Czech Republic

Czech Republic This article is about the European country. For other expelled after the war and thus the country lost its size- uses, see Czech Republic (disambiguation). able minority and its bilingual character. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Fol- The Czech Republic ( i/ˈtʃɛk rɨˈpʌblɪk/ CHEK-rə-PUB- lowing the 1948 coup d'état, Czechoslovakia became a single-party communist state under Soviet influence. In lik;[10] Czech: Česká republika [ˈtʃɛskaː͡ ˈrɛpuˌblɪka]), is a landlocked country in Central Europe bordered by 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culmi- nated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The capital and largest which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia re- city, Prague, has over 1.2 million residents. The Czech mained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia, the communist regime collapsed and a multiparty par- Moravia, and Czech Silesia. liamentary republic was formed. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as states becoming the independent states of the Czech Re- the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Em- public and Slovakia. pire. After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of [13] power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the The Czech Republic is a developed country with an advanced,[14] high income economy[15] and high living Přemyslids. In 1004, the duchy was formally recognized [16][17][18] [11][12] standards. The UNDP ranks the country 15th in as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the [19] Kingdom of Bohemia in 1212, and reaching its greatest inequality-adjusted human development. The Czech territorial extent in the 14th century. The King of Bo- Republic also ranks as the 11th most peaceful country, hemia ruled not only Bohemia itself, but also other lands, while achieving strong performance in democratic gov- which together formed the so-called Crown of Bohemia, ernance. It is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE and the and he had a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Em- [20] peror. In the Hussite wars of the 15th century driven Council of Europe. by the Bohemian Reformation, the kingdom faced eco- nomic embargoes and defeated five crusades proclaimed by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and orga- 1 Etymology nized mainly by the emperor and princes of the Holy Ro- man Empire. Main article: Name of the Czech Republic Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the The traditional English name “Bohemia” derives from Kingdom of Hungary. The Protestant Bohemian Re- Latin “Boiohaemum”, which means “home of the Boii". volt (1618–20) against the Catholic Habsburgs led to The current name comes from the endonym Čech, bor- the Thirty Years’ War, after which the monarchy con- rowed through Polish and spelled accordingly.[21][22] The solidated its rule, reimposed Catholicism, and adopted name comes from the Slavic tribe (Czechs, Czech: Če- a policy of gradual Germanization. With the dissolu- chové) and, according to legend, their leader Čech, who tion of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Bohemian brought them to Bohemia, to settle on Říp Mountain. The Kingdom became part of the Austrian Empire and the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Czech language experienced its revival as a consequence Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning “member of the peo- of widespread romantic nationalism. In the 19th century, ple; kinsman”, thus making it cognate to the Czech word the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the člověk (a person).[23] monarchy and were subsequently the core of the Republic The country has been traditionally divided into three of Czechoslovakia, which was formed in 1918 following lands, namely Bohemia (Čechy) in the west, Moravia the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World (Morava) in the southeast, and Czech Silesia (Slezsko; the War I. smaller, south-eastern part of historical Silesia, most of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War which is located within modern Poland) in the northeast. II, and was liberated in 1945 by Soviet and American Known as the lands of the Bohemian Crown since the 14th forces. Most of the German-speaking inhabitants were century, a number of other names for the country have been used, including Czech/Bohemian lands, Bohemian 1 2 2 HISTORY Crown, and the lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas. When the country regained its independence after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, the • part of the Holy Roman Empire 1002–1806 new name of Czechoslovakia was coined to reflect the union of the Czech and Slovak nations within the one country. • part of the Austrian Empire 1804–1867 Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself • part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1867– without a common single-word name in English. In 1993, 1918 the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jozef Zieleniec suggested referring to the new country in less formal con- texts as “Czechland”, singling it out as a traditional name [24] Czechoslovakia 1918–1939 of the dominion of the Czechs. He also offered the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (protectorate alternative “Czechia” /ˈtʃɛkiə/ (Česko Czech pronunciation: of Nazi Germany) 1939–1945 [ˈtʃɛsko] in Czech); while the Czech form has gained us- age, the English version is still rare.[25] The current Czech Czechoslovakia 1945–1992 president Miloš Zeman uses the name Czechia in his offi- Czech Republic 1993 – present cial speeches and promotes its wider use.[26][27][28] Never- theless, in official documents and the full names of gov- 2.1 Prehistory ernment institutions the term Czech Republic is always used. Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric human settlements in the area, dating back to the Paleolithic era. The figurine Venus of Dolní Věstonice, together with a 2 History few others from nearby locations, found here is the oldest known ceramic article in the world. Main article: History of the Czech lands In the classical era, from the 3rd century BC Celtic mi- grations, the Boii and later in the 1st century, Germanic tribes of Marcomanni and Quadi settled there. Their king Maroboduus is the first documented ruler of Bo- hemia. During the Migration Period around the 5th century, many Germanic tribes moved westwards and south- wards out of Central Europe. Slavic people from the Black Sea-Carpathian region settled in the area (a movement that was also stimulated by Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples, showing the onslaught of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Eu- expansion of the core territory into the Czech lands by rope: Huns, Avars, Bulgars and Magyars). In the sixth the 270s BC century they moved westwards into Bohemia, Moravia and some of present day Austria and Germany. During the 7th century, the Frankish merchant Samo, support- ing the Slavs fighting against nearby settled Avars, became the ruler of the first known Slav state in Central Europe, the Samo’s Empire. The Moravian principality Great Moravia arose in the 8th century and reached its zenith in the 9th, when it held off the influence of the Franks and won the protection of the Pope. 2.2 Bohemia Great Moravia (pictured 9th century) was the first West Slavic state in Central Europe.[29] The Duchy of Bohemia emerged in the late 9th cen- Historical affiliations tury, when it was unified by the Přemyslid dynasty. In 10th century Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia conquered Moravia, Silesia and expanded farther to the east. The Samo’s Empire 631–658 Kingdom of Bohemia was, as the only kingdom in the Great Moravia 830s–900s Holy Roman Empire, a significant regional power during Duchy of Bohemia 880s–1198 the Middle Ages. It was part of the Empire from 1002 Kingdom of Bohemia 1198–1918 till 1806, with the exception of the years 1440–1526. In 2.2 Bohemia 3 Crown of Saint Wenceslas is the 4th oldest in Europe Crown of Bohemia under Emperor Charles IV Přemysl Ottokar II, King of Bohemia (1253–1278) and Duke of Austria (1251–1278) Holy Roman Empire in 1600. It included the Czech lands from 1004 to 1806, and Prague was the imperial seat in 1346–1437 and 1583–1611. 1212, King Přemysl Ottokar I (bearing the title “king” since 1198) extracted the Golden Bull of Sicily (a formal edict) from the emperor, confirming Ottokar and his de- King Přemysl Ottokar II earned the nickname Iron and scendants’ royal status; the Duchy of Bohemia was raised Golden King because of his military power and wealth. to a Kingdom. The bull declared that the King of Bo- He acquired Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, thus hemia would be exempt from all future obligations to the spreading the Bohemian territory to the Adriatic Sea. He Holy Roman Empire except for participation in imperial met his death at the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278 in councils. German immigrants settled in the Bohemian a war with his rival, King Rudolph I of Germany.[31] Ot- periphery in the 13th century. Germans populated towns tokar’s son Wenceslaus II acquired the Polish crown in and mining districts and, in some cases, formed German 1300 for himself and the Hungarian crown for his son. colonies in the interior of Bohemia.

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