Editing Czech Republic (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Czech lands}}

=== Prehistory ===
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| footer            = '''Left''': [[Venus of Dolní Věstonice]], dated to 29,000–25,000 [[Common Era|BCE]], is the oldest ceramic figurine in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oldest ceramic figurine |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/682622-oldest-ceramic-figurine |publisher=Guinness World Records |access-date=20 May 2024}}</ref><br />'''Right''': the [[Mšecké Žehrovice Head|stone head of a Celt]] is the most valuable Celtic sculpture in Europe and dates to the 3rd century BCE.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hlava Kelta z Mšeckých Žehrovic – nejcennější keltská plastika v Evropě |url=https://www.kudyznudy.cz/ceska-nej/historicke/hlava-kelta-z-mseckych-zehrovic-nejcennejsi-keltsk |access-date=20 May 2024 |publisher=Kudyznudy.cz/}}</ref>
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Archaeological evidence indicates that the area now known as the Czech Republic has been inhabited since the [[Paleolithic|Paleolithic era]]. Notably, the [[Venus of Dolní Věstonice]], a ceramic figurine dated to approximately 29,000–25,000 BCE, was discovered in this region.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2013-12-24 |title=Fingerprint on the venus of Dolní Vestonice I |journal=Anthropologie |volume=40 |issue=2 |url=https://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15129276 |access-date=2025-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224110818/https://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15129276 |archive-date=24 December 2013 }}</ref> This artifact is considered the oldest known ceramic figurine in the world.<ref>Pamela B. Vandiver, Olga Soffer, Bohuslav Klima and Jiři Svoboda, "The Origins of Ceramic Technology at Dolni Věstonice, Czechoslovakia", ''Science'', New Series, '''246''', No. 4933 (November 24, 1989: pp. 1002–1008)</ref>

In the [[Classical antiquity|classical era]], as a result of the 3rd century BC [[Celts|Celtic]] migrations, Bohemia became associated with the [[Boii]].<ref name="Rankin2002">{{cite book|first=David|last=Rankin|title=Celts and the Classical World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6oqFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA16|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-74722-1|page=16}}</ref> The Boii founded an [[oppidum]] near the site of modern Prague.<ref name="(Firm)1997">{{cite book|author=Kartografie Praha (Firm)|title=Praha, plán města|year=1997|publisher=Kartografie Praha|isbn=978-80-7011-468-1|page=17}}</ref> Later in the 1st century, the Germanic tribes of the [[Marcomanni]] and [[Quadi]] settled there.<ref name="Salvia2007">{{cite book|author=Vasco La Salvia|title=Iron Making During the Migration Period: The Case of the Lombards|year=2007|publisher=Archaeopress|isbn=978-1-4073-0159-4|page=43}}</ref>

[[Slavs]] from the [[Black Sea]]–[[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathian]] region settled in the area (their migration was pushed by an invasion of peoples from [[Siberia]] and Eastern Europe into their area:<ref name="Agnew2004">{{cite book|author=Hugh LeCaine Agnew|title=The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Db76shTEM60C&pg=PT37|year=2004|publisher=Hoover Press|isbn=978-0-8179-4492-6|page=37}}</ref> [[Huns]], [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Bulgars]] and [[Hungarians|Magyars]]).<ref name="HahnNadel2014"/> In the sixth century, the Huns had moved westwards into Bohemia, Moravia, and some of present-day Austria and Germany.<ref name="HahnNadel2014">{{cite book|first1=Sylvia|last1=Hahn|first2=Stanley|last2=Nadel|title=Asian Migrants in Europe: Transcultural Connections|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zwq9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|year=2014|publisher=V&R unipress GmbH|isbn=978-3-8471-0254-0|pages=7–8}}</ref>

