Though the Czech Republic is a young nation, the areas within and just outside its modern borders boast an ancient and intricate past. A History of the Czech Lands provides one of the most complete historical accounts of this region to date. This history begins in the Neolithic era and follows the development of the state as it transformed into the Kingdom of Bohemia during the ninth century, into Czechoslovakia after World War I, and finally into the Czech Republic. Such a tumultuous political past arises in part from a fascinating native people, and A History of the Czech Lands profiles the Czechs in great detail, delving into past and present traditions and explaining how generation after generation adapted to a perpetually changing government and economy. In addition, the authors examine the many minorities that now call these lands home—Jews, Slovaks, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, and others—and how each group’s migration to the region contributed to life in the Czech Republic today.
The second edition includes sixty new photographs and a new chapter detailing the transformation of this post-communist country into a member of the European Union. The only study in English of this scope and ambition, A History of the Czech Lands is essential for scholars of Slavic, Central, and East European studies and a must-read for those who trace their ancestry to these lands.
Author(s): Jaroslav Pánek; Oldřich Tůma
Edition: 2, Revised Edition
Publisher: Karolinum Press, Charles University
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 729+16 Maps
Cover
Contents
Introduction to the second edition
I. Territorial Development and the Transformation of Landscape (Eva Semotanová)
1 The Formation of the Geographical Core of the Czech State
2 The Bohemian Crown Lands
3 Czechoslovakia in Central Europe
4 The Czech Republic in the Heart of Europe
5 Metamorphoses of the Landscape
6 Landscape of the Czech Lands in the Neolithic Age and Early Medieval Colonization
7 The Great Transformations of the Landscape in the Early Modern Era
8 Landscape in the Time of Industrialization, Urbanization and the Rise of Transport
9 The Landscape in Conflict with Modern Society
II. Prehistory and Beginnings of Slavic Settlement (to the 8th Century) (Dušan Třeštík)
1 The Significance of the Neolithic Revolution
2 Celts in the Czech Lands
3 The Transmigration of Nations
III. Great Moravia and the Beginnings of the State (9th and 10th Centuries) (Dušan Třeštík)
1 Beginnings of Great Moravia
2 Great Moravia between Byzantium and the Empire of the Franks
3 Political Unification of the Czech Lands
4 The Crisis of 1000 and Its Resolution
IV. The Czech State in the Era of Přemyslid Princes and Kings (from the Beginning of the 11th Century to 1306) (Dušan Třeštík – Josef Žemlička)
1 Consolidation of the Czech State in the Era of the Princes
2 Royal Titles and Their Historical Significance
3 The Czech Lands in the Time of the Great Colonization
4 The Realm of Přemysl Otakar II and Wenceslas II
V. The Expansion of the Czech State during the Era of the Luxemburgs (1306–1419) (Miloslav Polívka)
1 The European Dimension of Czech Politics
2 Society and Culture in the Era of the Luxemburgs
3 Before the Revolution
VI. The Hussite Revolution (1419–1471) (František Šmahel)
1 Beginnings of the Reform Movement
2 The Hussite Wars in the Years 1420–1434
3 The Era of Restoration and Interregnums after Lipany (1434–1452)
4 Kingdom of Two Peoples
VII. The Bohemian Crownlands under the Jagiellons (1471–1526) (Jaroslav Boubín)
1 The Czech-Hungarian Personal Union
2 The Estates and Society in the Jagiellon Period
3 On the Eve of the European Reformation
4 Education and Culture in the Jagiellon Era
VIII. The Czech Estates in the Habsburg Monarchy (1526–1620) (Jaroslav Pánek)
1 Integration of the Czech State into the Central European Monarchy of Habsburgs
2 Land of the King and the Estates
3 Society and Culture in the Century Preceding the Thirty Years’ War
4 The Approach of Conflict and the Bohemian Estates Rebellion, 1618–1620
IX. Baroque Absolutism (1620–1740) (Jiří Mikulec)
1 Constitutional and Social Changes during the Thirty Years’ War
2 Post-War Consolidation and Reconstruction of the Czech Lands
3 The Czech State as an Integral Part of the Habsburg Monarchy
