CIEE Study Center
in Prague, Czech Republic
CES / CNMJ PROGRAMS
January 20, 2021
CZECH HISTORY:
An Introduction
Czech History – A (Very) Quick Introduction
1. A nation emerges: The ‘Father’ of Czech culture, St
Wencelas
2. A cultural and political centre: The ‘Greatest Czech’,
Emporer Charles IV
3. Religious Reform – Jan Hus
4. Counter-Reformation – The Habsburgs
5. Czech National Revival
6. Czechoslovakia
7. Nazism
8. Communism
9. Return to democracy
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CZECH LANDS
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Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia
SVATÝ VÁCLAV / ST WENCESLAS (c.907-935)
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• National patron
• Feast day is national holiday
• Přemyslid dynasty
• Christianity
• Czech-German relations
• killed by his brother Boleslav
• Legend of ‘Good King’ who
sought to protect distinct
Czech nation
KAREL IV. / CHARLES IV (1316-78)
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• King of Bohemia who achieved
unprecedented European status
• Holy Roman Emperor
• Patron of scientists, artists and
architects
• Strongest legacy of any Czech
monarch
• Regularly voted ‘Greatest Czech’
KAREL IV. / CHARLES IV
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KAREL IV. / CHARLES IV
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Charles University (1348)
Charles Bridge (975311357)
foundation stone laid
on 9th July at 5:31 in 1357
KAREL IV. / CHARLES IV
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The Chapel of the Holy Cross
Karlštejn Castle
The Chapel of the Holy Cross
Bohemian Crown Jewels
JAN HUS /JOHN HUS (c.1369-1415)
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• Major figure in early
Reformation
• Challenged Church on both
beliefs and organisation
• Burned as heretic – Council of
Constance
• Hussite Wars (1419-34)
HABSBURG Dynasty - RUDOLF II
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• 1575 Czech throne
• Prague Castle – main residence
• Culture and Science
• alchemy, astrology, astronomy
– early impetus for later
scientific revolution
BATTLE OF WHITE MOUNTAIN 1620
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• Thirty Years’ War (1618)
between Protestant and Catholic
states
• Decisive defeat of Czech
protestantism
• execution of 27 leaders
• Followed by intense Counter-
Reformation
• Prague loses central position
BATTLE OF WHITE MOUNTAIN
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CZECH NATIONAL REVIVAL
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• late 18th & 19th centuries
• Czech language, literature, culture
revived
• Voices of women and ordinary people
herd for first time.
• Foundation of major institutions:
Národní divadlo (1883), Národní
muzeum (1818)
• Municipal House
• Czech lands become industrial centre
CZECH NATIONAL REVIVAL
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CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC
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• October 28, 1918
• Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk –
defining figure of 1st Republic
• Boundaries established in
Versailles
• Significant minorities in addition
to Czechs, Slovaks and
Silesian(German speaking, Hungarian,
Ruthenian)
• industrial, intellectual and artistic
boom
1938 MUNICH AGREEMENT
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WORLD WAR II
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• Country dismantled into 4 parts
• 263,000 Jews murdered (3/4)
• Protector Reinhart Heydrich
• Lidice reprisal
• US forces stop in Eastern Bohemia,
Soviets in rest of country
WORLD WAR II
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COMMUNISM
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• 1948 Coup d’état
• Klement Gottwald
• 1950s political trials – Milada
Horáková
• political cleansing
COMMUNISM 1950s
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PRAGUE SPRING & AFTERMATH
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• 1960s political thaw
• Aug. 21, 1968: Warsaw Pact invasion of
Czechoslovakia
• Emigration
• 1969 self-immolations:
Jan Palach, Jan Zajíc
• 1970s & 80s Normalization
• Charter 77
• Ongoing persecution
PRAGUE SPRING & AFTERMATH
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VELVET REVOLUTION 1989
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• November 17, 1989: student
demonstration
• Václav Havel elected President
• January 1, 1993: Czech Republic and
Slovak Republic
• 1999 NATO membership
• 2004 EU membership
VELVET REVOLUTION
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January 20, 2021 25
Close Transatlantic ties
And the future…?
CIEE Study Center
in Prague, Czech Republic
CES / CNMJ PROGRAMS
January 20, 2021
CZECH HISTORY:
An Introduction