Czech Republic: A Brief Recent History

PRAGUE, Czech Republic

At the edge of a small public park near the center of Prague the front half of a pink tank tilts toward the sky. It's made to look as though the back half is buried in the ground; the kind of thing a tourist will look at, shrug, and walk on. Just another piece of pop art. But the tank has a deeper significance, explained to me by a native as we drove by one day. 

A small reminder of Communism

During the Soviet occupation the tank was put on display there as a symbol of Soviet power. One morning the Russians discovered someone had snuck in during the night and painted the tank pink in a show of contempt for the occupation. It was promptly repainted its original color only to be repainted pink the following night. Authorities decided to ignore the second insult and so the tank remained there, pink, until the end of the occupation*.

After the Velvet Revolution in 1989 most reminders of Communism were removed, but part of the pink tank remained as a monument to Czech resistance. The Czechs are free again, thriving under capitalism, but choose to retain this reminder of what it was like to see foreign tanks in their public spaces.

Czechoslovakia burdened by years of foreign occupation

Though an oversimplification of what were years of grief, alienation, torture and forced labor, the country of Czechoslovakia was partitioned and occupied by the Germans during World War II, then liberated and occupied by Russians after the war until 1989. In the years leading up to that time student uprisings stirred the rest of the population and eventually brought about the Velvet Revolution, the bloodless downfall of Communism. Borders were adjusted and two countries emerged, The Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Country was once the most socialistic in Europe

Prior to 1989, during the Communist regime, the country was the most socialistic in Europe. No private ownership was allowed, with the exception of one's own home, and it was against the law to make a profit. Emigrating was not permitted, but those who managed to leave by secretive means left behind their property, all of which was confiscated by whatever authorities were in power. Key industries were taken over by the government and then the farms were collectivized. Everything was owned by the state and people lost contact with the concept of ownership. Although everyone was required to work, production and quality were poor, owing primarily to low morale and inferior raw material. Prices were also low but consumer goods--even food--was scarce, and as lunch hours became shopping time the "hour" stretched to two and two and a half to permit queueing for meager supplies. Sometimes people queued just because there was a queue, not sure whatever they were waiting for would be something they needed, but reluctant to pass it up--just in case. Such exotic food such as bananas and other fruit were only available for holidays and was prohibitively expensive.

Owning a car a privilege; wait was three years

Our lecturer related how his father had ordered a car and then waited three years before it was delivered. It wasn't the color he wanted but it was a car and he had no choice in the matter. "Options" such as we know them in this country, did not exist. You simply took what you got and were happy to have a car at all, but the vehicles were so poorly made that one had to be a mechanic or know a good one in order to keep them running. We learned that the auto workers were actually forced laborers, most just political prisoners with no manual labor training, so it was no surprise the cars were of inferior quality. The worker who didn't attach a fender properly might be a musician or an artist serving out his sentence.

Household appliances had to be obtained through waiting lists and as a result of constant shortages corruption flourished; if you were willing to pay a price you might not have to wait as long.

Privatization slow in taking hold

With the overthrow of Communism a market economy slowly began to emerge and privatization return. If a person had papers to prove he had owned a business or a house before the Nazi and Communist takeover he stood a good chance of getting it back. A Ministry of Privatization was established and citizens were issued voucher coupons worth 1,000 points. The coupons were to be used as investment capital that would buy them shares in businesses or stock, but it took some time before people understood this aspect of capitalism. In the meantime conditions were again ripe for corruption.

Characteristics of a free society were soon evident as a stock exchange formed, investment groups learned the power of pooled funds, and new competition from the West challenged industries, primarily the automotive industry. Śkoda, the only company manufacturing cars, entered into a deal with Volkswagen in which they bought engines from VW while retaining their own bodies. In a completely positive turnaround, the Czech Republic is now exporting cars of good quality.

Shopping mall not up to Western standards

My hotel was within walking distance of what I understood was Prague's biggest shopping mall in the Andel neighborhood. I checked it out one day and to me it looked more like a football stadium than a shopping mall--at least from the outside. Once inside it was pretty typical of older malls in America, with a variety of specialty shops, including a small Marks & Spencer (a British department store), and Tesco, (a British grocery store) that was two stories. You wheeled your cart onto an escalator type ramp and it took you to the second floor.

Tourism important

Tourism is an important part of the Czech economy, their best years from 1998-2004, when people were finally becoming aware it was again okay to travel there. The Czech currency is the fastest growing currency in the world, and the next decision they will have to make is whether their economy would be better off  based on the Euro. 

Free health care

Czechs enjoy free health care today as they did under Communism. The difference is the quality and the fact that it is paid for with taxes, but their salaries are eight times what they earned under Communism. Most people are satisfied with that arrangement.

*This version differs slightly from the official version in Wikipedia

Photos:

The infamous pink tank (Photo from Wikipedia)
Prague on a misty morning as seen from the Prague Castle garden
Andel shopping mall looks more like a football stadium