With the Great Moravian Empire out of the way, the Przemyslid
family succeeded in laying the foundations of a Czech state somewhere around the
the end of the ninth century. They did this mostly by ridding themselves of all
of the things that were standing in their way, like the Vrsovic and Slavnik
clans - which the Przemyslids murdered in a particularly bloody manner.The only Vrsovec to
escape the massacre of his family was Adalbert, but it didn't do him much good.
Adalbert was so thankful for his salvation that he became a Christian
missionary and headed northwest (to the area of today's northeast Germany) to
spread the Word. No sooner did he arrive at his destination than he was
brutally roasted and eaten by the inhabitants. Adalbert (or Vojtech, as he is
known in Czech) is another of the Czech nation's patron saints today.
But Vojtech was not the only early Czech guy to be made a saint thanks to the
Przemyslid's bloodthirstiness. On the contrary - the Przemyslid rulers were
rather a mixed bag, and when they ran out of rival clans to murder, they
started murdering each other - resulting in some more early saints for the
Czechs.
Wenceslas I, the fourth Przemyslid Czech ruler, was made a saint
soon after his murder in 929 or 935. This Wenceslas (in Czech, Vaclav) is the
Good King Wenceslas of the Christmas carol, and it was during his reign that
the Czech lands entered into an alliance with Saxony, thereby laying the
foundations for closer relations with the restored Roman Empire.
This mischievous affability on Wenceslas' part towards the Czechs'
western neighbors is a main reason that he was killed by his brother, who
wasn't very good (in fact he is known as "Boleslav the Cruel.")
Another reason might be that Boleslav was a pagan, and he felt that Wenceslas
was frittering away too much time with this new Christian fashion he'd picked
up -- though lust for power probably also played a role in Boleslav's motive
for the murder, which took place at the very door of the church in Stara
Boleslav, where Wenceslas was trying to seek refuge.
Incidentally, Boleslav and Wenceslas' Grandmother (on their
father's side) was also murdered, and also made a saint. It is said that she
was either smothered to death with a pillow or choked to death - this time, the
killer was her daughter-in-law (Boleslav and Wenceslas' mother), and the motive
was, again, power (Drahomira wanted to place Wenceslas on the throne.)
Things didn't get much better within the Przemyslid family, it is
suspected that . Interestingly
enough, the Przemyslids are remembered rather fondly in the Czech Republic
today, as it seems that most people are blissfully unaware of the family's
murderous streak.
Maybe that is because the Przemyslids occasionally took time off
from their favorite sport to increase Bohemia's power and prestige. In typical
early feudal fashion, this meant that they went out killing people in other
countries instead, expanding their empire to Moravia and Silesia, as well as
the upper reaches of the river Vistula and parts of western Slovakia. In
Moravia, they set up a system of dukedoms, with the office of
"Margrave" (ruler of Moravia) sometimes being held by the Bohemian
Dauphin, sometimes by a rival for the Bohemian throne. In this way the
Przemyslide dynastic killings were stayed, and both Bohemia and Moravia came to
be regarded as hereditary lands of the Przemyslid dynasty. All the while, the
expansion of the Przemyslid Dynasty's power went hand in hand with the spread
of Christianity in the region.
This growing
Przemyslide state maintained its sovereignty, though it formally recognized the
feudal supremacy of the Roman-German Empire. The Czech lands ranked among the
most advanced of the European feudal states, being at the forefront of economic
power and cultural achievement at the time. In keeping with this growing
importance, the territory was officially recognized through the granting of a
royal crown to the Przemyslid Dynasty in the eleventh century (it was made
hereditary in 1212 by the Golden Sicilian Bull) and the granting of the title
of 'emperor' for Czech rulers.
The 1100s and 1200s were a very busy time in this part of Europe, and
colonization, trade and cultural activity were steadily on the increase.
Prague, which lay smack dab in the middle of several continental trade routes,
flourished. Prague's Old Town was founded in 1234 as the first of Prague's five
towns, and the Lesser Quarter was founded in 1257. Border forests were settled
and towns and fortresses were founded and fortified. These sweeping changes
literally transformed the country, and in keeping with these physical changes,
the social structure of the territory also evolved. From about this time,
aristocrats, burghers, and serfs were to be spotted in the Czech lands - as
were German settlers, who were invited to colonize previously uninhabited
(mostly border) regions of Bohemia and Moravia. The German settlers, whether
burghers or peasants, did not form a homogeneous or politically separate group,
and they soon became part of the local community, identifying with Czech
statehood and sharing in the development of the Czech and Moravian lands as
fully enfranchised members of the population, but mostly but keeping their
native language (in addition to learning Czech.) Many, many, many, many
centuries later, the places that they settled would come to be known as the
"Sudetenland."
From the thirteenth century, the Czech kingdom was one of the most
robust states in all of Europe, with a growing population and a vigorous
economy. This, in turn, made the Czech nobility and rulers all the more rich
and powerful, and enabled king Przemysl Otakar II to expand his territory
rather extensively (if briefly). Otakar II was quite well-known in his time,
and he even makes an appearance in Dante's Divine Comedy. Otokar II, also known
as the "King of Gold and Iron" (because of his considerable wealth
and his considerable military might) defeated the armies of the Hungarian king
in 1256 and again in 1260. This military victory allowed him to annex the
Alpine countries (today's Austria and beyond) - extending his territories all
the way to the Adriatic Sea. Some people claim that this brief period - in which
Bohemia controlled territory bordering on the sea - is the basis for
Shakespeare's infamous 'Bohemian seacoast' from his play, "The
Tempest."
Well, while the Czech lands were gaining power, prestige,
oceanfront property and other things, a powerful rival appeared in Germany in
the person of the newly-elected ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, Rudolf Habsburg
- a member of a previously unimportant family from the Rhineland. This Rudolf
formed an alliance of German princes and - after the Czech King Przemysl Otakar
II was killed in battle in Moravia against the combined Roman and Hungarian
forces on August 26, 1278 - Rudolf took possession of the abovementioned Alpine
lands, which later became the basis of the Habsburgs' power - ie Austria.
The late Czech King Przemysl Otakar II was succeeded by his son,
Wenceslas II (1278-1305). Under his reign, the mining of Czech silver at Kutna
Hora and the minting of the Czech silver groschen - one of the hardest European
currencies of the time - flourished. Wenceslas II also created a confederation
between Bohemia and Poland. For a short time, Hungary - under the rule of
Matthias Czak Trenciansky, who held absolute rule over most of Slovakia as well
- also joined this confederation.
The Polish-Czech union was strengthened under the brief rule of
Wenceslas III. Had it survived, it might have contributed to the creation of a
more advanced region in Europe as the earlier Czech- Austrian union had.
However, this was precluded by the
death of young Wenceslas III (in 1306, when he was just 17 years old).
Wenceslas III was the last male member of the Przemyslids line, and after his
death the Czech-Polish union fell apart.
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Przemyśl (en ukrainien Перемишль, Peremychl) est une ville du
sud-est de la Pologne (Voïvodie des
Basses-Carpates).
Sommaire
[masquer] ·
3 Climat |
Przemyśl doit son développement à
une situation géographique particulièrement intéressante. La ville occupe une
position clé dans le couloir reliant les Carpates à la plaine. Elle a été le carrefour
de routes commerciales au centre d’une région très fertile. Elle est traversée
par le San, un cours d’eau navigable.
Przemyśl (Peremychl) est une des villes
de la pologne actuelle (avec aussi Sanok et Chełm) qui fut fondée par des princes ukrainiens.
Przemyśl est la deuxième plus
vieille ville du sud de la Pologne après Cracovie.
Elle est fondée au viiie siècle et fait partie de la Grande-Moravie. Des traces archéologiques attestent
déjà d'une présence monacale au ixe siècle.
L'invasion de la Grande-Moravie par les Magyars vers 899 pousse les habitants à se mettre sous
la protection de la Rus' de Kiev. Depuis cette époque, Przemyśl est devenu un
sujet de contentieux entre la Pologne, la Rus' de Kiev et la Hongrie.
La première mention historique de la ville date de 981 et concerne cette rivalité.
Du ixe au xiie siècle,
Przemyśl est la capitale de la Ruthénie rouge. La ville est incorporée à la Pologne dans la
deuxième partie du xiiie siècle. A
cette époque, elle obtient les privilèges urbains
(droit de Magdebourg) confirmés par le roi Ladislas II Jagellon en 1389.
Durant la Renaissance,
la ville prospère en tant que grand centre commercial. Polonais, Ruthènes, Juifs, Allemands,Tchèques et Arméniens cohabitent.
La ville commence à décliner au milieu du xviie siècle en conséquence de la guerre avec laSuède et de l'effondrement de l'Union polono-lituanienne.
Ce n'est qu'à la fin du xviiie siècle que la population retrouve son
importance d'antan.
En 1772,
à la suite du premier partage
de la Pologne, Przemyśl est annexée par l'Autriche.
En 1861,
une ligne de chemin de fer est construite et relie la ville à Cracovie et à Lwów.
Au milieu du xixe siècle, en
raison des tensions grandissantes entre l'Autriche et la Russie au sujet des Balkans,
Przemyśl devient une ville d'une importance stratégique considérable pour
les Autrichiens. Pendant la guerre de Crimée, la ville est transformée
en un camp fortifié, entouré par une ceinture d'une circonférence de 15 km contenant 30 forteresses. Les progrès
réalisés par l'artillerie pendant la seconde partie du xixe siècleont
très vite rendu ces fortifications obsolètes. De 1888 à 1914,
les Autrichiens construisent une deuxième ceinture de 45 kmde circonférence contenant 44
forts tandis que l'anneau intérieur est renforcé et modernisé. Après Anvers et Verdun, Przemyśl devient la troisième ville la plus
fortifiée d'Europe. Elle peut accueillir 85 000 soldats et 956
canons.
En août 1914,
au début de la Première Guerre
mondiale, les Russes prennent l'avantage sur les Autrichiens et
avancent rapidement en Galicie.
Przemyśl remplit complètement sa mission en arrêtant l'armée russe forte
de 300 000 hommes. A partir d'octobre 1914,
les Russes assiègent de nouveau la ville. Faute manque de vivres, les
défenseurs de la ville, épuisés, déposent les armes le 22 mars 1915 après
avoir détruits les fortifications. Les Russes font 126 000 prisonniers et s'emparent
de 700 pièces d'artillerie. Les Empires centrauxreprennent Przemyśl le 3 juin 1915.
Les combats dans la région ont fait 115 000 morts, blessés ou disparus.
Après la guerre, la ville fait l'objet
d'un conflit entre la Pologne et l'Ukraine.
Le 12 novembre 1918,
la ville est entièrement aux mains des Polonais.
Population de
Przemyśl en 1931
Catholiques |
39 430 |
(63,3%) |
Juifs |
18 376 |
(29,5%) |
Uniates |
4 391 |
(7,0%) |
Autres |
85 |
(0,2%) |
Total |
62 272 |
|
Source: Recensement
de 1931
En 1931,
la ville compte 62 272 habitants. En 1939,
après l'invasion de la Pologne par l'Allemagne et l'URSS,
la ville de Przemyśl se trouve à la frontière séparant la zone
d'occupation allemande de la zone d'occupation soviétique.
De nombreux Juifs réussissent à passer dans la zone
d'occupation soviétique. En juin 1941, l'Allemagne attaque l'URSS et prend
le contrôle de toute la ville. Le 20 juin 1942, un premier groupe de 1 000
Juifs de la région de Przemyśl est envoyé au camp de travail
forcé de Janowska. Le 15 juillet 1942,
les nazis créent un ghetto et y enferment 22 000 Juifs. Ils
seront pratiquement tous exterminés à Auschwitz et à Belzec.
La résistance polonaise et juive réussira à sauver 415 Juifs. L'étude des
archives allemandes révèle que 568 Polonais de la région ont été exécutés pour
avoir aidé des Juifs.
La ville est libérée par l'Armée rouge le 27 juillet 1944.
Le découpage territorial d'après-guerre place Przemyśl en bordure de la
frontière avec l'URSS, privant la ville d'une grande partie de son ancienne
aire d'influence. En raison de l'extermination des Juifs et de l'expulsion des
Ukrainiens, la population de la ville s'est effondrée. Cette perte va
progressivement être compensée par l'arrivée de milliers de réfugiés polonais
d'Ukraine.
Après tous ces désastres, la croissance
de la ville s'est arrêtée. La dissolution de l'URSS en 1991 et la création d'une Ukraine
indépendante et démocratique ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives à Przemyśl.
Les unités (première idée-- non définitive)
par Firelord_70
Les
unités (première idée-- non définitive)
Ce peuple ayant une culture slave, des influences
germaniques et une religion catholique dût faire face à de grandes menaces tant
intérieures que venue de l'extérieur. Dès le début du Ve siècle ils furent
envahis par les Huns. Quelques siècles plus tard ce fut au tour des Hongrois
d'être attiré par ces terres. Puis un siècle après un conflit intérieur qui
déchira ce pays entre les ambitions des Slavnikides et des Premyslides. Ce
conflit pris fin par la prise du pouvoir de ces derniers en 995. Ainsi commence
l'histoire du Duché de la Bohème.
Il faudra un dirigeant fort et capable d'unir son
peuple pour garder l'autonomie de ce duché, entre les ambitions du Saint-Empire
à l'ouest, des Hongrois et des Polonais au nord. Leur atout est une situation
géographique favorable et une culture de farouche guerriers.
par PantherosII
Periods
in the History of Bohemia |
BAR Přemysl
Vratislavský vévoda Jindřich IV. Probus a poslední
Přemyslovci
(The Wroclaw Duke Henryk IV. Probus and the Last Przemyslids)
s. 753-787
Despite the fact
that the fortunes of the Wroclaw Duke Henryk IV. Probus (1258-1290) coincided
several times with the fate of the Przemyslid Dynasty, to whom this member of
the Piast Dynasty was related, Czech historiography has merely showed
a marginal interest in this personality compared to Polish and German
historiographies. The author of this study analyses historical sources to
document the progress of the Wroclav Duke’s relations with the
Przemyslids. At the same time he strives to demonstrate the impact of family
relationships, dynastic and political links upon the formation of power
politics in Central Europe. Much attention is devoted to collections of papers
and forms, though still a much discussed and disputed type of historical
resource, since what they show, once critically assessed, in this case fits
logically into an entire historical context.
Henryk IV. Probus had probably stayed for a short time at the Prague Court
before 1271, despite the fact that the evidence of written sources seems to be
rather obscure on this point. On the other hand, thanks to diplomatic documents
we do not have any doubt regarding Przemysl Ottokar II’s suport as he
installed his vassal on the Wroclaw ducal throne. As long as the Bohemian King
lived, the Duke of Wroclaw enjoyed his patronage, while being his loyal ally at
the same time. The adolescent Duke became more involved in politics beyond the
boundaries of Silesia proper only after the death of this Przemyslid in the
Battle of Marchfeld (Morava Field) in 1278. His attempt to have the government
of the Bohemian Kingdom and protectorate over the young Wenceslas, heir to the
Bohemian throne, entrusted to him, failed, yet at that time Henryk IV Probus
became friendly with the German King Rudolph I of Hapsburg. He also had
warm relations with Duke Henry, the Margrave of Moravia, and Nicholas, the Duke
of Opava (Troppau), so that a longer „pre-history“ of their friendship can
be assumed.
After 1288 the activities of the Wroclaw Duke and the King of Bohemia, as well,
were mainly motivated by their attempts to capture the principality of Krakow,
which also led to heightened rivalry between these two rulers. Henryk IV.
Probus was more successful during the first stage of their struggle, yet he did
not enjoy the conquest of Krakow for long as he died suddenly on 23 June 1290.
Though sources make it possible to speculate about the alleged participation of
Wenceslaus II in the Duke’s demise, the more important fact seems to be
that the King of Bohemia claimed, although only formally, the rights of
succession after this now deceased Silesian Piast. The unique testimony to this
fact are three privileges from Rudolph I. of Hapsburg from 1290, by which
Wenceslaus II. was granted the Wroclaw principality and further unnamed
territories, which Henryk IV. Probus had used to govern as an imperial
fiefdom.
Abstrakt:
Studie obsahuje analýzu narativních
a diplomatických pramenů, které vypovídají o proměnlivém
vztahu vratislavského vévody Jindřicha IV. Proba k přemyslovské dynastii.
Písemné prameny sice nedovolují vždy jednoznačnou interpretaci
a mnoho otázek zůstává stále nejasných, přesto je možné na
základě dosavadního výzkumu konstatovat, že vztah vévody k posledním
Přemyslovcům osciloval mezi vazalstvím, spojenectvím a rivalitou.
Důvodem této proměnlivosti byly jednak rozdílné osobnosti
přemyslovské dynastie, které přišly do styku s vévodou tak
i širší dějinný kontext, který znamenal v poslední
třetině 13. století posílení habsburského vlivu na dění ve
střední Evropě.
This study
analyses narrative and diplomatic sources which provide an account of the
changeable relationships of the Wroclaw Duke Henryk IV Probus towards the
Przemyslid Dynasty. Written resources do not, however, always allow for an
unambiguous interpretation and many questions still remain unanswered. Yet,
based on research carried out thus far, it is possible to state that the
Duke’s relationship towards the last Przemyslids oscillated between
vassalage, alliance and rivalry. This changeability was the result, firstly, of
the Duke coming into contact with different personalities of the Przemyslid
Dynasty, and also followed from the wider historical context which in the final
third of the 13th century was marked by a strengthening of the Hapsburgs’
influence upon events in Central Europe.
Key words: Silesia, Bohemia, Wroclaw, Poland,
Henryk IV. Probus, last Przemyslids, Silesian Piasts, 13th century, vassal
relationships
SUŠOVÁ Veronika
Politika jako oficiální znalost. Politická socializace
v Předlitavsku a evropském Rusku v letech 1875-1917/1918
v komparativní perspektivě
(Politics as Official Knowledge. Political Socialisation in Cisleithania
and European Russia in Comparative Perspective during the Years 1875-1917/1918)
s. 788-822
This study
focuses upon an analysis of the official vision of politics, as presented in
the textbooks for Cisleithanian and Russian primary and secondary schools. Its
starting point is the utilisation of the concepts of political socialisation
and political literacy in order to grasp historically the official perspectives
of politics. During the 19th and 20th centuries, multinational states, such as
Austria-Hungary and Russia attempted to construct a patriotic identity.
They were relatively successful in using the educational process for the
cultural reproduction and maintenance of the existing order. This study
monitors, amongst others, the contradiction between the old vision of politics
(as presented in the official curriculum, i.e. by the state) and the new vision
of politics (as defined by national communities).
Using textual analysis of contemporary textbooks of history and geography,
civics and readers published between 1875–1918, the author has focused upon the
formation of a relationship with the political sphere as part of the
cultural transfer of the official vision of politics. Namely, she analyses
historical narration (seen as a tool for the legitimatisation of the
Empire) and visions of the Empire in terms of the requirement for unity;
political actors and finally citizenship understood normatively.
