History of Czechoslovak nationality

The history of Czechoslovak nationality involves the rise and fall of national feeling among Czechs and Slovaks. Once forming a rather unified group, they were historically separated, unified under a democratic system, separated during threat of war, and reunified under an authoritarian regime. However, a democratization process has led to a definition of separate statehood for the majority of Czechs and Slovaks.

The Czechs and Slovaks are both ethnic Slavs and speak very similar languages. Moreover, these peoples once formed a very unified group of tribes, which were basically indistinguishable from one another. It is through history and different circumstances, it is believed, that those tribes acquired the characteristics that made them Czechs and Slovaks. As to where exactly the Slav tribes came from, historians cannot agree.

The Slavonic tribes of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia were formerly embraced within the great Moravian Empire. Prince Mojmír I, founder of the House of Mojmír, established Great Moravia in 833. At the end of the 9th century, it extended further under the rule of Svatopluk I and became the most powerful Slavonic state of Christendom.

However, the tribes living in today’s Slovakia were conquered by Magyar (Hungarian) tribes and were separated from the Moravians and Bohemians. In 1025, the territory of present-day Slovakia indeed became a part of the Kingdom of Hungary, thus reducing, but not ending relations between the Czechs and Slovaks. In this period, culture expanded mostly through literature, creating nationalist feelings. Nevertheless, the Czechs and Slovaks were still far from forming a strong united country and the Slovaks remained under Hungarian influence.

In 1526, Bohemia became part of the Habsburg crown, but it was not until the battle of the White Mountain in 1620 that Bohemian independence was liquidated and the native, Czech aristocracy dispossessed. As for Moravia, it also became part of the Habsburg Empire in 1648. Thus, the Czechs' and Slovaks' lands were divided between Austria and Hungary. This division remained even after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, whereby the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was established.

...
Wikipedia