Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church
After the Czech and Slovak Republics separated into independent republics in 1993, church activity continued in each country as separate legal entities: in the Czech Republic as the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and in the Slovak Republic as the Orthodox Church in Slovakia, but canonical unity was maintained as the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. The church is now organized into four eparchies divided into two administrative centers: the Metropolitan Council for the Czech Republic resident in Prague and the Metropolitan Council for the Slovak Republic in Prešov. Under the Council of the Czech Lands (Prague) are the eparchies of Prague and Olomouc-Brno, while the eparchies of Prešov and Michalovce are under the Council of Slovakia (Prešov).
History of Czechoslovak nationality
After World War I, the First Czechoslovak Republic was finally formed by combining the Czech lands, Upper Hungary, and Carpathian Ruthenia, which was annexed in 1919 due to the Allies’ pressure. If the desire for a Czechoslovak nation had been expressed for a long time, the Slovaks in the 1920s, nevertheless, felt resentment because they were proportionally less represented into the Czechoslovak administration. This, however, can be explained by the fact that, in Austria-Hungary, the Czechs had the opportunity to develop an elite which could then lead the new country and that such an elite was totally absent in the Slovak population. Moreover, the formation of a Czechoslovak Hussite Church which conducted its services in Czech created large discontent. New national holidays, such as July 6, which commemorated the death of Czech reformer Jan Hus, created opposition within the Catholics. Also during the 1920s, the Slovaks became more and more literate, thus developing their own culture, and the structures promoting such a Slovak culture.