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After the collapse of the Austrian Empire in 1918, what is now the Czech Republic formed part of the independent state of Czechoslovakia. With an interruption during the German occupation (1939–45) and throughout the period of Communist rule (1948–89), this situation continued until the peaceful separation from Slovakia in 1993. Prague, the largest city, is the capital. 1. Historical Survey After a short but important period of Slavic mission in the ninth century, the inhabitants of what is now the Czech Republic came under the political, cultural, and e…

1. History After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, and during the years 1918–38 and 1945–92, Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia. Its population of 5.4 million (2006) includes a substantial Hungarian minority of about 10 percent. The capital is Bratislava (Ger. Pressburg, Hung. Pozsony). The Christianization of Slovakia began in the ninth century (a Christian church was dedicated in Nitra in 828) and was marked by a contest between the Eastern and Western churches. A brief but significant episode was the Slavo-Byzantine mission of Cyril (ca. 827–69) and of Method…