Both Empires adopted different strategies for the preservation of their
respective existence using the process of political socialisation. The
differences can be observed especially in the case of historical narration and
the portrayal of the vision of the Empire as the political motherland. The
Cisleithanian concept was based on the discourse of unity, which respected
national differences and which partially integrated national histories within
an all embracing history of the Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was
understood as the wider family for all the Emperor’s nations without any
bias. On the other hand the Russian case was dominated by the discourse of
conquest as the principal narration of Russian history, which dispersed
histories of territories conquered or gained by Russia within the history of
the construction of Russia as an Empire. Russia was then interpreted as an
Empire with the dominant state nation, comprised of Russians, Ukrainians and
White Russians (the latter two nations were not considered to be independent
national communities but part of the Russian nation). The ethnic hierarchy in
Russian textbooks of geography attempted to maintain this superioty of the
Russians over the otherwise ethnically heterogeneous Russia.
The political-socialisation strategies of both states concurred in the area of
the construction of policy movers. The Cisleithanian and Russian textbooks in
general accentuated traditional political actors (rulers and military
commanders from the ranks of the aristocracy) to the detriment of newer
political actors (for example political parties and movements), who were
overlooked in textbooks. Indeed, in the case of Cisleithania, the specific role
was given to the Emperor and the King, in case of Russia it was the
accentuation of autocracy. Citizenship itself was in the Cisleithanian case
defined with an emphasis upon its passive content (payment of taxes, doing
military service, obedience and a fulfilment of one’s obligations).
In Russia, citizenship was a relatively novel concept, which only appeared
after 1905 and continued to be mixed with the traditional view of politics and
the dogma of autocracy.
Both Empires showed relatively great interest in the political-socialisation
arena but they were unable to accommodate the contents of these strategies with
modern times. Their attempts clashed with the political and social reality of
national communities and their democratization potential. This study argues
that this specific situation led to contradictory or dichotomic views on
politics, which, in some cases, have remained part of the mental heritage of
Central and Eastern Europe until present times.
Abstrakt:
Studie se věnuje
otázkám politické socializace a obsahům politické gramotnosti
v kontextu mnohonárodní říše na příkladu Předlitavska
a evropského Ruska mezi lety 1875-1917/18. Vzdělávací proces je
pojímán jako komunikační prostor pro přenos oficiálního vidění
politiky, které je analyzováno na základě textové analýzy čítanek
a učebnic dějepisu, zeměpisu, občanské nauky
a vlastivědy. Autorka se zaměřila na několik
okruhů výzkumu: na dějepisnou naraci, na obrazy říše
s ohledem na požadavek jednoty, na politické aktéry a na konstruování
občana a občanství. Pomocí jejich analýzy se studie snaží o pochopení
oficiálních definic a vidění politické sféry a dotýká se otázek
kulturního a mentálního dědictví „imperiální“ politické kultury ve
střední a východní Evropě.
This study deals
with the issues of political socialisation and the contents of political
literacy within the framework of a multinational empire, using the
examples of and European Russia during the period 1875-1917/18. The educational
process is understood as communicative space for the transfer of the official
vision of politics, which is analysed through textual analysis of reading books
and the textbooks of history, geography, civics and homeland study and
geography. The author has focused her attention upon several research areas:
historical narration; visions of the Empire in terms of the requirement for
unity; polical actors and the formation of citizen and citizenship concepts.
Through their analysis she has attempted to gain an understanding of official
definitions and visions of the political arena. She also touches upon the issues
of cultural and mental heritage of the „imperial“ political culture in Central
and Eastern Europe.
Key words: polities, political socialisation,
political literacy, official knowledge, textbooks of history, modern politics,
Austria, Cisleithania, Russia
KRAHULCOVÁ Zuzana
Integrace a působení vyhnanců v hesenské politice
v padesátých letech
(The Integration and Impact of the Expellees in Hessen Politics in the
1950s)
s. 823-858
Although the
state of Hesse was not one of the main target destinations for post-war
expellees and refugees, their influx into this federal state was far from
negligible: by 1949 this federal state had accepted more than 650 thousand
expellees from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which proved
a heavy drain on its economy and social structure. Similar to other
federal German states, attempts to establish supra-partisan expellee
associations and organizations along party-political lines, soon took place.
They aimed to promote active participation in political life and political
representation and the implementation of the specific interests of the
expellees and refugees. However, the origins and development of expellee
organisations in Hesse differed from other federal states in three important
directions: namely, an atypically weak position of expatriate compatriot groups
compared to expellee associations; the early establishment of a unified
expellee organization in the form of the Union of Expelled Germans, and finally
the unambiguous social direction of the Hessen Land organization of the Union
of the Expelled and Disenfranchised, which resulted in long-term successful
co-operation with the SPD.
Although the situation of the Hessen expellees resembled in many aspects the
situation in neighbouring Bavaria, where the leading role among the emerging
expellee organizations was undertaken by the Sudeten German Expatriate
Association, the development differed in Hesse as the expellee associations
became the dominant form of supra-partisan political representation of
expellees there. In Hesse, the party-political organisation of the expellees
had been significantly restricted by the ban on independent expellees
organizations. Yet, hand in hand with the relaxation of conditions for the
activities of political organisations for the expellees by the American
occupying authorities, independent expellee organization, based on party lines,
in the form of electoral associations of the expellees began to form in Hesse.
Over a period of time, in Hesse, like in other federal Lands, the Bloc of
Expellees and Deprived of Rights (Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten,
BHE) has become the leading party-political organization of expellees.
While at the federal level Bloc of Expellees and Deprived of Rights gradually
shifted to the right of the party spectrum, in the Hessen BHE during 1951
trends towards socially-oriented politics prevailed and the party gravitated
towards the SPD. This rapprochement resulted in the long-term and successful
co-operation of both parties at governmental level, lasting from 1954 until
1966. The main cause for the emergence of close links to Social Democratic
Party can be found in the fact that the Hessen Bloc of Expellees and Deprived
of Rights realized that the implementation of its own political aims and the fulfilment
of its voters’ aspirations could not be achieved without the consent of the
ruling SPD. This shift towards a socially-oriented policy and
rapprochement with the Social Democratic Party were not, however, unanimously
embraced by the party. They led to internal disputes not merely within the
Hessen party organization as such, but also in relation to the federal
leadership of the party.
Yet, despite an effort to incorporate the standing up for the specific
interests of the expellees within a wider context of social and economic
policy, the Hessen BHE primarily remained the party of the expellees and failed
to address its „local“ population. As the integration of the expellees into
Hessen society has increased, the arena in which the BHE could address the
expellees as their target group of voters has diminished since the second half
of the 1950s. Nevertheless, the evident social policy of the Hessen Bloc of
Expellees and Deprived of Rights and their successful ruling coalition with the
SPD can be seen as one of the main reasons for the fact that in West Germany
the BHE preserved its position and political existence in the Hessen Land
Parliament for longer than anywhere else.
Abstrakt:
Studie „Integrace a působení vyhnanců v hesenské politice
v padesátých letech“ se zabývá průběhem integrace vyhnanců
v politické oblasti a jejich působením v hesenském
politickém životě v padesátých letech. Úvodní část studie
pojednává postavení vyhnanců po jejich příchodu do Hesenska
a počátky jejich politické integrace v podobě vyhnaneckých
svazů, krajanských sdružení a prvních stranickopolitických
vyhnaneckých organizací. Hlavní pozornost je pak věnována roli
a působení vyhnanců v hesenské politice v padesátých
letech se zřetelem na hesenský Svaz vyhnaných a zneprávněných
(Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten, BHE), politickou reprezentaci
vyhnanců v hesenském zemském sněmu a úspěšné
uplatňování jejich koaličního potenciálu v podobě
dlouholeté vládní spolupráce s hesenskou SPD.
This study deals
with the process of integration post war expellees in politics and with their
involvement in Hessen political life in the 1950s. The introduction is devoted
to the status of the expellees after their arrival in Hesse and with the
origins of their political integration in the form of expellee associations,
compatriot groups and the first party-political exile organizations. Attention
is then focused upon the role and involvement of the expellees in Hessen
politics in the 1950s with regard to the Bloc of Expellees and Deprived of
Rights (Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten, BHE), to the political
representation of the expellees in the Hessen Land Parliament and the
successful implementation of their coalition potential in the form of
a long-term ruling co-operation with the Hessen SPD.
Key words: expellees, Hesse, post-war Germany,
political parties, expellee organizations, integration
NEŠPOR Zdeněk R.
Katolická církev v Československu 1945-1989 .
(The Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia 1945-1989)
s. 859-868
Abstrakt:
Ani bezmála
dvě desetiletí po pádu komunistického režimu nejsou náboženské
a církevní dějiny českých zemí ve druhé polovině 20.
století dostatečně zpracovány, proto je velice významným počinem
vydání Balíkovy a Hanušovy syntézy Katolická církev
v Československu 1945–1989, nad níž se autor zamýšlí.
Při hodnocení této knihy zdůrazňuje prolínání historické
a sociologické („mentalistické“) perspektivy, stejně jako její
přínos pro formování katolické identity ve svobodné společnosti,
upozorňuje však i na nedostatky zvoleného přístupu a na
skutečnost, že rozhodně nemusí být všeobecně přijat.
Almost two
decades have passed since the fall of the Communist regime and the religious
and ecclesiastical history of the Czech Lands in the second half of the 20th
century have not yet been adequately documented. Thus, the author reviewing
Balík and Hanuš’s synthesis Katolická církev
v Československu 1945–1989 (The Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia
1945-1989) considers its publication to represent an important milestone. When
assessing this volume he emphasizes the juxtaposition of the historical and
sociological („mentalist“) perspectives, as well as its contribution towards
the formation of a Catholic identity in a free society, yet the
shortcomings of the chosen approach and the fact that this might not be
generally accepted are also acknowledged and outlined.
Key words: Czechoslovakia,
1945-1989; Church; Catholicism; religion and state; ecclesiastical history;
sociology of religion
Přehledy bádání a historiografických studií
TOMEŠ Josef
Biografický slovník českých zemí. Tradice a výhledy
české biografické encyklopedistiky (The Biographical Dictionary of the
Czech Lands. Traditions and Perspectives of Czech Biographical Research)
s. 869-882
Abstrakt:
Článek
přehledně shrnuje historii české biografické lexikografie,
zaměřené na národní dějiny, od druhé poloviny 19. století po
naši přítomnost. Blíže se zastavuje u mezery, kterou
v české biografické encyklopedistice způsobilo téměř
půlstoletí totalitních režimů v letech 1939–1945
a 1948–1989, a u snah o její překonání na přelomu 20.
a 21. století, završených postupnou realizací Biografického slovníku
českých zemí.
This article
provides a lucid summary of the history of Czech biographical
lexicography, focused primarily upon the national history, from the second half
of the 19th century until the present time. It pays a close attention to
the gap caused in Czech biographical encyclopaedic research by nearly
a half-a-century of totalitarian regimes throughout 1939-1945 and
1948-1989. It also recognizes attempts to overcome this hiatus at the turn of
the 20th century, which have culminated in the gradual compilation of this
Biographical Dictionary of the Czech Lands.
Key words: Czech Lands,
Czech Biographical Research, Biographical Dictionary, Encyclopedias
Recenze
BERÁNEK Karel –
BERÁNKOVÁ Věra (edd.), Regesta Bohemiae et Moraviae aetatis Venceslai IV.
(1378 dec.–1419 aug. 16.), Tomus V. Fontes Archivi nationalis, pars I, Litterae
monasteriorum, Fasc. 1 (1378-1397); Fasc. 2 (1398-1419), (Zdeňka
Hledíková) s. 883 - MUCHEMBLED Robert, Dějiny ďábla (Kateřina
Pražáková) s. 888 - ZONTA Claudia A., Schlesische Studenten an italienischen
Universitäten. Eine prosopographische Studie zur frühneuzeitlichen
Bildungsgeschichte (Martin Holý) s. 891 - EBELOVÁ Ivana – ŘEZNÍČEK
Michal – WOITSCHOVÁ Klára – WOITSCH Jiří, Etnografický atlas Čech,
Moravy a Slezska, V. Židovské obyvatelstvo v Čechách v letech
1792–1794, eds. WOITSCH Jiří – BAHENSKÝ František (Iveta Cermanová –
Alexandr Putík) s. 894 - FRANKL Michal, „Emancipace od židů“. Český
antisemitismus na konci 19. století (Ines Koeltzsch) s. 900 - KOLB Eberhard,
Der Frieden von Versailles (Jiří Pešek) s. 902 - ALBRECHT Stefan –
MALÍŘ Jiří – MELVILLE Ralph (edd.), Die „sudetendeutsche
Geschichtsschreibung“ 1918-1960. Zur Vorgeschichte und Gründung der
Historischen Kommission der Sudetenländer (Jiří Pešek) s. 907 - CORNELIßEN
Christoph – HOLEC Roman – PEŠEK Jiří, Diktatura – válka – vyhnání. Kultury
vzpomínání v českém, slovenském a německém prostředí
od roku 1945 (Doubravka Olšáková) s. 914
· Slavs
· Bulgars
· Poles
· Czechs
· Serbs:
· Magyars:
· Romania:
Bust of John of
Luxembourg, father of Charles IV, from the triforium of St.Vitus's Cathedral: a work of Peter Parler's workshop,
14th century.
With the demise of Wenceslas III, the last of the
Przemyslid rulers of the Czech lands, the difficult question of who should rule
next had to be answered. And answered it was - by 14-year-old John of
Luxembourg, the first of the Luxembourgs to occupy the Czech throne
(1310-1437). John of Luxembourg gained this position with the support of the
Czech nobility by marrying 18-year-old Eliska (Elisabeth) Przemyslova, the
sister of the late Wenceslas III.
Under John of Luxembourg's rule, more territories -
including the regions of Cheb, Lusatia and Silesia - were joined to Bohemia.
All of these regions together, under the rule of John of Luxembourg, came to be
known as the "Lands of the Czech Crown". So you see, there never was
an easy "one-word" way (like 'Czechia') to describe this part of the
world, not even way back in the 14th century.
John of Luxembourg was a good king, but he had a fatal
weakness for chivalry, knighthood, honour - and especially, for battles. He
loved to fight. When there weren't any battles in his immediate neighborhood,
he went abroad to help his friends fight their battles. And so it happened that
he fell at the battle of Crecy in 1346, fighting on the side of his French
friend and distant relative Charles, against the Black Prince. He was succeeded
by his young son, Charles IV (born on 14 May, 1316 in Prague).
Portrait of Charles IV (17th century, with Karlstejn Castle in
the background)
Charles IV was just as noble - but much more
practical than his caravanting father had been, and he took a keen interest in
all aspects of rule over the Czech lands. Charles IV was not really named
Charles: he was named Wenceslas IV - but he had been reared at the French
court, where he studied free art at the then Paris University. He also devoted
his attention to learning languages and eventually had a mastery of Latin,
German, French and Italian. When he was baptised he took the name of his
godfather, the French king Charles IV. (His son, who succeeded him on the Czech
throne, was also named Wenceslas IV, and this sometimes leads to some
confusion.)
From 1331 to 1333 Charles worked as the administrator
of the Luxembourg domains in northern Italy. In 1333 a part of the Czech
aristocracy persuaded John of Luxembourg to allow Charles to reign in Bohemia.
And so he returned to Bohemia after ten years. In 1346 John of Luxembourg lost
his life in the Battle of Crecy and one year later Charles was crowned, being
acknowleged by the Diet as the successor to the Czech throne. He was crowned
with the St. Wenceslas crown, which he had made for the occasion and which was
placed on his head by the Bishop of Prague, Arnost of Pardubice. When Charles
IV came to power, he was still very young. Since he'd been raised in France, he
didn't speak Czech. Wicked advisors surrounded the young king, and attempted to
usurp the real rule of Bohemia while leaving young Charles IV in place as a
figurehead.
Young Charles IV saw through the transparent
plans of
the wicked advisors who surrounded him. He quickly learned Czech, and took over
rule of his own land himself. Charles IV may have been young, but he was no
dummy. He not only spoke five languages fluently (at a time when many crowned
heads could not even read and write) - he was a masterful diplomat too. He also
had friends in high places - Pope Klement, who was elected during Charles IV's
reign, had been the Czech sovereign's tutor at the court in Paris.
Charles IV was very clever, very devout, and very
savvy. He was also a lover of art and a collector of holy relics (which he kept
under lock and key all year long except for Easter, when he paraded them
through the country like a travelling circus).
Prague, A.D. 1493
Charles IV followed the example of the Premyslid
(Przemyslid) heritage in practically all aspects. The first important thing he
did was to raise the Prague bishopric to an archbishopric in 1344. The most
significant year of his founding activity was 1348, this date marking, apart
from the founding of Karlstejn Castle, also a whole number of important documents
and the foundation of other institutions and buildings. In this respect we can
mention, for example, the founding of Prague University, now Charles
University, the New Town of Prague, Emmaus Monastery in Prague with the
Slavonic liturgy and others. Charles devoted great attention to his town of
residence. During his reign changes also came about at Prague Castle, where he
had the Royal Palace adapted and continued in the building of St. Vitus's
Cathedral. He had a new bridge erected across the River Vltava (Moldau), which
now bears his name. Above-lifesize statues of Charles IV and his son Vaclav
have been preserved on the Old Town Bridge Tower.
In 1346 Charles was elected and crowned Roman
king. He was crowned Roman emperor in Rome on 5 April, 1355. From this
position, too, he devoted great attention to the Czech kingdom, which he
regarded as the core of his family heritage. In the Golden Bull, the imperial
code of 1356, Charles legalized the priority position of the Czech king and the
Czech state in the empire and specified the number of profane and sacral
electors and their mutual order. He was an excellent diplomat, employing
especially negotiations for the achievement of his aims and a marriage policy
for the widening of his domains. Charles IV died on 29 November 1378 in Prague.
His bodily remains were placed in the royal tomb below St. Vitus Cathedral at
Prague Castle, where they have remained to the present. At Karlstejn Charles IV
is commemorated every year by a solemn mass held in the Church of Our Lady on
the day of the anniversary of his death.
The medieval Czech state reached the zenith of its
power and importance under Charles IV. He was the King of Bohemia, later also
Holy Roman Emperor, and today he is known as the Father of the Czech Nation.
When speaking about the life of Charles IV it is necessary to mention the fact
that he is regarded as the most important medieval ruler on the Czech throne.
Charles was a very good king,
and he paid attention to detail. It was he who made sure that the status of the
"Lands of the Czech Crown" - the territories his father had gathered
together under his rule - was legally fixed (this task was made all the easier
since he was Holy Roman Emperor). He initiated a number of building projects in
his reign, especially in Prague. It was at his behest that Charles Bridge and
St. Vitus' Cathedral were built, and the "Hunger Wall" that he
commissioned (remnants of which still stand today on Petrin Hill in Prague) is
thought to be the first works-project in the world, as he had it built to
create employment for the poor and hungry masses (hence the name). Charles IV
personally planned Prague's "New Town" district, where Charles Square
- which is also named for him - lies. Karlstejn Castle and Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad)
are also named after Charles IV.
