ABSTRACT
The first Czechoslovak republic lasted from 1918 to 1938. It was the only Eastern European nation to experience a continuous democracy between the wars, until it was dismantled by the Munich agreement of 1938. Czechoslovakia itself was peacefully dissolved by the leaders of the Czech Republic and Slovakia at the end of 1992–what was called the “velvet divorce”. What follows pertains to the Czech lands within Czechoslovakia from 1990 and then the independent Czech Republic from 1993. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) was one of two conservative parties to form from the breakup of the Civic Forum. A conservative centre-right party and intensely anti-Communist, the ODS led every government in the Czech Republic until the caretaker government of December 1997. Initially regional parties within the Czech Republic were successful, specifically the Movement for Autonomous Democracy–Society for Moravia and Silesia (HSD-SMS), formed in 1990. The HSD-SMS won representation in both the 1990 and 1992 National Council elections.