During the 7th century, the Frankish merchant [[Samo]], supporting the Slavs fighting against nearby settled [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]],<ref name="BartlŠkvarna2002">{{cite book|first1=Július|last1=Bartl|first2=Dušan|last2=Škvarna|title=Slovak History: Chronology & Lexicon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3orG2yZ9mBkC&pg=PA18|year=2002|publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers|isbn=978-0-86516-444-4|page=18}}</ref> became the ruler of the first documented Slavic state in Central Europe, [[Samo's Empire]].<ref>''Lexikon des Mittelalters''. Verlag J.B. Metzler, Vol. 7, cols 1342-1343</ref> The principality of [[Great Moravia]], controlled by [[Moymirid dynasty|Moymir dynasty]], arose in the 8th century.<ref name="Champion2005">{{cite book|first=Tim|last=Champion|title=Centre and Periphery: Comparative Studies in Archaeology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ2IAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA233|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-80679-9|page=233}}</ref> It reached its zenith in the 9th (during the reign of [[Svatopluk I of Moravia]]), holding off the influence of the Franks. Great Moravia was Christianized, with a role being played by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] mission of [[Cyril and Methodius]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Svatopluk {{!}} prince of Moravia {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Svatopluk |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> They codified the [[Old Church Slavonic]] language, the first literary and liturgical language of the [[Slavs]], and the [[Glagolitic script]].<ref name="BenedettoDuke2008">{{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Benedetto|first2=James O.|last2=Duke|title=The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History: The early, medieval, and Reformation eras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g46euaF7HAsC&pg=PA474|year=2008|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22416-5|page=474}}</ref>

=== Bohemia ===
{{Main|Bohemia}}

[[File:Locator Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire (1618).svg|thumb|left|The [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Crown of Bohemia]] within the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (1600). The Czech lands were part of the Empire in 1002–1806, and Prague was the imperial seat in 1346–1437 and 1583–1611.]]
The [[Duchy of Bohemia]] emerged in the late 9th century when it was unified by the [[Přemyslid dynasty]]. Bohemia was from 1002 until 1806 an [[Imperial Estate]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].<ref name="PánekTůma2019">{{cite book|first1=Jaroslav|last1=Pánek|first2=Oldřich|last2=Tůma|title=A History of the Czech Lands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lBiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76|year=2019|publisher=Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press|isbn=978-80-246-2227-9|page=76}}</ref>

In 1212, [[Ottokar I of Bohemia|Přemysl Ottokar I]] extracted the [[Golden Bull of Sicily]] from the emperor, confirming Ottokar and his descendants' royal status; the [[Duchy]] of Bohemia was raised to a [[Realm|Kingdom]].<ref name="PánekTůma2019b">{{cite book|first1=Jaroslav|last1=Pánek|first2=Oldřich|last2=Tůma|title=A History of the Czech Lands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lBiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA111|year=2019|publisher=Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press|isbn=978-80-246-2227-9|page=111}}</ref> [[Germans|German immigrants]] settled in the Bohemian periphery in the 13th century.<ref name="PánekTůma2019c">{{cite book|first1=Jaroslav|last1=Pánek|first2=Oldřich|last2=Tůma|title=A History of the Czech Lands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lBiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237|year=2019|publisher=Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press|isbn=978-80-246-2227-9|page=237}}</ref> The [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] in the [[Mongol invasion of Europe|invasion of Europe]] carried their raids into [[Moravia]] but were defensively defeated at [[Olomouc]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grousset |first1=René |title=The Empire of the Steppes |date=1970 |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8135-1304-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppes00grou/page/266 266] |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppes00grou |url-access=registration |access-date=26 August 2017}}</ref>

After a series of dynastic wars, the [[House of Luxembourg]] gained the Bohemian throne.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panovnici.cz/vaclav-II-kral|title=Václav II. český král|work=panovnici.cz|access-date=31 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907142314/http://www.panovnici.cz/vaclav-II-kral|archive-date=7 September 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