Many of the building projects initiated by
Charles IV still
stand, and most are perfect examples of the Gothic style of architecture, which
is characterized by clean simple lines and solid structure - like the Charles
Bridge and its towers, the Carolinum, or the Old-New Synagogue.
Charles IV also founded Charles University, the first
center of higher education in all of Central Europe. During his reign, Prague
was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire (a gilded sign on the Old Town Hall
still proclaims "Praga Caput Regni" today), and he successfully
lobbied to have the Prague bishopric made an archbishopric (this task was
actually quite easy, as the privelege was granted him by his former tutor, now
the Pope.)
Apart from Karlstejn, Charles IV founded
other castles, some of which also bear his name in
their designation. As examples can be mentioned Kasperk (Karlsberg) and Radyné
(Karlskrone), which originated as administrative centres, and Karsfried Castle,
which was built for the protection of duty on the provincial route. However, it
was only Karlstejn that acquired exceptional importance connected with Charles'
status as Emperor of the Roman Empire.
It was Charles IV, too, who brought the cultivation of
the grape and the wine industry to the beer-drinking Czech lands. That isn't to
say that he neglected the beer industry - under his reign, stiff prison
sentences were meted out to those caught exporting cuttings of prize Czech hops
- essential to the brewing of great Czech beer - abroad.
Charles IV had no fewer than four wives,
and any number of progeny, both legitimate and illegitimate. Of these, his
oldest legitimate son, Vaclav IV, was naturally chosen as his successor.
Moravia - Administrative History |
Great Moravia . A Moravian
state appears in Frankish sources in 822 A.D.; under Prince Mojmir (830-846) it
annexed the Principality of Nitra (in modern western Slovakia) in 833.
Svatopluk I. (871-894) was the first ruler of Great Moravia to use the title of
king; he conquered southern Poland (874), Silesia (880), the Theiss (Tisza)
valley (881), the Balaton Principality (883), Bohemia (except for her
western region, held by the Przemyslids) and Lusatia (890). Upon Svatopluk's
death, Great Moravia was split among his sons. Quarrels among the sons,
pressure by the Franks and most notably the arrival of the Magyars in the
Pannonian Basin in 895 resulted in the rapid decline of Great Moravia. With
Mojmir II. (894-906) ended the line of the Princes/Kings of Great Moravia.
Moravia proper during the Early and High Middle
Ages . For the years 907 to 955 we have little information
about the history of the region. As the Magyars, during these years,
established their residence in the Carpathian Basin (modern Hungary), and
from there undertook raids into the Byzantine Empire, Italy and the East
Frankish Kingdom, we may assume that they did not tolerate an independent
political organization in Moravia proper.
Following the Magyar defeat by the East Franks in
the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, soon-to-be Emperor Otto I. granted Moravia to
Boleslaus I., Duke of Bohemia.
Moravia thus became a possession of the Przemyslid Dynasty. From 999 to 1019
Moravia was held by King Boleslaus I. of Poland, then reverted
to Przemyslid rule. The Przemyslids partitioned their lands among the sons of
the duke; in 1035 Duke Bretislaus, already ruler of Moravia, also became Duke
of Bohemia. In 1054 he introduced primogeniture, i.e. he assured that the
Bohemian Lands (Bohemia,
Moravia, Lusatia) would remain under one and the same ruler, as only the
first-born son would inherit his father's possessions.
In 1063, the Diocesis of Olomouc was separated from
the Diocesis of Prague, an event indicating the autonomy of Moravia. In 1182,
Moravia was elevated to the status of Margraviate.
Moravia during the Later Middle Ages . In 1158
the Duchy of Bohemia was
elevated into the Kingdom of Bohemia; Bohemia and her
sidelands (Moravia, Lusatia, later Silesia) came to be referred to as the Lands
of the Bohemian Crown. With the transition from a state based on the feudal
levy to a taxation-based state, in the individual Lands of the Bohemian Crown,
including Moravia, diets emerged. The Moravian diet, upon convocation by the
King of Bohemia, was
to convene and discuss the king's proposal of a bede (extraordinary, one-time
tax) to be collected. In the diet, the country's (higher) clergy, nobility and
the representatives of the cities were represented.
Moravia from the 15th to the 19th century .
Moravia, until the administrative refirm of 1848, was subdivided in 6 circles :
Brünn / Brno, Hradisch / Uherske Hradiste, Iglau / Jihlava, Olmütz / Olomouc,
Prerau / Prerov, Znaim / Znojmo. In 1782 Austrian Silesia was annexed into
Moravia, adding two more circles (Teschen / Cesky Tesin, Troppau / Opava). In
1849 Austrian Silesia was restored as a separate territory; within Bohemia,
Moravia and Austrian Silesia the circles were abolished, replaced by much
smaller units - Gerichtsbezirke (court districts) and Bezirkshauptmannschaften
(district captaincies), over 100 respectively over 50 for Moravia.
Moravia within Czechoslovakia,
1918-1992 . During the First Czechoslovak Republic, while the districts
of later Habsburg years were maintained, circles were created as larger
administrative entities, 5 within Moravia, except for Brno and Olomouc which
enjoyed separate status.
During Communist administration, reforms in 1949
reorganized Czechia (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia) in 13 circles (plus
Prague); a number of these circles included both Bohemian and Moravian
respectively Silesian and Moravian territory. In 1960 Czechia was
reorganized into 7 circles (plus Prague), equally disregarding the territorial
integrity of Moravia.
Moravia within the Czech Republic, since 1992 . In 2001 another
administrative reform reorganized Czechia in 13 circles (plus Prague), which do
not coincide with those of 1949. Again, a number
of circles include both Bohemian and Moravian respectively Moravian and
Silesian territory.
The savaging of Poland by the Mongols since 1241/42 never took place in TTL. Thus, the competent prince of Silesia, Heinrich /
Henryk the Pious managed not only to live longer, but also getting crowned king Henryk II of Poland, first one since 1079.
Although many Piast princes continued to reign in other parts of Poland, his
family could keep the king's title. In 1293, Poland attacked the Russian
princedom of Halicz-Volhyn, taking about one third of the
latter's territory.
But now, Poland felt increasingly threatened by the Germans and
the Przemyslids.
The king tried to fight them in 1301 to break free, but this only lead to a
coalition of the Teutonic Order, Bohemia, Moravia and the HRE under king Otto IV of Brandenburg formed against him. The war between
Germans and Poles ended in 1308, not to the latter's favor. The Teutonic Order
acquires Pommerellen (OTL West Prussia, the Poles also call it
Eastern Pomerania), Silesia became a German fief; the western third went to Brandenburg,
which earlier had acquired the Lower Lausitz / Lusatia, the rest was divided
between the two Przemyslid lands, Bohemia and Moravia. As a consequence, king Boleslaw V was
toppled by discontent nobles, who elected Kazimierz III new king, who made an
"everlasting alliance" with the (in many ways still independent)
rulers of Mazovia. In 1363, when the Anjou dynasty
in Hungary died out, the nobles there elected Wladyslaw IV of Poland new king. But in 1371 already, this
influence ended with the death of incompetent king Kazimierz IV.
In 1394/95, the Black Death hit Central Europe. Although Poland
was also affected, by imposing a quarantine it was mostly saved and didn't have
to pay such a high toll as its neighbors. Many persecuted Jews fled to Poland.
This development proved to be a great advantage: In 1404 Poland attacked the
Teutonic Order, won the first Teutonic-Polish war;
Pommerellen became Polish again, thus gaining an important access to the sea.
1426,Boleslaw VI of Poland and Birger II Eriksson
allied against the Teutonic Order. 1432 they were victorious again; Poland kept
its conquests from the last war and also gets Wolhynien, Sweden got Estonia (that's only the
northern half of OTL Estonia, though). In another war 1432-35, Poland conquered
the princedom of Smolensk.
In the 2nd half of the 15th century however, the power of the
Polish kings shrunk, and in 1470 the young king had to accept a new
constitution, which gave every noble (15% of the Polish population!) the right
to vote in the parliament, and introduced separation of powers. 1472-76, the Polish-Bohemian War took place; after the death of king Vaclav IV the
Mad, the Poles had hoped for an easy victory, but the new king Jan II lead
the Czech armies surprisingly well and drove the Poles back. OTOH, in 1503 the Slovakian estates
made an alliance with Poland, after Hungary was conquered by the Rum-Seljuks.
King Boleslaw VII and
his successor Boleslaw VIII now started a policy with the aim of
strengthening the power of Poland and themselves: They built many printing
presses and several universities, founded colonies (in 1539, Poland took OTL
Trinidad and Tobago; and when in 1544 inHaraldsborg,
the (almost) last colony of Denmark, chaos ensued
after the mother country had fallen into civil war, Poland sent soldiers to the
city, occupying it) and reformed Poland in various ways. 1533-35, they fought
off the Russians in the former princedom of Smolensk who
had asked the Grand Prince for help against Poland. In 1538, Poland secularized
church property, which helped them gain money for
the reforms.
In the following half century, the Polish nobles elected various kings
of other countries, the most famous among them Alasdair IV and Henry V. This, so they thought, was the best
way to be defended against the Russians. However, when Polish king Ludwik felt
angered by the new Czar and wanted to get rid of the Russian threat, started a
preventive war against Vladimir-Suzdal in 1604. But the Polish army was
destroyed in the battle of Kostroma 1610, and in the Peace of Thurau 1612, Poland had to cede the former
princedom of Smolensk back to Vladimir. Finally, in the English-Polish War 1613/14 Poland lost its colonies of
OTL Trinidad, Haraldsborg to England.
When François IV rose
in Europe, they joined his side. 1637, Poland joined the HREGN, to be better
protected against the Russians, and even got one electoral vote. (Its German
neighbors secretly claimed that this wes for keeping them in check.) Thus, they
also fought on France's side in the anti-French War; but 1686, Vladimir-Suzdal
entered the war, although fighting only against Poland. In the peace of Minsk 1690, Poland ceded the former Prussian
province Wolhynien (the
old Russian princedomsTurov-Pinsk and
parts of Halicz-Volhyn) to Vladimir, which left the
war. And now, the Baltic League installed Jakub of Sulkowski as
Polish anti-king, which threw Poland into Civil War. In the peace of Amsterdam, he was vindicated.
1715, Poland entered the war between Vladimir and Novorossiya,
won Wolhynien back.
In 1762, the very capable Stanislaw III became king. 1764, he had the first
telegraph in Poland built. 1772, he was elected Holy Roman Emperor, the first
Pole to achieve this. He lost the title in 1784 when the HRE was dissolved
officially, but 1788, after the heirless death of Kristian V, last Welf king of
Denmark-Braunschweig, he started the regency for said country.
However, under his reign Poland also fought for the cause of
monarchy in the French Republican Wars, so he lost this country too in the peace of Frankfurt 1793.
Things went down further: 1806, Novorossiya and South Russia
attacked Poland, took the former Russian lands back. Poland east of the Vistula
stayed occupied. After the Poles rose up against Russian occupation 1838/39,
Novorossiya attacked and conquered all of Poland. The last king fled to Sweden,
later to Britain.
A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY
3rd-2nd century BC |
A Celtic tribe, the Boii, settles in the region (Boiohaemum =
home of the Boii) |
5th-6th century AD |
Arrival of Slav tribes |
1st half of 7th century |
Samo's Empire |
833-906/7 |
Greater Moravian Empire |
874-891 |
Reign of Prince Bořivoj I, the first known Przemyslid ruler |
935 |
Prince Wenceslas murdered; declared the country's patron saint
later in the 10th century |
1061 - 1092 |
Reign of Prince Vratislav II (becomes the first king of Bohemia
in 1085) |
25.9.1212 |
Sicilian Golden Bull confirms the inheritability of the crown for
Bohemian sovereigns |
1253-1278 |
Reign of King Przemysl Otakar II; Bohemia becomes a European
power |
26.8.1278 |
Battle of Marchfeld, death of Przemysl Otakar II |
4.8.1306 |
King Wenceslas III, the last Przemyslid, murdered in Olomouc |
1310-1437 |
House of Luxembourg reigns in Bohemia |
1344 |
Prague becomes an archbishopric; commencement of the
construction of St. Vitus' Cathedral |
26.8.1346 |
Battle of Crecy, death of Kingjohn of Luxembourg |
1346-1378 |
Reign of emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg |
7.4.1348 |
Foundation of Charles University in Prague |
6.7.1415 |
Jan Hus burnt at the stake in Constance |
30.7.1419 |
First Defenestration of Prague: start of the Hussite Revolution |
1471-1526 |
Reign of the House of Jagiellonian |
29.8.1526 |
Battle of Mohacs, death of Ludwig Jagiellonian, king of Bohemia
and Hungary |
23.10.1526 |
Ferdinand I, a Hapsburg, elected king of Bohemia |
1526-1918 |
Reign of the House of Hapsburg in Bohemia |
8.11.1620 |
Battle of White Mountain, defeat of the uprising of the Bohemian
estates against king Ferdinand II |
21.6.1621 |
27 Czech lords, members of the Bohemian uprising, are executed |
1740-1780 |
Reign of Maria Theresa |
1780-1790 |
Josef II is king of Bohemia |
2.12.1805 |
Battle of the Three Emperors at Austerlitz |
1848-1916 |
Reign of Franz Josef I |
18.11.1883 |
Opening of the National Theatre in Prague |
1914-1918 |
First World War |
28.10.1918 |
Establishment of an independent Czechoslovak Republic |
29.9.1938 |
Signing of the Treaty of Munich on the hand-over of border areas
to Germany |
1939-1945 |
Second World War |
16.3.1939 |
Establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; country
occupied by Germany |
8.5.1945 |
End of the Second World War in Europe; restoration of the
pre-war Czechoslovak Republic |
25.2.1948 |
Communist take-over |
21.8.1968 |
Invasion of the country by troops of the Warsaw Pact nations:
end of the "Prague Spring" |
Nov.- Dec. 1989 |
"Velvet Revolution": end of Communist Party rule |
1.1.1993 |
Establishment of an independent Czech Republic |
12.3.1999 |
The Czech Republic was admitted to the NATO |
1.5.2004 |
The Czech Republic was admitted to the EU |
The
first inhabitants of the Czech lands were prehistoric fish. That's because the
country, at the time, was covered by a prehistoric ocean - thanks to which it
is possible to find some very nice fossils of trilobytes in the Czech Republic
today.
Today's Czech Republic was later populated by
dinosaurs of all sorts, and later by neanderthals and even by mammoths. The
prehistoric settlement of the present-day Czech Republic by people culminated
in the fourth century B.C. with the arrival of the Celts, the first modern
human inhabitants of this territory that we know of. In fact, the Latin name
for the Czech lands, "Boiohaemum" (Bohemia), is derived from the name
of the Boii Celtic tribe; and the Czech name for the Moldau River (which flows
through the capital city of Prague) is Vltava - which is said to come from the
Celtic "Vlt" meaning wild, and "Va" meaning water.
The Czech Celts were in part chased out of the
region and in part assimilated by the next peoples to inhabit the area: the
Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi tribes from the west and the Romans from the
south. (The Romans didn't actually occupy Czech territory - they only got as
far north as the Danube River, which flows from Germany - through Austria along
its border with Slovakia - and then over to Hungary before continuing on to
Yugoslavia, and so just misses the Czech lands.) During the Migration of
Peoples - roughly from the 3d to the 7th centuries AD - Slav colonization
spread westward from the Steppes of the East (probably from Panonia) all the
way to the territory of the present-day Czech Republic and up to Poland and
down again to Yugoslavia. From probably the sixth century AD on, the Slavic
peoples settled, in several waves of migration, into the regions which had been
conveniently abandoned by the Germanic tribes.
This is the way that it all came to be - according
to popular Czech legend: Once upon a time there were three brothers: Czech,
Lech and Rus. One day, they decided to find a new place to live, and so they
and their tribes set out on a journey. They got as far as the Dnieper River
when Rus said, "This is the place for me and my tribe!" and there the
Russians stayed. Czech (who is known as "Praotec Cech," or Ancestor
Czech in these parts) and Lech continued. Soon, they came upon a rich land
overflowing with milk and honey and Czech climbed to the top of Rip hill in
Bohemia and decided that this was the place for him and for his tribe. Lech and
his people continued their journey and settled in present-day Poland. Other
versions of the legend have 7 brothers in all, with the addition of other Slav
nations like the Croats (who have a similar legend about 7 wandering brothers)
and some others whose names are not remembered anymore. One modern
interpretation of the story has the Czechs spending some time in Greece before
finally heading north and settling, and this would actually conveniently
explain the similarities between certain Czech legends (like that of Bruncvik's
odyssey or of Sarka and her band of women warriors) with Greek ones.
Czech legend goes on to say that Cech's people
were happy in the Czech lands, and after a few generations and some time had passed,
the Slavs of Bohemia had a new leader - a guy by the name of Krok, who lived at Vysehrad (which means "high castle" and is today the site of the
Czech National Cemetery). Probably the most important thing about Krok were his
three very beautiful daughters, who were named Kazi, Teta and Libuse. The last
of these, Libuse, had special powers which allowed her to see the future (Kazi,
the oldest, was a healer who knew the secrets of the plants and herbs, while
Teta was high priestess).
Libuse's talent came in particularly handy when it
came time for her to marry. According to legend, she inherited rule over the
Czech tribes from her father, Krok. As ruler of the lands, she was also the
highest 'court of appeal' for disputes among the people. It is said that a guy
who did not like one of her decisions as judge started a stink about the fact
that the Czechs were ruled by a woman. And so Libuse had a vision - and sent
her white horse, accompanied by a group of her subjects - to go out and find a
guy ploughing in his field. After a journey of some days, the horse and the
humans did indeed come upon just such a man (and nobody seemed surprised at all
at this - neither the humans nor the horse nor even the man himself) and Przemysl Ploughman (Premysl Orac in Czech)
came to Vysehrad and married Libuse and took over the job of ruling the unruly
Czechs and he and Libuse together started the Przemyslid Dynasty, which ruled
over the Czech lands till the 14th century.
One day, not long after the wedding, Libuse had a
vision in which she foretold of the glory of the Czech capital. Standing atop
Vysehrad hill, she went into a trance and told her vision to the people even as
the gods sent it to her. She said that on the seven hills of Prague a fair city
would grow, the fame of which would rise to the very stars. And all that she
saw and all of which she foretold really came true. Of course!
Now, while Cech and Libuse are the stuff of
imaginative Czech legend, it is believed that Samo - who may or may not have
ruled this part of the world in the first half of the seventh century AD - was
probably a real person. It's hard to tell, though, since nobody is sure of
minor details like where Samo was from, where Samo lived, or where Samo ruled -
if, that is, he existed at all. If he did, he is thought to have been a
Frankish merchant who placed himself on the side of the Slavs against the
wicked Avar tribes of Hungary. He is mentioned in early chronicles, where his
address is given as Wogastisburg Fortress. Nobody today knows where this
Wogastisburg Fortress was - but it's believed by Czechs to have stood on Rubin
hill in Bohemia.
