Overview
Country, central Europe.
Area: 30,450 sq mi (78,866 sq km). Population (2006 est.):
10,260,000. Capital: Prague. Czechs make up about nine-tenths of the
population; Slovaks and Moravians are the largest minorities. Language:
Czech (official). Religion: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic,
also other Christians, Protestant). Currency: koruna. The landlocked
country is dominated by the Bohemian Massif, a ring of mountains rising
to 5,256 ft (1,602 m) at Mount Snezka to encircle the Bohemian Plateau.
The Morava River valley, known as the Moravian Corridor, separates the
Bohemian Massif from the Carpathian Mountains. Woodlands are a
characteristic feature of the Czech landscape; most regions have a
moderate oceanic climate. The economy, privatized since 1990, is now
largely market-oriented. The Czech Republic is a multiparty republic
with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the president, and
the head of government is the prime minister. Until 1918 its history was
largely that of Bohemia. In that year the independent republic of
Czechoslovakia was born through the union of Bohemia and Moravia with
Slovakia. Czechoslovakia came under the domination of the Soviet Union
after World War II, and from 1948 to 1989 it was ruled by a communist
government. Its growing political liberalization was suppressed by a
Soviet invasion in 1968 (see Prague Spring). After 1990, separatist
sentiments emerged among the Slovaks, and in 1992 the Czechs and Slovaks
agreed to break up their federated state. At midnight on Dec. 31, 1992,
Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved and replaced by two new
countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with the region of Moravia
remaining in the former. In 1999 the Czech Republic joined NATO, and in
2004 it became a member of the European Union.
Profile
Official name Česká Republika (Czech Republic)
Form of government unitary multiparty republic with two legislative
houses (Senate [81]; Chamber of Deputies [200])
Chief of state President
Head of government Prime Minister
Capital Prague
Official language Czech
Official religion none
Monetary unit koruna (Kč)
Population estimate (2008) 10,408,000
Total area (sq mi) 30,450
Total area (sq km) 78,866
Main
country located in central Europe. It comprises the historical
provinces of Bohemia and Moravia along with the southern tip of Silesia,
collectively often called the Czech Lands. Despite its landlocked
location, there were brief periods in the Middle Ages during which
Bohemia had access to the Baltic and Adriatic seacoasts—which no doubt
was on William Shakespeare’s mind when he set much of his play The
Winter’s Tale there. A region of rolling hills and mountains, Bohemia is
dominated by the national capital, Prague. Set on the Vltava River, this
picturesque city of bridges and spires is the unique work of generations
of artists brought in by the rulers of Bohemia. Perhaps only the French
are as focused on their capital, Paris, as the Czechs are on theirs; of
the two, Prague has a more magical quality for many. Called “the
handsomest city of Europe” since the 18th century, it has intoxicated
writers, poets, and musicians alike. While Prague was the birthplace of
the writer Franz Kafka and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, Brno, Moravia’s
largest city, was the site of Gregor Mendel’s groundbreaking genetic
experiments in the 19th century and the birthplace of contemporary
novelist Milan Kundera. Moravians are as proud of their vineyards and
wine as Bohemians are of their breweries and the Pilsner beer that
originated in the town of Plzeň (Pilsen), which is also noted as the
site of the Škoda Works—a heavy industrial complex that originated with
the Habsburg monarchy. Moravia was equally endowed with skilled labour,
which helped make Brno into one of the leading industrial towns in
textiles and engineering during the 19th century and Ostrava, in the
north, into a major coal-mining region, thanks to the vast fossil fuel
deposits stretching over from Silesia.
History is always close at hand in the Czech Republic, where stunning
castles such as Karlštejn (former keep of the royal crown of St.
Wenceslas) and manor houses dot the landscape and medieval town centres
abound. During its 1,000-year history, the country has changed shape and
reshuffled its population. As the kingdom of Bohemia, it reached its
zenith of wealth and power during the 13th and 14th centuries. Through a
multitude of cultural, economic, ecclesiastical, and dynastic links,
Bohemian kings became directly involved in the affairs of the German
rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and opened the country to German
colonization, which brought prosperity through silver mining and rapid
urbanization. Prague, with the oldest university north of the Alps
(Charles University, 1348), functioned as a royal and imperial capital.
However, German colonization, which soon accounted for one-third of the
total population and disadvantaged the majority Czechs, brought the
seeds of discontent, resulting in an ugly, insolvable conflict in the
20th century. In the early 15th century Bohemia witnessed the Hussite
revolution, a pre-Reformation movement named for Jan Hus, a follower of
the English theologian and reformer John Wycliffe. Religious antagonism
prevailed over ethnic tensions when Czechs and Germans jointly led the
Protestant uprising that started the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) against
the Catholic Habsburgs, the Austro-German dynasty that ruled Bohemia
from 1526 to 1918. After the Habsburg victory, the German language
replaced Czech for almost two centuries—until the Czechs experienced an
extraordinary linguistic and cultural revival that coincided with the
revolutions of 1848 and the spread of industrialization. In historian
František Palacký and composers such as Bedřich Smetana and Antonín
Dvořák, Czech nationalism found its ideal spokesmen.
The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I
brought the Czechs and Slovaks together for the first time as
“Czechoslovaks.” The Czechs became the ruling ethnic group in
Czechoslovakia, a new state in which Germans and Hungarians lived as
unwilling citizens, bound to become disloyal minorities bent on
undermining the democratic constitution engendered by the country’s
founders, Tomáš G. Masaryk and Edvard Beneš. Many among this German
population turned into Nazi sympathizers with the ascent to power of
Adolf Hitler in Germany, whose design on the German-speaking border
region of Czechoslovakia was appeased by England and France in the
Munich Agreement of September 1938. Emasculated, Czechoslovakia
succumbed to direct German invasion six months later. Bohemia and
Moravia became a protectorate of the “Greater German Empire,” while
Slovakia—whose Hungarian districts were ceded to Hungary—was induced by
Hitler to proclaim its independence.
After six years of brutal Nazi occupation (with its legacy of the
Holocaust and the postwar mass expulsion of some three million Bohemian
and Slovak [Carpathian] Germans), Czechoslovakia was reconstituted, this
time without Ruthenia (Transcarpathian Ukraine), which was annexed by
the Soviet Union. A communist coup in February 1948 sealed
Czechoslovakia’s fate as a member of the Soviet bloc for the entire Cold
War; though briefly, in the Prague Spring of 1968, a reform movement
took over, only to be crushed by Soviet military invasion in August of
that year. Still, that experience of freedom produced an underground
dissident movement, later called Charter 77, whose leader, playwright
Václav Havel, was propelled from prison to the royal castle, becoming
the first president of postcommunist Czechoslovakia with the fall of the
Berlin Wall in 1989.
