Praying for the nations
During the glorious days of the Velvet Revolution (in November 1989), nobody thought of division of Czechoslovakia – at least in the Czech part of the country. I did not pay much attention to sporadic demands for Slovak independence which started to appear in the press in the second half of 1990 and during 1991. As time went by, these demands grow more and more vocal.
Czech and Slovak politicians negotiated how the future of Czechoslovakia should look like. The voices calling for full separation were relatively rare; most of the Slovak politicians wanted a sort of confederation. They spoke of confederation, but what they practically proposed was a full independence. Many people on both sides called for referendum. But how should be the question of the referendum be formulated? One of the frustrated Czech politicians, Jan Kalvoda, said that for the Czech part of the country the question should actually be: Do you want to live in one state with independent Slovakia?
The first free Parliamentary elections after 40 years of communism were held in June 8 and 9, 1990. In both parts of the state the parties created right after the fall of communism, Civic Forum in the Czech part and Citizens against Violence in the Slovak part, who united leading personalities of the Velvet revolution, won by a huge margin. In both partes of the state, the Communist party got only about 13 % of the vote.
The next general elections were held in June 5 and 6, 1992. In the meantime, several “classical” parties emerged, e. g. The Christian Democratic party or the Social Democratic party. Civic Forum and Citizens against Violence dissolved and the voters of 1990 could choose between classical political streams in 1992.
However, situation changed dramatically. In the Czech part, the Civic Democratic party, led by Václav Klaus, won decisively. In Slovakia The Movement for Democratic Slovakia, led by Vladimír Mečiar, became the leading party.
It might look like a simplification, but we can say that Czechs voted for capitalism and liberalism, the Slovaks voted for socialism and nationalism.
There was a lot of negotiations, but they led nowhere. It was Václav Klaus, not Vladimír Mečiar, who said: O. K. Let us peacefully divide the state.
On August 26, 1992, these two leaders, Klaus and Mečiar, signed a treaty dividing Czechoslovakia in two states, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The date of separation was December 31st, 1992.
My assessment was that in spring and summer 1992, it was only about 10 % Czechs who wanted the division, and about 30 % of Slovaks. But about a year after, I think 90 % Czechs supported the move, and I would say only about 70 % Slovaks. But this was my assessment – I might have been wrong.
On both sides, many called for a referendum. When Mečiar and Klaus announced the division of Czechoslovakia, many protested that the move is illegal without a referendum.
The Role of Christians
There might be some evangelical Slovaks who wanted the divorce of the two nations, but they were not very vocal. In fact, I do not remember any non-Roman Catholic personality who was in favour of the separation. But generally speaking, the whole question was not very much discussed. We more or less waited what the outcome will be.
At the same time, we followed the developments in the Balkans, and we were horrified about the atrocities which the Croats and Serbs inflicted on each other.
In July 2-4, 1992, a big Christian conference was held in the Palace of Culture, which was built in the 1980s for the Communist Party congresses and other big events. The tradition of these conference started in summer 1988. The next year, still under the communist rule, the conference took place in the Palace of Culture. It was a miracle that the conference could be held there. God answered our prayers. We experienced that when God opens the door, nobody can close it. In the first half of the 1990s the conference was held there; later we could not afford to be there as the rent sky-rocketed. These conferences were held in July every year until 2023, when they were discontinued.
These conferences were organized by Christian Mission Society, an interdenominational organization established right after the fall of Communism. The Christian Mission Society (In Czech Křesťanská misijní společnost or KMS) was led by 5member “Close committee” of which I was a member. I do not know who was supposed to be a speaker on that particular day. But we (i.e. Close committee and many others) felt that we should change the programme and make a spiritual covenant stating that the Czech and Slovak Christians will not be divided.
What prompted this change of programme?
In the evening news the previous day it was announced that Slovak National Council did not vote for Václav Havel as president of the federal Czechoslovakia. According to the then valid constitution, the federal president had to get a majority of votes in both the Czech and the Slovak National Councils as well as in the federal Parliament. Václav Havel was elected by a huge margin in the Czech National Council and in the Federal Parliament. There was no other candidate (with exception of Miroslav Sládek, leader of the tiny Republican Party. Don’t be misled by this name. He was an outright fascist who did not have a chance.)
