Why did Czechoslovakia Collapse?

As a Slovak myself, I can say that for us Slovaks Czech republic and Czech language are not considered foreign. In fact, half of the shows shown in TV are in Czech, games sold in our region are localized in Czech, and many people prefer Czech translation in many books. If a Slovak person wrote "Czech" among foreign languages in their CV, they would get funny faces because of that. We can even study in Czech republic and the tuition bill will be footed by Slovak government! Bratia navždy!

Honestly I'm impressed by the brotherly love between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Peaceful separation is amazingly rare in history and to remain close following the separation is amazing

The Slovakian president once said "There are no countries closer to each other than Czechia and Slovakia" and I totally agree.

I am a Hungarian and despite all historical troubles between Hungarians and Slovakian/Czech people, every time I travel to Slovakia or Czech Republic it really stuns me how similar we are. The dishes, the fashion, the architecture, the general customs of people is so similar, even if we speak completely different languages. It seems logical from a historical perspective, but it is really eye opening after so many hate, wars and supression on each other. I really respect Czech and Slovakian people and I wish we had some similar brother nations like theirs.

Czechoslovakia did not collapse as much separate, the ministers of both countries obliged to divide the Territory after the cold war

Divided by boundaries, united by hearts. Love you my Czech brothers

As a Slovak, when I cross Czech border I never feel like I am in a foreign country. There is one more country where I experience the same, it's Poland. 🇨🇿🤝🏻🇸🇰🤝🏻🇵🇱

I’m an Italian citizen born in Brazil, there is, two citizenships. I went three times to Czech Republic and love all I saw there. It is the kind of place Everyone should choose to live after retiring. My prefered place to live is Visehrad. Even if I did not go yet to Slovakia, I believe that is the same as Czech Republic. Long and peaceful life to the entire people of the two countries. And enjoy the best beer in the world, Pilsen Urquel.

The Czechs and Slovaks looked at one another. Shrugged. And then the country fell apart. Honestly it's about as well as something like this can possibly go.

I have met several Czeck and Slovak people and when I asked them why their countries split, they all told me: "I don't know; the politicians..." One girl even told me: "my stepfather became a foreigner over night" 🤷🏻‍♀️

Czech here. I think the separation actually helped both nations as we could get more autonomy (more important to Slovaks I believe) and yet treat the other ones with respect and cooperate better.

Some important notes that should be included: The first Czechoslovak republic created a notion of common Czechoslovak nationality because there were more Germans than Slovaks in the new state. When it comes to communism, it was much more popular in what is now Czechia than Slovakia which put a strain on the relation. During Prague Spring, Husák was originally a supporter of the reform, but changed sides when Dubček refused to federalize the republic. After 1968, a federal structure was created, comprised of the Slovak and Czech Socialist Republics. The half-million protest was not at Wenceslas Square but at the Letná Plain (though it began at the square). You can't fit that many people there. Slovaks had to fight much harder for their survival as a nation and thus were more nationalistic. In the early 90s, the leading political party in Czechia was based on economic issues, but the main Slovak political party was based on nationalism. The Czechs, led by Klaus, wanted a unitary state or a tight federation. While Slovaks, led by Mečiar, wanted a loose confederation. That was the main issue Czechoslovakia split on.

I'm Czech and I would like to thank for this video as well for so many nice comments here. Very often it seemed to me our history doesn't matter to the rest of the world, but now I can see how much I was wrong.

As an American I see that the 2 peoples of the area didn't want to live in the same house together, but just wanted to be good neighbors instead. No drama, no nothing, but can still hang out together when they want. Nothing fell apart, just kind of went their own ways, but not too far away.😊

They did a phenomenal job symbolizing the peaceful separation during the last minutes of the Czechoslovak Television/ČST channel back on December 31, 1992. They played a song called Sbohem Slovensko (Goodbye Slovakia) with a man who represents the Czechs and a woman who represents the Slovaks. There's a long arm connecting them together to represent the unity. They're in a court filing for a divorce, the Slovak wanted it while the Czech was just chilling and didn't care what was going on. Then the court favored the Slovak and a guy with a long beard came in with a chainsaw to separate the long arm, which released Czechoslovak coins (to represent the currency's fall). They turned into children to represent that they're now young nations. In the song, they say "Uvidíš bez nich, bude ti líp. Sbohem, Slovensko, bude ti líp." which in Czech means "You'll see without them, you'll be better. Goodbye, Slovakia, you'll be better." and keep repeating "Goodbye, Slovakia, you'll be better."

It was interesting to see this. I remembered Czechoslovakia from history classes and therefore ai was curious about what has happened to it. I have been to both Slovakia and the Czech Republic a couple of times and for some reason, I liked both countries 🇨🇿🇸🇰 and am happy to visit Slovakia as it is our neighbour. As a Hungarian, I am happy if our countries maintain good relations, and mutual acceptance instead of confrontation.

To all the Czechs and Slovaks, you guys have established a good example of peaceful separation. On the other hand, look at the things that happened in Yugoslavia, we saw how brutal and bloody a breakup could be.

Im Czech btw It wasnt collapse it was the most peaceful split. There was no animosity. It was just that we decided to part ways but we are still super close.

In fact, more than 80% of people in both countries were against the division of Czechoslovakia. However, the politicians ignored it and decided not to ask the people at all. At the same time, none of the ruling political parties at the time had division in their program. I remember how we couldn't believe ,until the last moment, that they were serious and would actually do it...

Czech nature is to stay calm as long as possible. Dont't fight and wait what happens. Because you don't want any trouble. Just have another cold beer.