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Czech Republic History Timeline

BC
  • (15BC) Romans began to extend their empire
400s AD – 900s AD
  • (476AD) Roman Empire collapsed
  • (550) Slovenes settled in eastern Alps
  • (700's) Rule of Charlemagne, King of the Franks
  • (750-800) Slovenes christianized
  • (830) Great Moravian Empire established
  • (907) Moravian Empire collapsed with Hungarian invasion
  • (962) Holy Roman Empire established
1000s – 1500s
  • (1085) Vratislav II granted the royal crown, became the first Czech king; started the Premyslid dynasty
  • (1306) Death of King Wenceslas III ended Premyslid dynasty
  • (1414) John Huss (Jan Hus) conducted Czech sermons in ordinary language; spoke against Catholic Church corruption
  • (1415) John Huss burnt at the stake
  • (1420-1434) Hussite Wars
  • (1458) Hussites elected Czech Protestant, George of Podebrady, as the country's new king
  • (1526-1790) Hapsburg Dynasty
1700s – 1800s
  • (1717-1780) Maria Theresa, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor, ruled the Hapsburg lands
  • (1740-1780) Charles Albert, duke of Bavaria, proclaimed king by the Czech nobility
  • (1764-1790) King Joseph II reigned; period of Slovene Enlightenment; Czech and Austrian territories subdivided into administrative districts; German established as official language
  • (1700's-1815) Napoleonic Wars
  • (1809-1813) Illyrian provinces established by Napoleon included Slovene lands
  • (1815) Napoleon defeated
  • (1848) First Slavic congress convened by Czechs; discussion of political consolidation of Slavs, included Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians, Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
1900s
  • (1918) Last Habsburg Emperor overthrown; after World War I the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell, Czech lands and Slovakia proclaimed establishment of independent Czechoslovakia
  • (1938) Germany, Britain, France and Italy signed the Munich Pact, gave Hitler the right to invade and claimed Czechoslovakia's border areas
  • (1939) Hitler's army invaded Czechoslovakia; World War II started
  • (1942) Slovene Covenant established
  • (1945) Prague uprising, territories of the Czech Republic liberated; World War II ended
  • (1945-1989) Communist Era
  • (1968) Five Warsaw Pact member countries invaded Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops continued to occupy the country until 1989
  • (1980's) Russian Perestroika introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev, marked the last years of communist Czechoslovakia
  • (1989) Velvet Revolution brought an end to communism
  • (1993) Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two independent countries, Czech Republic and Slovakia; Vaclav Havel elected president of Czech Republic; Vaclav Klaus carried on a prime minister, privatization of the public sector top priority
  • (1995) U.S. funded Radio Free Europe; radio liberty relocated from Munich to Prague
  • (1996) Vaclav Klaus reappointed prime minister
  • (1997) NATO issued formal invitations to Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary; collapse of coalition over economic reform programs, Klaus government resigned; caretaker administration led by Josef Tosovsky
  • (1998) Havel re-elected president; Milos Zeman, leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party, became prime minister; relations with Iran and Iraq strained when Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty started broadcasts to both countries from Prague
  • (1999) Czech Republic full member of NATO
2000s
  • (2000) CDP renewed agreement to support Zeman's minority CSDP government; Austria threatened to block Czech EU membership over startup of first reactor at Temelin nuclear power plant
  • (2001) Czech government and Austria's Chancellor Schuessel moved to settle dispute over Temelin nuclear power plant
  • (2002) Prague suffered worst flooding in 200 years; EU summit in Copenhagen formally invited Czech Republic to join
  • (2003) Former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus elected president; Czechs voted in favor of going ahead with EU membership in 2004
  • (2004) Czech Republic one of 10 new nations to join the EU; Vladimir Spidla resigned as prime minister; Stanislav Gross appointed premier
  • (2005) Stanislav Gross resigned as premier, followed by allegations about his financial affairs
  • (2006) General elections resulted in a hung parliament; President Klaus appointed Mirek Topolanek prime minister for a second time; talks began on forming grand coalition
  • (2007) U.S. President George Bush visited Czech Republic; hundreds protested against U.S. plans for a radar base near Prague; Czech Republic joined the EU's Schengen Treaty free movement zone
  • (2008) Vaclav Klaus re-elected president; Czech Republic signed agreement allowing U.S. base components of its planned missile defense system on Czech territory; Russia threatened retaliation
  • (2008) Long-lost opera, Argippo, written for the Czech capital by Antonio Vivaldi, was performed for the first time in 278 years in Prague
  • (2008) U.S. agreed to base part of its missile defense system in Czech Republic
  • (2009) Czech Republic took over EU presidency; Mirek Topolanek, center-right government leader, lost parliamentary vote of confidence; Topolanek resigned
  • (2009) Six Czech hikers died in avalanche in Austrian Alps
  • (2009) US President Barack Obama, canceled plans for the missile defense bases in Czech Republic and Poland
  • (2010) ODS leader Petr Necas formed a coalition government with the right-wing TOP 09 party and the centrist public affairs party

Czech Republic's Information

Flag of Czech Republic
Land Area 77,247 km2
Water Area 1,620 km2
Total Area 78,867km2 (#114)
Population 10,644,842 (#86)
Population Density 137.80/km2
Government Type Parliamentary Republic
GDP (PPP) $351.00 Billion
GDP Per Capita $33,200
Currency Koruna (CZK)
More Information Czech Republic

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This page was last updated on April 7, 2017.