The last modification of the modern Czech nation-state was
inaugurated on Jan. 1, 1993, when the union with Slovakia was dissolved.
As the Czech Republic, the new country joined the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) in 1999 and the European Union (EU) in 2004.
Land
Relief
The country is bordered by Poland to the north and northeast,
Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and
northwest. The Bohemian Massif occupies the major portion of the Czech
Republic. It consists of a large, roughly ovoid elevated basin (the
Bohemian Plateau) encircled by mountains divided into six major groups.
In the southwest are the Šumava Mountains, which include the Bohemian
Forest (Böhmerwald). In the west are the Berounka River highlands. In
the northwest, the Ore Mountains (Czech: Krušné hory; German:
Erzgebirge) form the frontier with Germany. The point at which the Elbe
(Labe) River breaches this range is the lowest in the country, with an
elevation of 384 feet (117 metres). The so-called Sudeten system of
mountains (a name never applied in the Czech language) in the northeast
forms most of the border with Poland west of the city of Ostrava. The
highest point in the Czech Republic, Mount Sněžka, with an elevation of
5,256 feet (1,602 metres), is found in the major segment of this system,
the Giant Mountains (Czech: Krkonoše; German: Riesengebirge). Farther to
the east is the Oder (Odra) River lowland, a small fringe along the
Polish border. Finally, southeast of the Bohemian Plateau are the
Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, which include the spectacular Moravian
Karst.
In the east the Outer Carpathian Depressions, known to geographers as
the Moravian-Silesian Beskids, include the valleys of the upper Oder and
Morava rivers and the headstreams of the Dyje. Along the Czech-Slovak
border rise the Little Carpathian (Bílé Karpaty) and Javorníky ranges,
the westernmost of the Western Carpathian Mountains that dominate
Slovakia.
Drainage and soils
The Czech Republic lies in the headwater area of the central
European watershed. The Elbe River rises near the Czech-Polish border
and sweeps southwestward across Bohemia, receiving the Jizera, Vltava,
and Ohře rivers before flowing northward into Germany. The Vltava is
navigable from Prague to Mělník, where it empties into the Elbe. From
that point onward river traffic can travel all the way to Hamburg. The
Morava River, flowing south toward the Danube (Dunaj) River, drains most
of Moravia in the east. The Oder River rises in the northeastern Czech
Republic and flows northward into Poland. There also are many smaller
rivers of little economic importance. Larger rivers such as the Vltava
are sources of hydroelectric power. The country is rich in mineral
springs, and groundwater reserves are extensively used.
The soil profile of the Czech Republic consists of some rich, black
chernozems and good-quality brown soils in the drier and lower areas.
Podzols are found in the wet districts, and stony mountain soils are
typical at high elevations. Alluvial soils occur in the river basins,
and heavy clay soils are found in the eastern ridges.
Climate
The Czech climate is mixed. Continental influences are marked by
large fluctuations in both temperature and precipitation, while
moderating oceanic influences diminish from west to east. In general,
temperatures decrease with increasing elevation but are relatively
uniform across the lower portions of the country. The mean annual
temperature at Cheb in the extreme west is 45 F (7 °C) and rises to only
48 °F (9 °C) at Brno in southern Moravia. High temperatures can exceed
90 °F (32 °C) in Prague during July, and low temperatures may drop as
low as 0 °F (−17 °C) in Cheb during February. The growing season is
about 200 days in the south but less than half that in the mountains.
Annual precipitation ranges from 18 inches (450 mm) in the central
Bohemian basins to more than 60 inches (1500 mm) on windward slopes of
the Krkonoše Mountains of the north. Maximum precipitation falls during
July, while the minimum occurs in February. There are no recognizable
climatic zones but rather a succession of small and varied districts;
climate thus follows the topography in contributing to the diversity of
the natural environment.
Plant and animal life
Although large areas of the original forest cover have been cleared
for cultivation and for timber, woodlands remain a characteristic
feature of the Czech landscape. Oak, beech, and spruce dominate the
forest zones in ascending order of elevation. In the highest reaches can
be found taiga and tundra vegetation characteristic of more-northerly or
more-elevated regions elsewhere in Europe. The timberline runs at about
4,500 feet (1,400 metres) above sea level. At these higher elevations,
as in the Giant Mountains, the tree cover below the timberline consists
of little more than dwarf pine. The Alpine zone supports grasses and
low-growing bushes.
The country’s wildlife is extensive and varied. Large mammals include
bears, wolves, lynx, and wildcats (Felis sylvestris). Smaller mammals,
such as marmots, otters, martens, and minks, also inhabit the forests
and wetlands. Game birds, especially pheasants, partridges, wild geese,
and ducks, are common. Rarer species, such as eagles, vultures, ospreys,
storks, eagle owls, bustards, and capercaillies, generally are
protected.
The preservation of the natural heritage is an important goal of the
Czech government. Rare or endangered species such as the mouflon (a
mountain sheep) are bred in game reserves, and nature reserves have been
created to preserve especially important landscapes, notably the Šumava
Forest, Moravian Karst, and Jizera Mountains. Tourists are given
controlled access to the reserve areas. Krkonoše National Park,
established in 1963, protects glacial landscapes and Alpine vegetation
as well as some relict boreal-Arctic species, such as the Alpine shrew
(Sorex alpinus); despite these preservation efforts, however, the park
has been extensively developed as a ski resort.
People
Ethnic groups
Czechs make up roughly nine-tenths of the population. The Moravians
consider themselves to be a distinct group within this majority. A small
Slovak minority remains from the Czechoslovakian federal period. An even
smaller Polish population exists in northeastern Moravia, and some
Germans still live in northwestern Bohemia. Roma (Gypsies) constitute a
still smaller but distinct minority, having resisted assimilation for
the most part.
Languages
Czech is the official state language and as a literary language
dates to the late 13th century. The majority of the population speaks
Czech as their first language. Czech and Slovak are mutually
intelligible languages belonging to the West Slavic language group,
which uses the Latin (Roman) rather than the Cyrillic alphabet. Among
the other languages spoken by minorities in the Czech Republic are
Romani, German, and Polish.
Religion
During the communist era, no official statistics were kept on
religion, though the activities of churches were financed by the
government following the nationalization of all church property by 1949.
Atheism was the official policy of the communist government, and the
churches’ role was largely restricted to religious rites. Religious
freedom was restored in 1989, however, and by the early 21st century
more than three-fifths of Czechs claimed a religious affiliation. A
visit to Czechoslovakia by Pope John Paul II in April 1990 celebrated
the resurgence of Roman Catholicism, which counts about two-fifths of
the population as adherents. There are also Eastern Orthodox
congregations and various small Protestant sects, of which the
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren is one of the most important. A
significant number of Czechs are members of the national Czech church,
which was founded in 1920 and took the name Czechoslovak Hussite Church
in 1972. Almost one-third of the population claims no religious
affiliation.