4 Baroque Culture and Society in the Czech Lands
X. Enlightened Absolutism and the Birth of a Modern State (1740–1792) (Martina Ondo Grečenková)
1 On the Way to the Centralized State
2 Enlightened Absolutism Reforms
3 Czech Enlightenment and the Beginning of the Civic Society
XI. The Birth of the Modern Czech Nation (1792–1848) (Jan Hájek — Milan HlavaĊka)
1 On the Threshold of a New Era in Czech History
2 General Development Features
3 Czech Lands as Part of the Habsburg Monarchy
4 The Beginning of Industrialization
5 Rise of Czech National Movement
6 Spiritual Background. Bohemian and Moravian Revivalist Culture
XII. Czechs during the Revolution and Neo-absolutism (1848–1860) (Milan Hlavačka)
1 The Rise of the Nations in the Habsburg Monarchy and its Consequences
2 The Birth of Czech Political Representation
3 Two Faces of the Neo-absolutism
4 Neo-absolutist Economic Policy
XIII. The Definition of Czech National Society during the Period of Liberalism and Nationalism (1860–1914) (Pavel Cibulka — Jan Hájek — Martin Kučera)
1 The Renewal of Constitutional Life and Struggles for State Rights
2 Czechs and Germans – National Struggle’s Aggravation
3 The Economic Rise of the Czech Lands
4 Culture in the Czech Lands in the Second Half of the 19th Century and at the Beginning of the 20th Century
XIV. The Czech Lands during the First World War (1914–1918) (Josef Harna)
1 Reaction to the Start of the War
2 Foreign Actions
3 The Situation at Home During the War
4 The Balance of Forces
5 The Agony of the Habsburg Empire and the Czechoslovak Resistance
XV. First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) (Josef Harna)
1 The Building of a State
2 On the Path to Prosperity
3 Cultural Life in the Conditions of Democracy
4 The Economic Crisis Reflected in the Social and Political Spheres
5 The Threat to Democracy
XVI. Czechoslovakia in the years after the Munich Agreement and in the Second World War (1938–1945) (Jan Gebhart)
1 The Consequences of the Munich Agreement on the Divided Territory
2 The Second Republic
3 The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
4 Anti-Nazi Resistance at Home and Abroad
5 Czech Culture during the War
6 The Final Stage of the War and the Restoration of Czechoslovakia
XVII. Czechoslovakia between Two Totalitarian Systems (1945–1948) (Jiří Kocian)
1 Post-war Changes
2 Life in Post-war Czechoslovakia
3 The Struggle to Maintain Democracy in Czechoslovakia
XVIII. The Establishment and First Crisis of the Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia (1948–1958) (Jiří Pernes)
1 The Coup d’état of February 1948
2 Fundamental Changes in the Political and Economic Nature of the Country
3 First Crisis of the Communist Regime and Its Resolution
XIX. Communist Czechoslovakia on a Journey from a Consolidation of Totalitarianism towards a Liberalization of the Regime (1959–1967) (Jiří Pernes)
1 The Consolidation of the Totalitarian Regime in the Late 1950s
2 Attempts to Reform the Economy and Liberalization of the Regime in the Mid-1960s
XX. The Half-Life: the Communist Regime’s Greatest Crisis (1967–1971) (Oldřich Tůma)
1 The Prague Spring
2 The August Invasion and Its Consequences
3 The Restoration of Order
XXI. The Second Consolidation of the Communist Regime and the Descent into Collapse (1972–1989) (Oldřich Tůma)
1 The Normalization Regime
2 A New Type of Anti-regime Opposition
3 Degeneration and Collapse
XXII. Czechoslovakia’s Return to Democracy (1989–1992) (Jiří Suk)
1 The Velvet Revolution
2 Political Development in the Period of Transition (January–June 1990)
3 The 1990 Parliamentary Elections. Seeking a Solution to the Czech-Slovak Question. The Principal Problems of the Renewed Democracy ( June 1990–June 1992)
4 Parliamentary Elections 1992. The New Division of Power and the End of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic ( July–December 1992)
XXIII. Czech Republic 1993–2004 (Tomáš Zahradníček)
1 Building on the Czechoslovak Traditions
2 The Main Features of Domestic Political Development
3 Economic Reforms and Disputes over their Evaluation
4 Society in Transformation
5 Attempts at New International Involvement
List of Abbreviations
List of Illustrations, Tables and Maps
Czech Republic, State Representatives
Frequently Used Geographical Names
Territorial Development of the Czech Lands (Maps)
Index
