1. History of the Czech Republic

2. Early settlement 5th century – Slavonic tribes inhabited our territory
first Slavonic state – Samo’s Empire (founded in 623)
Great Moravian Empire (9th century) – feudal system
10th century – disintegration of Great Moravian Empire
the power was taken by the Premyslid family
first historically documented
Czech prince Borivoj I
ruled over the Czech
Lands and part of Great
Moravia

3. 1306 – the Premyslids died out by the sword
14th century – the throne went by way of the dynastic
wedding to the Luxemburgs
- kings Charles IV, Wenceslas IV
- the Czech kingdom became also the centre
of the Holy Roman Empire

4. The Hussite movement (1419 - 1437)
named after John Huss – priest, philosopher, reformer, professor, dean and later rector of Charles University
1415 – tried by the Church council in Constance and burnt at the stake as a heretic
other leaders – Jan Žižka, Prokop Holý
they were against the principles of the Catholic church, beginning of European reformation

5. The Habsburg dynasty (16th -1918)
oppression of the Czech nation
Bohemia became part of Austria-Hungary

6. The Battle of White Mountain (1620)
was an early battle in the Thirty Years' War
difficult religious situation
the battle marked the end of the Bohemian period of the Thirty Years' War and decisively influenced the fate of the Czech lands for the next 300 years, germanization

7. 20th century 1914-1918 – 1st World War
- the Czechoslovak Republic was established
(28th October, 1918)
1939 – 1945 – 2nd World War
- German occupation
1948 – the power was taken over by the Communists directed
by the Soviet Union

8. 20th century 1968 – Prague Spring
was a period of political liberalization Czechoslovakia
during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union
after World War II
it began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander
Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist
Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and continued until
21 August when the Soviet Union and other members
of the Warsaw Pact invaded the country to halt the
reforms.

9. 20th century November 17th, 1989 – Velvet Revolution
- the end of the Communist rule
- students’ demonstrations
1993 – splitting of the Czechoslovak Republic
2004 – the Czech Republic joined the EU

10. Outstanding people from the Czech history

11. Charles IV ( )
was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia who also became Holy Roman Emperor
received French education and was literate and fluent in five languages
Prague became his capital, and he rebuilt the city on the model of Paris, establishing the New Town of Prague
he founded the University of Prague, which was named after him and it was the first university in Central Europe

12. John Amos Comenius (1591 - 1670) a Czech teacher, educator and writer
considered the father of modern education
first introduced pictorial textbooks, written in native language instead of Latin
applied effective teaching methods
supported lifelong learning and development of logical thinking by moving from dull memorization
presented and supported the idea of equal opportunity for poor children
opened doors to education for women
lived and worked in many different countries in Europe

13. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850- 1937)
the first president of the Czechoslovac Republic in 1918
politician, sociologist, philosopher
eager advocate of Czechoslovak independence during WW1
became Professor of Slavic Research at King's College in London
re-elected as president three times
Czechoslovakia became the
strongest democracy in central
Europe

14. Václav Havel ( )
Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician
he ninth and last president of Czechoslovakia (1989–1992) and the first president of the Czech Republic (1993–2003)
he wrote more than 20 plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally
was one of the signatories of the Charter 77 manifesto
he received number of state awards from all over the world (e.g.: US Presidential Medal of Freedom, Decoration for Science and Art – Austria, Gandhi Peace Prize – India,…)