Portal:Czech Republic

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Welcome to the Czech Portal!
Vítejte na Českém portálu!

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.

The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Crown lands of Bohemia were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire.

In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized, and in 1918 most of it became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I. Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the interwar period. After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands.

Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and three years later became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948. Attempts to liberalize the government and economy were suppressed by a Soviet-led invasion of the country during the Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country and restored democracy. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic is a unitary parliamentary republic and developed country with an advanced, high-income social market economy. It is a welfare state with a European social model, universal health care and free-tuition university education. It ranks 32nd in the Human Development Index. The Czech Republic is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. (Full article...)

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Voskovec and Werich (1938)

Osvobozené divadlo (1926–1938) (Liberated Theatre or Prague Free Theatre) was a Prague avant-garde theatre scene founded as the theatre section of an association of Czech avant-garde artists Devětsil (Butterbur) in 1926. The theatre's beginnings were strongly influenced by Dadaism and Futurism, later by Poetism (a specific Czech art movement). The theatre was very leftist oriented, but it could also be critical of the Communists. One of the founders, Jiří Frejka, came up with the name in 1926. In the theatre both authorial plays and works by well-established modern authors; such as G. Apollinaire, A. Jarry, J. Cocteau, A. Breton, F. T. Marinetti, and V. Nezval were performed. The modern conception of the scene also laid more emphasis on lighting and the theatrical conception adjured more cooperation and contacts between actors and audience. (Full article...)

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Panoramic view of Prague Castle

Photographer: Stefan Bauer; License: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA

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In this month

5 April 1937 – Prague Václav Havel Airport (pictured) opens as Prague Ruzyně Airport
7 April 1348 – Charles University in Prague is founded
17 April 1969 – First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubček, is replaced by Gustáv Husák
18 April 1920 – The first parliamentary elections are held in Czechoslovakia
26 April 1945 – The Red Army liberates the city of Brno at the end of World War II

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Emanuel Moravec (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmoravɛts]; 17 April 1893 – 5 May 1945) was a Czech army officer and writer who served as the collaborationist Minister of Education of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia between 1942 and 1945. He was also chair of the Board of Trustees for the Education of Youth, a fascist youth organisation in the protectorate.

In World War I, Moravec served in the Austro-Hungarian Army, but following capture by the Russians he changed sides to join Russian-backed Serbian forces and then the Czechoslovak Legion, which went on to fight on the side of the White Army in the Russian Civil War. During the interwar period he commanded an infantry battalion in the Czechoslovak Army. As a proponent of democracy during the 1930s, Moravec was outspoken in his warnings about the expansionist plans of Germany under Adolf Hitler and appealed for armed action rather than capitulation to German demands for the Sudetenland. In the aftermath of the German occupation of the rump Czechoslovakia, he became an enthusiastic collaborator, realigning his political worldview towards fascism. He committed suicide in the final days of World War II. (Full article...)

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John Amos Comenius Petr Čech Dominik Hašek Jaromír Jágr Pavel Nedvěd Gregor Mendel Tomáš Rosický Franz Kafka Bedřich Smetana Gustav Mahler Fredy Hirsch Antonín Kinský Vlastimil Koubek Petra Kvitová Martin Miller (actor) Vratislav Lokvenc Vladimír Remek Leoš Janáček Libor Michálek Vojtěch Jarník Markéta Vondroušová Zdeňka Wiedermannová-Motyčková

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Did you know?

...that in 1990, Czech and Slovak politicians "fought" the Hyphen War, a political battle over whether "Czechoslovakia" should be spelled with a hyphen?
... that the World War II idea of Polish-Czechoslovakian confederation was eventually discarded by the Czechs, whose leader chose instead to believe in the Soviet Union promises of alliance?
... that footballer Petr Vrabec won six Czechoslovak league titles with Sparta Prague?
... that Josef Jiří Kolár was the first to begin a systematic translation of Shakespeare's plays into Czech?