Efforts for a [[Bohemian Reformation|reform of the church in Bohemia]] started already in the late 14th century. [[Jan Hus]]' followers seceded from some practices of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Church]] and in the [[Hussite Wars]] (1419–1434) defeated five crusades organized against them by [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]]. During the next two centuries, 90% of the population in Bohemia and Moravia were considered [[Hussites]]. The pacifist thinker [[Petr Chelčický]] inspired the movement of the [[Unity of the Brethren (Czech Republic)|Moravian Brethren]] (by the middle of the 15th century) that completely separated from the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.luther2017.de/en/reformation/and-its-people/jan-hus/|title=Mentor and precursor of the Reformation|access-date=29 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404211907/http://www.luther2017.de/en/reformation/and-its-people/jan-hus/|archive-date=4 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Husité - Jenský kodex.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Painting of battle between mounted knights|Battle between [[Hussites]] and [[Crusades|crusaders]] during the [[Hussite Wars]]; Jena Codex, 15th century]]
On 21 December 1421, [[Jan Žižka]], a successful military commander and mercenary, led his group of forces in the [[Battle of Kutná Hora]], resulting in a victory for the Hussites. He is honoured to this day as a [[Hero (title)|national hero]].

After 1526, Bohemia came increasingly under [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] control as the Habsburgs became first the elected and then in 1627 the hereditary rulers of Bohemia. Between 1583 and 1611 Prague was the official seat of the Holy Roman Emperor [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf II]] and his court.

The [[Defenestrations of Prague|Defenestration of Prague]] and subsequent revolt against the Habsburgs in 1618 marked the start of the [[Thirty Years' War]]. In 1620, the rebellion in Bohemia was crushed at the [[Battle of White Mountain]] and the ties between Bohemia and the Habsburgs' hereditary lands in Austria were strengthened. The leaders of the [[Bohemian Revolt]] were [[Old Town Square execution|executed in 1621]]. The nobility and the middle class Protestants had to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=Protestantism in Bohemia and Moravia (Czech Republic)|url=http://www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/protestantism-in-the-republic-of-czechoslovakia/|website=Virtual Museum of Protestantism|access-date=25 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015211407/http://www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/protestantism-in-the-republic-of-czechoslovakia/|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The following era of 1620 to the late 18th century became known as the "Dark Age". During the Thirty Years' War, the population of the [[Czech lands]] declined by a third through the expulsion of Czech Protestants as well as due to the war, disease and [[Famines in the Czech lands|famine]].<ref>Oskar Krejčí, Martin C. Styan, Ústav politických vied SAV. (2005). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=38ciAe4J4VMC Geopolitics of the Central European region: the view from Prague and Bratislava]''. p.293. {{ISBN|80-224-0852-2}}</ref> The Habsburgs prohibited all Christian confessions other than [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archiv.radio.cz/history_96/history07.html |title=RP's History Online – Habsburgs |publisher=Archiv.radio.cz |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717233917/http://archiv.radio.cz/history_96/history07.html |archive-date=17 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The flowering of [[Czech Baroque architecture|Baroque culture]] shows the ambiguity of this historical period.
[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] and [[Crimean Khanate|Tatars]] invaded Moravia in 1663.<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=j08L5xLOQKwC&pg=PA557 History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century. Part 2. The So-Called Tartars of Russia and Central Asia. Division 1]''". Henry Hoyle Howorth. p.557. {{ISBN|1-4021-7772-0}}</ref> In 1679–1680 the Czech lands faced the [[Great Plague of Vienna]] and an uprising of serfs.<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FzQ9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA494 The new Cambridge modern history: The ascendancy of France, 1648–88]''". Francis Ludwig Carsten (1979). p.494. {{ISBN|0-521-04544-4}}</ref>

[[File:Prager.Fenstersturz.1618.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The 1618 [[Defenestrations of Prague|Defenestration of Prague]] marked the beginning of the [[Bohemian Revolt]] against the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburgs]] and therefore the first phase of the [[Thirty Years' War]].]]