Wherever Samo's home base really was, his rule
seems to represent the first successful attempt at uniting the Slavic tribes -
and since the Slavs are not exactly known for their brotherly love for one
another (then again, who in Europe is?), this was quite a feat. The reason for
this unification under Samo was, predictably, quite pragmatic. The Slavic
tribes cooperated in order to withstand attacks by the Avars, a powerful Asian
tribe whose home was on the plains of Hungary.
The Royal Odrowaz Line
Written and researched by Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewska
The
Odrowaz family is associated with Mazovia of Mazowsze. The Czechslovakian and Polish language are
very similar because of their early association. In their early history the
Slavs were dominated by the Cechove (Czechs). The Czechs moved into Bohemia by
the first centur A.D. The East Slavic leader was Mojmir I. Mojmir united the
Great Moravian Empire under Svatopluk (869-894) which included what is now
Czechoslovakia consisting of Saxony, southern Poland, and Eastern Hungary
(Pannonia). The Magyars destroyed the empire in 907. Slavokia passed to
Hungarian rule until 1`918, when it became part of Czechoslovakia. Power then
changed to Bohemia where the Premyslid united the tribes by the end of the
tenth century.
The Czechslovakian Republic included:
1. Bohemia -N.W. Czech. Praha is largest city,
49:48, 17:55E.
United with Moravia in 1029. Vratislav (Vaclav)II was made their
first king in 1088.
2.
Moravia -(see above)Brno/Brun is a city in
Moravia 49:12N, 16:38E.
3.
Silesia
- S.E. part of Prussia, 48:12M, 16:38E. Troppau/Opava is
located in Silesia. 49:58N. 15:55E.
4. Slovakia - Bratislava (Pressburg), 48:45N,
20E
5. Ruthenia (Carpatho-Ukraine), formerly Czech
now Ukraine, 48:25N, 23E
The Premylid Dynasty of Bohemia
01.
871-894......Count Borivoj I
02. 894-895......Count Spithnjew I
03. 895-912......Duke Spithnjew I
04. 912-925......Duke Vratislau
05. 926-928......Regent Drahomire, von Stoder
06. 928-935......Duke
Wenceslaus (Wenzel, the Holy)
07. 935-967......Duke Boleslaw I
08. 967-999......Duke Boleslaw II
09. 999-1003...Duke Boleslaw III
10. 1003-1035..Duke Vladivoj of Poland
11. 1035-1055..Duke Bretislav I
12. 1055-1061..Duke Spithnjew II
13. 1061-1092..Duke Vratislav II (King in 1088)
14. 1092-1100..Duke Bretislav II
15. 1100-1107..Duke Borivoj II
16. 1107-1109..Duke Swartoplik
17. 1109-1125..Duke Ladislas I
18. 1125-1140..Duke Sobijuslaw
19. 1140-1158..Duke Ladislas II
20. 1158-1173..King Ladislas II
21. 1193-1230..King Ottokar I d. 1230
22. 1230-1253..King Wenceslaus II (Wenzel) d.1253
23. 1253-1278..King Ottokar II d.
1278
24. 1278-1305..King Wenceslaus II d. 1305
25. 1305-1306..King Wenceslaus III d. 1306
26. 1307-1310..King Henry d. 1335
Luxembourg Dynasty
27.
1310-1346..King John the Blind d. 1346
28. 1346-1387..John Charles (1316 - 1378). Son of John of Luxemburg.
29. 1387-1400..King Wencelaus IV of Bohemia (1361-1419)
30. 1419-1437..King Sigismund of Hungary (1368-1437), brother of Wenceslaus.
31. 1437-1439..King Albert of Austria (1397-1439)
32. 1440-1457..King Ladislas Posthumus (1420-1457)
33. 1458-1471..King George of Podebrad (1420-1471)
34. 1469-1471..Rival King Matthias of Hungary (1440-1490)
35. 1516-1526..King Ladislas II (Vladislav) (1456-1516)
36. 1526-1564..King Ferdinand I of Austria (1503-1564)
36. 1619-1620..King Frederick V of the Palatine (1596-1632)
GENERATION
ONE:
Przemysl
Ottokar II was a member of the Premyslid Family, and he was born in 1230/3. He
was the King of Bohemia (1253-1278) and Duke of Austria (1253-1276), d. 1278.
Ottokar II married (1)Margaret of Austria in 1252, in the Pankratius Chapel , on
the Schlossberg.. Margaret was the daughter of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria. She
was born in Hainburg
Castle. Przemysl and Margaret divorced in 1260. Duke Leopold VI (1176-1230)
was nicknamed "the Glorious." He was an Austrian ruler. Leopold VI
was the son of Leopold V. His uncles were Margrave Henry II (1114-1177) of
Austria, who reigned from 1141-1156 and Duke Frederick II, "the
Fighter." He ruled Austria from 1230-1246. Frederick's nephew-in-law,
Herman von Beden was Duke of Austria from 1248-1250. This left no male heirs
and anarchy reigned from 1250-1253.
Ottokar
II then married (2)Kunigunde of Halicz on
October 25, 1261. Kunigunde (1245-1281) was the daughter of Rosticlaw, Prince
of Galicia..
The
Altstadt of Konigsberg grew up around the castle built in 1255 by the Teutonic
Order, on the advice of Ottokar II. King of Bohemia, after whom the place was
named. Its first site was near the fishing village of Steindamm, but after its
destruction by the Prussians in 1263 it was rebuilt in its present position. It
received civic privileges in 1286, the two other parts of the present
town—Lobenicht and Kneiphof—receiving them a few years later. In 1340
Konigsberg entered the Hanseatic League. From 1457 it was the residence of the
grand master of the Teutonic Order, and from 1525 till 1618 of the dukes of
Prussia.
GENERATION
TWO:
King
Wenceslas II, grandson of
King Henry Probus, son of Henry II of Silesia, King of Poland 1298-1290,
reigned from 1253-1278, and died in 1305. He was proclaimed King of Poland in
1300. He was the legitimate son of Ottokar II and Margaret of Austria.
Nicholas
I (illegitimate
son of Ottokar II by Margarareta von Chuening?), Duke of Troppau, married Adelaide ____. The Duchy of
Troppau (Silesia/Austria) was established in 1278. Most likely on the death of
Ottokar II of the Przemyslid Dynasty.
At this
time, Rudolf I (1218-1291), a Habsburg took the throne in 1273. Rudolf was the
son of Albert IV of Hapsburg. He was Duke before his reign as Austrian King
(1276-1282).
King
Wenceslaus III was born in 1273. He was King of Poland and Hungary in 1305,
and he died shortly after. II.
Elizabeth ("Eliska") was the second
daughter of Wenceslas II. She claimed the Bohemian crown after marrying John of
Luxembourg.
GENERATION
THREE:
Nicholas
II, Duke of Troppau
(Opaya) (1318-1385) and Ratibor after his marriage to (*1st)Anna of
Silesia-Ratibor circa 1340,
he married (2nd) Hedwig of Ols, in 1342 or 1345 (3rd) Jutta von Falkenburg
after 1405.
King
Henry reigned
from 1307-1310, and died in 1335.
GENERATION
FOUR:
Eupremia
of Troppau (c. 1319- bef. 1352) married Ziemowit
III (a Piast) Duke of
Mazovia, in 1335.
GENERATION
FIVE:
John I (1383-1429) Duke of
Mazovia married Anna of
Lithuania shortly before
1383.
GENERATION
SIX:
Boleslaw
III (1385/6-1428)
married (before 1413) to Anna Holczanski (d. 1458)
GENERATION
SEVEN:
Boleslaw
IV son of
Boleslaw III, Duke of Mazovia(Mazowisze) was born in 1421, and died September
10, 1454, married Barbara,
a Russian Princess (c. 1446). Mazovia was not a part of Kingdom of Poland until
1529. Warsaw was the largest city in Mazovia, in the past.
GENERATION
EIGHT:
Conrad
III (Konrad
Mazowiecki) Duke of Mazovia (1449-1503), married (1) Magdelena Stawrot (2)
before July 20, 1477 to NN (3)*Anna, Princess Radziwill.
GENERATION
NINE :
Anna
of Mazovia (1497/98 - after January 1, 1557). married Stanislas Odrowaz von Sprowy (d. 1545) around 1536.
GENERATION
TEN:
Sophia
Odrowazowna married Jan Kostka
GENERATION
ELEVEN:
Anna
Kostezanka married Alexander,
Prince Ostrogski, son of Constantine
Basil, Prince Ostrogski and Sophia,
Countess Tarnowska.
GENERATION
TWELVE:
Sophia,
Princess Ostrogska married Stanislaus,
Prince Lubomirski.
GENERATION
THIRTEEN:
George
(Jerzy) Sebastian was born in 1616, and died on December 31, 1667, in Wroclaw
(herbu Szreniawa), Prince Lubomirski married
Konstance z Bobrku Ligezianska
GENERATION
FOURTEEN:
Alexander
Michael, Prince Lubomirski married Katharine
Anne, Princess Sapieha.
GENERATION
FIFTEEN:
George
Alexander, Prince Lubomirski married(1) Joanna von Starzhausen and (2) Aniela Teresa
Michowska.
GENERATION
SIXTEEN:
(maternity
uncertain) Stanislas, Prince
Lubomirski married Louisa Honorata Pociejowna
GENERATION
SEVENTEEN:
Jozef,
Prince Lubomirski married Louisa
Sosnowska
GENERATION
EIGHTEEN:
Frederick,
Prince Lubomirski married Francoise,
Countess Zaluska
GENERATION
NINETEEN:
Casimir,
Prince Lubomirski married Zenaide
Holynska
GENERATION
TWENTY:
Marie,
Princess Lubomirska married Rene
Lannes de Montebello. A Jean Lanner was Duke of Montebello (1769-1809) was
a French Field Marshall.
GENERATION
TWENTY-ONE:
George
Ernest Casimir Lannes de Montebello married Emilie
d'Aviles
GENERATION
TWENTY-TWO:
Andre
Roger Lannes de Montebello married Germaine
Wiener de Croisset
GENERATION
TWENTY-THREE:
Guy
Phillippe Lannes de Montebello (b. 1936) the New York head of the Metropolitian Museum New York
City, New York. married Edith
Bradford Myles
SOURCES:
At some point, Charlemagne joined in the battle
against the Avars in this part of the world, cooperating either with Samo or
with the state structure that came after him - the Great Moravian Empire.
Again, reports on the Great Moravian Empire are
fuzzy. According to period chronicles, the people living along the Morava River
at the time were already known as "Moravians," and their short-lived
empire existed "somewhere" between today's Slovakia and Germany, and
Poland and Austria (that is, somewhere in today's Czech Republic) in the 8th
and/or 9th century. Just like Wogastisburg Fortress, it's claimed to have stood
in different places by all the people who live in those different places.
At some time during the ninth century, Greater
Moravia was ruled by the Moravian prince Svatopluk and had grown to include
today's South Moravia, the southernmost bits of present-day Poland and Silesia,
the western part of Hungary and, for a short time, the whole of Bohemia.
Perhaps the most important thing about the Great Moravians is that theirs was
the first legal sort of state structure in the area to accept Christianity, and
the cultural development of the Greater Moravian Empire is inseparably linked
to the spread of the eastern Byzantine liturgy of Sts Cyril and Methodius, who
came to these parts in 863. They were invited by the Moravians - who were
interested in Christianity but couldn't understand the language in which it was
preached at the time. Cyril and Methodius were chosen for the mission because
they understood and were able to speak in the Slavic tongue (again lending
weight to the theory that the Slavs of these parts had not long before been
spending some time in Greece).
Some buildings from around about this time still
stand - mostly Romanesque basilicas like the one on Rip Hill (the very hill
that Great-Granddad Czech liked so much!), at Vysehrad, in Prague's Old Town,
and at other places. It was Cyril and Methodius, too, who brought the written word
to the region (the Cyrillic alphabet is named for Cyril even though his real
name was not Cyril but Constantine). The beginning of a written Slavic language
was to be of enormous importance to Slavic nations in the Middle Ages. On the
downside, the introduction of Christianity to this territory was so
overwhelmingly successful that we know very little today about the
pre-Christian religion of the pagan Slavs.
The Greater Moravian Empire disintegrated thanks
to the Hungarian invasion of 903 or 904 and political intrigue in the early
days of the Holy Roman Empire. After that, the Slavic mission in Moravia -
which had been established by the missionaries Cyril and Methodius - collapsed,
and the population reverted to tribal conditions. The Christian heritage of the
Greater Moravian Empire, however, was to be preserved with the ascent of the
Przemyslid dynasty to the throne of Bohemia.
With the Great Moravian Empire out of the way, the
Przemyslid family succeeded in laying the foundations of a Czech state somewhere
around the the end of the ninth century. They did this mostly by ridding
themselves of all of the things that were standing in their way, like the
Vrsovic and Slavnik clans - which the Przemyslids murdered in a particularly
bloody manner. The only Vrsovec to escape the massacre of his family was
Adalbert, but it didn't do him much good. Adalbert was so thankful for his
salvation that he became a Christian missionary and headed northwest (to the
area of today's northeast Germany) to spread the Word. No sooner did he arrive
at his destination than he was brutally roasted and eaten by the inhabitants.
Adalbert (or Vojtech, as he is known in Czech) is another of the Czech nation's
patron saints today.
But Vojtech was not the only early Czech guy to be
made a saint thanks to the Przemyslid's bloodthirstiness. On the contrary - the
Przemyslid rulers were rather a mixed bag, and when they ran out of rival clans
to murder, they started murdering each other - resulting in some more early
saints for the Czechs.
Wenceslas I, the fourth Przemyslid Czech ruler,
was made a saint soon after his murder in 929 or 935. This Wenceslas (in Czech,
Vaclav) is the Good King Wenceslas of the Christmas carol, and it was during
his reign that the Czech lands entered into an alliance with Saxony, thereby
laying the foundations for closer relations with the restored Roman Empire.
This mischievous affability on Wenceslas' part
towards the Czechs' western neighbors is a main reason that he was killed by
his brother, who wasn't very good (in fact he is known as "Boleslav the
Cruel.") Another reason might be that Boleslav was a pagan, and he felt
that Wenceslas was frittering away too much time with this new Christian
fashion he'd picked up -- though lust for power probably also played a role in
Boleslav's motive for the murder, which took place at the very door of the
church in Stara Boleslav, where Wenceslas was trying to seek refuge.
Incidentally, Boleslav and Wenceslas' Grandmother
(on their father's side) was also murdered, and also made a saint. It is said
that she was either smothered to death with a pillow or choked to death - this
time, the killer was her daughter-in-law (Boleslav and Wenceslas' mother), and
the motive was, again, power (Drahomira wanted to place Wenceslas on the
throne.)
Things didn't get much better within the
Przemyslid family, it is suspected that . Interestingly enough, the Przemyslids
are remembered rather fondly in the Czech Republic today, as it seems that most
people are blissfully unaware of the family's murderous streak.
Maybe that is because the Przemyslids occasionally
took time off from their favorite sport to increase Bohemia's power and
prestige. In typical early feudal fashion, this meant that they went out
killing people in other countries instead, expanding their empire to Moravia
and Silesia, as well as the upper reaches of the river Vistula and parts of
western Slovakia. In Moravia, they set up a system of dukedoms, with the office
of "Margrave" (ruler of Moravia) sometimes being held by the Bohemian
Dauphin, sometimes by a rival for the Bohemian throne. In this way the
Przemyslide dynastic killings were stayed, and both Bohemia and Moravia came to
be regarded as hereditary lands of the Przemyslid dynasty. All the while, the
expansion of the Przemyslid Dynasty's power went hand in hand with the spread
of Christianity in the region.
This growing Przemyslide state maintained its
sovereignty, though it formally recognized the feudal supremacy of the
Roman-German Empire. The Czech lands ranked among the most advanced of the
European feudal states, being at the forefront of economic power and cultural
achievement at the time. In keeping with this growing importance, the territory
was officially recognized through the granting of a royal crown to the
Przemyslid Dynasty in the eleventh century (it was made hereditary in 1212 by
the Golden Sicilian Bull) and the granting of the title of 'emperor' for Czech
rulers.
The 1100s and 1200s were a very busy time in this
part of Europe, and colonization, trade and cultural activity were steadily on
the increase. Prague, which lay smack dab in the middle of several continental
trade routes, flourished. Prague's Old Town was founded in 1234 as the first of
Prague's five towns, and the Lesser Quarter was founded in 1257. Border forests
were settled and towns and fortresses were founded and fortified. These
sweeping changes literally transformed the country, and in keeping with these
physical changes, the social structure of the territory also evolved. From about
this time, aristocrats, burghers, and serfs were to be spotted in the Czech
lands - as were German settlers, who were invited to colonize previously
uninhabited (mostly border) regions of Bohemia and Moravia. The German
settlers, whether burghers or peasants, did not form a homogeneous or
politically separate group, and they soon became part of the local community,
identifying with Czech statehood and sharing in the development of the Czech
and Moravian lands as fully enfranchised members of the population, but mostly
but keeping their native language (in addition to learning Czech.) Many, many,
many, many centuries later, the places that they settled would come to be known
as the "Sudetenland."
From the thirteenth century, the Czech kingdom was
one of the most robust states in all of Europe, with a growing population and a
vigorous economy. This, in turn, made the Czech nobility and rulers all the
more rich and powerful, and enabled king Przemysl Otakar II to expand his
territory rather extensively (if briefly). Otakar II was quite well-known in
his time, and he even makes an appearance in Dante's Divine Comedy. Otokar II,
also known as the "King of Gold and Iron" (because of his
considerable wealth and his considerable military might) defeated the armies of
the Hungarian king in 1256 and again in 1260. This military victory allowed him
to annex the Alpine countries (today's Austria and beyond) - extending his
territories all the way to the Adriatic Sea. Some people claim that this brief
period - in which Bohemia controlled territory bordering on the sea - is the
basis for Shakespeare's infamous 'Bohemian seacoast' from his play, "The
Tempest."
Well, while the Czech lands were gaining power,
prestige, oceanfront property and other things, a powerful rival appeared in
Germany in the person of the newly-elected ruler of the Holy Roman Empire,
Rudolf Habsburg - a member of a previously unimportant family from the
Rhineland. This Rudolf formed an alliance of German princes and - after the
Czech King Przemysl Otakar II was killed in battle in Moravia against the
combined Roman and Hungarian forces on August 26, 1278 - Rudolf took possession
of the abovementioned Alpine lands, which later became the basis of the
Habsburgs' power - ie Austria.
The late Czech King Przemysl Otakar II was
succeeded by his son, Wenceslas II (1278-1305). Under his reign, the mining of
Czech silver at Kutna Hora and the minting of the Czech silver groschen - one
of the hardest European currencies of the time - flourished. Wenceslas II also
created a confederation between Bohemia and Poland. For a short time, Hungary -
under the rule of Matthias Czak Trenciansky, who held absolute rule over most
of Slovakia as well - also joined this confederation.
