Slovakia Economic Analysis
Country: Slovak Republic
Formation of the Slovak Republic
The Slovak Republic, or Slovakia, is located in Eastern Europe with a population of 5.4 million people and borders the countries of Poland, Austria, the Ukraine, and the Czech Republic (The World Bank). As originally part of the former nation of Czechoslovakia, the Slovak Republic has only recently begun to write its own history (Abizadeh, p. 171).
During 1989 many revolts took place against eastern European governments under communism, including Czechoslovakia (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”). Both Slovaks and Czechs staged massive protests against communism in Czechoslovakia and ended the communist regime in November 1989 (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”). Under the new non-communist system of government, the two republics of Czechoslovakia were established: the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). In June 1990, with the federal and republic-level governments in place, free elections were held for the first time in the country since 1946 (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”).
The main concern of the new government was the transformation of Czechoslovakia from a state-controlled to a free market economy (Embassy of the Slovak Republic). Disputes arose between the two republics about reform process which focused on privatization, the encouragement of foreign investment, policy of macro-economic stabilization, price liberalization, and liberalization of foreign trade (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”). The Czech Republic was more economically developed than the industrial-based economy of Slovakia (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”). The transition to a market economy left the Slovak Republic to endure greater economic hardships than the Czech Republic (Sovakia.Org, “20th Century”). For example, the federal government chose to dramatically cut the country’s defense industry, resulting in a large decrease in industrial production and a large rise in unemployment in Slovakia (Slovakia.Org, “Slovak Economy”). This took place because the economy that rose out of the communist era in Slovakia was based on industrial production, particularly on weapons and military equipment (Slovakia.Org, “Slovak Economy”).
There was a great difference of opinions between the Slovaks and Czechs about the nature and pace of economic reform in Czechoslovakia (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”). The disagreements delayed the reform process and also the acceptance of a new constitution (Slovakia.Org, “20th Century”). It became obvious that the current form of government could meet the demands of both republics. As a result, Slovakia declared its sovereignty in July 1992, in other words, its laws took higher priority than those of the federal government (Slovakia.
After World War II, Europe emerged as a continent torn between two very different political ideologies, Communism and Democracy. As the two major superpowers, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States, struggled to defend their respective governmental policies, the European Continent was caught in an intrinsic struggle to preserve the autonomy which had taken so long to achieve. During the Cold War, Eastern European nations struggled to achieve autonomy with the help of the West's dedication to break the Soviet sphere of influence. After the disintegration of the USSR, the struggle for autonomy among nations shifted from an intense, inward, nationalistic struggle to break away from a superpower to a commitment of international unity and cooperation as nations began to take moral and political responsibility for their actions.
Heda Margolius Kovály’s memoir, “Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968” recounts her experience of the Holocaust and the Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia, during the 20th century. In 1945, after the holocaust and after World War II, Czechoslovakia was in a period of distress, which made people seek for communism as a solution. Communism, a totalitarian regime, was a form of government in which nobody was allowed to own any private property and the government controlled all economic activity. This government structure was not only corrupt, but it also caused more economic crisis in Czechoslovakia. Despite the rough situation that Czechoslovakia was going through, none of its
During the 20th century, the rise of communism sparked rage in people throughout the world. More towards the end of the 1900's the fall of communism and dictatorships was just the beginning of what would eventually be a large democratic change for several countries. 1989: Democratic Revolutions at the Cold War's End, speaks about the change brought to several different countries from the 1980's-1990's and plans to show "the global transformations that marked the end of the cold war and shaped the era in which we live"(Pg V). During the cold war, communist had power and control over a large area and spread communism throughout several continents. This book specifically hits on six different studies of where communism and dictatorship affected these areas and what they did to stop it. Poland, Philippines, Chile, South Africa, Ukraine, and China throughout the end of the 20th century created revolutionary movements which brought them all one step closer to freeing themselves and creating democratic change.
The most important person of the Columbian Exchange should be mentioned is Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian navigator and explorer. Columbus had sailed across the Atlantic four times which supported by Isabella, the queen of Spain. As a consequence, he found the “New World” which is America,
The Colombian Exchange was an extensive exchange between the eastern and western hemispheres as knows as the Old World and New World. The Colombian exchange greatly affects almost every society. It prompted both voluntary and forced migration of millions of human beings. There are both positive and negative effects that you can see from the Colombian Exchange. The Colombian Exchange explorers created contact between Europe and the Americas. The interaction with Native Americans began the exchange of animals, plants, disease, and weapons. The most significant effects that the Colombian Exchange had on the Old World and New World were its changes in agriculture, disease, culture, and its effects on ecology.
The Columbian Exchange allowed the world to share its resources and discover new ways of living. It opened the doors for new discoveries, trade, and raised the economy of many countries. People throughout Europe were given the opportunity to travel to the newly discovered lands of the Americas and begin new lives.
