Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Czechoslovakia chĕsˈkōslōvĕnˌskō [key], former federal republic, 49,370 sq mi (127,869 sq km), in central Europe. On Jan. 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (see Slovaki...

(Encyclopedia) Karviná kärˈvĭnä [key], Ger. Karwin, city (1991 pop. 68,405), NE Czech Republic, in Moravia, near the Polish border. It is an industrial center of the Ostrava-Karviná coal-mining region. Formerl...

(Encyclopedia) Mečiar, Vladimír, 1942–, Slovakian political leader. A member of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, Mečiar was ousted in 1970 after having supported party reforms following the Warsaw Pact in...

(Encyclopedia) Husák, Gustav go͝osˈtäf ho͝oˈsäk [key], 1913–91, Czechoslovakian political leader. A member of the Communist party from 1933, he helped to lead the Slovak national uprising against the German...

(Encyclopedia) Gottwald, Klement klāməntˈ gôtˈvält [key], 1896–1953, Czechoslovak Communist leader, b. Moravia. After World War I he helped found the Czechoslovak Communist party and served on the party's ce...

(Encyclopedia) Locarno Pact, 1925, concluded at a conference held at Locarno, Switzerland, by representatives of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. The request of Gustav Stre...

(Encyclopedia) Havel, Václav vätsˈläv hävĕl [key], 1936–2011, Czech dramatist and essayist, president of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and the Czech Republic (1993–2003). The most original Czech dramatist to ...

(Encyclopedia) Pan-Germanism, German nationalist doctrine aiming at the union of all German-speaking peoples under German rule. Pan-Germanists considered that not only the German groups in neighboring countries, suc...

(Encyclopedia) Bican, Josef, 1913–2001, Czech soccer player, b. Vienna. A forward with over 800 competitive goals, he is considered by many to be soccer's greatest scorer. Known as “Pepi,” Bican joined Rapid V...

(Encyclopedia) Grechko, Andrei Antonovich əndrāˈ əntôˈnəvĭch grĕchˈkō [key], 1903–76, Soviet army officer and minister of defense. As a World War II commander he took part in the liberation of the Cauca...