Human civilization has developed for more than 6,000 years and evolved into more than 200 countries, large and small, but because of religious, ethnic, land and other issues, there are often contradictions between each other, and they often break up unhappily, such as India and Pakistan, the countries of the Soviet Union after bankruptcy, and so on.
However, there are two countries that have "split" in a peaceful way, and the relationship is better after the split, and they are even ready to merge at any time, which is known as "velvet separation" in history, who are they?
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic
These two countries are often in conflict, and they are two great peoples, their language is similar, their beliefs are also the same, there has always been no estrangement, but they are always in a state of separation and integration.
A long, long time ago, in the ninth century A.D., in the land of Central Europe, there was a group of people living here, they were surrounded by mountains and rivers, and they developed by more advanced agricultural technology, these people are the famous Slavic people.
The Slavs were sturdy and most fond of hunting, and since they were far away from other tribes, they lived in this land for a long time, enjoying this peace and prosperity alone.
But the good times were short-lived, and the fortunes of the Czech Republic took a turning point with the rise of Cesky Krumlov, an ambitious leader who dreamed of uniting the scattered Slavic tribes and creating a powerful kingdom.
So Cesky Krumlov set out on a journey, all the way through the forest, on a long journey to the tribes, during which he did not forget to gather warriors, and gradually his ranks expanded, and under his leadership, the Slavs began to become united.
Feeling that the time was ripe, Krulov engaged in a fierce conflict with the neighboring Germanic peoples, and was quickly defeated by a powerful army because the other tribes were not adequately prepared in advance.
After years of war negotiations, Cesky Krumlov united the Slavic tribes of the land and established a new kingdom, which is now the Czech Republic.
Since then, the Czech Kingdom has grown from strength to strength, not only in terms of territory, but also in terms of economy and culture, and to this day we can still feel the history of the Kingdom in the old streets of Prague.
In contrast, the history of Slovakia was not so smooth, and around the 5th century AD, the valleys and plains of Central Europe were inhabited by a large number of Slavs, but their territory was always remembered by other surrounding tribes, who went to war at every turn.
As more and more Slavs migrated to the Czech and Slovak regions, a confederation of West Slavic tribes slowly developed, which was later renamed "Satsuma Park".
In 906 A.D., the Kingdom of Hungary came here and annexed Slovakia, thinking that this would put an end to the war, but in the second half of the 12th century, it was encroached upon by rival tribes.
During the Middle Ages, they experienced many wars and upheavals, with tribes and kingdoms vying for this rich land, and the Slovak people had to fight hard to defend their homeland.
According to historical records, in 1867, Austria and Hungary reached an agreement to merge and reorganize, and also set a unified name, called Austria-Hungary.
At this time, both the Czechs and Slovaks were under their jurisdiction, and we can see from this that although the names of the Czechs and Slovaks were constantly changing and the leaders of the ruling were changing, they were essentially the same people.
According to the world map, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are two neighboring countries, at least thousands of years old, and their ancestors are all West Slavs.
It was supposed to be a "family", but because of historical and various interests factors, the two of them always implemented different governing concepts, and this political difference led to the fact that the "brothers" could not be in the united front.
But neither the Czechs nor Slovaks were belligerent peoples, and they knew better than anyone else that only peace could bring stability here, so they sought common ground while reserving differences, and there was no violent conflict between the two sides, but small quarrels never stopped, especially in the 19th century.
At the outbreak of World War I, many countries in the world were drawn into this struggle, and when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was finally dissolved, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were reinstated, and the conflict between the two countries dissipated to form the Czechoslovak Republic.
When the two countries merged, the people hardly felt any change, as if they had never been separated, and Czechoslovakia developed rapidly during this period, introducing advanced industrial technology from the West.
On the other hand, Nazi Germany was hatching its own plans, and their ambitions were so great that they wanted to dominate the whole world and make Germany the center of civilization in the world, so they first launched a blitzkrieg against Poland, which led to the complete outbreak of World War II.
Czechoslovakia had not had a good life for a few days before it was burned by the flames of war, and at that time the General Staff was optimistic that they could withstand the Germans for three to six months.
In this way, Russian reinforcements and Romanian soldiers would come to the aid of the French to attack the Rhineland, but everything did not go as planned, and France abandoned the Central Powers for the sake of immediate interests.
Hitler wrote about this history in 1938: "Just as the occupation of the demilitarized zone and the entry into Austria, it was only when I was sure that France would not march and Britain would therefore not intervene before I decided to take action against Czechoslovakia." ”
The war once again separated the two countries, Slovakia became a servant of Germany, and the distance between the Czech and Slovak gradually became further and further apart due to the intervention of international forces.
It wasn't until 1945 that the Soviet Union changed its attitude and included the Czechs and Slovaks in their sphere, so they were reunited, but Slovakia was tossed back and forth several times, and its economic power was far behind that of the Czechs.
In the 80s of the last century, the world pattern once again underwent tremendous changes, the Soviet Union took the initiative to announce its dissolution because of economic and people's livelihood problems, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which were in the socialist camp, were once again affected and became two independent countries.
However, no one could have imagined that after only a few years, relations between Czechoslovakia and Czechoslovakia would become even better, and they cooperated and helped each other, as they continue to this day.
Some analysts say that with the change of the international situation, Czechoslovakia is likely to merge again, because this can bring great benefits, and after reunification, the international discourse will be greater.
Text: Uncle Luo Ying
Edited by Uncle Luo Ying
Resources:
Guangming Daily's report on "The Eternal Thing Said - West Slavic Brothers in Turbulent Times".