The Polish-Czech union was strengthened under the
brief rule of Wenceslas III. Had it survived, it might have contributed to the
creation of a more advanced region in Europe as the earlier Czech- Austrian
union had. However, this was precluded by the death of young Wenceslas III (in
1306, when he was just 17 years old). Wenceslas III was the last male member of
the Przemyslids line, and after his death the Czech-Polish union fell apart.
With the demise of Wenceslas III, the last of the
Przemyslid rulers of the Czech lands, the difficult question of who should rule
next had to be answered. And answered it was - by 14-year-old John of
Luxembourg, the first of the Luxembourgs to occupy the Czech throne
(1310-1437). John of Luxembourg gained this position with the support of the
Czech nobility by marrying 18-year-old Eliska Przemyslova, the sister of the
late Wenceslas III.
Under John of Luxembourg's rule, more territories
- including the regions of Cheb, Lusatia and Silesia - were joined to Bohemia.
All of these regions together, under the rule of John of Luxembourg, came to be
known as the "Lands of the Czech Crown." So you see, there never was
an easy "one-word" way (like 'Czechia') to describe this part of the
world, not even in way back in the 14th century.
John of Luxembourg was a good king, but he had a
fatal weakness for chivalry, knighthood, honour - and especially, for battles.
He loved to fight. When there weren't any battles in his immediate
neighborhood, he went abroad to help his friends fight their battles. And so it
happened that he fell at the battle of Crecy in 1346, fighting on the side of
his French friend and distant relative Charles, against the Black Prince. And
so he was succeeded by his young son, Charles IV.
Charles IV was just as noble - but much more
practical than his caravanting father had been, and he took a keen interest in
all aspects of rule over the Czech lands. Charles IV was not really named
Charles. He was named Wenceslas IV - but he had been reared at the French
court, and everyone there called him Charles, and so the name stuck. (His son,
who succeeded him on the Czech throne, was also named Wenceslas IV, and this
sometimes leads to some confusion.) When Charles IV came to power, he was still
very young. Since he'd been raised in France, he didn't speak Czech. Wicked
advisors surrounded the young king, and attempted to usurp the real rule of
Bohemia while leaving young Charles IV in place as a figurehead.
Charles IV may have been young, but he was no
dummy. He spoke 5 languages fluently (at a time when many crowned heads could
not even read and write), and he was a masterful diplomat. He also had friends
in high places - Pope Klement, who was elected during Charles IV's reign, had
been the Czech sovereign's tutor at the court in Paris.
Young Charles IV saw through the transparent plans
of the wicked advisors who surrounded him. He quickly learned Czech, and took
over rule of his own land himself.
Charles IV was very clever, very devout, and very
savvy. He was also a lover of art and a collector of holy relics (which he kept
under lock and key all year long except for Easter, when he paraded them
through the country like a travelling circus).
The medieval Czech state reached the zenith of its
power and importance Charles IV. He was the King of Bohemia, later also Holy
Roman Emperor, and today he is known as the Father of the Czech Nation.
Charles was a very good king, and he paid
attention to detail. It was he who made sure that the status of the "Lands
of the Czech Crown" - the territories his father had gathered together
under his rule - was legally fixed (this task was made all the easier since he
was Holy Roman Emperor). He initiated a number of building projects in his
reign, especially in Prague. It was at his behest that Charles Bridge and St.
Vitus' Cathedral were built, and the "Hunger Wall" that he
commissioned (remnants of which still stand today on Petrin Hill in Prague) is
thought to be the first works-project in the world, as he had it built to
create employment for the poor and hungry masses (hence the name). Charles IV
personally planned Prague's "New Town" district, where Charles Square
- which is also named for him - lies. Karlstejn Castle and Karlovy Vary
(Carlsbad) are also named for Charles IV.
Many of the building projects initiated by Charles
IV still stand, and most are perfect examples of the Gothic style of
architecture, which is characterized by clean simple lines and solid structure
- like the Charles Bridge and its towers, the Carolinum, or the Old-New
Synagogue.
Charles IV also founded Charles University, the first center
of higher education in all of Central Europe. During his reign, Prague was the
capital of the Holy Roman Empire (a gilded sign on the Old Town Hall still
proclaims "Praga Caput Regni" today), and he successfully lobbied to
have the Prague bishopric made an archbishopric (this task was actually quite
easy, as the privelege was granted him by his former tutor, now the Pope.)
It was Charles IV, too, who brought the
cultivation of the grape and the wine industry to the beer-drinking Czech
lands. That isn't to say that he neglected the beer industry - under his reign,
stiff prison sentences were meted out to those caught exporting cuttings of
prize Czech hops - essential to the brewing of great Czech beer - abroad.
Charles IV had no fewer than four wives, and any
number of progeny, both legitimate and il. Of these, his oldest legitimate son,
Vaclav IV, was naturally chosen as his successor.
Wenceslas IV (1378-1419), son of Charles IV and
heir to the Czech and Roman crowns, was a weak and ineffective ruler. He was
also mean, a drunk, and wildly unpopular. He was imprisoned twice during his
reign. Had times been different, this may not have mattered much. As luck would
have it, however, he became king during a particularly turbulent time in Czech
history.
Unfortunately, Wenceslas IV was much more
interested in drinking than in ruling. He was terribly spoiled, and even as an
adult he would throw fits when people didn't do exactly as he wished them to.
He is remembered by history today in two ways: sometimes as a wishy- washy,
good-for-nothing drunkard, and sometimes as a benefactor of the common man. The
way in which this latter reputation was earned is usually explained in this
way: Wenceslas IV used to go around Prague dressed as a commoner. He would go
to pubs and shops this way, and whenever he found a merchant giving the public
short measures, he would punish them by having them thrown off Charles Bridge
into the river to drown. If this legend is based on fact, then it is probably
likely that Wenceslas IV pursued this hobby not so much to help the common man,
but rather from the pleasure he derived from having people thrown into the
river.
Probably the most famous person Wenceslas IV had
thrown into the river was an insignificant court clerk by name of John of
Pomuk. During the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church recovered the story
of John of Pomuk's death and entirely overhauled it - making John's name John
of Nepomuk, making his job the confessor to the Queen (instead of an office
clerk), and making the reason for his execution the "fact" that John
refused to divulge the Queen's secrets - told in Confession - to the king. John
of Nepumuk was eventually made a saint on the basis of this story, but the
Vatican rescinded the decision in 1961, explaining that testimony of his
miracles and other evidence of his deeds was "fishy."
It's hard to say what the common people of the
time really thought of Wenceslas IV, as common people don't usually have much
of a say in the writing of history. It is known that he was wildly unpopular
with the nobility, who had him imprisoned not once but several times during his
reign.
He wasn't exactly revered by his brother,
Sigismund, either. Even as the careless blood of his grandfather, John of
Luxembourg, coursed through Vaclav IV's veins - so did the power-hungry blood
of the early Przemyslide rulers flow freely through the arteries of Sigismund.
In short, he wanted to be king, and it was he who was behind at least one of
the conspiracies to imprison King Vaclav IV.
While this court intrigue was going on, things
couldn't really have been all that good for the common man, else he'd not have
been spending much of his leisure time listening to the rabble-rousing
preachers who started travelling around the country at this time, full of
criticism for the excesses of the Catholic Church.
One such religious reformer was to play a pivotal
(though posthumous) role in deciding the country's fate for the next several
hundred years.
Jan Hus had been greatly influenced by the
writings of John Wycliffe, and he began conducting his sermons at Bethlehem
Chapel in Prague in Czech rather than in Latin, so that the common man could
understand them. He also advocated the giving of communion in both species, and
was critical of the church for its excessive policies - of amassing wealth,
selling indulgences, and allowing the rich to tithe their way out of even
mortal sins.
Even as these ideas were gaining popularity in the
Czech lands, they were becoming most wildly unpopular in other areas of the
Holy Roman Empire (especially the Vatican.) This led to the burning of Master
Jan Hus at the stake at the Council at Constance on July 6, 1415 when he
refused to recant his words and despite that he had letter of safe conduct from
Wenceslas IV's brother, Sigismund).
The brutal killing of Jan Hus only served to
incense and unite his followers, who came to be known as the Hussites.
The Hussites were highly critical of the abuses of
the Roman Catholic Church, and, in the Four Articles of Prague, they demanded
that 1) all believers be permitted to receive Communion in both species; 2) all
mortal and public sins be punished equally, regardless of the sinner's status
3) the Word of God be freely preached; and 4) the clergy give up their worldly
wealth.
This situation culminated in 1419 with the First
Defenestration of Prague, in which Hussites threw 7 members of the Czech Town
Council out of Prague's New Town Hall window -- and to their deaths on the
points of Hussite-weilded pikes below. To make the situation more interesting,
King Wenceslas IV had an apopleptic fit and died of a heart attack upon
learning of the defenestration.
But even after the death of his brother, Wenceslas
IV, King Sigismund of Luxembourg, who also inherited the title of Holy Roman
Emperor never really got to be king of Bohemia. The situation with the Hussites
had gone too far, and he spent the rest of his life fighting them in the hopes
of taking control of the throne he'd inherited from his brother. When his
initial attempts to do this met with failure, he beseeched the Pope to send
help.
The mighty Hussites, led by the one-eyed military
genius, Jan Zizka, defeated five waves of crusaders in a row: in 1420, 1421,
1422, 1427, and in 1437.
Actually, the fifth army of crusaders sent to
battle the Hussites turned tail and fled before even catching sight of the
famed warriors - because they were so terrified at hearing the refrain of the
terrible Hussite battle song, "Ye Warriors of God." It was either that,
or maybe just that the warriors didn't sing very well.
Well, in addition to fear-inspiring songs and the
other tricks the Hussites had up their sleeves, they also had the thing that
matters most - conviction that their cause was the Just one. Their symbol was
the chalice and their motto, "Truth Prevails." (this motto was later
used by the first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, as well
as by a later President of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel - during the Velvet
Revolution).
Well, despite this and despite their brilliant
military successes, all was not well within the Hussite movement itself. From
the very start, the Hussite movement had been divided into factions - the most
prominent division was along economic lines.
A number of peasant Hussites were nothing more
than hooligans at best - terrorists at worst - who joined the cause only so
that they could have a good excuse to go around robbing churches and setting
them aflame with Catholics inside. These practices were considered to be rather
in poor taste by the aristocratic Hussites. Over time, the movement splintered
even more - even spawning an early nudist sect, the Adamites. The history books
usually divide the Hussites into radical "Taborites" - named for the
town of Tabor, a city the Hussites founded for the occasion of the Second
Coming, which many considered imminent - and the moderate
"Utraquists" - derived from the Latin "sub utraque specie"
for their belief that communion should be given "in both kinds" -
made up mostly of the nobility. In reality, though, the situation on the ground
just was not that simple.
This infighting came to a head at the Battle of
Lipany on May 30, 1434, at which the Czech Hussite factions fought among
themselves. This battle is considered by some to be the single most tragic
event in all of Czech history.
Well, the victory at the Battle of Lipany went to
the moderates, and this paved the way for an agreement to be reached between
the "Utraquist Hussites" of Bohemia and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Basel Compact, ceremoniously announced in
1436, permitted the "Utraquist Hussites" to take Communion in both
kinds, to have their church services conducted in the Czech language, and
absolved them of having to pay dues to Rome. The Pope later refused to
recognize the agreement, but not before it had served to bring an end to the
costly Hussite wars.
The extremist "Taborite Hussites" were
not a party to this agreement, and refused to accept it. While the moderates
stayed in the Catholic Church, the extremists went underground, forming their
own church, ordaining their own bishops, pioneering public education, sending
out missionaries (even to the 13 original American colonies) and secretly
printing Czech-language copies of the "Kralice Bible" - named for the
town of Kralice in which it was printed. This translation is still in use in
the Czech lands today, despite that it is often hard for modern speakers of the
language to understand.
Slovakia all this while was known simply as
"Upper Hungary." Though the Czechs and the Slovaks had been next-door
neighbors since the time that Ancestor Cech and his brothers had come to the
area, they have historically had very little in common (until 1918). Similarly, neither country has
historically ever had much to do with Poland, which borders both to the north. It is at this point in history - beginning in the 14th century,
however, closer cultural contacts between Slovakia and Bohemia were formed.
Especially during the turbulent Hussite period of the 15th century, many
Hussite followers found refuge and support in the Slovak lands, and some of the
Slovak nobility fought on the side of the Hussites.
After the Compact of Basel forced King Sigismund
of Luxembourg to concede to the Hussites' demands, the position of the regional
nobility and of the towns (a grouping known as the "Estates") was
strengthened, to the detriment of the centralized royal authority. For some
time after Sigismund's death in 1437, anarchy reigned in Bohemia.
Then, after the very brief rule of Ladislav the
Posthumous (1453-7) - so named because he was born after his father had died -
the Bohemian throne was occupied by the "heretic" King George of
Podebrady (1458-71). George, also known as the "Hussite" King, was
the first freely-elected Czech ruler. He was chosen as Czech King from among
the country's nobility without regard to any previous agreements, hereditary
claim to the throne, family connections or dynastic origin. George of Podebrady
won recognition throughout the Lands of the Czech Crown through his skillful
diplomacy, and gained the respect of all of Central Europe. He also, in the
15th century, authored an ambitious "Peace Plan" for all of Europe,
sort of a medeival equivalent to a NATO-like organization.
But few people then, as now, were interested in
peace, and nobody subscribed to his plan. On the contrary - the Hungarian
monarch at this time, Matthias Corvinus - with the support of the disgruntled
Czech Catholic opposition, who didn't like the idea of a Protestant on the
throne - declared war against George of Podebrady, who happened to be Matthias'
father-in-law. The Hungarian campaigns against Bohemia ceased only after the
death of the beloved Hussite King, George of Podebrady, and the ascent of
Vladislav Jagellon to the throne.
Czech-Slovak relations were strengthened at this
time with the forming of the Czech-Hungarian union under the Jagellons after
the death of Matthias Corvinus in 1490; and after the Kralice Bible began to be
used by the Slovak Evangelical Church.
In spite of conflicts both foreign and domestic,
and even under the rule of the Jagellon dynasty's two Catholic kings, Vladislav
and Ludwig, religious pluralism and freedom of religion were maintained in the
Czech lands, with Protestants and Catholics living together in harmony. All
during this time of weak royal leadership, the power of the nobility and towns
(the Estates) continued to increase - even as central authority diminished.
With the death of Ludwig Jagellon (he drowned in a
swamp running away from the Turks at the Battle of Mohacs in 1526), the
short-lived Czech-Hungarian Union fell to pieces, leaving both the Bohemian and
the Hungarian thrones unoccupied.
What a window of opportunity for the Austrian
Habsburgs! That Ferdinand I of Habsburg, also happened to be the late Ludwig
Jagellon's brother-in-law helped his claim to the Bohemain and Hungarian
thrones. In Bohemia, the weakened central authority did, too. At first,
Ferdinand made concessions to the ever-powerful Estates. Soon, however, he
began systematically to weaken the authority of the regional nobility and
towns. His attempts to increase the central power of the Crown naturally met
with the opposition of the Estates, and the whole situation culminated in an
unsuccesful rebellion of the Estates in 1547.
The Estates' failure was Ferdinand's gain. He used
this victory to increase royal authority and to weaken the position of the
Estates and the towns even more. He also invited the Jesuits to come to the
Czech lands, though they never held any inquisitions here and generally did not
meddle in public affairs. Ostensibly fighting to maintain freedom of religion
in the Czech lands against the resolutely Catholic policies of Ferdinand, the
Estates struggled to regain their former power and influence.
These conflicts simmered under the surface of
things as the Renaissance swept through the Czech lands.
Ferdinand was succeeded by Maxmilian II, who was
succeeded by Rudolf II. After assuming the Austrian throne, the Habsburg ruler
and patron of the arts and sciences, Rudolf II (1576-1611) moved his court from
Vienna to Prague - making him the last crowned King of Bohemia to live at
Prague Castle. Rudolf II was a real character. He had a pet lion, he collected
great art - including works by Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Rafael - he
supported scientists such as Tycho de Brahe, Johannes Kepler as well as artists
like Spranger and Von Aachen, and he was a personal friend of the legendary
Prague Jewish leader, Rabbi Loew. It is said that he also financed the work of
any number of quack alchemists (on his invitation John Dee and Edward Kelley
spent time in Prague), and that he was a little soft in the head. It's possible
that the Legend of Faust (who lived in Prague) originated at this time of
scientific exploration.
The architectural style of the time was Baroque,
which - like Rudolf II himself - was round and robust, flamboyant and a little
gaudy. Baroque buildings like the Loreto and St Nicholas Church in Lesser Town
Square are massive and grand. The statues that top them appear so heavy that
they seem likely to fall and crush innocent passers-by.
Rudolf II, who suffered periods of dementia
because of his acute case of syphilis, was forced by his family to resign in
1611. He had been forced during his reign to concede religious freedom to the
Czech Protestants, and when his brother and successor, Matthias, tried to
rescind them, mounting political tensions led the Czech Estates to rebel
against the Habsburgs once again.
They began their rebellion in grand Czech style,
with the Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618. In this second
defenestration, two vice- regents of the Austrian monarch and some governors of
the Czech lands were thrown out of a tower window at Prague Castle. They were
not killed, however, as they fell onto a pile of garbage (mostly straw) which
had accumulated in the castle moat. So it can be said that they (at least the
non-Austrian of the throwees) were the world's first bouncing Czechs. To add
insult to injury (or perhaps insult to insult?) the Bohemian diet of the
Estates then elected Frederick V of the Palatinate (also known as Frederick
Faltz or as "the Winter King") as their ruler, thinking that his
father-in-law - the English King James I - would come to their aid. They could
not have been more wrong.
This rebellion of the Czech Estates was
particularly unsuccessful. It culminated in the Battle of the White Mountain in
1620, in which the Estates were incontrovertibly defeated by the Habsburgs.
They had been successful only in sparking the Thirty Years' War, which was to
devastate much of Europe. Incidentally, the then-mercenary, later-philosopher
Rene Descartes fought at the Battle of the White Mountain on the side of the
Habsburgs.
Well, the Habsburgs, quite understandably, did not
appreciate these disturbances which were emanating from the northern reaches of
their empire. But the methods that they used to subdue the protestant Estates
after the Battle of the White Mountain were extraordinarily harsh.
First, they executed 27 nobles - leaders of the
Estates who had fought on the losing side against the Habsburgs at the Battle
of the White Mountain - in Prague's Old Town Square in May 1621. Some of the
heads of the decapitated leaders of the rebellion were then hung strategically
around Prague - for instance, on the Old Town bridge tower of the Charles
Bridge - to serve as an ominous reminder to the people of Who was Boss. (It is
said that every year, at the exact hour and on the exact day that they were
killed, the ghosts of the 27 wrongly-executed nobles can be seen haunting the
spot where they lost their heads. The place today is marked by 27 crosses in
the cobblestones of Old Town Square, next to the Astronomical Clock.) The heads
hung there for 11 long and lonely years, before finally being taken down and
given a proper burial by the Saxons, who occupied Prague in 1632 in the course
of the Thirty Years' War.
