The History of the Czech Republic: Prequel to “the spirit of Prague”
We had an interesting discussion in class today, which I felt deserved some extra attention. It all started with an assigned reading in which famous Czech author, Ivan Klima, describes the Czech Republic as a paradox, a barren and sort of uncanny city existing within the elaborate and decorated walls of beautiful Prague. But as I started to dive into the philosophical interpretation of Czech identity I realized it would be helpful to understand the more historical but just as confusing events that make up that identity. The Czech Republic has an impressively complicated past containing everything from contested ancestry to evil tyrants to haphazard borders to constant disagreements over the formal name and definition of the state and surrounding territories. Needless to say the Czechs have seen it all and experienced it all; the question is simply has it been too much?
So before I go any further let me begin with a disclaimer that this is Czech history as I understand it from listening to the many different opinions of my Czech friends and an even separate opinion from my even closer friends called Wikipedia and Google. So now let us start at the beginning. Apparently the first to settle in the Czech lands were Celtic tribes called the Boii in the 3rd century BC followed by Germanic tribes a couple centuries later. Around the 5th century the Germanic tribes moved out to settle in the westward lands of Central Europe and the Slavic tribes moved in and took their place. By this time the Celtic tribes also seemed to have disappeared but not without leaving one very important legacy: the Celtic name ‘Bohemia’. The Slavs lived at peace during this age but one tribe seemed to grow more powerful and prominent then the others. They were known as the Czechs. The area of the land from Germany, to the Czech lands, to Austria was called Bohemia, but the boundaries of which are even to this day questioned and disputed. A sub culture of Bohemia started to gain great prominence and was coined Great Moravia by a Greek historian who heard of this ‘distant Slovak land’. But by the time the 9th century rolled around the Bohemians had their shot at glory and reigned during the Middle Ages ultimately being grafted into the Holy Roman Empire. During this time many Germans moved back into Bohemian lands and formed German colonies throughout central Europe mixing the two people groups both racially and culturally. Finally during the mid 1300s Charles IV became emperor of both the Holy Roman Empire as well as Bohemia. This is known as the Czech “Golden Age” because Charles settled in Prague and founded Charles University (one of the oldest universities in all of Europe). [Also...little known fact… one of the first reformations started in Prague lead by Jan Hus who was burnt at the stake as a heretic. But his followers succeeded from the Catholic Church and formed the Czech Hussite Reformation movement, an event that had a profound impact on the famous Martin Luther] Anyway, during this time 90 percent of the Czech inhabitants converted to Protestantism giving the Hapsburg dynasty (currently reigning over Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire) reason to enter into a ‘religious war’ in the name of Catholicism while conveniently gaining political power and more centralized control. The Protestants in Bohemia tried to revolt but were squashed under Ferdinand II. This tosses Bohemia into the ‘dark ages’ as now Protestant Czechs are forced to either convert to Catholicism or leave. O and the Ottomans invade Moravia (which still exists off to the side) and take with them over 12,000 slaves. Meanwhile over in central Bohemia the Holy Roman Empire falls and Czech lands fall into Austrian rule.
Once the Austro-Hungarian Empire falls after World War I, an independent Czechoslovakia is created combining all Bohemian, Moravian, and Slovak lands into one. A little later Hitler gains power of the German presence in Czechoslovakia and the Slovaks take advantage of it. They choose to align themselves with Hitler’s coalition in order to gain the right to secede from Czechoslovakia in order to maintain their national and territorial integrity. The Czech side was occupied by Germany during Nazi reign and it was reported that 345,000 Czech citizens, including 277,000 Jews, were killed or executed and thousands more sent to concentration camps during this time. All the while Hitler continued to call Czech lands ‘Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia’ after Hitler ‘granted’ them independence from Slovakia. Well we all know how World War II ended and American and Soviet armies liberated Czechoslovakia. Almost the entire German minority living there at the time were expelled and forced to either go back to Germany or were put in prison or detention camps...ironic. Soviet influence quickly took over and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia increased in popularity (I’m confused too.. I thought Slovakia succeeded ... but it apparently it is still called Czechoslovakia at this time?). Shortly after the communist revolution took control of the government and for the next 41 years Czechoslovakia became a Communist state within the Eastern Bloc. The government nationalized means of production and the small farms were forced to produce as much as the larger farms, which of course resulted in over production completely killing the land and the Czech spirits. In 1989, the year before I was born, the Velvet Revolution liberated the Czech people, which happened to take place on the same street I walk on everyday on my way to class. The country peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia and the Czech people were finally free to be their own culture, celebrate their own history, and experience independence. The only problem is no one really knows what that means. What is Czech exactly? To whom do they owe their ancestry? How do they incorporate the years of harsh emperors, persecution, and communism into their celebrated history? How do they react to the beautiful Baroque buildings constructed for the purpose of propaganda or the statues of Stalin and other communist leaders? Is this their history or is it the history of their oppressors? Czechs have been searching and struggling to find answers ever since the revolution, which leads us to today; to little American Kristy walking down the streets of Prague just as confused about the spirit of this place as the Czech’s are themselves.
Coming up next: a philosophical look into the people and character of Czech society
(I'm dorky I know)
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