Prague Prepares to Celebrate 100 Years of Czechoslovak Independence

On October 28, 1918, the sovereign state of Czechoslovakia was established when the nation declared independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire following World War I.

Despite a storied hundred years that featured occupation by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and the separation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, the date is still one of the most significant in both Czech and Slovak calendars.

October 28, known locally as the Independent Czechoslovak State Day (Den vzniku samostatného československého státu), is already a national holiday that sees yearly celebrations.

And on October 28, 2018, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will be celebrating a big anniversary: exactly 100 years of independence (or, technically, 100 since independence was first obtained).

You can expect weekend-long celebrations in both countries for the event, which falls on a Sunday.

While details of what that parade might entail are currently being kept under wraps by the Ministry of Defense, we can gauge what might be in the works by previous year’s celebrations.

In 2008, for example, on the 90th anniversary of Czechoslovak Independence, a parade on Evropská street in Prague 6 involved the Czech military along with Prague’s rescue services, police force, firefighters, and paramedics.

The three-kilometer parade featured more than 2,000 people and nearly 200 military vehicles including tanks, helicopters, and airplanes. The budget for the event was estimated at 15 million CZK. 

That sounds impressive, but the next edition of the parade in two years’ time should far surpass it.

The event may fall under the auspices of a new Czech president, as incumbent Miloš Zeman’s term will expire earlier that year.