This essay analyzes the period that preceded the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and offers several complementary explanations of the velvet divorce between the Czech and Slovak republics. Challenges facing an independent Slovakia are analyzed, and a discussion of its economic development, its positions within the realm of foreign affairs, and the crystallisation of the political landscape is also included. Finally, an examination of the 1994 parliamentary elections, with particular attention to their impact on the state of democracy and the state under the rule of law within this country, concludes the paper.