History Czech Republic

 Historical dates

9th century: creation of the kingdom of Great Moravia and christianisation of the country by Cyril and Methodius.
10th century: kingdom of Bohemia.
14th century: Luxemburg dynasty. Under Charles IV, Prague becomes very influential as the 3rd most important city in Western Europe.
1419-1434: Hussite revolution.
16th century: Habsburg dynasty. Important era for cultural and artistic effervescence.
1618: beginning of the Thirty-years' War.
1620: the Protestants are defeated at the Battle of White Mountain. The Counter-Reform imposes Catholicism.
1781: restoration of the freedom of worship.
19th century: a period the development of patriotic awareness.
1918: the Republic of Czechoslovakia is founded with Slovakia.
1938: Hitler annexes the Sudetes, a Czech province, then makes it a protectorate. A resistance is put in place.
1945: the Soviets free Prague.
1948: the Communists take power with the ?Prague coup'. Stalinian regime.
1968: ?Prague spring' revolution. Alexander Dubcek takes power but the Russians invade the city. Czech artists and intellectuals flee, and others are arrested.
1977: playwright Vaclav Havel founds an opposition group with the Charter 77.
End of 1989: the ?Velvet revolution' breaks the power down with successive strikes and demonstrations. Vaclav Havel is elected president.
January 1993: the Czech Republic is proclaimed, separated from Slovakia. Vaclav Havel is the president.
April 1999: the Czech Republic enters NATO.
Since March 2003: Vaclav Klaus has been head of State. Vladimir Spidla is Prime Minister.
June 2003: 77 % of the Czech vote for their country's membership to the European Union.
May 1st 2004: the Czech Republic becomes one of the 25 countries of the EU.