The Thirty Years' War, which had begun in Prague,
ended there, too. In 1648, the Swedes had succeeded in capturing the Lesser
Quarter and plundering it and Prague Castle (carrying off many valuable
artworks which decorate Swedish castles and palaces to this day). They were
defeated by a ragtag force of Czech university students and residents of
Prague's Jewish town on the Charles Bridge in the last battle of the Thirty
Years' War. It is said that the Swedes were beseeched to come by the exiled
Protestant leader, Comenius (Jan Amos Komensky) - he had wanted them to come to
the aid of the by-now utterly defeated Protestant forces, but by the end of the
war it was already too late.
As a result of all this tumult, the Czech lands
lost the power to elect their own rulers, and the Czech crown was made
hereditary for Habsburg rulers. The Habsburgs banned all religions other than
Catholicism. The property of Protestant members of the nobility was confiscated
and handed out to loyal Catholics.
Those Czech Protestants who weren't already in
exile were forced to convert to Catholocism. Only a very few had the courage to
continue to practice their religion in secret.
The population of the country had been halved by
the sundry aftermath of the Battle of the White Mountain, and as fewer people
also means fewer people paying tax, taxes were raised.
Things were pretty bad all around. The rich got
richer, the poor got poorer, and the economy went into a deep recession.
Luckily, it was high time for the Enlightenment to make an entrance. The
administrative reforms of Maria Theresa and her son, Joseph II, did much to
alleviate the situation.
These two rulers reduced the privileges of the now
all-Catholic nobility (who are also - perhaps to confuse us all - known as the
Estates, as the formerly Protestant nobility had also been called). They
expelled the Jesuits in 1773, and they attempted to end social oppression by
abolishing serfdom in 1781. In the same year, they issued the Edict of
Tolerance, which permitted the free exercise of religion and the secularization
of education, science and art. Prague's Jewish town is called
"Josefov" to this day in honor of Josef II.
The Industrial Revolution, as most revolutions do,
started off small at the end of the 18th century, and then really picked up
steam - so to speak - in the 19th century. It was to have a monumental impact
on the Czech lands.
The first factories in the Austrian Empire were
built in the mountainous border regions of the Czech lands, where there was no
shortage of water power from rushing streams and rivers to run them. While it
did not take long for steam power to be harnessed, the industrial boundaries
had been drawn, and these regions remain predominantly industrial to this day.
Railway lines were laid (in the Czech lands, by
Jan Perner - who met his death when he hit his head against a pole while
leaning out of the window of a moving train - an activity which has been
forbidden in this country since the Czech railway pioneer's tragic accident.)
Trams (mostly constructed by the "Czech Thomas Edison," Frantisek
Krizik) began to carry people around on their errands in and between major
towns (in those days, tram lines connected the cities of Bratislava, Budapest
and Vienna to each other - about a one-hour ride). It was at this time, too,
that Gregor Mendel was conducting his famous experiments on hereditary with
peas in a monastery in Moravia, and that Jan Evangelista Purkyne peered into
his microscope one day to discover a cell looking back at him (he was the first
person to recognize it as such).
The major architectural styles of the time were
Classicist and Empire, both of which used classical Greek and Roman motifs in a
balanced and simple design. Two buildings which are closely associated with
Mozart's stay in Prague in the late 18th century are excellent examples of
these styles: the Estates Theatre, in which Mozart conducted the premier of Don
Giovanni, is Classicist and the Bertramka villa, where he stayed with the Dusek
family, is one of the purest examples of Empire that exists in the Czech
Republic. But we digress.
Industrialization was not the only big change
taking place in the Austrian Empire at this time. The Czech nation, like most
of the others under Austrian rule, was also going through political and
cultural changes, leading to demands for greater autonomy and self-
determination for the different nations under Austrian rule.
In this country, the push for autonomy was known
as the Czech National Revival movement (Narodni obrozeni). The dominant
political leaders of the movement - Frantisek Palacky, Frantisek Ladislav
Rieger and Karel Havlicek Borovsky - were "liberals." This meant that
they wanted reforms within the Austrian monarchy, but did not want independence
for the Czech lands. This brought them into conflict with the
"democrats," who were republican and fiercely anti-Monarchy.
But the Czech National Revival movement almost had
more to do with culture than with politics. Frantisek Palacky and Karel
Havlicek Borovsky, who are mentioned above for their political efforts, were
both writers. Czech Literature enjoyed a Golden Age during the Czech National
Revival, as the Czech language - which had all but died out under Habsburg rule
- was rediscovered. Other notable writers of the time include Bozena Nemcova,
Karel Hynek Macha (who published the epic lyrical poem "Maj," then
died of pneumonia he caught while fighting a fire one month before he was to be
married), and Josef Jungmann - who put together the first modern Czech
dictionary.
Many popular books retelling the old Czech legends
of Libuse and Sarka and Bivoj and Bruncvik were published at this time, and
some of the leaders of the Czech National Revival even falsified "ancient
13th century texts" of these legends, which they claimed to have found in
a cave somewhere. Perhaps the only authority in the movement who publicly
denied the authenticity of the texts was a young university professor by name
of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, and he was passionately detested by the other
leaders for doing so.
But we digress yet again. France had its infamous
revolution in 1848. In the same year in the Czech lands, the feudal system was
abolished, leading to waves of emigration, much of it to the New World -
particularly to the United States. In June 1848, a Pan-Slavic Congress convened
in Prague to consider possible ways of convincing the Habsburgs to transform
their empire into a federative state of equal nations (something like a 'United
States of Austria'). Suddenly, the discussions were interrupted by an aimless
rebellion inspired by the French Revolution and including dramatic baracades in
the streets, which was led by bored students and the most radical of the
radical democrats.
The rebellion was effortlessly put down by the
local Austrian leader, Prince Windischgratz - who declared martial law and, on
June 16, 1848 even bombarded Prague from Petrin Hill. In this way both the
revolt and the Pan-Slavic congress both came to a premature end, leaving the
question of the future shape of the Austrian Empire utterly unresolved. In a
strange aside to this episode, Prince Windischgratz's wife lost her life in all
this commotion - shot through a window while she was in her apartment. To this
day, nobody knows who did the shooting or why.
Scared by both the French Revolution and the
summer rebellion in Prague, Austria introduced something akin to martial law in
the whole of the Empire to discourage republican efforts at independence.
Autonomy movements throughout the Austrian Empire were suppressed. But as
revolutionary movements have a tendency of doing, this one did not die down; it
just sat around simmering below the ostensibly calm surface of things. Tensions
did not decrease. On the contrary.
The Austrian Empire of the time was massive, and
contained the territories of many modern-day countries. Most of these
nationalities were clamoring for autonomy.
In the 1860s, this pressure led the Habsburgs to
transform the Austrian Empire into the dualist Austro-Hungarian constitutional
monarchy. This was just hunkey-dorey by the Hungarians, but was not exactly
appreciated by most of the other ethnic nations within what was now the
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Czechs were united in their opposition to the
new dual system, but they were divided among themselves as to what they wanted
to do about it. These divisions grew deeper as the 19th century progressed.
There were a number of rival political factions:
the Czech National Party (split into two camps: the conservative Old Czechs and
the liberal Young Czechs); the Czech Social Democratic Party (founded in 1878);
the progressives (who favored the policies of Tomas Masaryk); the Agrarian
party; the Christian Socialists; the National Socialists; and the Radical
Progressives.
The majority of the Czech political parties
supported a program calling for the restoration of the Czech state in its
historical borders - but within the framework of the Austrian Empire. Again,
each party had a different idea of exactly how this goal should be
accomplished.
The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was
characterized by growing economic and political freedom for the Czechs and by
outstanding acheivements on the part of Czechs in culture, medicine, and
science. Architectural trends at the end of the century were romantic copies of
past styles, like Neo-Gothic. These romantic enthusiasts sometimes did more
harm than good, as in the case of the reconstruction of Karlstejn Castle (It is
because of this ill-fated reconstruction that Karlstejn does not qualify for
the UNESCO World Heritage list today.) In other cases, they just did silly
things like build fake "ancient" ruins in Prague parks (perhaps to go
along with their "ancient" legend texts). The Czech writers and
artists Jan Neruda, Alois Jirasek, Mikulas Ales, Bedrich Smetana, Antonin
Dvorak Alfons Mucha and Frantisek Bilek all lived and worked at this time. The
National Theater, National Museum and Rudolfinum were built at the turn of the
century, and the first films in the Czech Republic were made in 1898.
The battle for "universal" suffrage
within the Austro-Hungarian state was won in 1907. (All men in the Czech lands,
regardless of economic status, could vote -- women in the Czech lands did not
get the vote until 1919). But most of the rest of the political advances made
by the Czechs came into being in a sort of fuzzy grey area. The constitutional
status of the Czech lands within the framework of the Monarchy remained an open
and - in Prague, at least - a much-debated question.
Well, while Czech nationalists were busy sitting
in pubs drinking beer and debating how best to effect the changes they wanted
to see implemented in the Austro-Hungarian government, members of other nations
within the Empire were also pressing for reforms and for independence. It was
these pressures that led Serbian nationalist Gavrillo Princip to assassinate
the Archduke Francis Ferdinand (the heir to the Austrian throne) on June 28,
1914, precipitating World War I. Princip was locked up for this deed, and spent
the rest of his days at the prison in Terezin Fortress in the Czech lands.
During the course of World War I, the Czechs
became unified in their opposition to Austrian rule.
Most especially, Austria-Hungary's alignment with
Germany and the restriction of democratic rights in the Czech lands led to
growing opposition to the monarchy here. An organized resistance began to
develop, both at home and abroad.
The Czech university professor, philosopher and
politician, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (the same one who doubted the authenticity
of the faked manuscripts and the one who was later to become Czechoslovakia's
first president) had been an advocate of more independence for the Czech lands
long before the war had even started. In December of 1914, he went abroad,
where he continued to fight for Czechoslovak independence throughout the war.
He worked closely with Czech lawyer Edvard Benes and Slovak astronomer Milan
Rastislav Stefanik, who were also in exile in the United States throughout the
conflict. It was in the United States at this time that Masaryk met his wife,
American Charlotte Garrigue.
It was there, too, that Masaryk, Benes, and
Stefanik founded the Czech National Council in 1916. Over time, this
organization was renamed the Czechoslovak National Council and was recognized
as the valid voice of Czechoslovakia by Allied leaders. Their position as the
leaders of "free Czechoslovakia" was further strengthened with the
formation of Czechoslovak military units known as the Czechoslovak Legions,
which fought alongside the Allies. The Czechoslovak Legions earned particular
distinction on the Italian, French, and Russian fronts - and on the last of
these, they actually became involved in the Russian Revolution, fighting
against the Bolsheviks and, for a time during that revolution, controlled about
half of the territory of Czarist Russia.
Resistance at home grew only gradually. At first,
it was limited to small spy groups who had contact with Masaryk (who was
considered an enemy of Austria on account of his subversive activities). Active
resistance to the monarchy was severely punished, and as a result many
prominent Czech cultural and political personalities spent most of the war
behind bars, convicted of treason. While the sentence for treason at that time
was actually death, the Austrians were too busy to carry out the sentences.
Thus, the executions were never carried out, and these Czech leaders simply
languished in jail for the duration.
By 1917, when things were quite apparantly not in
Austria-Hungary's favor, Czech opposition to the war became much more active.
People began organizing strikes, demonstrations, and even violent protests -
which had to be put down by the army. Anybody who is particularly interested in
this period of Czech history should definitely read "The Good Soldier
Schwiek" by Jaroslav Hasek. It not only offers a great deal of insight
into the kind of passive resistance the Czechs favor, but also offers many more
insights into the Czech psyche.
In May 1918, the representatives of the resistance
movement abroad had signed the Pittsburgh Convention, which approved the
formation of a joint state composed of Slovakia and the Czech lands. Later -
much later (very recently in fact) - Slovak politicians seeking autonomy for
Slovakia would refer to a provision in this agreement mentioning Slovakia's own
"administration, parliament and courts of law."
While the resistance leaders abroad were planning
a new state, the various and sundry political forces in the Czech lands still
could not agree on whether they wanted to radically reconstruct or completely
abolish the political structure of Austria-Hungary. In July 1918, the Czech
National Committee, a grouping of the leaders of the chief political parties
(which wasn't much cooperating with Masaryk's efforts in exile), was
reorganized and began preparing to assume power once the Central Powers were
defeated.
In October 1918, Masaryk, Benes and Stefanik
obtained recognition of the Czechoslovak National Council as the interim
government of the Czechoslovak Republic from the Allied Powers. But while they
were in Switzerland with delegates from the Prague National Committee
discussing details of setting up this new state, a hastily-organized third
grouping, the National Committee (headed by Antonin Svehla, Alois Rasin, Jiri
Stribrny, Frantisek Soukup and Vavro Srobar) proclaimed Czechoslovakia an
independent Republic on October 28, 1918 and began to assume the transfer of
power from Austrian officials.
Adding to this disparity and completely
independent of events in Prague, Slovak political representatives issued the
Martin Declaration in favor of a joint Czechoslovak state on October 30, 1918.
On November 14, 1918, the interim Parliament declared
that the new Czechoslovak state would be a republic, and named Tomas Garrigue
Masaryk as the first President.
The Czechoslovak Republic (CSR) was composed of
the historical Czech lands of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia as well as Slovakia
and Ruthenia (Sub-Carpathian Russia).
Czechoslovakia's relations with its neighboring
states - Germany, Hungary, and Poland - were complicated from the very start.
In security matters, Czechoslovakia alligned
itself with France and her partners in the Little Entente. As Germany grew more
threatening in the course of the 1930's, Czechoslovakia also signed a pact with
the Soviet Union, which promised to help Czechoslovakia in the case of need -
but provided that France fulfilled her obligations to help the nation first.
The Czechs and the Slovaks - who had used
nationalistic arguments to justify their drive for independence from
Austria-Hungary - now found themselves at the other end of the bargaining table.
While these two nations were officially considered the two partners in the
Czechoslovak union, together they comprised less than 65 percent of the total
population. More than 3 million Germans - some 23 percent of the population -
lived mostly in the Czech border regions (the territories which were to become
known as the "Sudetenland") Meanwhile, the Tesin region in the north
was inhabited by a Polish minority of 75,000; South Slovakia and Ruthenia had a
large Hungarian minority of about 745,000; and most of the population of
Ruthenia (something less than half a million people) were, quite naturally,
Ruthenians.
After World War I, ethnic Germans in the border
regions made a half-hearted attempt to secede from Czechoslovakia, which was
put down by the Czechoslovak army in 1918. Over the course of the next 20
years, the two largest German political parties - the Agrarians and the
Christian Socialists - were won over by the Czechoslovak government and agreed
to cooperate with the Czechoslovak state.
Czechoslovakia was one of the few states in Europe
between the two World Wars with a genuine parliamentary democracy (guaranteed
by the Constitution of February 1920). Even the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia (which had been established in 1921) was allowed to legally
exist - which was very unusual for the time. The Communists even had a few
members in parliament - and they were allowed to remain there even when they
started to openly denounce democracy as such - and especially the democratic
system in Czechoslovakia.
After dealing with post-war chaos, and putting
down a few radical Bolshevist uprisings, the domestic political and economic
situation in Czechoslovakia was basically stabilized by the beginning of the
1920s.
In the 20 years between the two World Wars,
Czechoslovakia was one of the world's most advanced industrial-agrarian
countries. In fact, it was among the 10 richest nations in the world at that
time, as it had inherited virtually all of Austria's industrial base. This
early stability paved the way for a flowering of Czech literature and culture.
Proud of their new independence, Czechoslovaks were anxious to put their new
country on the map - sometimes in the craziest ways. This led Czech Radio, for
instance, to start broadcasting in 1923 - despite that they didn't have a
transmitter or even a microphone. They simply borrowed the former (as well as a
tent to protect them from the elements) from the Czechoslovak Boy Scouts, and
manufactured the latter from a telephone receiver. Why the rush? They were
anxious to be the first country in Central Europe to begin regular radio
broadcaste. Of course, a Czech - by name of Frantisek Behounek - took part in
the 1928 multinational attempt to reach the North Pole in a zeppelin - and was
one of the survivors to be rescued after the good airship "Italia"
crashed discouragingly far from its destination.
Experiments with architecture in interwar
Czechoslovakia resulted in Prague today having the only Cubist buildings in the
world, like The House at the Black Madonna (which houses a museum of Czech
cubist art today) and a number of houses along the embankment under Vysehrad on
Rasinovo nabrezi and on Neklanova Street. Franz Kafka, Josef Capek and his
brother Karel (the two coined the word "robot" together), Jaroslav
Hasek, Emil Filla, Max Svabinsky, Otto Gutfreund, Vaclav Spala all lived and
worked at this time.
At the end of the twenties and the beginning of
the thirties, the Czechoslovak economy was hit hard by the world economic
crisis with disastrous social and political consequences: 1.3 million people
were unemployed. Hardest hit were the soon-to-be-known-as-Sudeten border
regions, where German inhabitants predominated.
The economic crisis and the growing influence of
the Nazi movement in Germany served to politicize the ethnic Germans in
Czechoslovakia. On Hitler's orders, they called first for autonomy, then for
secession from the Czechoslovak state. In the 1935 elections, both of the
traditional German parties (the Agrarians and the Christian Socialists)
experienced a monumental decline in voter support in favor of the Sudeten
German Party. The Sudeten German Party, with 15.2 percent of the vote, became
the largest German-interest political party in the Republic.
Tomas Garrigue Masaryk resigned from office in
1935 due to illness, and was succeeded by Edvard Benes. Benes, a National
Socialist, had the misfortune to be a weak and ineffectual ruler during a
particular turbulent time in the nation's history - much as the king Wenceslas
IV had been in the Hussite period centuries before.
A P.E. teacher named Konrad Henlein was the leader
of the Sudeten German Party, and he gradually became the mouthpiece of Nazi
Germany in Czechoslovakia. His was a separatist platform aimed at joining the
Czech border lands to Germany.
Nothing less than Czechoslovakia's sovereignty was
at stake. But this did not interest many people outside of the small
Czechoslovak state.
France and Britain favored a policy of appeasement
in response to Hitler's aggressive policy towards Czechoslovakia, and so Konrad
Heinlein's wish came true in September, 1938 - when the four great powers of
the time (Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy) decided, at a meeting in
Munich, that extensive areas of the Czech border regions were to be ceded to
Germany.
Shortly after the Munich Pact was signed, the
Czech border regions were indeed joined with Germany. Seizing this window of
opportunity, Poland snapped up the Tesin region in the north, and Hungary
annexed the southern part of Slovakia while Hungary captured Ruthenia.
