page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Czechoslovakia
section_title: Stamps
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Czechoslovakia / First Republic / Stamps
caption_attribution_description: English: Czechoslovak postage stamp, 1920/1922, Mi. 175
context_page_description: This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Czechoslovakia.
  Czechoslovakia was a country in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992. From 1939 to 1945 the state did not have de facto existence, due to its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, but the Czechoslovak government-in-exile nevertheless continued to exist during this time period. On 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
context_section_description: The first stamps were issued in October 1918. The Hradčany Castle stamps illustrate the castle in Prague with the sun symbolically rising behind it is synonymous with the birth of the new state though the sun does not actually rise behind the castle. The stamps, designed by graphic designer Alphonse Mucha, an exponent of Art Nouveau living in Prague, was chosen from the more than ten submitted designs. Mucha's reason for choosing the castle motif was because: 
  The issue comes in two distinct sets with fifty-three different stamps that can be classified by five different types. The words Pošta Česko-Slovenská are arranged around the two sides and top of the first set while on the second set Česko-Slovenská is in one line under the main castle design. The different types show slight variations in the design but several errors exist that include plate faults and flaws as well as different printing plates. Fewer variations exist in succeeding issues because the Ministry of Posts' designers, engravers and print mills improved their skills with experience.
  The first of several stamps illustrate Thomas Masaryk, the country's first president, followed in 1920 with three denominations of 125h, 500h and 1000h designed by Max Švabinský. That year also saw two allegorical sets issued showing a stylised carrier pigeon in six values and referred to by some as Dove stamps, and the ten denominations of The Chainbreaker, symbolising the country, shows a woman breaking free from the chain of bondage. Both these sets also exist in tete-beche pairs due to a booklet printing plate layout proposed by a private company who were going to use the gutter for advertising as well as pay the printing costs, however, even though the stamps had been printed, the booklet deal never happened.
caption: 1920 50-heller Chainbreaker stamp
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