After this vote in the Slovak National Council it was clear the Czech and Slovaks will not live together in one state. But it was not clear what is going to happen. The situation could easily take “the Balkan turn”.
Now back to the conference.
About 1550 Czechs and 200 Slovaks were present. We declared the covenant and prayed for the country. On the platform, Czech and Slovak leaders embraced each other and the participants of the conference followed and did the same. Then the leaders prayed individually.
Somehow we felt that the divorce is inevitable. One leader (not one of the five leaders in the Close Committee) prayed emotionally against the division, but we felt it was inappropriate at that moment. His prayer will not be answered.
We did not have the authority to pray that the division would not take place. But we could pray that the divorce would be peaceful, without violence. And God answered this prayer. The relationship between the two nations did not suffer at all. In all polls, the Slovaks are the closest nation for the Czechs and Czechs are the closest nation for the Slovaks. It is true on the political level, too. The first visit of the newly elected Czech president is in Bratislava and the newly elected Slovak president goes to Prague, even if they have different political orientation.
I think that in these special situations it is very important to understand, what mandate we have. The Christian Conference in the Palace of Culture in 1992 was predominantly an evangelical affair, though many Roman Catholics and mainstream Protestants participated, too. But it cannot be said the attendees of this conference were a representative sample of Czechoslovak Christianity. Nevertheless, I had a very strong feeling that we have spiritual authority to make that covenant of brotherly love. On the other hand, we did not have the mandate to change the course of history and “un-pray” the divorce of these two states.
During that very day (I think it was on July 3rd) TV crew visited the Palace of Culture. I and Evald Rucký from Jednota bratrská (known in the West as Moravian Church) were interviewed and the interview was broadcast in TV evening news. We spoke about the unity of Czech and Slovak Christians. The whole atmosphere was so different from what was going on in the Czechoslovak society. There was gloominess and fear in the secular sphere, but there was assurance and joy among the Christians.
On July 17, 1992, The Slovak National Council (Slovak Parliament) declared “sovereignty”. It was just a political declaration with no legal consequences whatever. After that it was clear after this move, that the divorce is unavoidable. It was actually decided already on July 2nd. On the very same day (July 17), Václav Havel, President of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic, resigned. He said that he does not want to be a President of the state which is falling apart. The atmosphere in Prague – and in whole Czechoslovakia, was gloomy.
Nevertheless, the prayers of the Christians were answered. The division was not only peaceful (without a single shot), but unexpectedly successful. And the relationship of the two nations became better and better.
**
The Reconciliation Conferences
From January to April 1992 I was with my wife and our one-year old daughter in Fort Collins, Colorado, as an intern in the big Vineyard Fellowship church. There were two other couples doing their internship at the same time, both from our part of Europe. One couple was from Austria, the other one from Hungary. As we talked, we came to the conclusion that most of the problems of our nations have their root in Austria-Hungary not being properly buried. Few years later I organized a conference in Prague in hope to “pray through” this issue.
This conference took place in Prague on February 7-10, 1994. The conference was organized by Christian Mission Society and by International Fellowship of Intercessors led by Johannes Facius. It was a small-scale conference for several dozens intercessors, one of them was James W. Goll, one of the Kansas City prophets, who had a special relationship with Czechoslovak Christians. Conference was attended by 80 leaders and intercessors from 13 countries.
Nevertheless, the development was different than I expected. The participants were predominantly from Austria-Hungary, with the exception of Johannes Facius and the American prophets. But the conference did not deal only with the past. On Wednesday Feb 9 we prayed most of the night for the Serbs accepting the ultimatum by NATO demanding withdrawing the Serb artillery bombarding Sarajevo for many months. God answered our prayers and the Serbian artillery withdrew. At least for that time the bombing was averted. It was a pity that only one Serbian and one Croatian pastors were present. (However, there were 5 other participants from Croatia present, but not any leaders.)
All this is history now. I consulted this article with several other people, but in spite of that my memory could have failed me. If you were one of the participants, let me know if I have made some mistakes.
I am convinced that prayer is much more important than most of the Western Christians think.
Dan Drápal, summer 2024