![]() Today Slovakia has become increasingly infiltrated by modern industrial infrastructure, but it still offers breathtaking views of wine-growing valleys, picturesque castles, and historical cities. This was in the summer of 1968, when the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and crushed the Prague Spring, the period during which a series of reforms were implemented by Communist Party leader Alexander Dubček, arguably the best-known Slovak in the world.Ĭan you name the country that boasts having the 10 coldest cities? Which country covers the most time zones? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this quiz that will test your knowledge of countries around the globe. Although a critical stocktaking of the Czech-Slovak relationship shows more discord than harmony, there was one splendid moment when the two nations stood firmly together. Only in 1918, when World War I ended with Austria-Hungary on the losing side, did Slovakia materialize as a geopolitical unit-but within the new country of Czechoslovakia. Because they lacked a national dynasty, patron saints, and a native aristocracy or bourgeoisie, their national hero became the 18th-century outlaw Jánošík, sometimes called the Slovak Robin Hood. Despite the Hungarians’ drive to Magyarize the multiethnic population of their kingdom, by the 19th century the Slovaks had created a heavily mythologized identity, linking themselves with the 9th-century Slavic kingdom of Great Moravia. From the 11th century, Hungary ruled what is now Slovakia, and the Slovaks’ ancestors were identified as inhabitants of Upper Hungary, or simply “the Highlands,” rather than by their Slavic language. Of course, the history of the Slovak nation began long before the creation of Czechoslovakia and even before the emergence of Slovak as a distinct literary language in the 19th century. The short history of independent Slovakia is one of a desire to move from mere autonomy within the Czechoslovak federation to sovereignty-a history of resistance to being called “the nation after the hyphen.” Although World War II thwarted the Slovaks’ first vote for independence in 1939, sovereignty was finally realized on January 1, 1993, slightly more than three years after the Velvet Revolution-the collapse of the communist regime that had controlled Czechoslovakia since 1948. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!. ![]() Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them!
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