A History of the Czech Lands: Second Edition

by Jaroslav Pánek (Editor), Oldrich Tuma (Editor)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788024622279
Publisher:	Karolinum Press, Charles University
Publication date:	04/15/2019
Edition description:	New edition
Pages:	650
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Jaroslav Pánek is professor in the Institute of History at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the second edition 17

I Territorial Development and the Transformation of Landscape Eva Semotanová

1 The Formation of the Geographical Core of the Czech State 25

2 The Bohemian Crown Lands 30

3 Czechoslovakia in Central Europe 33

4 The Czech Republic in the Heart of Europe 38

5 Metamorphoses of the Landscape 39

6 Landscape of the Czech Lands in the Neolithic Age and Early Medieval Colonization 40

7 The Great Transformations of the Landscape in the Early Modern Era 42

8 Landscape in the Time of Industrialization, Urbanization and the Rise of Transport 46

9 The Landscape in Conflict with Modern Society 50

II Prehistory and Beginnings of Slavic Settlement (to the 8^th Century) Dušan Treštík

1 The Significance of the Neolithic Revolution 57

2 Celts in the Czech Lands 58

3 The Transmigration of Nations 60

III Great Moravia and the Beginnings of the State (9^th and 10^th Centuries) Dušan Treštík

1 Beginnings of Great Moravia 67

2 Great Moravia between Byzantium and the Empire of the Franks 71

3 Political Unification of the Czech Lands 76

4 The Crisis of 1000 and Its Resolution 81

IV The Czech State in the Era of Premyslid Princes and Kings (from the Beginning of the 11^th Century to 1306) Dušan Treštík (1) - Josef Zemlicka (2-4)

1 Consolidation of the Czech State in the Era of the Princes 87

2 Royal Titles and Their Historical Significance 100

3 The Czech Lands in the Time of the Great Colonization 103

4 The Realm of Premysl Otakar II and Wenceslas II 111

V The Expansion of the Czech State during the Era of the Luxemburgs (1306-1419) Miloslav Polívka

1 The European Dimension of Czech Politics 125

2 Society and Culture in the Era of the Luxemburgs 141

3 Before the Revolution 151

VI The Hussite Revolution (1419-1471) František Šmabel

1 Beginnings of the Reform Movement 159

2 The Hussite Wars in the Years 1420-1434 165

3 The Era of Restoration and Interregnums after Lipany (1434-1452) 174

4 Kingdom of Two Peoples 177

VII The Bohemian Crownlands under the Jagiellons (1471-1526) Jaroslav Boubín

1 The Czech-Hungarian Personal Union 187

2 The Estates and Society in the Jagiellon Period 191

3 On the Eve of the European Reformation 196

4 Education and Culture in the Jagiellon Era 199

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 209

2 Land of the King and the Estates 214

3 Society and Culture in the Century Preceding the Thirty Years' War 223

4 The Approach of Conflict and the Bohemian Estates Rebellion, 1618-1620 238

IX Baroque Absolutism (1620-1740) Jiri Mikulec

1 Constitutional and Social Changes during the 'Thirty Years' War 255

2 Post-War Consolidation and Reconstruction of the Czech Lands 263

3 The Czech State as an Integral Part of the Habsburg Monarchy 270

4 Baroque Culture and Society in the Czech Lands 276

X Enlightened Absolutism and the Birth of a Modern State (1740-1792) Martina Ondo Grecenková