Settlement patterns
Industrialization and urbanization have changed the face of the
Czech traditional regions, although Bohemia and, to a lesser extent,
Moravia are still recognizable entities, reflecting different national
and cultural heritages. Southern Bohemia and southeastern Moravia
preserve local traditions of cuisine, and residents wear folk costumes
on special occasions. Traditional wooden architecture is a distinctive
feature of some rural areas.
Population density in the Czech Republic is high; in general,
communities are only a few miles apart. A notable exception are some
frontier areas—the low densities of which reflect the induced emigration
of minorities, such as the three million Sudeten Germans who were
expelled after World War II. Rural settlements are characteristically
compact, but in the mountainous regions, colonized during the 13th and
14th centuries, villages straggling along narrow valleys are common. The
collectivization of farmland that took place in the decades following
World War II resulted in a pattern of large, regularly shaped fields,
replacing the centuries-old division of land into small, irregular,
privately owned plots.
Urbanization in the Czech Republic is not particularly high for an
industrialized country, with about three-fourths of the population being
urban. Even the smallest urban centres, however, usually contain some
manufacturing industry. Prague, the national capital, has historically
occupied a predominant role. Brno is the chief industrial and cultural
city of Moravia. Other large cities include Ostrava, the leading
coal-mining and steel centre, and Plzeň, with old, established
engineering and brewing industries.
New towns were founded both before and after World War II. Notable
among prewar settlements is the Moravian valley town of Zlín, founded in
1923. The towns of Havířov, in the Ostrava region, and Ostrov, near
Karlovy Vary in the west, were built since World War II.
Demographic trends
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, population growth was
mitigated by emigration to the urban centres of Austria-Hungary and
overseas, especially to the United States. In general, the outstanding
feature of the years of federation was stable population growth. This
rather slow rate of growth was attributable in part to changes in
lifestyle associated with urbanization and with the increased employment
of women outside the home. Since the mid-1990s, however, the population
of the Czech Republic has been declining. Moreover, by the early 21st
century a decrease in the birth rate and increase in the average life
span resulted in a generally older Czech population.
Miroslav Blazek
Richard Horsley Osborne
Francis William Carter
Milan Hauner
Economy
With the so-called Velvet Revolution of 1989, Czechoslovakia
freed itself of communist control and set out to adapt its command
economy to the free market. The government introduced a program based on
policies of price liberalization, the opening of markets to foreign
trade and investment, internal convertibility of the country’s currency,
privatization of state-owned enterprises, and tax reform. While the
Czech Republic and Slovakia both were successors to the federal state,
long-standing inequities in economic development gave the Czechs a
decided advantage over the Slovaks. Rigid economic compartmentalization
under Comecon (Council on Mutual Economic Assistance) made Slovakia,
with its mineral resources and hydroelectric potential, a major producer
of armaments for the former communist countries of eastern Europe. The
economy of the Czech Republic, on the other hand, was relatively
diversified and stable, reflecting both a more amenable geography and
the historic predominance of Czechs in the federal administration.
Once the political breach appeared inevitable, Czechs and Slovaks
faced the unprecedented challenges of dividing Czechoslovakia’s economy
and assets. The historical imbalance in government assets between the
two and the problems it posed for fair apportionment were particularly
pronounced in the case of military installations and equipment, of which
the Czech Republic held the great majority. The bulk of Slovakia’s
military-industrial component, by contrast, consisted of its armament
manufacture, which declined precipitously with the collapse of its
communist markets.
Based on its inherent advantages—a well-educated and skilled labour
force, proximity to western Europe, and a low level of foreign debt—the
Czech Republic experienced fairly low unemployment and respectable
economic performance during its first years as a separate entity. The
new government, headed by Pres. Václav Havel and Prime Minister Václav
Klaus (Czechoslovakia’s former finance minister and a principal
architect of postcommunist economic policy), pledged to continue along
the path of economic reform, with the goal of large-scale privatization
as a priority. Privatization was achieved by means of a voucher system
through which Czech citizens purchased shares in state-owned
enterprises. Restructuring of the country’s antiquated and inefficient
manufacturing sector, however, lagged behind. Nevertheless, the Czech
Republic’s success in keeping down unemployment and inflation while
maintaining steady growth resulted in its being singled out as one of
the greatest economic successes of postcommunist eastern Europe. In
addition, large influxes of visitors fostered the rapid development of
the tourism industry and service sector, which provided new employment
that helped limit some of the usual hardships of economic restructuring.
Within a few years, however, it became obvious that the Czech economy
was not as healthy as had been believed. The government’s failure to
proceed with restructuring of key sectors of the economy and to create
transparent financial market regulations began to take a toll. Poor
management and corruption in the banking industry (much of which had
remained largely state controlled) resulted in the failure of eight
banks in 1996. In addition, many Czechs who had turned over their
privatization vouchers to unregulated private investment funds—in
exchange for promises of substantial returns—lost their investments when
these dubious funds began to go bankrupt. In 1997 the government
responded to the economic crisis by instituting a package of austerity
measures and introducing a floating exchange rate, which resulted in a
significant depreciation of the koruna, the state currency.
Despite these economic measures and the establishment of a new
securities commission, in the late 1990s the Czech Republic fell into a
recession, marked by declines in gross domestic product (GDP) and wages,
a growing foreign-trade deficit, and rising unemployment. In the opening
years of the 21st century, the economy rebounded, faltered briefly, and
then rebounded again; and though the country’s public finance deficit
grew precipitously, many positive economic indicators surpassed the high
levels of the mid-1990s, as the Czech economy became among the
fastest-growing in the European Union (EU), which the Czech Republic
joined in 2004.
For the most part, Czechs enjoy a standard of living higher than
other former communist countries in eastern Europe. However, employment
rates and, consequently, standards of living vary by region. For
example, Prague, with its thriving international tourist trade, has had
a negligible unemployment rate of less than 1 percent at the same time
that some rural regions were experiencing rates as much as 20 times
higher. Nationally, by the mid-2000s less than one-tenth of the
workforce was unemployed.
