ABSTRACT
In Czechoslovakia, divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, one thing is certain. Since the collapse of Communist rule in late 1989, the pace of change has been positively breathtaking. The stagnant "normalization" period which lasted for two decades following the crushing of the 1968 Prague Spring reform movement has already faded into distant memory, overshadowed by the events since 1989. In the interwar period, Czechoslovakia was a functioning democracy with a developed market economy. The 1989 revolution which brought down the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia was played out according to a scenario of peaceful change deeply rooted is the country's history: open conflict with the authorities, all reaching a climax with the regime finally bowing to the political demands of the people. Legislation stipulating the conditions for the economic transformation was passed in the second half of 1990. The parliamentary elections in 1992 represented the first open conflict between the government myths and those of the political opposition.
