History

Prague has been the capital of the ancient realm of Bohemia for centuries. In the mid-14th century, Prague was the center of the Holy Roman Empire and Europe’s third largest city in terms of population. The reign of Charles IV was a golden age in Czech history. The end of this period, however, brought economic and political strife to the area as Protestant Hussites – inspired by the ideas of the religious reformer Jan Hus – battled it out with crusaders sent by the Catholic church in the 15th century. In the 16th century the city was a leading center in the Hapsburg Court, and it became the capital of the newly-independent country of Czechoslovakia in 1918. This new country, led by President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, experienced a boom and Czechoslovakia became one of the ten richest nations in the world. The Nazi occupation of Bohemia and Moravia was disastrous for Czechoslovakia, leaving only the country’s beautiful buildings unscathed. After World War II, the restored Czechoslovak Republic fell under Soviet influence. An attempt to reform and humanize the Communist system, known as the Prague Spring, failed miserably when Russian forces invaded the country in August 1968. The 1970s and 1980s were stifled times for many Czechoslovaks, who created their own dissident counterculture. Mass protests and demonstrations in Prague led to the bloodless overthrow of the Communist regime in November 1989, also known as the Velvet Revolution. When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, Prague unveiled its hidden wealth of Bohemian treasures and sent out an invitation to the rest of the world. Later, on 1st May 2014, the Czech Republic joined the EU.

  • The Moravian Jewish Community

    While the Jewish cemeteries and synagogues in Prague have attracted tourists for many years, the other Jewish centres in the Czech Rep have only recently…

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  • World War II and Beyond

    Accumulating tension between the Slovak and Czech majority, and the country's sizeable German minority, reached a peak when, during 1938, Hitler ordered self determination for…

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  • The Habsburg Arrival

    Bohemia was being ruled by absent kings after George's death till 1526, when the throne was claimed by the Habsburgs. This vehemently Catholic dynasty governed…

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  • Václav Havel

    Václav Havel is a former playwright and dissident, who rose to become the President of the nation of Czechoslovakia as it made the transition to…

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  • The Hussites

    The Hussite period is perhaps the most important period in Czech history, but it is certainly the most exciting. Jan Hus was a university professor…

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  • The Golden Age of Charles IV

    In 1306, John of Luxembourg was elected King of Bohemia, mainly thanks to his marriage to a Přemyslid princess and the fact that he was…

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  • Early Beginnings and the Přemyslids (870-1306)

    It is in Roman records that historians can trace the history of the Boii, who were a Celtic tribe living in the Prague area –…

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  • The Roma in the Czech Republic

    Many experts believe that the Roma, who make up about 0.3% of the Czech population, originated in India, but it is still uncertain how they…

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  • Reinhard Heydrich’s Assassination

    During September of 1941, the SS 2nd in-command, and a personal favorite of Hitler, Reinhard Heydrich, who was 1 of the Holocaust masterminds, agreed to…

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  • The Jewish Heritage of Prague

    Two thousand years ago, the Romans expelled the Jews from Israel (the Holy Land). However: "The Torah was their sanctuary which no army could destroy.",…

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  • Prague Spring 1968

    Early in 1968, Antonín Novotný – a politician known for his hard line stance – was replaced as the First Secretary of the Communist Party…

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  • The Fallout from Communism

    The legacy of Communism still very much lives on in the hearts and minds of the Czech Republic and still affects the psychologies of the…

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