Francis William Carter
Milan Hauner
Agriculture and forestry
Czech agriculture is among the most advanced in eastern Europe,
with better than average yields. The country does not suffer from a
shortage of agricultural land, but its land is used far less efficiently
than that in western Europe. With the end of communism, land that had
been confiscated after World War II to form large state-controlled farms
was gradually restored to its previous owners. Although members of
smaller collective farms were entitled to withdraw their land from the
collective, small land holders did not necessarily receive their own
land back; instead, they often were allotted a plot of comparable worth
at another location. The agricultural market is now wholly liberalized,
with about one-fourth of farmland cultivated by individuals, one-third
by cooperatives, and about two-fifths by corporations.
Wheat, sugar beets, barley, rye, oats, and potatoes are the most
important crops. Pigs, cattle, sheep, and poultry are the dominant
livestock. High-quality hops used by the country’s breweries are
cultivated in Bohemia. Moravia, particularly southern Moravia, is a
grape-growing region and is the centre of the Czech Republic’s wine
industry, though vineyards are also found elsewhere.
Reforestation efforts of the early 1980s were offset by the effects
of acid rain, which prompted cutting beyond the projected rate. By 1989
nearly three-fifths of the republic’s forests had been destroyed or
seriously damaged. Since then, renewed reforestation efforts have been
more effective with deciduous trees than with conifers, resulting in
little overall change in the total forest area, which occupies about
one-third of the country.
Resources and power
Although reserves are limited, the Czech Republic produces
significant quantities of bituminous, anthracite, and brown coal. Most
of the bituminous coal is derived from the Ostrava-Karviná coalfield in
the northeast, although it is also mined near Kladno in the Plzeň basin,
as well as near Trutnov and Brno. A high proportion of the bituminous
coal is of coking quality. Production of brown coal increased rapidly up
to the mid-20th century and remained fairly static until the 1990s, when
production declined as the industry faced restructuring and
privatization. The main areas of brown-coal mining are in the extreme
west around Chomutov, Most, Teplice, and Sokolov. Brown coal is used in
thermal power stations, as fuel in the home, and as raw material in the
chemical industry. Small quantities of petroleum and natural gas are
produced near Hodonín on the Slovak border. Pipelines import Russian oil
and natural gas, the latter supplementing existing coal gas supplies.
The completion in the late 1990s of an oil pipeline that transports oil
from the port of Trieste, Italy, allowed the Czech Republic to be less
reliant on Russian oil sources. Nuclear power plants located in Dukovany
and Temelín, as well as nuclear power from Slovakia, have reduced the
country’s dependence on coal only slightly; about three-fourths of the
Czech Republic’s electricity is derived from fossil fuels.
The Czech Republic has limited deposits of metallic ores. Lead and
zinc ores are mined near Kutná Hora and Příbram in Bohemia and in the
Hrubý Jeseník Mountains in the northeast. Uranium is mined near Příbram
and around Hamr in northern Bohemia. There is a significant gold deposit
at Mokrsko, in central Bohemia, south of Prague. The Ore Mountains of
Bohemia yield small quantities of tin. Other mineral resources include
graphite near České Budějovice and kaolin near Plzeň and Karlovy Vary.
Manufacturing
Although much of the industry in the Czech Republic in the early
1990s could be characterized as obsolete by western European standards,
some sectors, notably the automobile and electronics industries, are now
modern and efficient. Engineering is the largest branch of industry.
Also very important are food processing and brewing, as well as the
chemical, rubber, cement, textile, footwear, and glass industries. The
Czech iron and steel industries have traditionally been among the
largest in eastern Europe but rely mainly on imported ores (especially
from Ukraine). Steel production is centred on the plants of the Ostrava
area (in Moravia), with lesser amounts produced at Kladno, Plzeň, and
Chomutov (all in Bohemia). The heavy manufacturing sector produces
automobiles, trucks, tractors, buses, airplanes, motorcycles, and diesel
and electric locomotives and rail and tram cars.
The major Czech car manufacturer remains Škoda, eastern Europe’s
oldest car manufacturer, whose main plant is located in Mladá Boleslav.
Taken over in the early 1990s by the German company Volkswagen and
thoroughly modernized, Škoda became the Czech Republic’s biggest export
earner in the early 2000s, accounting for about one-tenth of the
country’s overall exports and becoming a source of national pride.
Finance
On the day of partition, the Czech National Bank and its Slovak
counterpart replaced the federal monobank, the State Bank of
Czechoslovakia. Initially, however, the federal monetary system remained
essentially intact, with each country identifying its currency by
applying stamps to it. The rapid economic divergence of the two
republics, however, ended this arrangement after only one month, and
separate currencies were inaugurated.
The National Bank oversees all financial institutions in the country.
Numerous commercial and joint-venture banks, providing a full range of
financial services, came into being after democratization. Improper
lending practices and embezzlement contributed to the failure of the
Kreditni bank, the sixth largest in the nation, in 1996 and sparked a
major crisis in the banking industry that put a serious strain on the
state’s financial resources. Moreover, continued instability in the
banking sector at the end of the 20th century spurred the government to
hasten preparations for fuller privatization of the largest banks.
Since the demise of the command economy, numerous joint ventures have
taken place between foreign and Czech firms, and there has been
significant foreign direct investment in the country. German banks,
firms, and individuals were the first to become leading investors, but
investment also has come from the United States, The Netherlands,
Switzerland, France, and Austria. The largest proportion of it was made
in the communications, transportation and transportation equipment, and
consumer goods industries.
Trade
Czechoslovakia was one of the largest foreign traders in eastern
Europe and a member of Comecon until the organization disbanded in 1991.
Czech trade patterns shifted during the early 1990s in response to the
changes occurring both within the country and throughout eastern Europe.
By 2000, four years before the Czech Republic joined the EU, its exports
to former Comecon members had declined to about one-fourth of total
exports. In the early 21st century, Germany ranked as the chief
destination for exports as well as the main source of imports. Other
important trading partners included Slovakia and Austria. Machinery and
transportation equipment made up the largest share of both exports and
imports.
Services
Prior to 1989 the Czech tourism industry catered largely to visitors
from other eastern European countries. Following the demise of the
Soviet bloc, an increasing proportion of tourists came from western
Europe and the United States. Among the principal attractions are
historic Prague, numerous spas and mineral springs, winter resorts, and
various cultural festivals. Earnings from tourism increased dramatically
throughout the 1990s, contributing significantly to the country’s
revenues and playing a major role in the development of the service
sector, which by the first years of the 21st century accounted for more
than half of the country’s GDP and employed more than half of all Czech
workers.
The Czech Republic has a wealth of cultural and historic sites that
have been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage sites. Among them are
the historic centres of Česky Krumlov, Prague, and Telč (all inscribed
in 1992), the Holašovice Historical Village Reservation (1998), Litomyšl
Castle (1999), and the Jewish Quarter and St. Procopius’s Basilica in
Třebíč (2003).
