Slovakia
The Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic went their separate ways after 1 January 1993, an event sometimes called the Velvet Divorce. Slovakia has remained a close partner with the Czech Republic. Both countries co-operate with Hungary and Poland in the Visegrád Group. Slovakia became a member of NATO on 29 March 2004 and of the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 1 January 2009, Slovakia adopted the Euro as its national currency.
World War II by country
The newly separated Slovak Republic (1939–1945), led by Jozef Tiso was set up in Slovakia. Part of southern Slovakia and all of Ruthenia (the former eastern end of Czechoslovakia) was annexed by Hungary. Zaolzie was annexed by Poland, snatched from them by the Germans 11 months later, and returned to Czechoslovakia in 1945 by the Soviet Union. The Slovak National Uprising, commenced in August 1944, was suppressed by German forces at the end of October; partisans, however, continued fighting in the mountains until the war's end. In April 1945, the Red Army defeated the Germans and ousted Tiso's government, annexing Carpathian Ruthenia to the USSR.