Czechoslovakia: the full history beyond the Velvet Divorce [OSW documentary].

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  • čas přidán 14. 11. 2023
  • 🇨🇿 🇸🇰 From the early days under Tomas Masaryk to the Velvet Revolution, the dissolution, and current day relations, the history of Czechoslovakia, as well as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, is both fascinating and undiscovered. In our latest documentary, we dive deep with experts from the region to uncover both the past of how Czechoslovakia was established - beginning with the two World Wars, the communist regime and the ultimate peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia, known as the Velvet Divorce, into two independent states.
    🇸🇰 🇨🇿 We also look at the modern-day nations and ask: does the split of Czechoslovakia continue to influence the two countries today? What do Czechs and Slovaks still have in common? Is there a nostalgia for the former state... and will it ever return?
    ➡️ We answer these questions and more in our Czechoslovakia documentary 🎦
    🔵 Subscribe and turn on notifications 🔔 so you don't miss any videos: / @centreforeasternstudies
    🎙️ Listen to our conversations on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/369Umim...
    🔵 Follow us on Twitter: / osw_eng
    ➡️ More OSW long-form reports and analysis in English here: www.osw.waw.pl/en

Komentáře • 38

  • @jirislavicek9954
    @jirislavicek9954 Před 5 dny +7

    I am a Czech person living in Ireland, watching a Polish channel on American platform featuring Czech and Slovak historians speaking in Polish, which is translated to English, explaining relations between Czech and Slovaks. 😁
    The documentary is right, our relations are excellent. 🇨🇿🇸🇰

  • @nutellapringles
    @nutellapringles Před 14 dny +3

    I am just a regular Türk who has an enthusiasm for the history of modern Europe, and this video has been one of the best 45 minutes of my life in that context. Great work. My sincere regards for Czechs and Slovaks!

  • @davidjgill4902
    @davidjgill4902 Před 5 měsíci +16

    In the United States, Czech and Slovak expatriates came together as early as 1915 to agree to fight for a joint state to be created at the end of WW1. This was the Cleveland Agreement of 1915. It was the obvious thing to do.

  • @love_for_travel
    @love_for_travel Před 21 dnem +2

    I just came from Prague, so nice to see beautiful panorams of Prague incorporated in this film

  • @jiritichy7967
    @jiritichy7967 Před 4 měsíci +9

    As a matter of fact, Czechs and Slovaks lived together in a common state before the creation of Czechoslovakia, in Velka Morava (Great Moravia), but they spoke the same old Slavic language at that time. This empire collapsed due to a great deal as a consequence of the incursion of Magyars, who then subdued and occupied Slovakia for one thousand years. This lengthy historic separation lead to a development of some language differences and more importantly, Slovaks feeling as a nation separate from Czechs.
    Already during the first republic. there was a handful of Slovak politicians, wo wanted to fulfill their political ambitions in a separate Slovakia. This movement gained strength after the rice of Nazism and creation of Slovak fascism. The puppet Slovak state was on the side of the powers loosing war and Slovaks were saved from that position by again joining Czechs in a common state, which was on the winning war side.
    When troubles arose during Warsaw pact armies attack on Czechoslovakia with subsequent Soviet occupation, a certain group of Slovak politicians came again with demands for more "independence". These demands finally materialized after he fall of communism and lead to a separation.
    Although Czechoslovakia would be a bigger and stronger state, the disruptions of some Slovak politicians would remain. This is now irrelevant in the separate situation. Both states are doing well and their relations are excellent.
    The idea that these states could not stay together because of he minor (nationalistic) differences is false. The differences between, for example, Flams and Vallons in Belgium or Catalans and Spanish are much greater, but they are still in one state, although with some problems.