Overnight, Czechoslovakia lost about a third of its territory.
After six months of the "Second
Republic" - as the old Czechoslovakia, minus its border regions, was known
- Bohemia and Moravia were occupied by the Nazis. Slovakia had ceded from
Czechoslovakia the day before - on March 14, 1939 - to form an
"independent" Nazi state, and thus very short work indeed was made of
the former Czechoslovakia.
Overnight, everyone had to start driving on the
right side of the road (they had previously driven on the left, as the British
still do).
The Czechoslovak President, Edvard Benes, and
other government politicians had already fled abroad - mostly to France and to
Britain. (Those that were in France went to Britain when France was occupied).
These leaders' political campaign to represent Czechoslovakia's interests was
an uphill battle at first, as western European powers still favored the policy
of appeasement at that time.
By July 1940, however, Britain recognized
President Benes as the leader of the provisional "free Czechoslovak
government in exile." In addition to the London center of the provisional
government, the Moscow Communist center - where politicians who favored the
Soviet political system had fled - also played an important role in the
Czechoslovak resistance movement during the war. Unfortunately, many of the
Czechs and Slovaks who had chosen to go to Moscow spent at least part of the
war years in Russian Gulags as suspected spies. Czechoslovak pilots in
England's RAF were particularly distinguished fighters (even if they were
initially segregated from regular troops for the same reason) and they would
play a fundamental role in the Battle of Britain - but we are getting ahead of
ourselves yet again. Czechoslovak army units were also formed in France and in
North Africa.
On October 28, 1939 - which would have been the
21st anniversary of the Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence had
Czechoslovakia not ceased to exist - popular celebrations turned into massive
demonstrations of protest against the German occupation. A young medical
student, Jan Opletal, was fatally wounded in the incident. His funeral, on
November 17, 1939 turned into yet another spontaneous demonstration. (Fifty
years later, on November 17, 1989, a march by students to commemorate this
event helped bring about the fall of Communism). In 1939, the Nazis reacted to
the student demonstration by sentencing nine student leaders to death, by
closing the Czech universities, and by sending some 1,200 university students
to concentration and labor camps.
The Nazi regime was very cruel and strict, and
active resistance was harshly punished. Not surprisingly, then, the Czech and
Slovak resistance movements were small. Yet they were very dedicated, very
determined, and often surprisingly successful, especially in the field of
sabotage.
During the war, Czechoslovak army units fighting
abroad often parachuted foreign-trained Czech and Slovak soldiers into occupied
Czech territory to perform special assignments. The most significant of these
special assignments was the assassination, in 1942, of Reinhard Heidrich - the
German Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia and one of the architects of the
"Final Solution."
His assassination by two Czechoslovak parachutists
on May 27, 1942 set off a reign of terror throughout the Czech lands. Martial
law was declared and the Nazis conducted house-to-house searches looking for
the parachutists and the members of the Czech resistance movement who had
helped them. More than 1,600 people were executed and more were sent to
concentration camps in the period immediately following the assassination. The
terror reached its height with the annihilation of the village of Lidice, where
339 men were executed and the women and children of the village were sent to
concentration camps. A few weeks later, the village of Lezaky, where the Nazis
killed 54 men, women and children, was also razed to the ground. By the time
this terror - known as the "Heydrichiada" - was over, the Nazis had
damaged the resistance movement so much that it was only able to resume its
activities at the very end of the war.
The resistance movements in Czechoslovakia
culminated in the Slovak National Uprising of 1944 - which was brutally put
down - and in the Prague Uprising in the Czech lands in May of 1945 - which
started just a few days before foreign armies arrived to officially liberate
the city.
Prague and most of the rest of Czechoslovakia were
liberated by the Soviet Red Army in May, 1945. That this would happen had been
decided by Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill at the Yalta Conference. It was at
this same conference that it was decided that Czechoslovakia would come under
the Soviet "sphere of influence" after World War II.
But the westernmost part of the country - from the
beer-brewing town of Pilsen to the spa town of Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) were
liberated by the Americans, led by General Patton.
It was in 1945, too, that the USSR officially
annexed Ruthenia.
On May 7, 1945, Germany unconditionally
surrendered to the Allied Forces, but the last shots on Czech territory were
fired on May 11.
During the war, most of the members of the
domestic resistance movement had gradually become ever more leftist in their
ideology, since they were so vehemently opposed to the extreme right ideals
that were ruling it at the time. Czechoslovakia's first post-war government was
constructed exclusively from the political parties of the leftist
"National Front." These included the Communist Party, the Social
Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party, the People's Party and the
Slovak Democratic Party. Pre-war right-wing parties were not allowed to renew
their activities, because of their real and/or alleged collaboration with the
Nazis.
Left-wing Social Democrat, Zdenek Fierlinger,
well-known for his affiliation with the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
(KSC), was appointed Prime Minister. The remaining six government posts were
filled with Czech and Slovak Communists - Klement Gottwald, Viliam Siroky,
Vaclav Kopecky, Julius Duris and Jozef Soltesz. In addition, the Communists
were able to place their loyal supporter, Ludvik Svoboda (later Czechoslovak
President), in the key post of defense minister. Thus, the extreme left gained
a strong political position in the newly-liberated country as early as 1945.
Democratic life in Czechoslovakia never fully
recovered. The most apparent demonstration of this were the 1945 Presidential
Decrees (today called the "Benes Decrees"), especially those of
October 24, 1945 on the nationalization of coal mines, heavy industry, food
production, banks and private insurance companies. More than 3,000 companies -
representing about two-thirds of the overall industrial capacity of the country
at that time - were nationalized.
Other presidential decrees were issued "on
the punishment of Nazi criminals, traitors and their supporters, and on
extraordinary people's courts" (the Large Retribution Decree of June 19,
1945); and "on the punishment of some offenses against the national pride"
(the Small Retribution Decree of October 10, 1945). On the basis of these
decrees, not only the real collaborators - but also those who were only accused
of collaboration - were punished harshly and without regular trials.
Before World War II, some 30 percent of the
population in the Czech lands had been Germans; in Slovakia, 17 percent had
been Hungarians.
In 1945, 700,000 Germans were expelled from
Czechoslovakia under an agreement which was sanctioned by the Allies and had
been reached at the Potsdam Conference. This expulsion was, in some cases,
accompanied by brutality against the Germans, which brought about protests by
the Allied Powers. In the second and more organized wave of deportation in
1946, 1.3 million Germans were deported to the American zone (in what would become
West Germany) and 800,000 to the Soviet zone (in what would become East
Germany). Another 200,000 Germans had fled voluntarily before the end of the
war to the American zone, and around 200,000 escaped to Austria.
According to the Presidential Decrees, property
which had belonged to many of these people was confiscated and put under
"national supervision," and the people themselves were deprived of
their Czechoslovak citizenship.
Only about half a million Germans remained on the
territory of Czechoslovakia after the deportations, and just 165,000 of these
claimed German nationality in the first post-war census. In 1950, according to
the official statistics, Germans accounted for just 1.8 percent of the
population in the Czech lands, compared with a pre- war count of 23 percent.
The Potsdam Conference, which had approved the
expulsion of Germans from the Czech lands, had vetoed the deportation of the
Hungarian minority from Slovakia, after the Allies saw what had happened in the
first deportations. Nonetheless, anti- Hungarian sentiment was so strong that a
significant number of Hungarians did not claim Hungarian nationality in the
1950 census. Official statistics from that census show a significant drop in
the number of people claiming Hungarian nationality in Slovakia, from around 17
percent before the war to only about 10 percent after the war.
Czechoslovakia's first post-war Parliament, the
provisional National Assembly, began its activities on October 28, 1945. Its
composition had been determined by an agreement among the political parties and
social organizations within the "National Front."
The first test of the new political environment
came with the Parliamentary elections of May 1946. The results corresponded to
the expectations of the Communists, who won 40.17 percent of the vote, making
them the most powerful party in Parliament by quite a large margin. The next
strongest parties were the National Socialists with 23.66 percent, the People's
Party with 20.24 percent and the Social Democrats with 15.28 percent. In
Slovakia, the Communists obtained only 30.37 percent of the vote, while the
Democratic Party took 62 percent. Two newly-registered Slovak parties, the
Freedom Party and the Labor Party, together received just 3.73 percent of the
vote.
In terms of the country as a whole, it was a
landslide election victory for the Communists. In the new Parliament, the
Constituent National Assembly, they won 114 seats, while the National
Socialists held 55, the People's Party 46, the Democrats 43, the Social
Democrats united with the Slovak Labor Party 39, and the Freedom Party had just
three seats.
Based on the results of the May elections, a new
government headed by the Communist leader Klement Gottwald was appointed on
July 6, 1946. Gottwald formed a cabinet consisting of seven Czech Communists;
two Slovak Communists; four Ministers from the National Socialists, the
Democrats, and representatives of the People's Party; and three Social
Democrats. Thus, the communists had a strong grip on power well in advance of
the "coup" which would take place nearly two years later. Only two
government ministers were not then members of any political party. (They were
Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk (the son of Czechoslovakia's first president,
Tomas Garrigue Masaryk) would soon meet his death under mysterious
circumstances - and War Hero Ludvik Svoboda, who would later join the Communist
Party and later still would become Czechoslovak President in 1968.)
On June 5, 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George C.
Marshall delivered a speech in which he offered assistance (which came to be
known as the Marshall Plan) from the United States to all the countries of
Europe for the reconstruction of their economies damaged during the war.
The Soviet Union had already refused to participate
in the plan as early as June 1946. And in fact, of the future Soviet bloc
countries, only Czechoslovakia considered taking part in the Marshall Plan.
After consultations with Stalin, however, Czechoslovakia, too, refused the aid.
For the next four decades, Czechoslovakia would continue to follow Soviet
orders.
At the start of 1948, the Communist Minister of
the Interior sacked eight non-Communist police officers. This move was
protested by the democratic ministers in the government, but to no avail. As a
stronger protest, they tendered their resignations - expecting that this would
lead to the resignation and subsequent reorganization of the entire government.
However, and much to their chagrin, this was not to be.
Instead, President Edvard Benes accepted their
resignations, and their positions were filled by Communist Party members or
sympathizers. Thus, from February 1948, all political power in the country was
in the hands of the Communist leaders. In Communist propaganda, these events
came to be known as "Victorious February" (Vitezny unor) today they
are referred to as the "Communist Coup."
Almost immediately - with the parliamentary
elections of May 1948 - the Communists became more openly hostile to normal
democratic mechanisms. Non-Communists who attempted to campaign in the
elections were persecuted by the police, and voters were only offered a list of
candidates from the National Front - no opposition politicians were on the
voting list. Yet even using these extreme measures, the Communists did not feel
secure that their election victory was guaranteed. So, to make absolutely sure
that things went as they wanted them to go, the Communists also falsified the
election results. Thus the parties of the National Front were credited with
winning an amazing 89.2 percent of the vote -- which is still rather a modest
majority when compared with later Communist election "victories,"
which would see the National Front win 99.9 percent of the "vote."
On May 9, 1948, parliament had passed a new constitution
guaranteeing a "leading role" for the Communist Party in political
life. President Edvard Benes refused to sign the new legislation, and so he was
forced to resign on June 7, 1948. On June 14, the National Assembly elected
Klement Gottwald Czechoslovakia's new (and first 'working-class') president;
and on June 15, Czechoslovakia's fifth post-war government was appointed with
Antonin Zapotocky at its head.
In April 1948, the Czechoslovak Parliament had passed
legislation nationalizing most companies that had more than 50 employees. In
actuality, though, even much smaller companies were nationalized as a result of
these laws. By the end of 1948, some 95 percent of the industrial workforce in
Czechoslovakia were employees of the state. The next private sector to be
eliminated were small tradesmen and shopkeepers.
In 1949, the law on Standard Farming Cooperatives
was approved, launching the forced collectivization of agriculture. Industry
was reorganized to favor heavy machinery and military production, and foreign
trade was shifted away from western markets in favor of the Soviet Union and
its satellites.
To better coordinate the individual economies
within the Soviet bloc, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon)
was established in 1949, with Czechoslovakia as one of its founding members.
The first Soviet "advisors" arrived in
Czechoslovakia in September 1949, to show the locals how best to search for
class enemies. Not surprisingly, their first victims were Communists - and
powerful ones. The high point of the Communist Party's purges at this time was
the "trial" against the Secretary General of the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia, Rudolf Slansky - allegedly the ringleader of a group of treasonous,
counter-revolutionary conspirators. Many historians today say that this purge
was just so much thinly-veiled, Soviet-style anti-semitism - as Slansky and
most of the other accused were Jewish.
The repression and show trials of 1948-53 did much
to populate the forced labor camps - the most notorious of which was at the
Jachymov uranium mines - and to decimate the anti-Communist opposition.
Subsequent acts of resistance to the regime remained isolated and unorganized.
It was during this dark and oppressive time that
the writers and artists Jaroslav Seifert, Vitezslav Nezval, Josef Sudek, Leos
Janacek, Bohuslav Martinu and Jan Zrzavy lived and worked. People caught
listening to rock and roll and other foreign music or listening to foreign
radio stations like Radio Netherlands were considered subversives and thrown in
jail.
It was at this time, too, that the authorities -
for reasons which remain unexplained to this day - started to claim that the
Americans did not liberate the westernmost part of Czechoslovakia after World
War II. To those people who insisted they had seen them with their own eyes,
the authorities explained that those people they had seen were really Russian
soldiers dressed up in American uniforms.
Czechoslovakia's first "worker president,"
Klement Gottwald, died in 1953, just 10 days after attending Stalin's funeral.
Some say he died of a broken heart; others claim he was the victim of a virus
that he caught while visiting Moscow, still others are of the opinion that he
drank himself to death.
In a little-known chapter in Czech history, 1953
also saw active protests against the Communist regime, especially in Plzen and
Ostrava, because of worsening economic conditions. These rebellions had to be
put down by force, and the fact that they had taken place at all was supressed
by the Communist regime. The ringleaders were sent to hard labor camps like the
one at Jachymov.
In addition to Comecon, the Soviet Union and its
satellites were united by the military Warsaw Pact, which was founded on May
14, 1955. This "Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual
Assistance" was signed by the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria,
Hungary, Poland, Romania and Albania. The Pact was concluded for 20 years and
then prolonged every 10 years after that; in 1985, just a handful of years
before it was to become defunct, it was renewed for 30 years. It was formally dissolved by a
protocol which was signed in 1991.
After the death of President Antonin Zapotocky,
Antonin Novotny - the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of Czechoslovakia - was elected President. For the first time, the top posts of both the state and the Party
were in the hands of just one man. Later, it was learned that Novotny had been
a spy for the Gestapo during the war. During his presidency, Novotny had a fish
pond stocked with carp installed in the very formal Royal Gardens of Prague
Castle so that he wouldn't have far to go when he felt like going fishing.
Well, time passed and in 1960, the Communists adopted
a new constitution which officially changed the name of the country to
"The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (CSSR)" because, as they said, a
socialist society - the first step on the road to true communism - had already
been achieved in the country.
But even this spiffy new name did not help to slow
the country's rapid and alarming economic decline.
Fear diminished and political and artistic
freedoms increased in Czechoslovakia in the 1960's. Changes took place in the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia as well.
The post of First Secretary of the Communist Party
of Czechoslovakia was taken away from Antonin Novotny and given to Alexander
Dubcek, a Slovak Communist who was not very well known at that time (much like
Mikhail Gorbacev, who was also relatively unknown when named to the top Soviet
post decades later).
Key officials connected with the Novotny
government were gradually replaced and Novotny himself resigned on March 28,
1968. Ludvik Svoboda (the post-war Defense Minister) became the Czechoslovak
president, and on April 8 a new government, headed by Oldrich Cernik, was
appointed.
A bit like Gorbacev would do decades later in the
Soviet Union, Dubcek set out to reform all aspects of life in the country. In
effect, he was doing little more than giving a legal stamp of approval to the
grassroots changes that were already taking place. The government platform,
approved by the Communist Party Central Committee in April, criticized the
policies of the past - especially those that had done such damage to the
economy. For the first time since 1948, the government proclaimed the
legitimacy of basic human rights and liberties in Czechoslovakia, and objected
to the persecution of people for their political convictions.
Around this time, the public was greatly
influenced by a text called "2,000 Words," which was written by
Ludvik Vaculik and published in the literary weekly Literarni noviny, and in
the dailies Prace and Zemedelske noviny. The piece called on the people to
struggle against everything they considered to be bad, and appealed to them to
take control of their own lives.
The people listened, and it wasn't long before
jazz music, rock clubs, pop culture, miniskirts and other symbols of Western
imperialism were to be spotted all over the place, but most especially in
Prague. Bohumil Hrabal, Josef Koudelka, Ivan Klima, Josef Skoverecky, Milan
Kundera, Arnost Lustig, Milos Forman, Jiri Menzl and many other writers and
artists were all living and working at this time. Culture thrived, and the
Czechs are especially well known for the films they produced at this time. They
also invented a percursor to the modern-day music video, which they called
"television songs," and experimented with multimedia, and Laterna
Magika and other forms of Black Light Theater date from this time.
The reforms that enabled this growing freedom were
- in the words of Alexandr Dubcek - an attempt to create "Socialism with a
human face," and came to be known as the "Prague Spring." They
were also considered to be terribly threatening by those in power in the Soviet
Union, as they compromised the uniformity of the Soviet bloc.
The Soviet Union and its satellites began to more
vocally criticize the renegade Czechoslovak Republic. This political pressure
from around the bloc peaked in the summer of 1968. The Czechoslovaks didn't
listen.
Over the night of August 20-21 1968, Warsaw Pact
forces (with the exception of Romania, which refused to participate) invaded
Czechoslovakia, beginning a 20-year period of occupation and
"normalization." The Soviets insisted they had been invited to invade
the country, as loyal Czechoslovak Communists had told them that they urgently
required "fraternal assistance against the counter-revolution."
(After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, a letter of invitation was, indeed,
discovered to exist). Alexandr Dubcek and the other Prague Spring leaders were
whisked off to Moscow.
Ludvik Svoboda, the President of the Republic,
left for Moscow on August 23. The results of his talks there, which were not
concluded until August 28, were summed up in a defeatist Moscow memorandum in
which Czech and Slovak signatories agreed with the temporary presence of Soviet
troops on the territory of the CSSR. Only one member of the delegation,
Frantisek Kriegel, refused to sign the memorandum.
After the failure of the Prague Spring,
Czechoslovak reformists tried to preserve at least some of the achievements of
their reform efforts. One of these was the constitutional issue, which gave
more autonomy to Slovakia. On October 28, 1968, the Czechoslovak National
Assembly approved a new constitutional law on the creation of a Czechoslovak
Federation. It was signed into law by President Svoboda at Bratislava Castle on
October 30, and it decreed that Czechoslovakia be divided internally into two
separate Czech and Slovak Republics. The federal setup took effect on January
1, 1969.
