Date of Award
1994
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Reader
Dr. Hal Bass
Second Reader
Dr. Trey Berry
Third Reader
Dr. Susan Wink
Abstract
All of Europe strains for unity, yet Czechoslovakia willingly and peacefully divided itself into two nations on January 1, 1993. Czech Republic and Slovakia share many common interests and a powerful kinship that promotes alliance even under separate flags. The following quote demonstrates the unique history of Czechoslovakia from the perspective of an 80 year-old Czech citizen:
"Look, I was born in Austro-Hungary. I grew up in Czechoslovakia, suffered from Germans, spent 50 years in a colony of Russia--without ever leaving Prague! Now, we're Czechs again, like we've been for a thousand years. What's so bad about that?"
In sociological, historical, and political contexts, the Velvet Revolution and Velvet Divorce seem easier to comprehend. In 1994, the future of the Czech Republic seems promising because the Czech people have embraced changes; at the same time, they also remember the lessons of what lies behind the Velvet curtain of their past.
Recommended Citation
Allred, Allison, "The Paths to Democracy in the Czech Republic" (1994). Honors Theses. 82.
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses/82
Included in
Eastern European Studies Commons, Political History Commons, Political Science Commons, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Commons