    • @veronikamullerova7033
      @veronikamullerova7033 Před měsícem

      I have a question about the examples. Do the Flams or Vallons in Belgium or the Catalans in Spain have the power to block any government action and thus stop the whole state from running?
      The problem was that the Czechs and Slovaks had exactly that power. Sorry, but if the cabinet can't even agree on a stupid name for the country and after a quarter of a year they come up with a solution that the Slovaks will write Czecho-Slovakia and the Czechs will continue to write Czechoslovakia and both names will be valid for foreigners, what chance does such a country have of survival? Clearly, it couldn't work. Then the elections came in 1992 and the Slovaks elected national Slovak parties, which promised greater independence for the country, but they were no longer able to agree even among themselves how such independence should work within Czechoslovakia, but they all agreed that the current state of affairs did not suit them, on the other hand the Czechoslovak parties, which were in favour of maintaining a common state, completely failed. In Czechia it was the other way round, where the national parties failed and the Czechoslovak parties won. But how can parties that only want to make partial changes get along with nationalist parties? For half a year the government did not work because the parties blocked each other. I would say that Mečiar and Klaus finally made a sensible decision and just ended the comedy.

    • @user-dl7ju
      @user-dl7ju Před 19 dny

      So who are these Slovaks? History never mentions them unlike Czechs and Moravians. You know they are a fake by-product of the Czech nationalism and separatism.

  • @mirolubos
    @mirolubos Před měsícem +2

    i do love the fact slovak and czech intellectuals speaks polish. so proud.

  • @marcinjan4137
    @marcinjan4137 Před 5 měsíci +8

    Good content. I appreciate your work. Listening to a multilingual content is challenging, but in a good way. Especially when you speak all the languages presented 🙂 I think it's very important to encourage people to learn more about their closest neighbors.

  • @jean-paulpotet1988
    @jean-paulpotet1988 Před 13 dny +1

    This clearly shows that the Czechs and the Slovaks are wise people who can make pragmatic decisions without resorting to warfare.

  • @vova-l
    @vova-l Před 5 měsíci +4

    Thank you for such high quality content!

  • @KateNandysWrld
    @KateNandysWrld Před 3 měsíci +5

    My great grandfather was from Czechoslovakia, he and his brother switched passports because of their ages at the time my great grandfather left for America and his brother wanted to fight in the impending war, wwll. I find it so interesting, I think it would be awesome if I could meet the part of the family that stayed in Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia

    • @GhyuRtyu
      @GhyuRtyu Před 4 dny

      I think so iam your lost relatives
      I live in Prague

  • @yomajo
    @yomajo Před 5 měsíci +2

    Thank you! That was really interesting and well documented!

  • @minakatahizuru
    @minakatahizuru Před 6 dny

    Great documentary

  • @jeanneknight4791
    @jeanneknight4791 Před 26 dny +2

    It is interesting that Slovak politics are leaning more in alignment with Hungary now as the recent elections in Slovakia demonstrate. There is now a Slovak president who shares views similar to Orban as well as a prime minister who does the same. If you support Ukraine in its war to keep its sovereign territority, this is troubling to the extreme. Appeasement and proRussian tendencies seem to be growing there which breaks my heart. Otherwise, the leaning towards Hungary would seem relatively harmless and has always been natural. My Bohemian ancestors with Austrian passports were in the USA by 1886 to 1890 and my grandfather traveled back to Bohemia at least once before WWI and prior to my father being born in 1930. My paternal grandmother and to a lesser exent my father used to say what I thought was "A Czech is not a Slav" but I now realize she was more likely saying "A Czech is not a Slov(ak.)" if that makes any sense.

  • @madbun1312
    @madbun1312 Před měsícem

    exactly what a documentary should be. Stellar work.

  • @gillianspruce3120
    @gillianspruce3120 Před 5 měsíci +2

    Very interesting!

  • @PragueNYC
    @PragueNYC Před dnem +2

    As someone who grew up in Prague the Czech Republic. I could never understand the hatred Croatians and Serbs,Ukrainians and Russians have towards each other.
    Czechs and Slovaks have always been friendly towards one another and have lived peacefully side by side.