Labour and taxation
Under the communist regime, trade union activity was very
restricted. Nevertheless, a general labour strike in November 1989 was
one of the catalysts of the Velvet Revolution. The leading trade
organization to arise in the postcommunist era was the Czech-Moravian
Confederation of Trade Unions (C̆eskomoravská Konfederace Odborových
Svazů), which held its first congress meeting in 1994.
Personal income tax in the Czech Republic is progressive. The
corporate tax rate during this period was roughly one-fourth less than
it had been in 1992, in the final year of federation. The country also
employs a value-added tax (VAT), with exemptions for certain types of
businesses, including postal services, financial institutions, health
and welfare services, broadcasting, and nonprofit organizations.
Transportation and telecommunications
Owing to terrain, settlement patterns, former federal policies, and
geographic orientation toward western Europe, the Czech Republic
possesses a more extensive transportation system than that of Slovakia.
Rail lines serve all regions of the country, link the republic with its
neighbours, and connect Prague with most major European cities. Urban
light-rail serves the major metropolitan areas. Most freight moves along
main-line routes, but shorter routes between the larger towns
accommodate considerable passenger traffic. However, there has been a
steady decline in both passenger and freight operations, in spite of the
fact that the railways were modernized at the end of the 20th century.
An extensive network of paved roads crisscrosses the Bohemian Plateau,
while a superhighway links Prague, Brno, and Bratislava.
The Elbe and the Vltava are the principal navigable rivers in the
Czech Republic, with Děčín and Prague as their chief ports,
respectively. The Oder provides access to the Baltic Sea via the Polish
port of Szczecin. Prague is a major international air terminus; foreign
flights also arrive in Brno, Ostrava, and Karlovy Vary.
Per capita personal computer availability is greater in the Czech
Republic than it is in the rest of central Europe but still lags far
behind western European standards. On the other hand, per capita cell
phone availability in the country is equal to or greater than that in
most western European countries.
Richard Horsley Osborne
Francis William Carter
Milan Hauner
Government and society
Constitutional framework
On Dec. 16, 1992, the Czech National Council adopted a new
constitution establishing the Czech Republic as a parliamentary
democracy. This document reflects the Western liberal tradition of
political thought and incorporates many of the principles codified in
the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which was adopted by the
former Czechoslovak Federal Assembly in January 1991. The constitution
provides for a bicameral Parliament consisting of a Chamber of Deputies
(elected on a proportional basis for four-year terms) and a Senate
(elected on a district basis for six-year terms).
Executive power is shared by the prime minister and the president.
Elected by a joint session of Parliament to a five-year term, the
president, who is also the head of state, appoints a prime minister, who
heads the government and advises the president on the appointment of
other members of the government.
Local government
The Czech Republic was formerly divided into 77 okresy (districts).
These units are still recognized, but in 2000 the country reestablished
13 kraje (regions) and one hlavní mesto (city) that reflect
administrative divisions in place from 1948 to 1960. Local governments
have the power to raise local taxes and are responsible for roads,
utilities, public health, and schools.
Justice
The Czech Republic’s judicial system consists of the Constitutional
Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, and the Supreme Court as well
as high, regional, and district courts. Military courts are under the
jurisdiction of the department of defense. During the 1990s, the Czech
government took steps to modify its legal system (based on pre-1918
Austrian criminal code) to meet standards set by the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Political process
The electoral system is one of universal direct suffrage. There are
several prominent political parties, including the Civic Democratic
Party, the Christian and Democratic Union–Czech People’s Party, the
Czech Social Democratic Party, the Green Party, and the Communist Party
of Bohemia and Moravia. Some parties that enjoyed significant support in
the late 20th and early 21st centuries, such as the Freedom Union and
the Civic Democratic Alliance, have lost importance or disbanded.
Security
The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia in mid-1991
coincided with the disbanding of the Warsaw Pact. At partition,
apportioning military resources was one of the major tasks of the new
Czech and Slovak defense ministries. Two-thirds of the matériel went to
the Czech military, which includes ground and air forces and frontier
guards. The Czech Republic, along with Poland and Hungary, became a
member of NATO in 1999. At the end of 2004, the military had transformed
itself from an organization dependent on conscription to an
all-volunteer force.
Health and welfare
To restructure the health care system inherited from the communist
era, the Czech Republic sought to end state control of health services,
create a system that would include privately administered facilities,
and introduce a funding structure to underwrite the system. By 1994
privatization had been accomplished and the number of privately
administered health care facilities had increased tremendously. Poor
economic and organizational handling of the restructuring, however,
resulted in spiraling health care costs that initially proved difficult
to address. Despite the increased cost of health care, however, Czechs
benefited from greater access to advanced medical technologies and
procedures and enjoy a level of health care that compares favourably
with that of other EU countries. The overall level of social subsidies
during the postcommunist era declined, although the government attempted
to keep something of the social safety net intact.
Housing
Beginning in the late 1980s, the shortage of housing in the Czech
Republic was a severe problem that was not adequately addressed until
the start of the 21st century, when the housing situation, for the most
part, stabilized. Although about half of existing housing was
constructed between 1950 and 1990—much of it prefabricated high-rise
urban apartment buildings known as paneláks, referring to the panel
blocks used in construction—the general condition of Czech housing is
relatively good in comparison with many other countries of the former
Soviet bloc. The growth of building societies within the Czech banking
sector has played an important role in the increase in home construction
and ownership.
Education
Children aged 3 to 6 may attend state kindergartens. Compulsory
education lasts 10 years, from age 6 to 16. Most students 15 to 18 years
of age continue their education either at a general secondary school,
which prepares them for college or university studies, a vocational
school, or a technical school. Since 1990 many private and religious
schools have been established.
Enrollment in colleges and universities in the Czech Republic is low
in comparison with other European countries, such as Poland, Austria,
and Germany, which all have university enrollments at least twice as
high. The leading institutions of higher education, providing four to
five years of intensive study, have long-standing traditions. Charles
University (founded 1348) and the Czech Technical University (founded
1707), both in Prague, are among the oldest universities in central
Europe. Brno has two universities, and Olomouc has one. Since 1990 a
number of teachers’ colleges have been redesignated as universities.
Research work is carried out at universities and at special research
institutions affiliated with the Academy of Sciences of the Czech
Republic.
Miroslav Blazek
Richard Horsley Osborne
Francis William Carter
Milan Hauner
Cultural Life
Cultural milieu
The territory of the Czech Republic traditionally has been between
the German and Slav lands, and Czech cultural traditions are a mixture
of both. Influences from farther afield also have been strong. Visually
the most striking influences are Italian—in Renaissance and Baroque
architecture, for instance—while literature, music, the visual arts, and
popular culture also are indebted to a variety of external influences.
