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Following the First World War, the Czechs
and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian
Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia, but on
January 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and the
Slovak Republic became independent states
and thus Czechoslovakia ceased to exist in Central
Europe, southeast of Germany.
Without undermining this country's
extremely complicated and rich history, I
will only present the salient points.
Vaclav Klaus has been president since March
2003.
In 1939, Hitler forced Czechoslovakia to
surrender and made it a protectorate.
A provisional government was set up in
London. Except for the brutality of
the German occupation, it suffered
relatively little from the war. American
troops entered Czechoslovakia in the fall of
1945. At the Potsdam Conference of
1945, approval was made to expel three
million Germans and exchange minorities
between Czechoslovakia and Hungary. But
in their elections of 1946 the Communists
emerged as the strong party and began a
political agitation that gave them control
of the government. Political and
cultural liberty was curtailed and riots
occurred in 1953, reflecting economic
discontent. In response, a limited
liberalization trend began. A new
constitution was enacted in 1960. Some
restrictions of the press, education and
cultural activities were eased and local
authorities received increased economic
autonomy. Since profit considerations
were introduced into their economy,
Czechoslovakia became celebrated
internationally for its experimental theater
work and its fine films; but political power
was still in the hands of a small circle in
the Communist party.
The Soviet-style repressive policies of mass
arrests, union purges and religious
persecution continued. By 1977, a
group of 700 intellectuals had had enough
and signed a declaration of human rights
which only instigated further Soviet
repressive measures. As
democratization swept through Eastern Europe
in 1989, bringing down the party leadership,
and a new non-Communist playwright named
Vaclav Havel, became president, thus the
"Velvet Revolution" was completed
and the Soviet troops departed in May 1991.
However, the new government was forced with
several difficulties including a distressed
and inefficient economic system in need of
reform. In 1993, the
74-year-old alliance would separate into
independent states and drafts of new Czech
and Slovak constitutions were drawn.
I decided to visit a spa in Karlovy Vary,
famous for its curative thermal springs, which
on the Internet looked like a good deal, the
only problem was that it was in the heart of
Bohemia. Since I was planning a visit to
Poland for Christmas anyway, I booked my
trip. The hotel was clean and nice,
the meals were boring but adequate, and
great detail was paid to my desire to lose
five pounds. I cannot complain about the spa
treatments because they actually were quite
good, even though I could not communicate
with anyone as I was plunged into a bath, or
hosed alternately with hot and cold water.
The attendants
were all Russian who spoke no English
and German was spoken around the town,
which was an hour south of the capital,
Prague. The anti-American sentiment
was made quite clear to me. The hotel
staff was rude but I am a very stubborn
person, and since I had paid well in advance
in American dollars I was going to stay
until the end even if I had no one to speak
to. Luckily there was a Spanish
station on TV so I could at least watch a
movie in my room at night. To make my trip
worse, as I was leaving, a transportation
strike erupted and I was not sure how I was
going to get to Berlin to catch my plane. I
finally paid a taxi driver a small fortune
to drive me to the airport as riots broke
out at the train station. At that
point I was wondering what I was doing
there.
In general, it was an interesting adventure
but I would not recommend it to you, unless
you are majoring in political science!
It was the atmosphere of being totally
unfriendly to tourists which turned me
off. Thank goodness for the jewelry
stores where I spent my korunas buying
garnets and crystals, and long walks
in the colonade where I drank the
stinking hot water from the thermals
which made the town so famous during the
Austrian - Hungarian Monarchy. There
was no attempt to accommodate you in any
way. If you did not like something,
that was just too bad because you were not
getting a replacement. You spoiled
bourgeois! They certainly did not
encourage tourism; although they
welcomed the German marks.
I hope they resolve their political and
economic problems and improve their sour
disposition because they will not compete in
the tourist industry. My next spa
experience will be in Arizona, where I can
watch smiling faces as I practice my yoga.
I don't know about you, but for me it is
important to see a smiling face; it
reaffirms that I am certainly welcome and
that my business is appreciated.
Alinka Zyrmont
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