Czechoslovakia

name

Etymology: From Czecho- + Slovakia.

1. A former country in Central Europe, now the Czech Republic and Slovakia; Carpathian Ruthenia, at the eastern end, became a part of Ukraine.

   “The tragic news from Czechoslovakia shocks the conscience of the world. The Soviet Union and its allies have invaded a defenseless country to stamp out a resurgence of ordinary human freedom. It is a sad commentary on the communist mind, that a sign of liberty in Czechoslovakia is deemed a fundamental threat to the security of the Soviet system. The action of the Warsaw Pact allies is in flat violation of the United Nations charter. We are consulting urgently with others to consider what steps should be undertaken in the United Nations. Meanwhile, in the name of mankind's hope for peace, I call on the Soviet Union and its associates to withdraw their troops from Czechoslovakia.”

   “De Maistre's words fall easily and appropriately into place in Pavel Kohout's new novel about a state and a time not unlike that of his native Czechoslovakia just after the reimposition of Communist law and order in the late 1960's.”