Most of the Western cultural influences on the Czech Lands have passed
through a German filter, and for this reason Czech traditions in popular
culture are marked by a strong sense of national identity.
Daily life and social customs
The seven public, or bank, holidays in the Czech Republic are New
Year’s Day (January 1; also the Day of Recovery of the Independent Czech
State), Liberation Day (May 8), the Day of Slavonic Apostles Cyril and
Methodius (July 5), Jan Hus Day (July 6), the Day of Czech Statehood
(September 28), Independence Day (October 28), and the Day of Students’
Fight for Freedom and Democracy (November 17; also St. Wenceslas Day).
In addition, most Czechs, including atheists, celebrate Christian
holidays, including Easter and Christmas, which remain the oldest public
holidays and were recognized even during the communist period. The main
celebration of the Christmas holiday is on Christmas Eve, when part of
the family decorates the Christmas tree while the remainder prepares the
Christmas meal, traditionally consisting of fish, preferably carp,
purchased live from huge wooden tubs, erected in all Czech cities during
the Christmas week along with tents selling Christmas trees.
Staples of the Czech diet include potato and sauerkraut soups
(bramborová polévka and zelná polévka, respectively), main dishes made
of chicken and pork, bread and potato dumplings (houskové knedlíky and
bramborové knedlíky), and, for dessert, fruit-filled dumplings, apple
strudel, and honey cake. Bohemia has a brewing tradition that dates to
the early 19th century, and Czechs are among the world’s most avid beer
drinkers. Wine, produced locally in Moravia, is also popular.
Literature
Czech literature can claim a remote ancestry in the vernacular
writing connected with the mission sent to Moravia in ad 863 by the
Byzantine emperor Michael III. As Christianity reached the Slavs of
Bohemia from the west under the political aegis of the Frankish empire,
Prince Rostislav, the ruler of Great Moravia (reigned 846–870), sought
help from the east. The mission was led by an experienced scholar and
diplomat, Cyril (originally named Constantine), and his brother
Methodius (see Saints Cyril and Methodius). The brothers translated the
greater part of the Bible and the essential liturgical texts into what
must have been a Slavonic literary language of Cyril’s devising, based
on the Macedonian-Slavonic vernacular of his native Salonika but
enriched from other sources, notably Greek and the Slavonic of Moravia.
The most noteworthy literary monuments of this language (now known as
Old Church Slavonic) are the Lives of the two brothers, which were
almost certainly written before 900 (though they are preserved only in
later copies). Other Old Church Slavonic texts, however, can be assigned
to the Czech era, notably the Legends about Wenceslas I (Václav), prince
of Bohemia (ruled 921–929), and his grandmother, Saint Ludmila, probably
from the 10th century. The Old Church Slavonic language, used for a
while along with Latin, fell out of use after 1097, when the last
Slavonic monastery in Bohemia was taken over by Benedictine monks.
Robert Auty
Z.A.B. Zeman
Milan Hauner
Writing in the Czech language emerged in the late 13th century,
establishing a generally continuous tradition of vernacular literature.
Chivalrous romances and chronicles, legends of the saints, love lyrics,
satires, translations of the Bible, and religious prose were written in
the 14th and 15th centuries. The main repository, however, of highly
developed literary Czech was the Kralice Bible, a comprehensive
translation of the Bible published between 1579 and 1593 by the Unitas
Fratrum (Bohemian Brethren, or Moravian Brethren) scholars and named for
the small Moravian town where it was printed. It was mainly thanks to
this single book that the Czech literary language was preserved during
its suppression for two centuries until it was resuscitated during the
national revival. During the Counter-Reformation there was a serious
decline in the social and administrative use of Czech, though the
Baroque period brought fresh impulses to popular poetry and influenced
both Roman Catholic and non-Catholic writers. There was a renewed
flowering of Czech literature during the 19th century (commonly referred
to as the Czech National Revival) that started as a widespread cultural
enterprise, manifested in translations, schools, poetry, newspapers,
theatre, novels, and operas. Later, the movement took on distinctly
political overtones.
For the Czechs to become full-fledged members of the 19th-century
community of European nations, their history had to be constructed and
their language rediscovered, reconstructed, and codified. Josef
Dobrovský, a Jesuit priest and scholar who wrote in German, published an
outstanding systematic grammar of the Czech language. František Palacký,
a historian turned politician, published the first volume of an
ambitious history of the Czech nation in German in 1836. After 1848
Palacký continued his history in the Czech language only, though volumes
published thereafter appeared in both Czech and German.
Meanwhile, the Romantic literary movement of western Europe began to
affect the emerging Czech literature. The Czech Romantic school of
poetry, dating from the early 19th century, is best represented by Karel
Hynek Mácha and Karel Jaromír Erben. In Bohemia the Romantic movement
gave way in the 1840s to a more descriptive and pragmatic approach to
literature. Božena Němcová’s novel Babička (1855; The Grandmother, also
translated as Granny) became a lasting favourite with Czech readers,
while the journalist and poet Karel Havlíček Borovský tried to acquaint
the Czechs with some of the stark facts of political life. Jan Neruda,
in his poetry and short stories, domesticated literary sophistication
within a familiar Prague framework. Toward the end of the 19th century,
the historical novels of Alois Jirásek began to claim a wide readership,
while poetry moved through Parnassian, Symbolist, and Decadent phases.
The making, and breaking, of the Czechoslovak state between the two
world wars was reflected in its literature. Jaroslav Hašek’s sequence of
novels Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války (1921–23; The Good
Soldier Schweik) made a mockery of authority, especially that of the
former Austro-Hungarian army. Karel Čapek wrote popular plays, novels,
and travel books, many of which have been translated into English.
Vítězslav Nezval, František Halas, Vladimir Holan, Josef Hora, and Nobel
Prize winner Jaroslav Seifert were among other writers whose poetry came
to prominence during the first half of the 20th century. As World War II
and German-imposed censorship closed in, poetry became even more popular
than in peacetime; the brief life and work of Jiří Orten is an
outstanding example of his tragic generation.
Before the destruction of Czech Jewry by the Nazis and the expulsion
of the German minority at the end of the war, Bohemia and Moravia had a
strong German literary tradition. About the mid-19th century, Adalbert
Stifter’s descriptions of nature and the common people inspired local
followers in the borderland between Bavaria and Bohemia. During the
first half of the 20th century, the German-Jewish group of writers in
Prague—Franz Kafka, Franz Werfel, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Max
Brod—achieved international recognition.
