From Velvet Revolution to Purple Dissolution: Dismantling of Czechoslovakia From Above

Abstract

The demise of Czechoslovakia after seventy-five years of turbulent history is a curious case that challenges routine categories of secession and their dynamics. From the many variables involved, one stands out: the Czech political elite elected in 1992 preferred the dissolution of the federation over an arrangement that would cripple their single-minded vision of economic transformation. The Slovak leaders, left with little choice and maneuvered into nationalistic rhetoric, acquiesced. In defiance of the opinion of the Czech and Slovak citizens, the 1992 victors dismantled the common state within months. Czechoslovakia had already had its share of experience with rapid disintegration. In 1939, Slovakia seceded from the common state to avoid annexation by Hungary and the Czech lands became a German protectorate. In 1992, the Czech and Slovak political elites were particularly vested in dissolving Czechoslovakia through a constitutional agreement backed by the federal parliament to avoid the charge of secession on either side. In order to signal their readiness to join the Western institutions both the Czech and Slovak Republics applied the (not yet binding) Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of Treaties.