Czech history and key historical figures
What this domain covers
History and key figures tests chronological landmarks and the people associated with them: Great Moravia, the Přemyslids, Charles IV, Jan Hus, the Habsburg period, the First Republic, communism and the Velvet Revolution. Expect date-matching, 'who founded' and 'which event came first' questions.
Core timeline
- 863: Cyril and Methodius arrive in Great Moravia and promote Christianity and Slavonic liturgy.
- 1348: Charles IV founds Charles University in Prague; he is King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1415: Jan Hus is burned at Constance; his death helps trigger the Hussite wars.
- 1526: Ferdinand I of Habsburg becomes King of Bohemia; the Habsburgs rule until 1918.
- 1620: Bohemian estates lose at the Battle of White Mountain; re-Catholicisation and exile follow.
- 1918: Czechoslovakia is declared on 28 October; Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk becomes president.
- 1938: Munich Agreement; 1939: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; 1945: liberation.
- 1948: communist coup; 1968: Prague Spring and Warsaw Pact invasion; 1989: Velvet Revolution; 1 January 1993: Czech Republic and Slovakia separate.
Key figures
Charles IV shaped Prague and the crown lands. Jan Hus criticised church abuses. John Amos Comenius (Komenský) is an early modern educational thinker. František Palacký is a national-revival historian. Masaryk and Edvard Beneš built the First Republic; Václav Havel led the Velvet Revolution and became president.
Worked example
Which came first: the Munich Agreement or the communist coup? Munich was September 1938; the coup was February 1948. Munich came first. If a question asks which event ended the First Republic, the answer is Munich, not the 1948 coup.
Traps
Do not confuse 1918 (Czechoslovakia) with 1993 (split). The Habsburgs arrived in 1526, not 1620. Hus was executed in 1415; the Hussite wars followed. The Prague Spring was 1968, not 1989.