WASHINGTON - What is it about Czechoslovakia and people with strong national security backgrounds?
First Republican presidential candidate John McCain referred to the country twice in as many days, even though it has not existed since 1993, when it split into the separate nations of Slovakia and the Czech Republic following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Now comes former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, who mentioned Czechoslovakia while joining Democratic presidential Barack Obama on the campaign trail in Indiana.
Both men are recognized as strong voices on national security issues with a good handle on foreign affairs. But both had a slip of the tongue when discussing the Czech Republic, which has been negotiating with the Bush administration to host, along with Poland, part of a U.S. missile defense system.
Here’s Nunn’s slip-up on Wednesday.
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10 comments so far
Let’s face it “the Czech Republic” is not a good country name, at least in English for every day use. I have a few Czech friends who also agree.
There is almost no other country that needs “the” in the name we use every day. So when you start to say “Czech” without the “the”, the natural way to finish is by saying “Czechoslovakia”.
Actually, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggested the name “Czechia” in 1993 as an official alternative in all situations other than formal documents. This is akin to “the Russian Federation” being normally called “Russia”. But this has not become widely-used in English, though other languages have single-word names, such as “Tschechien” in German or “Czechy” in Polish.
So let’s start using Czechia in the media, instead of the awkward “THE Czech Republic”.
- Posted by JVFrom my experience (I am in my early 20’s), having had Slovakian friends and having met Czech people, referring to “Czechoslovakia” is ignorant and a mistake I long ago learned not to make. As far as I can tell the Czechs and Slovakians have little in common culturally and likely resent having been lumped together into one country. I don’t refer to Russians as living in the “USSR” so why would I refer to “Czechoslovakia” as though it is a country that still exists? Given that I am easily able to avoid making the mistake these politicians made, I find their performance somewhat less than confidence inspiring.
- Posted by AkivaActually, there are many countries with “the” in the name:
“The United Kingdom” or “The UK” and “The USA” come to mind right away.
Nearly all countries to which we include “republic” start with “The”, even “The French Republic”. That is not to say that we cannot say “France” of course.
I think that the slip made by these gentlemen is more likely due to the fact that time has sped past for them, and their lexicon is still ingrrained in the past.
- Posted by APS@JV: You mean like THE United States?
@Akiva: I still cut both sides some slack. Unlike someone in their early 20s, they had fifty or more years of referring to the place as “Czechoslovakia” before the name changed It’s a force of habit. Unlike Russia/USSR or the states that emerged from Yugoslavia, the name still starts the same way, and it is easy to slip. In neither case does the slip actually impugn their credentials on foreign policy… it’s just funny.
- Posted by Merry‘Czech Republic’ is a fine name for a country. ‘Czechia’ sounds too much like ‘Chechnya’ and would only lead to worse mistakes.
- Posted by JamaalMy mother’s family (Kysilko) is Czech. They used to call themselves “Bohemians” (though the family is two-thirds Moravian) and the name for the Czech Republic used to be the “Kingdom of Bohemia” until 1647 when the Habsburgs defeated the Hussite Bohemian forces at the Battle of the White Mountain during the Thirty Years War. The name “Bohemia and Moravia” has been suggested for the current republic but has generally been rejected since that name was used for Hitler’s “protectorate” during World War II.
Although Czechs and Slovaks speak nearly identical languages the deep cultural divisions date to Habsburg times. Generally the Czechs retained their own heritage while the Slovaks adopted Hungarian customs, due largely to the fact that the Magyars repressed the Slovaks more thoroughly than the Austrians ruled the Czechs.
- Posted by John AndreWhat amazes me is how the media parse this stuff to no end but give no time to more important topics. Yep, they goofed. So what? Is there really nothing more important that we could be discussing??
- Posted by MikeIt’s just old men who lived through the Cold War and can’t substitute a newer designation in their minds. If I call my kid by his brother’s name it doesn’t mean what I have to say is unimportant. With men over fifty, it is the substance that matters, not the detail.
- Posted by DavidI have some maps and a Replogle World Globe that show Czechoslovakia and other countries like Burma, East Pakistan and Belgian Congo as well as cities like Leningrad and Bombay, why…there’s even an East Germany! So what exactly is the point being made here? There will always be cities and countries whose names have been changed to fit the political climate. People who have lived long enough to have seen these changes will always recognize the country by whatever name it is called- today or yesterday or last century. They may even use the names interchangeably. Viva Saigon…sorry, Ho Chi Mingh City.
- Posted by Rick[…] More about this on Reuters. […]
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