    • @pwp8737
      @pwp8737 Před 4 hodinami

      perhaps because you Czechs historically were dominated by the german Austrians and the Slovaks were dominated by the Hungarians neither side had ill feelings towards each other as you each had a separate focus for your ethnic frustrations.

  • @jordanmoreno3560
    @jordanmoreno3560 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Great documentary. As an American this was very informative and well composed. Well done on the narration and views of people from both sides.

  • @hroznejcestovatel
    @hroznejcestovatel Před 3 měsíci +6

    I agree, good contect! Just.. why Slovaks speak Slovak and Czech speak Polish in the video? :D

    • @viktornovomestsky3999
      @viktornovomestsky3999 Před 3 měsíci +3

      It's a polish channel, therefore the Polish language with the translation into English..
      Btw. the Slovaks spek Polish as well, there is not one single slovak word:)...

    • @hroznejcestovatel
      @hroznejcestovatel Před 3 měsíci

      @@viktornovomestsky3999 František Mikloško

    • @viktornovomestsky3999
      @viktornovomestsky3999 Před 3 měsíci +2

      @@hroznejcestovatel Ok, sorry, you're correct...

    • @hroznejcestovatel
      @hroznejcestovatel Před 3 měsíci

      @@viktornovomestsky3999 ah, it's fine :)

  • @thatcoolguy-ze3sc
    @thatcoolguy-ze3sc Před 5 dny +1

    I have a question. I am Czech (bohemian) and i want to know what language are these historians speaking? i cant understand a single word. Are they from Poland or something because that is not Czech or Moravian or Slovak not even that language that is spoken in Czech Silesia. Mabye they are speaking Carpathian IDK. but ignoring that it is a good documentary. GOOD WORK👍

  • @mirolubos
    @mirolubos Před měsícem +2

    we. still read books in czech language if they not translated to slovak and our (slovak) kids still grow on czech tv channels. Than we have politics where we went opposite direction and for most of the times we are wrong and czechs are wrong we are ok.

  • @janskydanek3551
    @janskydanek3551 Před 4 měsíci +6

    Václav Klaus is grand mafioso godfather, and so was Mečiar. Only, each was from different mafia. So they carved Czechoslovakia into two turfs. One to be plundered by Klaus, the other one to be plundered by Mečiar. And since back then noone had experience with political corruption or mafia (except for Italian TV series), noone expected what was comming.
    Czech republic begun to slowly heal only after Klaus was completely removed from Czech politics in second decade of 21st century. His last political act though was to refuse right for fair trial to more than hundred thousand people, whose life savings was stolen. Making sure (as over decade long trials were finally nearing to end) that thieves he protected would not have to give their spoils.
    Slovakia seen similar fate, though I doubt it begun to heal till today (judging by how trial of murderers of Kuciak have ended).

  • @mvs9122
    @mvs9122 Před 2 měsíci

    Itseems that there was no foreign interference either. Neighboring/foreign countries can be very destructive in these situation

  • @tomaskral4685
    @tomaskral4685 Před 3 měsíci +5

    Why's everyone speaking Polish in this video?

  • @user-gu7rm3rf8c
    @user-gu7rm3rf8c Před 2 měsíci

    Czech has so many nationalist and they don’t want to join with Euro

    • @jeanneknight4791
      @jeanneknight4791 Před 26 dny

      I used to think that they didn't want Euros because it is an identity thing, too. After a tousand years of German or Hapsburg or Russian domination, it was nice to have their lovely money of their own creation. In reality, the main reason they don't use Euros is because even if 100% of the popuation wanted the conversion, the debt ratio is too high for eligiblity and they don't qualify. This is something that is being addressed but it doesn't happen over night. When I was in Prague last year, it really didn't seem to make any difference as a tourist because it is a cashless society but industry-wise, it does, apparently. President Pavel and Prime Minister Fiala are all for Euros as are the younger people who havve travelled and are educated. The really old people have very different views about many things, though.