1 On the Way to the Centralized State 289

2 Enlightened Absolutism Reforms 296

3 Czech Enlightenment and the Beginning of the Civic Society 303

XI The Birth of the Modern Czech Nation (1792-1848) Jan Hájek Milan Hlavacka

1 On the Threshold of a New Era in Czech History 313

2 General Development Features 314

3 Czech Lands as Part of the Habsburg Monarchy 317

4 The Beginning of Industrialization 320

5 Rise of Czech National Movement 327

6 Spiritual Background. Bohemian and Moravian Revivalist Culture 334

XII Czechs during the Revolution and Neo-absolutism (1848-1860) Milan Hlavacka

1 The Rise of the Nations in the Habsburg Monarchy and its Consequences 345

2 The Birth of Czech Political Representation 352

3 Two Faces of the Neo-absolutism 355

4 Neo-absolutist Economic Policy 359

XIII The Definition of Czech National Society during the Period of Liberalism and Nationalism (1860-1914) Pavel Cibulka Jan Hájek Martin Kucera

1 The Renewal of Constitutional Life and Struggles for State Rights 365

2 Czechs and Germans - National Struggle's Aggravation 373

3 The Economic Rise of the Czech Lands 383

4 Culture in the Czech Lands in the Second Half of the 19^th Century and at the Beginning of the 20^th Century 389

XIV The Czech Lands during the First World War (1914-1918) Josef Harna

1 Reaction to the Start of the War 417

2 Foreign Actions 422

3 The Situation at Home During the War 424

4 The Balance of Forces 427

5 The Agony of the Habsburg Empire and the Czechoslovak Resistance 428

XV First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) Josef Harna

1 The Building of a State 437

2 On the Path to Prosperity 444

3 Cultural Life in the Conditions of Democracy 450

4 The Economic Crisis Reflected in the Social and Political Spheres 458

5 The Threat to Democracy 463

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 481

2 The Second Republic 485

3 The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia 489

4 Anti-Nazi Resistance at Home and Abroad 491

5 Czech Culture during the War 498

6 The Final Stage of the War and the Restoration of Czechoslovakia 499

XVII Czechoslovakia between Two Totalitarian Systems (1945-1948) Jirí Kocian

1 Post-war Changes 511

2 Life in Post-war Czechoslovakia 526

3 The Struggle to Maintain Democracy in Czechoslovakia 533

XVIII The Establishment and First Crisis of the Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia (1948-1958) Jirí Pernes

1 The Coup d'état of February 1948 543

2 Fundamental Changes in the Political and Economic Nature of the Country 551

3 First Crisis of the Communist Regime and Its Resolution 564

XIX Communist Czechoslovakia on a Journey from a Consolidation of Totalitarianism towards a Liberalization of the Regime (1959-1967) Jirí Pernes

1 The Consolidation of the Totalitarian Regime in the Late 1950s 575

2 Attempts to Reform the Economy and Liberalization of the Regime in the Mid-1960s 582

XX The Half-Life: the Communist Regime's Greatest Crisis (1967-1971) Oldrich Tuma

1 The Prague Spring 593

2 The August Invasion and Its Consequences 609

3 The Restoration of Order 619

XXI The Second Consolidation of the Communist Regime and the Descent into Collapse (1972-1989) Oldrich Tuma

1\tThe Normalization Regime 625

2\tA New Type of Anti-regime Opposition 633

3\tDegeneration and Collapse 638

XXII Czechoslovakia's Return to Democracy (1989-1992) Jirí Suk

1 The Velvet Revolution 647

2 Political Development in the Period of Transition (January-June 1990) 650

3 The 1990 Parliamentary Elections. Seeking a Solution to the Czech-Slovak Question. The Principal Problems of the Renewed Democracy (June 1990-June 1992) 657

4 Parliamentary Elections 1992. The New Division of Power and the End of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (July-December 1992) 671

XXIII Czech Republic 1993-2004 Tomás Zabradnícek

1 Building on the Czechoslovak Traditions 681

2 The Main Features of Domestic Political Development 683

3 Economic Reforms and Disputes over their Evaluation 689

4 Society in Transformation 694

5 Attempts at New International Involvement 697

List of Abbreviations 703

List of Illustrations, Tables and Maps 705

Czech Republic, State Representatives 711

Frequently Used Geographical Names 714

Territorial Development of the Czech Lands (Maps) 717

Index 7719