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General images

The following are images from various Czech Republic-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Cubist architecture in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 2Nakládaný hermelín (marinated cheese) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 3Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the oldest ceramic article in the world (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 4House of the Black Madonna (from Czech architecture)
Image 5Bronze sword, Urnfield culture, c. 1200 BC (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 6Duchy of Bohemia, around 1029 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 7Prague-style beef goulash (from Czech cuisine)
Image 8A panorama of Kłodzko, the capital city of Kłodzko Land, which is referred to as "Little Prague" (from Bohemia)
Image 9John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), Czech philosopher and school reformer (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 10Monument to Master Jan Hus, a religious reformer and philosopher in Prague (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 11Grand Café Orient in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 12Bohemian city Karlovy Vary (from Bohemia)
Image 13Christmas cookies (vánoční cukroví) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 14St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, John of Luxembourg laid the foundation stone in 1344 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 15Monument to the village of Lidice murdered by the Nazis (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 16King George of Podebrady, one of the first promoters of united Europe (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 17Cubist lamp by Emil Králíček, Jungmannovo náměstí, next to the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Snows (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 18Řežabinec a Řežabinecké tůně National Nature Reserve (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 19Lands of the Bohemian Crown (until 1635), map by Josef Pekař, 1921 (from Bohemia)
Image 20Fried bramboráky (potato pancakes) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 21Library of Clementinum, a former Jesuit College, built in 1722 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 22Church of Saint Agnes of Bohemia (Spořilov) (from Czech architecture)
Image 23Copper engraving of the Second Defenestration of Prague from Theatrum Europaeum by Matthäus Merian. (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 24Territory under the control of the Přemyslids, c. 1301 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 25Frgál, a type of koláč baked in Moravian Wallachia (from Czech cuisine)
Image 26Buděticko Nature Park with Rabí Castle (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 27Fried cheese, served with tartar sauce and side salad (from Czech cuisine)
Image 28Emperor and King Charles IV. Luxembourg (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 29Bohemia (westernmost area) in Czechoslovakia 1918–1938 (from Bohemia)
Image 30Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 31An 1892 map showing Bohemia proper outlined in pink, Moravia in yellow, and Austrian Silesia in orange (from Bohemia)
Image 32Dacian Influence over Bohemia (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 33Iconic brutalist Transgas building, demolished in 2019 (from Czech architecture)
Image 34The radical Hussites became known as Taborites, after the town of Tábor that became their center (from Bohemia)
Image 35Kačina Castle in Chotkov (from Czech architecture)
Image 36The extent of the Protestant Reformation (1545–1620) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 37Czech kings Ottokar II, Wenceslas II and Wenceslas III from the Přemyslid dynasty (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 38Adria Palace (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 39Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, philosopher, Czechoslovak president in the years 1918-1935 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 40Beheading of 27 Bohemian nobles at the Old Town Square in Prague, 1621 (contemporary illustration) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 41Great Moravia during the reign of Svatopluk I (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 42Vladislaus Hall at the Prague Castle, built from 1490 to 1502 by Benedikt Rejt (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 43Václav Havel, playwright, dissident and president from 1989 to 2003 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 44Territories ruled by Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1273 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 45Obložené chlebíčky, a type of snack or appetizer (from Czech cuisine)
Image 46The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 with other Bohemian Crown lands within the Holy Roman Empire (1618). (from Bohemia)
Image 47Rotunda of St. George from the beginning of the 12th century on Mount Říp (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 48Pilsner Urquell in a branded mug (from Czech cuisine)
Image 49Zelňačka (from Czech cuisine)
Image 50Semi-detached villa in Brno by Otto Eisler, according to MoMA's Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, is a defining building of the International style. (from Czech architecture)
Image 51Stone sculpture of a Celtic man, found in Mšecké Žehrovice (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 52Empress Maria Theresa (reignet 1740–1780) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 53Saint Wenceslas, Czech prince (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 54Entrance to Moravian Karst PLA (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 55Emperor Francis Joseph I. (reigned 1848–1916) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 56Linguistic map of interwar Czechoslovakia (c. 1930) (from Bohemia)
Image 57Russian occupation in 1968 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 58Baroque St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, built between 1704 and 1755 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 59The coat of arms of the Přemyslid dynasty (until 1253–1262) (from Bohemia)
Image 60Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (Roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 61The National Theater from 1881 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 62The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia (from Bohemia)
Image 63Writer Božena Němcová (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 64Detailed map of Bohemia, 1742 (from Bohemia)
Image 65Map of protected areas of the Czech Republic: national parks (grey) and protected landscape areas (green) (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 66Svíčková na smetaně (Marinated tenderloin), served here with dumplings and cream (from Czech cuisine)
Image 67Korozluky Castle (from Czech architecture)
Image 68The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 69A "traditional Bohemian platter" at a restaurant in central Prague, consisting of roast duck, roast pork, beer sausage, smoked meat, red and white cabbage, bread, bacon and potato dumplings. (from Czech cuisine)
Image 70A panorama of Zittau (from Bohemia)
Image 71Svíčková na smetaně served with dumplings, whipped cream and cranberries (from Czech cuisine)
Image 72Hroby Nature Monument in Radenín (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 73Bohemia as the heart of Europa regina; Sebastian Münster, Basel, 1570 (from Bohemia)
Image 74Apple strudel with raisins (from Czech cuisine)

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Topics

Czech lands: Bohemia • Moravia • Czech Silesia

History: Únětice culture • Boii • Marcomanni • Samo • Great Moravia • Přemyslid dynasty • Lands of the Bohemian Crown • Czech lands (1526–1648) • 1648–1867 • 1867–1918) • Czechoslovakia • Czech Republic

Geography: Lakes • Protected areas • Regions • Rivers

Law: Judiciary • Law enforcement • Supreme Court of the Czech Republic

Politics: Administrative divisions • Government • Constitution • Elections • Foreign relations • Army • Parliament • Political parties • President • Prime Minister

Economy: Banks • Czech koruna • Energy • Oil and gas deposits • Stock Exchange • Tourism • Transport

Culture: Architecture • Art • Cinema • Cuisine • Demographics • Education • Language • Literature • Media • Music • Philosophy • Prostitution • Public holidays • Religion • Sport • Television • Video games

Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem (Kde domov můj)

Lists: Outline of the Czech Republic • List of Czech Republic–related topics

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Czech Republic

WikiProject Europe

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