<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In an act of punctuation compromise that would have dramatic geopolitical ramifications, the new parliament in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/czech-republic" rel="" target="" title="Czechoslovakia"><span>Czechoslovakia</span></a><span> settled on an official name on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-29-what-happened-on-this-day/8755eeb3-795a-42a1-bba6-b79088a9493e" rel="" target="" title="March 29, 1990"><span>March 29, 1990</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>What was formerly the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic would be renamed to the Czechoslovak Federative Republic.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The new name was a failed compromise between two regions that had been unhappily united for decades.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-20-what-happened-on-this-day-princess-anne-kidnapping/28eae109-7afb-4aec-84fa-6cb5face085e" rel="" target="" title="Princess Anne tells would-be kidnapper 'not bloody likely'"><strong><span>Princess Anne tells would-be kidnapper 'not bloody likely'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/slovakia" rel="" target="" title="Slovaks"><span>Slovaks</span></a><span> in the east of the country believed that having their part of the country name spelled in lower case belittled them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Czechs were unwilling to take the grammatically incorrect step of spelling the country with a capital letter in the middle.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The deal agreed to by the parliament was that when the country's name was spelled in Czech, Československá federativní republika, it would not have a hyphen.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-29-what-happened-on-this-day-hyphen-war/9d24576f-6be0-428d-b797-8d362e6a782e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But spelled in Slovak, Česko-slovenská federatívna republika, it would.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It would be wryly described as "the hyphen war".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The compromise did not last long. After less than a month, the parliament voted to change the name again, to the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-18-what-happened-on-this-day/f02c3791-b3fb-40ac-9f58-1b118b25ca4c" target="" title="Dictator's son commits the biggest bank heist of all time"><strong><span>Dictator's son commits the biggest bank heist of all time</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the dispute over the name only heightened other tensions between the two sides.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both Czechs and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/slovakia" rel="" target="" title="Slovaks"><span>Slovaks</span></a><span> in general wanted to remain one country, but they had serious disputes about how it should be run.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the differences proved too much to overcome, and they split into two in 1992.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The dissolution was a peaceful one, and it would be nicknamed the Velvet Divorce.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But it was in many ways very complicated.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-july-2-what-happened-on-this-day/19538309-3c45-44a1-991d-6847c47fe673" rel="" target="" title="1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers"><span>1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers</span></a><span>, the team played as "Representation of Czechs and Slovaks" before they went their separate ways. The side failed to qualify for the tournament.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-21-what-happened-on-this-day-collyer-brothers/d420209f-80bc-49c4-8745-b09ffc292bb8" rel="" target="" title="Brother starves to death after hoarder killed by own booby trap"><strong><span>Brother starves to death after hoarder killed by own booby trap</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-21-what-happened-on-this-day-collyer-brothers/d420209f-80bc-49c4-8745-b09ffc292bb8" rel="" target="" title="Brother starves to death after hoarder killed by own booby trap"><strong><span></span></strong></a><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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