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| 1973, June 20 |
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| Following a protracted series of talks and negotiations, Czechoslovakia and West Germany initialed a treaty normalizing their relations. The treaty contained the mutual recognition that the Munich Agreement of 1938, by which Czechoslovakia had conceded Sudetenland to Germany, was “null and void.” | 1 |
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| 1975, May 29 |
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| Gustáv Husák was elected president of Czechoslovakia, a position he held till 1989. He was also the general secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party from 1969 to 1987. | 2 |
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| 1977, Jan |
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| The “Charter 77” manifesto appeared in Western newspapers, exposing the nonobservance of human rights in Czechoslovakia. Many journalists and writers had lost their positions and some had been imprisoned in the purge of 1968-reform supporters. The manifesto was drawn up by Czechoslovak intellectuals after Czechoslovakia ratified UN Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. A total of 242 people initially signed the manifesto demanding compliance with human rights provisions of the Helsinki Agreement. In February, 208 more added their signatures to the manifesto. The government declared the document to be against the social and political order. Police interrogated and arrested those who had signed the manifesto. The arrests continued into the 1980s. | 3 |
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| 1980s |
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| Church-state relations strained. Judicial action increased against clerics and clandestine religious groups, leading to several imprisonments. Worsening relations between the Catholic Church and Czechoslovak authorities were affected by the development of Solidarity in Poland in August and September 1980, as the government was concerned about the possible growth of militant Catholicism in its own country. In December 1987, after a break of four years, Czechoslovak representatives and Roman Catholic officials in the Vatican resumed talks to ease the strained relations and to resolve the dispute over ten vacant bishoprics. Progress, though slight, was made when the government endorsed three new bishops in May 1988. | 4 |
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| 1986, Sept. 2 |
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| The police arrested seven leaders of the Czechoslovak Musician's Union Jazz Section, searching and confiscating their papers. | 5 |
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| Oct |
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| An abortion law was approved by the Czech and Slovak Councils (Parliaments); it entered into effect on Jan. 1, 1987. The law allowed women to choose abortion, provided they notified a doctor within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. | 6 |
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