History of Moravia

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Coat of Arms of Moravia

The history of Moravia, one of the Czech lands, is diverse and characterized by many periods of foreign governance.

Pre-history

Early modern humans had settled in the region by the Paleolithic. The

archaeological site in Moravia is dated to between 24,000 and 27,000 years old.[1][2]

Ancient Moravia

Territory of Great Moravia in the 9th century: area ruled by Rastislav (846–870) in green; the green line marks the greatest territorial extent during the reign of Svatopluk I (871–894)

Around 60 BC the

Magyars
in 906/7.

Union with Bohemia

Bohemian state in the 10th century
Margrave of Moravia and King of the Romans. Josef Leonard Weber
, ca 1748

Following the defeat of the Magyars by Emperor

Bretislaus recaptured it. Since then, Moravia has shared its history with Bohemia. Upon his father's death in 1034, Bretislaus also became the ruler of Bohemia. In 1055, Bretislaus decreed that the Bohemia and Moravia would be inherited together by primogeniture, although he also provided that his younger sons should govern parts (quarters) of Moravia as vassals to his oldest son.[5]

Throughout the Přemyslid era, junior princes often ruled all or part of Moravia from

Margraviate
, slightly administratively different from Bohemia.

Kingdom of Bohemia and adjacent lands during the Hussite Wars

The main line of the

Albert II of Habsburg in 1437.[5]

After his death followed the

Bohemian nobility
) as the king of Bohemia.

The subsequent 21-year period of a divided kingdom was decisive for the rising awareness of a specific Moravian identity, distinct from that of Bohemia. Although Moravia was reunited with Bohemia in 1490 when

Louis died in battle and the Habsburg Ferdinand I
was elected as his successor.

Habsburg rule (1526–1918)

Lands of the Czech Crown (together with the Lands of the St Stephen Crown and the Austrian Hereditary Lands) within the Habsburg Empire

The epoch 1526–1620 was marked by increasing animosity between Catholic Habsburg kings (emperors) and the Protestant Moravian nobility (and other Crowns') estates. Moravia, like Bohemia, was a Habsburg possession until the end of

Collegium Nordicum, made the university a centre of the Catholic Reformation and effort to revive Catholicism in Central and Northern Europe. The second largest group of students were from Scandinavia
.

Until 1641 Moravia's capitals were Brno and Olomouc, but after the capture of Olomouc by the Swedes, the city of Brno become the sole capital (Brno was the only city in Moravia which successfully resisted the invaders). The Margraviate of Moravia had (from 1348 in Olomouc and Brno) its own Diet (parliament) – zemský sněm (Landtag in German), whose deputies from 1905 onward were elected separately from the ethnically separate German and Czech constituencies.[5]

In 17th century Moravia, today's oldest theatre building in Central Europe was founded – Reduta Theatre. In 1740, Moravia was invaded by Prussian forces under Frederick the Great, and Olomouc was forced to surrender on 27 December 1741. A few months later the Prussians were repelled, mainly because of their unsuccessful siege of Brno in 1742. In 1758, Olomouc was besieged by Prussians again but this time, defenders of Olomouc forced the Prussians to withdraw following the Battle of Domstadtl. In 1777, a new Moravian bishopric was established in Brno, and the Olomouc bishopric was raised to archbishopric. In 1782, the Margaviate of Moravia was merged with the Austrian Silesia into the Moravia-Silesia, with Brno as its capital city. This lasted until 1850.[5]

20th century

Following the break-up of the

Third Reich
.

In 1945 after the end of World War II and Allied defeat of Germany, Czechoslovakia, expelled the ethnic German minority of Moravia to Germany and Austria. The Moravian–Silesian Land was restored with Moravia as part of it. In 1949 the territorial division of Czechoslovakia was radically changed, as the Moravian-Silesian Land was abolished and Lands were replaced by kraje (regions), whose borders substantially differ from the historical Bohemian-Moravian border, so Moravia politically ceased to exist after approx. 1116 years (833–1949) of its history.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly condemned the cancellation of Moravian–Silesian land and expressed "firm conviction that this injustice will be corrected" in 1990, however after the breakup of Czechoslovakia into Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, Moravian land remained in the Czech territory, and the latest administrative division of Czech Republic (which was introduced in 2000) is nearly identical with the administrative division of 1949.[5]

Gallery

  • Moravia within Czechoslovakia between 1918–1928
    Moravia within Czechoslovakia between 1918–1928
  • Moravia as part of Moravia-Silesia within Czechoslovakia between 1928–1938
    Moravia as part of Moravia-Silesia within Czechoslovakia between 1928–1938
  • Moravia-Silesia within Czechoslovakia between 1928–1938
    Moravia-Silesia within Czechoslovakia between 1928–1938
  • Moravia in the Czech Republic
    Moravia in the Czech Republic

References

  1. PMID 18242606.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  2. ^ Viegas, Jennifer (7 October 2011). "Prehistoric dog found with mammoth bone in mouth". Discovery News. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  3. ^ Reuter, Timothy. (1991). Germany in the Early Middle Ages, London: Longman, page 82
  4. ^ Exact dating of conquering Moravia by Bohemian dukes is uncertain. Czech (and partially Slovak) historiography suggests the year 1019, while Polish, German and partially Slovak historians proclaim the 1029 when used to rule Boleslaus' son, Mieszko II Lambert
  5. ^ .
  6. ^ There are no primary testimonies about creating a margraviate (march) as distinct political unit

Sources

  • Semple, Ellen Churchill. "The Barrier Boundary of the Mediterranean Basin and Its Northern Breaches as Factors in History." Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 5. (1915), pp 27–59.