Among the postwar generation of writers, Bohumil Hrabal became
well-known for his haunting short stories. While Hrabal remained largely
apolitical, after 1948 the majority of Czech writers became enthusiastic
members of the Communist Party. Communism had strong domestic roots and
thrived as an ideology among intellectuals as well as organized workers,
as communist propagandists successfully integrated strong doses of
anti-German hatred with pan-Slavic solidarity and socialist visions of
utopia.
The Stalinist purges of the 1950s and the uprisings of 1956, however,
discredited the party and gave birth to a reform movement. Before and
after 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact forces,
Czech writers were at the forefront of the communist reform movement.
They paid a high price for their political commitment: a number of
writers, including Milan Kundera and Josef Škvorecký, were forced to
live and work abroad. Ludvík Vaculík and Ivan Klíma, writers of the same
generation and of similar convictions, were among those whose novels
were circulated in Prague as underground publications. Since 1989, Czech
writers have continued to have a major political influence, perhaps most
obviously exemplified by the fact that Czechs elected a prominent
dissident playwright, Václav Havel, as their first postcommunist
president.
Theatre
The beginnings of modern theatrical tradition are usually connected
with the Prague National Theatre, which was completed in 1881 and funded
entirely by small private donations. In the 1930s the “liberated
theatre” movement—made popular by two comic actors, Jiří Voskovec and
Jan Werich, and the musician Jaroslav Ježek—launched a new genre of
political satire. Czech stage designers such as František Tröster,
Frantisek Muzika, and Josef Svoboda achieved worldwide recognition.
Havel’s best known and most translated plays are Zahradní slavnost
(1963; The Garden Party) and Vyrozumění (1965; The Memorandum).
Music
During the 18th century, Bohemia produced a number of musicians and
composers who greatly influenced musical styles throughout Europe.
Composer Johann Stamitz, the founder of the Mannheim school of
symphonists, made key contributions to the development of Classical
symphonic form and had a profound influence on Mozart. The Benda family
of musicians and composers (see Georg Benda) was also highly
influential, as was Josef Myslivecek, whose operas and symphonies were
much admired in Italy, where he was known as “il divino Boemo” (“the
divine Bohemian”), as well as in his homeland.
During the 19th century, operatic and symphonic music retained its
high place in Czech cultural life. Bedřich Smetana was the first
composer to inject a noticeable element of Czech nationalism into his
work, most notably in his opera Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride) and
his cycle of symphonic poems Má vlast (My Country). Antonín Dvořák, Leoš
Janáček, and Bohuslav Martinů, each of whom drew heavily on folk music
for inspiration, achieved international fame, and their works often are
played at the annual spring music festival held in Prague. Under the
batons of distinguished conductors such as Václav Talich, Karel Ančerl,
and Václav Neumann, the Czech Philharmonic has developed into one of the
world’s leading orchestras.
Since World War II, Czech musicians have gained notice on the
European jazz circuit, and jazz-rock keyboardist Jan Hamr (Jan Hammer)
won international acclaim for his television and motion picture sound
tracks. Traditional folk music continues to have wide appeal among
Czechs.
Film
Under communism, the medium of film was valued as a propaganda tool,
and the state-supported Czechoslovak motion picture industry produced an
average of 30 feature films annually. With the withdrawal of state
sponsorship during the 1990s, fewer than 20 films appeared each year.
Despite the limitations imposed by a small market, Czech films and film
directors have made their mark internationally, especially since the
1960s. Many Czech films are conceived on a small scale, with a sharp
focus on the everyday, common life of the people. Among the best known
are those of the Czech New Wave period (1962–68), including Miloš
Forman’s Lásky jedné plavolvlásky (1965; Loves of a Blonde) and Jiří
Menzel’s Closely Watched Trains (1967), which won an Academy Award. Jan
Svěrák’s Kolya (1997) also received international attention. There is a
strong Czech tradition in producing animated films, with the work of
Jiří Trnka and Jan Švankmajer being perhaps the most revered.
Fine, applied, and folk arts
The architecture of the Czech Republic is rich and varied. Prague is
especially noted for its wealth of building styles. Among Prague’s
architectural treasures are the Romanesque Church of St. George, which
dates from the 10th century, and the twin-spired St. Vitus’s Cathedral,
representative of the Gothic style. The city contains many fine Baroque
structures, with the Valdštejn and Clam-Gallas palaces and the Antonín
Dvořák Museum being some of the most magnificent examples. The Bedřich
Smetana Museum is exemplary of the Classical style, and the National
Theatre and the National Museum are the principal examples of the
Neoclassical style. Notable buildings of the 20th century include those
designed in the Cubist style; the first such building now houses the
Museum of Czech Cubism.
The Czechs have a strong tradition in the graphic arts. This includes
many forms of caricature: Josef Čapek, the brother of the writer Karel
Čapek, is remembered for a series of drawings entitled The Dictator’s
Boots, from the time when Adolf Hitler was ascending to power. Much of
Czech graphic art derives its inspiration from popular, narrative art,
such as the happy marriage between Jaroslav Hašek’s texts and Josef
Lada’s illustrations. Since the 19th century, Czech painters and graphic
artists have on the whole followed the broad European movements, but
realism generally prevails. One of the best-known painters of the19th
century was Josef Mánes. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
Paris-based Art Nouveau illustrator Alphonse (Alfons) Mucha captured the
elusive fin de siècle mood in his paintings and posters, which gained
him world renown. During the 20th century, Czech painters such as
František Kubka, Emil Filla, Toyen (Marie Cermínová), Jindrich Štyrský,
and Josef Šíma were much influenced by Cubism and Surrealism. Painters
active during the latter part of the 20th century included Jan Zrzavý,
Mikuláš Medek, Jiří Tichý, and Jiří Kolář.
In the applied arts, manufactured glass ornaments, traditional
northern Bohemian costume jewelry, and toys are probably the best-known
objects. Popular art has been preserved most often in useful ceramic and
wood objects; embroideries and traditional costumes have come to be of
less importance.
Cultural institutions
The Czech Republic’s impressive network of public libraries dates
back to the 19th century. The largest library is the National Library in
Prague, created in 1958 by the merger of several older libraries. Other
major collections are in the National Museum Library, also in Prague and
founded in 1818, and the State Scientific Library in Brno. Of the
republic’s many museums, three in Prague are especially noteworthy: the
National Museum (founded 1818), the National Gallery (1796; whose
collection is exhibited in several locations), and the Museum of
Decorative Arts (1885), the latter housing one of the world’s largest
collections of glass. The Prague Zoological Garden is known for
Przewalski’s horse, the last of a wild horse subspecies.
