Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains hills and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country
Note:
Landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe
Following the First World War the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968 an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989 Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993 the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. Read more on Wikipedia
