. However, it is important to note that even though Czech and Slovak are different languages, in most cases both Czech and Slovaks can easily understand each other, speaking their own language. Nevertheless, language is an important stone of the Czech and Slovak societies. Thus, knowledge of language is a requirement for the acquisition of cizitenship.

=Religions=

The Bohemian population was mainly Protestant. Today, however, it is mostly non-religious. The Moravian and Slovak populations are mainly Catholic. However, Czechoslovakia is truly a mosaic of diverse religions.

Citizenship Laws

After the Velvet Divorce, laws about citizenship became clearer with the new constitutions. During the Soviet Regime, there was not much place for the rule of law. The rights and duties of citizens were similar to other socialist states, an included the right to serve in the military and the right to work. If the citizens clearly had no recognized political rights, they were, however, able to organize and get some political impact through the civil society, highly developed in Czechoslovakia. Moreover, the Beneš Decrees were very discriminatory against the German and Hungarian minorities of Czechoslovakia, who could not be granted citizenship. Emphasis was thus put on the unitary character of Czechoslovakia. [ [http://sudetengermans.freeyellow.com/documents.html The Benes Decree ] ]

Definition of Citizenship

As of December 31st, 1992, citizens of the Czech and Slovak Republic could either choose to become Czech or Slovak citizens. However, since in 1968 Slovakia was given some degree of autonomy, there existed a Slovak Republic that was granting citizenship. Thus, people who had Czechoslovak citizenship, but not Slovak citizenship had one year to apply for Slovak citizenship, which usually meant loss of Czech nationality. As for citizens of both Czechoslovakia and Slovak Republic, they could be automatically granted any of both citizenship, according to their will. [http://www.legislationline.org/?tid=11&jid=14&less=false Citizenship, Czech Republic - Legislationline - free online legislation database ] ]

Slovak Citizenship Laws

Children acquire their citizenship from their parents, even if they are adoptive parents, or by birth on Slovak territory is otherwise they would become stateless. Acquisition of citizenship is also granted upon request if a person has lived for at least 5 continuous years on Slovak territory and speaks Slovak language. Moreover, persons having no other citizenship are usually favoured. In addition, citizenship is easily granted to a person married to a Slovak citizen, or to a person who has economically, culturally, scientifically, or technologically greatly contributed to the Slovak society. As for loss to citizenship, a person who request it in order to get citizenship from another state, will be released from state bond. [ [http://uniset.ca/nold/slovak_en.html Slovak Nationality Law 1993 ] ]

Czech Citizenship Laws

Citizenship in Czech Republic is granted by Jus Sanguinis principle. Thus, nationality is granted to children of Czech Citizens. Unless the parents are stateless, and at least one is a permanent resident of the Czech Republic, the children born on Czech territory from non-Czech parents are not granted citizenship. However, children under 15 years old, born in Czech territory, whose parents’ nationality cannot be identified become Czech citizens. As for naturalization, permanent residents of the Czech Republic who have lived on the territory for at least 5 years and do not hold citizenship from another country and who has sufficient knowledge of Czech language, can apply to be granted of Czech citizenship. More flexibility is possible if the person demanding is the spouse of a Czech citizen, or if that person was adopted by a Czech citizen. As for the loss of citizenship, it is given on voluntary demand, unless that would make the person stateless. http://www.en.domavcr.cz/rady.shtml?x=157293 ]

Rights and Duties

Czech and Slovak citizens basically have the same rights and duties than most citizens of other democratic countries, including the right to vote. Moreover, they cannot be refused access to their country and may benefit from diplomatic protection.

ee also

*Slovaks in Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)
*Slovaks in Czechoslovakia (1960–1990)

References