Sports and recreation
Czechs enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including golf,
canoeing, cycling, and hiking, as well as winter sports such as
cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and ice hockey. The Czech Republic’s
ice hockey team distinguished itself throughout the 1990s, winning the
world championships in 1996 and 1999 and taking the gold medal at the
1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The former Czechoslovakia also produced
world-class football (soccer) teams and finished second in the World Cup
competition in 1934 and 1962. Jaroslav Drobny, Jan Kodeš, Martina
Navratilova, Ivan Lendl, and Hana Mandlikova head an impressive list of
Czechs who have experienced international success in tennis.
The Czech Republic made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Summer Games in
Atlanta, though Czech athletes (representing Bohemia and later
Czechoslovakia) had begun participating in 1900. Indeed, early Czech
Olympic heroes include long-distance runner Emil Zátopek, “the bouncing
Czech,” who won three gold medals at the Helsinki Games in 1952, and
gymnast Vera Cáslavská, the winner of many Olympic gold medals and world
championships in the 1960s.
Media and publishing
All publishers and news media were, until the political changes in
late 1989, subject to censorship through the government’s Office for
Press and Information. The government owned all telephone, telegraph,
television, and radio systems, and news was disseminated by the official
Czechoslovak News Agency. In the postcommunist years, with the abolition
of censorship, the introduction of a free-market economy, and the advent
of the Internet, dissemination of information changed radically. During
the 1990s many new newspaper and book publishers came into existence,
although, owing to unstable economic conditions, many of these
enterprises were fairly short lived. Widely read daily newspapers
include Mladá fronta Dnes (“Youth Front Today”), Právo (“Right”), and
Hospodářské noviny (“Economic News”), all published in Prague.
State control of radio and television broadcasting ended in 1991. The
Czech Republic has several nationwide radio networks that broadcast news
and cultural programs as well as a number of local radio stations. The
nation has two state-run television networks. Independent commercial
stations also operate, among them Nova Television and Prima Television.
Miroslav Blazek
Richard Horsley Osborne
Z.A.B. Zeman
Milan Hauner
History
For earlier history of the area, including Bohemia and Moravia as
well as Czechoslovakia, see Czechoslovak region, history of.
The Czech Republic came into being on Jan. 1, 1993, upon the
dissolution of the Czechoslovak federation. At the time of the
separation, the federation’s assets were divided at a ratio of two to
one in favour of the Czechs; special agreements were made for a
natural-gas pipeline from Russia, the diplomatic service, and the armed
forces. The citizens of the former federation also were divided on the
basis of new nationality laws, and, immediately after partition, large
numbers of Slovaks began applying for Czech citizenship.
Václav Havel, who had served as the first president of Czechoslovakia
after the overthrow of the communists, was elected president of the
republic in January 1993, and Václav Klaus became prime minister.
Because there was as yet no Senate, the election was conducted only by
the Chamber of Deputies, thus contravening the republic’s new
constitution. Although the separation with Slovakia proceeded
amicably—quickly dubbed the Velvet Divorce, in reference to the 1989
Velvet Revolution—customs posts were erected along the Czech-Slovak
border, and signs of rising national tempers were briefly noted on both
sides of the new frontier.
Under a centre-right coalition government—composed of the Civic
Democratic Party, the Civic Democratic Alliance, and the Christian and
Democratic Union–Czech People’s Party—the new Czech Republic pursued a
fairly aggressive policy of political and economic reform, the
cornerstone of which was a program of rapid privatization. On May
31–June 1, 1996, the Czech Republic held its first general election
since the country had become a separate entity. The coalition government
lost its parliamentary majority when the centre-left Czech Social
Democratic Party nearly quadrupled the number of seats it had previously
held in the Chamber of Deputies. Nevertheless, the coalition headed by
Klaus and Havel remained in power, with a pledge of support from the
Social Democrats. However, major economic problems, serious rifts within
the ruling coalition, and public dissatisfaction with Klaus’s leadership
and economic policy forced the prime minister’s resignation in November
1997. Klaus’s Civic Democratic Party then split into two factions. Jan
Ruml, a former interior minister, founded a new conservative party, the
Freedom Union, to which almost half of the Civic Democrat deputies
defected.
Klaus, however, remained a political force and shortly after his
resignation was reelected party chairman of the Civic Democratic Party.
At the June 1998 elections his party won more than one-fourth of the
votes; the Social Democrats won nearly one-third. President Havel, who
had been reelected by a slim margin to a second term in January, called
upon Social Democrat chairman Miloš Zeman (as the leader of the party
with the largest number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies) to form a
government, which was not initially successful. Eventually Zeman was
installed as prime minister, and Klaus was elected to the chairmanship
of the Chamber of Deputies.
The country’s domestic troubles during the mid- to late 1990s were to
some extent mitigated by its acceptance into NATO. However, by the end
of the 1990s, public dissatisfaction with the political leadership was
growing. In early 1999, a group of prominent political writers issued
Impuls 99, a declaration calling for decisive social, moral, and
political change that would ensure the country’s rapid accession to the
European Union (EU), to which it had formally applied for membership in
1996. In November 1999 activists who had been leaders during the 1989
revolution circulated a more radical manifesto, Thank You! Now Leave!,
demanding the resignations of the leaders of all the major political
parties for jeopardizing the Czech Republic’s acceptance into the EU.
Tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets of Prague and other
cities to demonstrate against the government. Another cause for concern
was the spread of racial violence against the Roma (Gypsies).
On the other hand, in the realm of foreign policy, the Czech Republic
experienced considerable success during the 1990s. In January 1997
Germany and the Czech Republic signed a document of reconciliation in
which Germany acknowledged regret for its treatment of Czechs during the
Nazi era, and the Czech Republic expressed remorse for Czechoslovakia’s
expulsion of some three million Germans from the Sudeten region
following World War II. Relations between Slovakia and the Czech
Republic, however, remained tense for most of the 1990s, with some
improvement in the early 21st century.
Z.A.B. Zeman
Milan Hauner
Klaus regained the political spotlight in 2003 when he became
president at the conclusion of Havel’s decade-long tenure. Klaus, who
was narrowly reelected by the Czech Parliament in February 2008, served
alongside a series of prime ministers and cabinets beset by political
infighting. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic had taken a historic step on
May 1, 2004, when it became a member of the EU, and during the first
half of 2009 the country assumed the rotating EU presidency. Some
observers questioned the republic’s fitness to lead the EU when, in
March 2009, the centre-right Czech government collapsed after losing a
parliamentary vote of confidence. An interim prime minister took power
in May. In the same month, the Czech Senate voted in favour of the EU’s
Lisbon Treaty (an agreement to reform certain EU institutions), which
the lower house had already approved. Klaus, however, claimed that the
treaty was not in the best interests of the Czech Republic and refused
to sign it.
Ed.
