Why did the Czech Republic and Slovakia separate and how?

Czechoslovakia was carved out of Austria-Hungary in 1918, and was the only country in Central Europe that remained a democracy during the interwar period. The western part of the country had a large German-speaking population and in 1938 Hitler demanded that the main German-speaking areas be handed to Germany. This was accepted, with reluctance, by Britain and France in the Munich Agreement (1938).

In March 1939 Germany occupied the rest of Bohemia and Moravia and set up Slovakia as a puppet state.

One can ask with hindsight whether Czechoslovakia really 'made sense' as a country, but after World War 2 restoring the country more or less to its former borders was politically essential.

After the Velvet Revolution of December 1989, when the country threw off communism, a rift soon became apparent between the more prosperous Czech area and the 'rust belt' that was Slovakia. In the latter, nationalists demanded independence and many Czech politicians were only too delighted to get rid of an economically backward region ... After a referendum, the two part of Czechoslovakia split with effect from 1 January 1993.

First answer by Joncey. Last edit by Joncey. Contributor trust: 1754 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 5 [recommend question]