finally, pressburg became bratislava when, in 1918, the first czechoslovakian state was forged.ut one war and a few years later, the old castle still saw another frontier pass at its feet-- the iron curtain. then, in its turn, this last empire fell in 1989. ( man speaking slovak ) translator: at a certain point, the czech political class decided that it would suit them better if slovakia became independent, thus to create a barrier to the ukraine and the balkans. they thought that this would allow their economy to conform more easily to western european norms. concurrently, a group of slovak leaders felt that the economic restructuring program proposed by the czechs was not very advantageous for slovakia. this was how, following the 1992 elections, the new prime ministers, vaclav klaus for the czech republic and vladimir meciar for slovakia, decided that the two federal states must separate peacefully. ( speaking slovak ) ( cheers and applause ) the slovaks always felt that they were treated as second-class citizens within czechoslovakia. they thought it was supposed to be an eq