"Intro (history): The Czech-inhabited lands of Bohemia and Moravia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the early 17th century until 1918, when they were united in a common state with Slovakia and part of Silesia as a victorious state after WWI. The new state, a democratic republic known as Czechoslovakia, was broken up during WWII, but was re-established at the end of the war in 1945. From 1948 to 1989 the republic was ruled by a Communist Regime. The Berlin blockade heightened Western Europe’s fears of Soviet aggression. As a result, in 1949, ten Western European nations joined with the United States and Canada to form a defensive military alliance. This alliance was called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). These nations promised to meet an attack on any NATO member with armed force. For the United States, NATO membership marked the country’s first peacetime military commitment. The Soviet Union viewed NATO as a threat. In response, the Soviets developed an alliance system in 1955 as part of their own containment policy. It was known as the Warsaw Pact. This alliance included the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. The Warsaw Pact occupied Czechoslovakia in 1968 as a result of Prague Spring (a period of reform, when Czechoslovakia’s capital bloomed with new ideas).
Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent transition of power in November 1989. On November 16, 1989, Slovak high school and university students organized a peaceful demonstration in the centre of Bratislava. The next day, November 17, 1989 (International Students' Day), riot police suppressed a large student demonstration in Prague."

PRÁCE BYLA UVOLNĚNA BEZ NÁROKU NA HONORÁŘ