Czech·o·slo·va·ki·a (ch?k??-sl?-vä?k?-?, -sl?-) A former country of central Europe. It was formed in 1918 from Czech- and Slovak-speaking territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Communists gained control of the government after World War II and stayed in power until late 1989 when demands for democratic political reform forced Communist leaders to resign. In 1993 the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.Czech?o·slo?vak, Czech?o·slo·va?ki·an adj. & n.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.Czechoslovakia (?t??k??sl???væk??) n (Placename) a former republic in central Europe: formed after the defeat of Austria-Hungary (1918) as a nation of Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia and Slovaks in Slovakia; occupied by Germany from 1939 until its liberation by the Soviet Union in 1945; became a people’s republic under the Communists in 1948; invaded by Warsaw Pact troops in 1968, ending Dub?ek’s attempt to liberalize communism; in 1989 popular unrest led to the resignation of the politburo and the formation of a non-Communist government. It consisted of two federal republics, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which separated in 1993. Czech name: ?eskoslovensko See also Czech Republic, SlovakiaCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014Czech?o?slo?va?ki?a (?t??k ? sl??v? ki ?, -?væk i ?) n. a former republic in central Europe: formed after World War I; comprised Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and part of Silesia: a federal republic 1968?92. 49,383 sq. mi. (127,903 sq. km). Cap.: Prague. Formerly (1990?92), Czech? and Slo?vak Fed?erative Repub?lic; (1948?89), Czech?oslo?vak So?cialist Repub?lic. Czech`o?slo?va?ki?an, adj., n. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.