Czechoslovakia and yugoslavia

A TALE OF TWO COMMUNIST STATES

Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia

Previously

Czechoslovakia was a two state country made up of people called Czechs and Slovaks.

After World War II, it fell behind the Iron Curtain.

The two groups of people rarely got along.

After the Fall of Communism….

Problems immediately surfaced when the Soviet Union fell.

During the elections of 1990 and 1992, their first free elections, things became especially heated.

At the same time, Czech and Slovak nationalism increased.

Czechoslovakia No More!

In order to deal with the increasing tensions, the government agreed to peacefully divide the country into two: the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Yugoslavia

Similar to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia was composed of different groups that did not get along.

The country also split, but it did not do so peacefully.

Tito….not to be confused with Toto….

Yugoslavia was composed of six republics before it split apart.

In 1945, communists took over the country led by Marshall Tito.

Suppressed peoples’ rights and freedoms.

When he died in 1980, the country began to fall apart as people began to demand economic freedom and nationalism grew.

Yugoslavian Meltdown

Inspired by the revolutions in Poland and Hungary against communism, the six republics of Yugoslavia began demanding change.

The Yugoslav Communist Party split along ethnic (cultural) lines.

SOME republics gave people the right to vote.

Independence

The Communist police cracked down on people using these new freedoms.

But it was too late and the country began splitting.

Four countries soon split off: Slovenia Macedonia Croatia Bosnia-Herzegovina

Serbia and Montenegro

The last major state of Yugoslavia was called Serbia and Montenegro.

The two-state country was led by Slobodan Milosevic.

Like Hitler, he practiced ethnic cleansing (think: holocaust).

When he was arrested, the country split in two in 2006. The countries became Serbia AND Montenegro.