Czech Republic

A particularly fine example of the use of flying buttresses on the Gothic cathedral of Saint Barbara in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic. The building was financed by wealthy silver miners in the 14th century, who wanted to build a cathedral to rival St Vitus in Prague.

Square and church in the old town centre of České Budějovice. The town originally grew with the wealth of medieval silver mines and salt trading. Today it is known best for its production of the Czech beer, Budweiser.

Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, retains an old-world dignity, the country having survived World War II undamaged by enemy bombing. Staromestske Square is at the centre of the ‘Golden City’, so-called for the distinctive colour of its many stuccoed walls.

The Czech National Museum dominates Prague's Wenceslas Square. The baroque-style building, built between 1885 and 1890, houses natural history and science collections.

Landlocked country in east-central Europe, bounded north by Poland, northwest and west by Germany, south by Austria, and east by the Slovak Republic.

Government

The 1992 constitution, which came into force in January 1993, provides for a two-chamber parliament, comprising a 200-member chamber of deputies and an 81-member senate, elected for four-year and six-year terms respectively, by universal adult suffrage. The president is head of state, elected for a five-year term by a joint session of the parliament, and is eligible for a second consecutive term. The president appoints the prime minister, who in turn appoints a council of ministers (cabinet) commanding a majority in the chamber of deputies. There are eight regions, subdivided into municipalities.

Creation
For history before 1992, see Czechoslovakia. From the early 1990s there was evidence of increasing Czech and Slovak separatism in Czechoslovakia. In the 1992 assembly elections the Slovak-based Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (MDS), led by Vladimir Meciar, won the largest number of seats. President Václav Havel resigned, and in August, after proposals for a federal style of government were rejected, the creation of separate Czech and Slovak states was agreed. The Czech Republic came into being on 1 January 1993, with Václav Klaus of the Občanská Demokratická Strana (ODS; Civic Democratic Party) as premier. Havel was elected president, completing the ‘velvet divorce’.

In June 1993, a new currency was introduced, and a major realignment of political parties took place. The new republic was admitted into the United Nations and was formally invited to apply for European Community (now European Union (EU)) membership, which it did so in January 1996. In January 1994, it joined NATO's ‘partnership for peace’ programme as a prelude to full membership of the alliance, which was granted in March 1999.

Economic reform

From 1992, under the Klaus administration, market-centred economic reforms were implemented with the aim of establishing a Western-style capitalist economy. Despite an initial significant decline in GDP 1991–93 and a concurrent rise in crime, the republic's economic reform programme was one of the most successful in central Europe. VAT was introduced in January 1993 and the Prague stock exchange reopened in April 1993 after more than 50 years' closure. Inflation was kept at around 10% per annum and by 1994 the private sector's share of GDP had surpassed 50%, with more than six million Czechs participating in the first wave of voucher-based mass privatization. By 1996 the economy was expanding at an annual rate of 5%, with 70% of the economy privatized; unemployment had fallen to 2.9% and inflation to 8%.

Despite these successes, in the June 1996 general election, the ruling conservative coalition of the ODS, the Krest'anská a Demokratické Unie-Československá Strana Lidova (KDU-CSL Christian Democratic Union-Czech People's Party), and the Občanska Demokratická Aliance (ODA; Civic Democratic Alliance), lost its parliamentary majority. However, the coalition remained in power as a minority government on the understanding that the centre-left Česká Strana Sociálně Demokratická (ČSSD; Czech Social Democratic Party) would be granted leadership of parliament and that the pace of privatization would be curbed. In the November election to the Senate, the coalition did well, winning 52 of the 81 seats and 65% of the vote.

In April 1997, 74-year-old former communist politician Miloš Jakeš was charged with treason for his role in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion that crushed the ‘Prague Spring’ reforms.

Crumbling coalition

In September 1997, Prime Minister Klaus's minority coalition secured passage of an austerity budget, designed to prevent inflation from rising to more than 10% at a time when the annual rate of economic growth had slumped to 1.5%. The coalition was weakened in October by the resignation of foreign minister Josef Zieleniec and in November, Klaus faced allegations that he had misled parliament over the source of a large donation to the ODS. The ODA and the KDU-CSL withdrew from the coalition and Klaus resigned. Josef Tosovsky, the governor of the central bank, was appointed as an interim non-party prime minister, leading a cabinet drawn largely from the outgoing coalition.

Fresh elections

The June 1998 general election was narrowly won by the centre-left ČSSD, led by Miloš Zeman, which had campaigned on an anti-corruption and ‘social market’ platform, pledging to slow down the pace of privatization. It attracted 32% of the vote and won 74 of the parliament's 200 seats. The mainstream right parties together won 45% of the vote, and the largely unreformed Komunistická Strana Čech a Morava (KSČM; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia) won 11%. A minority government was formed by Zeman, and included seven ex-communists in a 19 member cabinet. Klaus became the parliament's speaker. In the November election to the Senate, the ČSSD did much worse, due to concern that it might cooperate in the future with the communists. It was left with only 17 of 81 seats, with control of the Senate in the hands of the KDU-CSL and ODA opposition alliance.

TV protests

In late December 2000, journalists at the Czech Republic's state television service went on strike to protest against the appointment of a new director general, Jiri Hodac, widely believed to be politically biased. Thousands of protesters also demonstrated in Prague. The appointment was alleged to have been forced through by Klaus. Hodac resigned on 11 January 2001, professing ill health. In late January, parliament passed a new law allowing it to appoint a new, independent director, and the strike ended on 10 February 2001 when Jiri Balvin was appointed interim director.

Zeman steps down as chair of ČSSD

In April 2001, Prime Minister Miloš Zeman resigned as the chair of the the ruling ČSSD, and was replaced by the deputy prime minister, Vladimir Spidla. In May, Cyril Svoboda became leader of the KDU-CSL.

2002 elections

In general elections held in June 2002, the CSSD remained the leading party. They won 30% of the vote and 70 of the 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (a drop of four seats) while the opposition ODS dropped five seats to 58.

EU membership

The Czech Republic became a member of the EU on 1 May 2004, with a 2003 referendum finding 77% of the population to be in favour of accession.

Changes of leadership

In June 2004, prime minister Vladimir Spidla resigned his post and was replaced by Stanislav Gross. Gross himself resigned in April 2005, following allegations about his financial affairs, and a coalition government was formed under the leadership of Jiri Paroubek.