Where some may say that the Columbian Exchange just exchanged objects and ideas, it enabled much more as well. Before the Europeans had actually touched down in the New World, they had obtained a large amount of new experiences from their journeys at sea. “Exploration brought a better understanding of the world, which led to improved navigation and easier future voyages.” (Source One) Before any real exploration, Europeans had not known about Natives in the Americas or that the Americas even existed at all. While they thought they knew everything about the world, it was truly limited compared to its true size. Through this exploration, European explorers were able to obtain more information than they thought there was to know about what else what out in the...
The Columbian Exchange was a period where exchanges between the New and Old Worlds took place. There were cultural and biological exchanges and these included plants, animals, diseases and even technology (Crosby, A.). These exchanges not only transformed the European and Native American ways of life but made it easier. The Columbian Exchange not only transformed life but impacted the social and cultural structure of both sides of the World. Advancements in agricultural production was seen, there was an evolution of warfare, an increased mortality rates and education was also effect by the Columbian Exchange on both the Europeans and Native Americans (Crosby, A.). This exchange began in 1492 with Columbus ' discovery but afterwards, the trade
It also marked the end of cold war between the Soviet Union and United States leading to reformed political, economic and military alliances worldwide. Upon its formation, outcome of Bolshevick Revolution of 1917, Soviet Union adopted Socialism later transforming to Communism. The main objective for Socialism and eventual Communism was to create a unified state based on centralized economic and political system. This ideology later transformed into totalitarian state. The underestimation of resistance from non-Russian ethnic groups (which was more than 50% of total population), and failure of the communism system to meet economic needs of the people were some of the reasons which to led to the decline of the USSR economy and arms competition with United States. Despite the Government’s effort to instill the ideology of communism to its people, it never took firm roots and Government ended up losing the grip of the people. With the political and economic stagnations caused by the communism, there was no choice but to change the way of doing things leading to dissolution of USSR in December 1991. The fifteen newly formed countries had overwhelming tasks of developing the economy, reorganizing the political systems, and settling the territorial disputes created earlier. There has been wars in the boundaries of the former
Shakespeare 's play "Hamlet" is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who faces adversity and is destined to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet is a character who although his actions and emotions may be one of an insane person, in the beginning of the book it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing Claudius. Hamlet is sane because throughout the play he only acts crazy in front of certain people, to others he acts properly and displays proper prince like behavior who is able to cope with them without sounding crazy, and even after everything that has been going on in his life he is able to take revenge by killing his
...tal murder of polonious and his decision to have his friends Rozencrantz and Guildenstern murdered for conspiring against him also contributed to Hamlet's mental instability. Moreover, the death of his beloved Ophelia and his mother Gertrude lead to Hamlet's decision to commit suicide.. Each of this events had some pshychological impact on Hamlet and ultimately contributed to Hamlet's insanity and his death. Therefore, even thought Hamlet had not been insane at the beginning of the play he gradually became insane due to the dramatic events that occurred to him and how he dealth with them.
Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who faces adversity and is destined to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet is a character who although his actions and emotions may be one of an insane person, in the beginning of the book it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing Claudius. Hamlet is sane because throughout the play he only acts crazy in front of certain people, to others he acts properly and displays proper prince like behavior who is able to cope with them without sounding crazy, and even after everything that has been going on in his life he is able to take revenge by killing his father's murderer. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare Hamlet is sane but acts insane to fulfill his destiny of getting vengeance on his father's murderer.
It goes on to speak about sympathy in general and how Browning “delighted in making a case for the apparently immoral position”, how he found dramatic monologues the best form to do so, and how he went about it. It keeps going for a couple more pages on things which I will not go into because they have little relevance to any interpretation of “My Last Duchess”.
The discovery of the new world brought the Europeans resources, money, and people. Discovery of the new was such an impact on the European exploration because of land. Countries would now have more land in their name with lots of resources. Discovery the new world made the European come up with the ideal of slavery. This was a negative for the people who lived on the land because they were either killed, brought into slavery, or kicked off the island (3). Crops and resources was another reason why the discovery of the new world was important. Exploring the world gave the Europeans resources that were very convenience. Gold was the greatest convenience resources found during the European exploration (3). When the Europeans were traveling across they weren’t just looking for land and money. They also learned from the Indians and others about their culture (3). Learning about another culture made the explorers bring back some of their culture and share it with the old world. The explorers found lots of resources and crops that they didn’t have, they also found out that the Indians didn’t have things they had, and this is what lead to the Columbian
“It has often been said…that in 1848…European history reached its turning point and failed to turn”4. There are a variety of reasons that can be given for the failure of the Revolutions, these include the divisions amongst revolutionaries, the continuing social and economic problems of the countries involved, the difficulty in replacing the old regimes and the problem of the new inexperienced electorates. There does not appear to be one clear, defining reason which led to the old regimes regaining power after the 1848 Revolutions. All the factors seem to be equally important and to some extent, connected.