Bohemia

Lore & Background

The Bohemian principality became a part of Great Moravia, and then an independent Duchy of Bohemia, which became a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire. This subsequently became a part of the Habsburg monarchy and the Austrian Empire. After World War I and the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state, the whole of Bohemia became a part of Czechoslovakia. Between 1938 and 1945, border regions were annexed to Nazi Germany as the Sudetenland. The remainder of Czech territory became the Second Czechoslovak Republic and was subsequently occupied as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia until the end of World War II, after which Bohemia became part of the restored Czechoslovakia. In 1968, the Czech lands were invaded by Warsaw Pact troops sent by the Soviet Union and stayed under occupation as the Czech Socialist Republic until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. In 1990, the name was changed to the Czech Republic, which became a separate state in 1993 with the breakup of Czechoslovakia. Until 1948, Bohemia was an administrative unit of Czechoslovakia as one of its 'lands'.

In Their Own Story

The autumn wind off the Vltava carries the smell of woodsmoke and old parchment. In a candlelit chamber in Prague, the Estates gather around a table where the Bohemian Crown rests on a velvet cushion, its gold dark with centuries of Habsburg hands. The Elector sets his quill down. 'Vienna has held this crown for longer than any living man can remember,' he says quietly. 'But a crown does not ask permission to be worn.' Outside, the bells of St. Vitus toll the hour, and somewhere across the border, a Habsburg marshal is already reading the first dispatch that will change everything.

Reader's Guide

Bohemia is named after the Boii, a Celtic nation. The area was later settled by Suebic peoples, then by Slavic tribes. The Přemyslid dynasty ruled the Czech lands for several hundred years. The first to use the title 'King of Bohemia' were the Přemyslid dukes Vratislav II (1085) and Vladislaus II (1158), but their heirs returned to the title of duke. The title of king became hereditary under Ottokar I (1198).

Did You Know?

• Bohemia had an area of about 6.9 million of the Czech Republic's 10.9 million inhabitants.
• The name Bohemia comes from the Celtic tribe Boii and the Proto-Germanic word *haimaz meaning 'home'.
• The Czech name 'Čechy' is derived from the Slavic ethnic group, the Czechs, who settled in the area during the sixth or seventh century AD.