The Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence or the Washington Declaration (Czech: Washingtonská deklarace: Slovak: Washingtonská deklarácia) was drafted in Washington, D.C. and published by Czecho-Slovakia's Paris-based Provisional Government on 18 October 1918.[1] The creation of the document, officially the Declaration on Independence of the Czechoslovak Nation by Its Provisional Government (Czech: Prohlášení nezávislosti ?eskoslovenského národa zatímní vládou ?eskoslovenskou), was prompted by the imminent collapse of the Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire, of which the Czech and Slovak lands had been part for almost 400 years, following the First World War.
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