Young Czechs' Perceptions of the Velvet Divorce and the Modern Czech Identity

Abstract

Young college-aged Czech students find themselves coming of age during a period of momentous change within their country. These students are caught between two unique generations of Czechs. The earlier generation grew up in Czechoslovakia, a country dominated by the post-World War II communist regime. It was this generation which was active in the dissident movements and student protests that brought an end to the communist control of Czechoslovakia in 1989. The later generation is the first in over 50 years not to know communism. Members of this generation however, know Czechoslovakia only as a part of their history and are growing up in an emerging capitalist society. The focus of this paper is on the intermediate generation of students who experienced both the reemergence of Czechoslovakia from years of communism as well as its subsequent breakup. These students were too young to have participated in both the Velvet Revolution and Velvet Divorce, yet still old enough to remember them. They represent valuable, albeit largely untapped sources of information and offer useful insights into the effects these monumental transitions had on their country and its culture, as well as its national identity and relationship with Slovakia. The purpose of this paper is to articulate young Czechs' perceptions on how the Velvet Divorce have affected the modern Czech national identity.