But just two months later, the Federal Assembly
adopted three more new constitutional laws curtailing and in fact undermining
the previous amendment, meaning that the new federation existed in name only.
State administration was again strictly centralized.
About 150,000 Czechs and Slovaks fled to the west
as a result of all this hubbub. Many of those who stayed continued to protest
the invasion. In the most famous of the individual acts of protest, a young
philosophy student, Jan Palach, self-immolated himself on Wenceslas Square in
January, 1969. In the political purges of late 1969 and early 1970, thousands
of people were removed from their jobs (and, since it was illegal to be
unemployed, most of the country's intellectual elite spent the next 20 years
washing windows or floors, stoking coal furnaces or selling vegetables or
newspapers) and half a million people were expelled from the Communist Party.
The easygoing leaders of the 1960's were banned
(Dubcek spent the next 20 years in the Slovak forestry service), and replaced
by hardnosed hardliners. The new communist government was one of the most
repressive in all of the East Bloc - surpassed only by East Germany and
Albania. The ensuing period of "normalization" during the 1970's and
about half of the 1980's - like the Counter-Reformation - was a bleak and
unhappy time for the nation. The architecture of the time reflects this: most
of the construction during this period was focused on building largescale
"pre-fabricated housing" districts on the outskirts of cities. These
neighborhoods today are still grey and depressing, with block after block of
identical cement housing (the Czechs call them "rabbit hutches") and
little or no greenery.
Ludvik Svoboda was still the President of
Czechoslovakia, but by this time he was already rather old and becoming
forgetful. He used to walk around Prague Castle asking where Dubcek was. This
grew to be rather embarrasing, and Svoboda was forced to resign due to
"illness." Gustav Husak, the General Secretary of the Communist Party
of Czechoslovakia, was elected as President in his place - thus holding down
both top functions in the country. (The last change in Party power before the
fall of Communism took place with the 1987 election of Milos Jakes as Secretary
General of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.)
Active opposition to the policies of normalization
had begun to form during the initial Warsaw Pact occupation of August, 1968.
They grew into underground movements during the bleak 1970's.
In 1976, the members of the underground rock band
called "The Plastic People of the Universe" were arrested and charged
with crimes against the state for holding a rock concert. This was one of the
catalysts for the creation of the well-known "Charter 77" movement,
which was formed to monitor and to internationally report human rights abuses
within the country. Its first spokesmen were Vaclav Havel, Jan Patocka and Jiri
Hajek. They and many other groups actively resisted the Communist regime, and
many of them endured long jail terms for their efforts.
During the second half of the 1980s, the general
situation in Czechoslovakia became more easygoing, especially after the
introduction of Perestroika reforms in the then-Soviet Union. But the
Czechoslovak leadership - still headed by Gustav Husak, who had assumed power
after the Soviet Invasion of 1968 - was leery of movements intended to
"reform communism from within" and continued to toe a hard line in
Czechoslovakia, much to the chagrin of Mikhail Gorbacev. But by 1988 there were
organized demonstrations demanding change - and just about one month after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, communism in Czechoslovakia became a casualty as well.
The six-week period between November 17 and
December 29, 1989, also known as the "Velvet Revolution" brought
about the bloodless overthrow of the Czechoslovak communist regime. Almost
immediately, rumors (which have never been proved) began to circulate that the
impetus for the Velvet Revolution had come from a KGB provocateur sent by
Gorbacev, who wanted reform rather than hardline communists in power. The
theory goes that the popular demonstrations went farther than Gorbacev and the
KGB had intended. In part because of this, the Czechs do not like the term
"Velvet Revolution," preferring to call what happened "the
November Events" (Listopadove udalosti) or - sometimes - just
"November" (Listopad). But we digress.
It all started on November 17, 1989 - fifty years
to the day that Czech students had held a demonstration to protest the Nazi
occupation of Czechoslovakia. On this anniversary, students in the capital city
of Prague were again protesting an oppressive regime.
The protest began as a legal rally to commemorate
the death of Jan Opletal, but turned instead into a demonstration demanding
democratic reforms. Riot police stopped the students (who were making their way
from the Czech National Cemetery at Vysehrad to Wenceslas Square) halfway in
their march, in Narodni trida. After a stand-off in which the students offered
flowers to the riot police and showed no resistance, the police bagan beating
the young demonstrators with night sticks. In all, at least 167 people were
injured. One student was reportedly beaten to death, and - although this was
later proved false - this rumor served to crystallize support for the students
and their demands among the general public. In a severe blow to the communists'
morale, a number of workers' unions immediately joined the students' cause.
From Saturday, November 18, until the general
strike of November 27, mass demonstrations took place in Prague, Bratislava,
and elsewhere - and public discussions instead of performances were held in
Czechoslovakia' theaters. During one of these discussions, at the Cinoherni
Klub theater on Sunday, November 19, the Civic Forum (OF) was established as
the official "spokesgroup" for "the segment of the Czechoslovak
public which is ever more critical of the policy of the present Czechoslovak
leadership."
The Civic Forum, led by the then-dissident Vaclav
Havel, demanded the resignation of the Communist government, the release of
prisoners of conscience, and investigations into the November 17 police action.
A similar initiative - the Public Against Violence (VPN) - was born in Slovakia
on November 20, 1989. Both of them were joined en masse by Czechoslovak
citizens - from university students and staff to workers in factories and
employees of other institutions. It took about 2 weeks for the nation's media
to begin broadcasting reports of what was really going on in Prague, and in the
interim students travelled to cities and villages in the countryside to rally
support outside the capital.
The leaders of the Communist regime were totally
unprepared to deal with the popular unrest, even though communist regimes
throughout the region had been wobbling and toppling around them for some time.
As the mass demonstrations continued - and more
and more Czechoslovaks supported the general strikes that were called - an
extraordinary session of the Czechoslovak Communist Party Central Committee was
called. The Presidium of the Communist Party resigned, and a relatively unknown
Party member, Karel Urbanek, was elected as the new Communist Party leader. The
public rejected these cosmetic changes, which were intended to give the
impression that the Communist Party was being reformed from within as it had
been in 1968. The people's dissatisfaction increased.
Massive demonstrations of almost 750,000 people at
Letna Park in Prague on November 25 and 26, and the general strike on the 27th
were devastati ng for the communist regime. Prime Minister
Ladislav Adamec was forced to hold talks with the Civic Forum, which was led by
still- dissident (soon to be President) Vaclav Havel. The Civic Forum presented
a list of political demands at their second meeting with Adamec, who agreed to
form a new coalition government, and to delete three articles - guaranteeing a
leading role in political life for the Czechoslovak Communist Party and for the
National Front, and mandating Marxist-Leninist education - from the
Constitution. These amendments were unanimously approved by the communist
parliament the next day, on November 29, 1989.
Well, the old saying that 'if
you give them an inch, they'll take a mile' held true, and the communist
capitulation led to increased demands on the part of the demonstrators. A new
government was formed by Marian Calfa; it included just nine members of the
Czechoslovak Communist Party (several of whom actively cooperated with the
Civic Forum); two members of the Czechoslovak Socialist Party; two members of
the Czechoslovak People's Party; and seven ministers with no party affiliation
- all of latter were Civic Forum or Public Against Violence activists.
This new government was named
by Czechoslovak President Gustav Husak on December 10. The same evening, he
went on television to announce his resignation, and the Civic Forum cancelled a
general strike which had been scheduled for the next day.
At the 19th joint session of
the two houses of the Federal Assembly, Alexandr Dubcek - who had led the
ill-fated Prague Spring movement in the 1960's - was elected Speaker of the
Federal Assembly. One day later, the parliament elected the Civic Forum's
leader, Vaclav Havel, President of Czechoslovakia.
Despite their many shortcomings
- not the least of which were political inexperience and serious time pressures
- the new government and parliament were able to fill in many of the most
gaping gaps in the Czechoslovak legal framework - concentrating in particular
on the areas of human rights and freedoms, private ownership, and business law.
They were also able to lay the framework for the first free elections to be
held in Czechoslovakia in more than 40 years.
The results of the 1990 local
and parliamentary elections in Czechoslovakia, which were likened at the time
to a referendum which posed the question "Communism, yes or no?" showed
a sweeping victory for the soon to be extinct Civic Forum (OF) in the Czech
Republic, and for the Public Against Violence (VPN) in Slovakia. In other
words, "Communism, no thanks."
The turnout for the local
elections was more than 73 percent, and for Parliamentary elections more than
96 percent of the population went to the polls!
Czech Petr Pithart of the Civic
Forum was elected as Czech Premier, Slovaks Vladimir Meciar and Marian Calfa,
both of the Public Against Violence (VPN), were elected Slovak and Federal
Premier, respectively. Vaclav Havel was re-elected as the Czechoslovak
President on July
In Cracow, on the left bank of the Vistula River, there is
a hill with the height of 228 m above the sea level. It is made of Jurassic
limestones (161-155 millions years) uplifted in the form of tectonic horst in
Miocene (23 to 5 million years ago). The word "wąwel" used in the Middle Ages was supposed to mean, as
interpreted by some people, a gorge dividing the hill into two parts, or,
according to others, "a height among the swamps". Within the rocks
there are numerous karst forms, and caves. A medieval legend has evolved about
one of them, telling that it was reportedly inhabited by a dragon beaten by
prince Krak.
The beginnings of colonization in this area have been
determined during archaeological works for 100 000 years B.C. The settlement
established on the crossing of major trade routes constituted the main town of
the Vislans tribe. In his 13th century chronicles Wincenty Kadlubek mentions
Krak and Wanda - the legendary rulers of the tribe, living at the turn of the
7th and 8th century.
The first historical rulers of Poland from the Piasts
family - Mieszko I (960-992), Boleslaw Chrobry (1025), Mieszko II (1025-1031) -
chose Wawel for one of their seats. At that time it was a town built of wood,
stone and soil. In 1000 the diocese of Cracow was established and this caused
the need to build a cathedral. As the first one, the diocese of Cracow was
taken by bishop Poppon, and construction of the cathedral started in the 1020s.
Despite intensive archaeological works the appearance of that first Wawel
cathedral, known as "the Chrobry Cathedral", could not have been
reconstructed so far. The cathedral was devoted to St. Waclaw. There is also no conformity as
to the time when it was destroyed. It is believed
that it took place in the 1040s during the invasion of prince Brzetyslaw, or in
the 1080s during a fire.
The remains of other buildings that existed on the Wawel
Hill have also been identified during archaeological works. The oldest found
remains of wooden buildings date back to the 9th century, while the stone ones
to the turn of the 10th and 11th century. There are the remains of such
buildings as: The Rotunda of Holy Virgin Mary (10th and 11th century), the B
Church (10th century.), the Church of St. Gereon, the Church of St. George, the
Church of St. Michael, a hall with 24 poles and a square building of unknown
use (10th and 11th century).
Wawel became a significant political and administrative
centre of the state during the reign of Kazimierz Odnowiciel (1034-1058). His
son, Boleslaw Smialy (1058-1079), started to build the next Romanesque
cathedral. The construction was continued by Wladyslaw Herman, and completed by
Boleslaw Krzywousty (1102-1138). The consecration of the second Wawel
cathedral, known as the Herman Cathedral, took place in 1142. Probably in 1089
the remains of bishop Stanislaw from Szczepanow were brought to it from Skalka.
Since that time the cult of this saint has been connected with the cathedral.
The image of the cathedral from that period has been preserved on the stamp of
the seal of Cracow chapter from the 12th century. The cathedral burnt at the
beginning of the 14th century, and the remains of it are the foundations of the
future buildings - the bottom part of the Vicar Tower (the Silver Bells) and
the three naves crypt of St. Leonard.
In 1291 Cracow went under the Czech reign and Waclaw II
from the family of Przemyslid crowned himself as the king in the Wawel
Cathedral.
Other buildings from that period are the rotunda at the
bastion of Wladyslaw IV (12th century), the church at the Dragon's Cave, the
rotunda at Sandomierz Tower (11th century).
After the coronation of Wladyslaw Lokietek as the king of
Poland (1320) the wooden and soil fortifications were replaced by the bricked
ones and the construction of the castle started. Its development took place by
the request of Kazimierz Wielki. That was the period of the magnificence of
Wawel. During the reign of Jadwiga Andegawenska and Wladyslaw Jagiello, one
more rebuilding took place. Apart from the local and West European artists,
Russian painters were also employed by the royal court. The so-called Chicken
Foot and Danish Tower were built. The Hall of Jadwiga and Jagiello has remained
(currently the place of exhibition of Szczerbiec). During the reign of
Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk (1447-1492) the profile of the hill was enlarged, among
others, by high brick towers: The Thieves', Sandomierz and Senators' Towers.
The coronation of Wladyslaw Lokietek as the king of Poland
took place in 1320, in the ruins of the burnt cathedral. This was the first
historically recorded coronation of a Polish ruler on the Wawel Hill. In the
same year the construction of a new cathedral also started, and the building
was consecrated in 1364. From the beginning of the construction and for the
next centuries, the subsequent chapels were built on it. In the overall outline
this is a three-nave building with a transept (a transverse nave) and an ambit
(the ambulatory behind the altar). The first chapels were built at the
presbytery - the chapel of St. Margaret and the chapel of Batory. The chapel at
the western entrance was founded by the wife of Wladyslaw Jagiello - Zofia
Holszanska, while the Swietokrzyska chapel by Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk. At the
end of the 15th century the number of chapels was 19.
The first king buried in the Wawel Cathedral was Wladyslaw
Lokietek. The sarcophagus made of sandstone was founded by Kazimierz Wielki in
the middle of the 14th century. In the aisle of Wawel Cathedral, Kazimierz
Wielki and Wladyslaw Jagiello are also buried. The sarcophagus of Kazimierz
Jagiellonczyk was made in 1492 by Wit Stwosz.
Other buildings designed for dukes, royal officers,
craftsmen and numerous towers (Jordanka, Lubranka, Sandomierska, Teczynska, the
Gentry, the Thieves', the Maiden) also come from this period.
In the days of the reign of the last Jagiellons,
Aleksander Jagiellonczyk (1501 - 1506) and Zygmunt I Stary (1506 - 1548), the
Royal Castle was rebuilt. The new palace, built at the place of the Gothic
residence, was completed in ca. 1540. Under the patronage of the king the
course of the works was supervised by: Francis of Florence and Bartolommeo
Berrecci, and after their death - Benedict of Sandomierz. Apart from Italian
artists also German architects, wood-carvers, painters and casters worked for
Zygmunt. The vast courtyard with a column arcade, as well as the Envoys' Hall
with its coffered ceiling deserve special attention.
The last of the Jagiellons, Zygmunt II August, enriched
the castle interiors with the collection of arrases. On the other hand, Zygmunt
III Waza renovated, in the style of the early Baroque, the north-eastern wing,
burned during the fire in 1595. The works were managed by architect Giovanni
Trevano; the Senator's stairs and the fireplace in the Hall under the Birds
come from the period of that reconstruction.
Relocation of the regal court to Warsaw in 1609 resulted
in slow, but permanent worsening of the condition of the castle. From that date
the rulers would stay in Cracow only occasionally. In the 17th century the
modern bailey was built.
The condition of the buildings deteriorated during the
deployment of Swedes in the castle (1655 - 1657, 1702). One tried to remedy the
negligence making an effort of repairs in the days of Jan III Sobieski, the Wettins
and Stanislaw August.
At the beginning of the 16th century Francis of Florence
created in Wawel Cathedral a sculptured niche in which the tombstone of Jan
Olbracht was placed. In the days of Zygmunt Stary, the ancestral chapel of the
Jagiellons was built, known as "the Zygmunt Chapel". In 1520 the
Zygmunt bell was casted. The tombstones of Cardinal Fryderyk Jagiellonczyk and
many bishops also come from that period.
Despite the relocation of the capital of Poland to Warsaw,
the Wawel Cathedral remained the place of coronation and burial of the kings.
However, it was slightly reconstructed. The ambit was heightened, the tomb of
St. Stanislaw was made with marble altar and silver coffin, the main altar was
created. The Baroque tombstones of the bishops (Marcin Szyszkowski, Piotr
Gembicki, Jan Malachowski, Kazimierz Lubienski) and of the kings (Michal
Korybut Wisniowiecki, Jan III Sobieski) and chapels (the chapel of Wazas) were
erected.
After the loss of independence by Poland in 1795, the
troops of the invading states: Russia, Prussia and Austria subsequently stayed
on Wawel. The transformation of Wawel into the barracks resulted in many
changes and damages. Some of the buildings were pulled down (the church of St.
George and the church of St. Michael), the galleries were surrounded with a
wall, and the interiors of the castle changed. After the collapse of the Cracow
insurrection and liquidation of the Republic of Cracow, three buildings of the
military hospital were erected on Wawel. By resolution of the Sejm of Galicja
of 1880 the castle was given for a residence to Emperor Franz Joseph I. The
Austrian army was deployed on the Wawel Hill until 1911.
The funerals of Jozef Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko,
in the form of national manifestos, took place in the Wawel cathedral at that
time. The renovation of royal tombs was also started. In 1869 the coffin of
Kazimierz Wielki was opened. The sarcophagi of other kings were cleaned, also
the new ones were founded, and the underground crypts were connected by
corridors. The thorough renovation of the cathedral took place at the turn of
the 19th and 20th century. In 1902 in the Wawel cathedral the tombstone of
Queen Jadwiga, and in 1906 a symbolic tombstone of Wladyslaw Warnenczyk were created.
In 1900-1904 Jozef Mehoffer made the murals in the cathedral treasury and
stained glass in the windows of the cathedral transept showing Christ of Sorrow
and Mary. He is also the author of the murals and stained glass in the chapel
of the Szafraniec family and stained glass windows in the Swietokrzyska chapel.
In 1902-1904 Wlodzimierz Tetmajer decorated the chapel of queen Zofia with the
figures of Polish saints and national heroes.
Started at the beginning of the 20th century, the
renovation of the castle lasted a few decades. The conservation works, financed
from social donations, were supervised by Zygmunt Hendel, and after him Adolf
Szyszko-Bohusz. To commemorate all the contributors, little bricks with their
surnames were made and placed in the wall at the northern entry to the castle.
At that entry the Arms Gate was built and the statue of Tadeusz Kosciuszko was
placed. During the works managed by Szyszko-Bohusz the Rotunda of Holy Virgin
Mary and the remains of previous buildings were found.
After 1918 the castle served as a representative residence
of the head of the state and a museum of historical interiors. In 1921 the
statue of Tadeusz Kosciuszko was created by Leonard Marconi and Antoni Popiel.
The ashes of Juliusz Slowacki (1927) were brought to Wawel, Jozef Pilsudski and
Wladyslaw Sikorski were also buried in the crypts.
During World War II, Nazi governor Hans Frank had his
headquarter on Wawel.
In 1959-1961 some valuable exhibits returned to the
collections of the museum, among others, the arrases and Szczerbiec - the
coronation sword.
Currently the hosts of the hill are: the Royal Castle on
Wawel - the State Art Collections and the Management of the Metropolitan
Basilica on Wawel.