Czechoslovakia (Czech and Slovak: ÄŒeskoslovensko, or (increasingly after 1990) in Slovak ÄŒesko-Slovensko) was a country in Central Europe that existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992 (with a government-in-exile during the World War II period). On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.