World War I: Czechoslovakia is granted independence from Austria-Hungary marking the beginning of independent Czechoslovak state, after 300 years.

Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.

Austria and the Allies sign the Treaty of Saint-Germain recognizing the independence of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

Adolf Hitler demands autonomy and self-determination for the Germans of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

Mobilization of the Czechoslovak army in response to the Munich Crisis.

At 2:00 am, Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, allowing Germany to occupy the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

World War II: German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.

World War II: in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Nazis in Czechoslovakia kill over 1,800 people.

Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia.

Communist revolution in Czechoslovakia.

The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Czechoslovakia and the period of the Third Republic ends.

Edvard Beneš resigns as President of Czechoslovakia rather than signing a constitution making his nation a Communist state.

Communist Czechoslovakia's ministry of foreign affairs asks nuncios of Vatican to leave the country.

A Bulgarian plane with 82 people on board crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia.

Alexander Dubček comes to power: "Prague Spring" begins in Czechoslovakia.

Soviet Union-dominated Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring; on the same day, Nicolae Ceauşescu, leader of Communist Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet maneuver, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals.

Student Jan Palach dies after setting himself on fire 3 days earlier in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turned into another major protest.

Czechoslovakian Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.

Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.

The Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29).

Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.

The Visegrád Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.

Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.

In Brno Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar sign an agreement to divide Czechoslovakia.

Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.