CZECH REPUBLIC COAT OF ARMS BAG

 

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The Czech Republic (Czech: Ceská republika) is a landlocked country in Central Europe and a member state of the European Union. The country has borders with Poland to the north, Germany to the northwest and west, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is the historic Prague (Czech: Praha), a major tourist attraction. Other major cities include Brno, Ostrava, Zlín, Plzen, Pardubice, Hradec Králové, Ceské Budejovice, Liberec, Olomouc, and Ústí nad Labem. ------------------------------- The country is composed of two entire historic regions, Bohemia and Moravia, and parts of Silesia.------------------n 1945-6 almost the entire German minority of Czechoslovakia, about 2.7 million people, were expelled to Germany and Austria. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Germans were held in prisons, detention camps, and used in forced labour. In the summer of 1945, there were several massacres with at least 20,000 deaths. Only 250,000 Germans who had been active in the resistance against the Nazis or were necessary for the economy were allowed to stay, though many of them emigrated later. ------------------------------------- Czechoslovakia uneasily tried to play "bridge" between the West and East; however the strengthening Communist Party of Czechoslovakia took over government in February 1948, bringing the country definitely within the Soviet sphere of influence and robbing its people of most freedoms. Several show trials were held and hundreds of thousand prisoners went through uranium mines. The political liberalization of 1960s, culminating in the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended on 21 August 1968 when an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize party rule and create "socialism with a human face." ----------------------------------------- In November 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its political independence through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution". However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened until on January 1, 1993, the country peacefully split into the independent Czech and Slovak republics. ------------------------------- The Czech Republic joined NATO on March 12, 1999 and the European Union on May 1, 2004. From 1991 the Czech Republic, then Czechoslovakia, has been a member of the Visegrad Group.

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The Czech Republic (Czech: Ceská republika) is a landlocked country in Central Europe and a member state of the European Union. The country has borders with Poland to the north, Germany to the northwest and west, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is the historic Prague (Czech: Praha), a major tourist attraction. Other major cities include Brno, Ostrava, Zlín, Plzen, Pardubice, Hradec Králové, Ceské Budejovice, Liberec, Olomouc, and Ústí nad Labem. ------------------------------- The country is composed of two entire historic regions, Bohemia and Moravia, and parts of Silesia.------------------n 1945-6 almost the entire German minority of Czechoslovakia, about 2.7 million people, were expelled to Germany and Austria. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Germans were held in prisons, detention camps, and used in forced labour. In the summer of 1945, there were several massacres with at least 20,000 deaths. Only 250,000 Germans who had been active in the resistance against the Nazis or were necessary for the economy were allowed to stay, though many of them emigrated later. ------------------------------------- Czechoslovakia uneasily tried to play "bridge" between the West and East; however the strengthening Communist Party of Czechoslovakia took over government in February 1948, bringing the country definitely within the Soviet sphere of influence and robbing its people of most freedoms. Several show trials were held and hundreds of thousand prisoners went through uranium mines. The political liberalization of 1960s, culminating in the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended on 21 August 1968 when an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize party rule and create "socialism with a human face." ----------------------------------------- In November 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its political independence through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution". However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened until on January 1, 1993, the country peacefully split into the independent Czech and Slovak republics. ------------------------------- The Czech Republic joined NATO on March 12, 1999 and the European Union on May 1, 2004. From 1991 the Czech Republic, then Czechoslovakia, has been a member of the Visegrad Group.

created by planetearth (12/19/2006 3:32 PM)

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