There were peasant uprisings influenced by famine.<ref>"''The Cambridge economic history of Europe: The economic organization of early modern Europe''". E. E. Rich, C. H. Wilson, M. M. Postan (1977). p.614. {{ISBN|0-521-08710-4}}</ref> [[Serfdom]] was abolished between 1781 and 1848. Several battles of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] took place on the current territory of the Czech Republic.

The end of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in 1806 led to degradation of the political status of Bohemia which lost its position of an [[Prince-elector|electorate]] of the Holy Roman Empire as well as its own political representation in the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hlavačka|first1=Milan|title=Formování moderního českého národa 1815–1914|journal=Historický Obzor|date=2009|volume=20|issue=9/10|page=195|language=cs}}</ref> Bohemian lands became part of the [[Austrian Empire]]. During the 18th and 19th century the [[Czech National Revival]] began its rise, with the purpose to revive [[Czech language]], culture, and national identity. The [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire|Revolution of 1848]] in Prague, striving for liberal reforms and autonomy of the Bohemian Crown within the Austrian Empire, was suppressed.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|editor1-last=Cole|editor1-first=Laurence|editor2-last=Unowsky|editor2-first=David|title=The Limits of Loyalty: Imperial Symbolism, Popular Allegiances, and State Patriotism in the Late Habsburg Monarchy|publisher=Berghahn Books|location=New York, Oxford|url=http://www.brad.ac.uk/ssis/media/ssis/ceer/2013/Guyver_Cole-and-Unowsky.pdf|access-date=24 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525013421/http://www.brad.ac.uk/ssis/media/ssis/ceer/2013/Guyver_Cole-and-Unowsky.pdf|archive-date=25 May 2015}}</ref>

It seemed that some concessions would be made also to Bohemia, but in the end, the Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]] affected a compromise with Hungary only. The [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867]] and the never realized coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Bohemia led to a disappointment of some Czech politicians.<ref name="auto" /> The Bohemian Crown lands became part of the so-called [[Cisleithania]].

The Czech Social Democratic and progressive politicians started the fight for universal suffrage. The first elections under [[Universal suffrage|universal male suffrage]] were held in 1907.<ref>{{cite web|date=29 February 2020|title=Františka Plamínková: the feminist suffragette who ensured Czechoslovakia's Constitution of 1920 lived up to the principle of equality|url=https://english.radio.cz/frantiska-plaminkova-feminist-suffragette-who-ensured-czechoslovakias-8106811|access-date=5 January 2021|website=Radio Prague International}}</ref>

=== Czechoslovakia ===
{{Main|History of Czechoslovakia}}[[File:Czechoslovakia I.png|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[First Czechoslovak Republic]] comprised 27% of the population of the former Austria-Hungary and nearly 80% of the industry.<ref name="Stephen J. Lee. Page 107." />|alt=]]In 1918, during the collapse of the [[Habsburg monarchy]] at the end of World War I, the independent republic of [[Czechoslovakia]], which joined the winning Allied powers, was created, with [[Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk]] in the lead.<ref>Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages, first issue – vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná, Czech Republic) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, {{ISBN|978-80-87173-47-3}}, pages 22–81, 85–86, 111–112, 124–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–209.</ref> This new country incorporated the [[Bohemian Crown]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Tab. 3 Národnost československých státních příslušníků podle žup a zemí k 15 February 1921 |url=http://www.czso.cz/sldb/sldb.nsf/i/8BE4678613181F2AC1256E66004C77DD/$File/tab3_21.pdf |publisher=[[Czech Statistical Office]] |language=cs |access-date=2 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605105429/http://www.czso.cz/sldb/sldb.nsf/i/8BE4678613181F2AC1256E66004C77DD/%24File/tab3_21.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[First Czechoslovak Republic]] comprised only 27% of the population of the former Austria-Hungary, but nearly 80% of the industry, which enabled it to compete with Western industrial states.<ref name="Stephen J. Lee. Page 107.">Stephen J. Lee. ''Aspects of European History 1789–1980''. Page 107. Chapter "Austria-Hungary and the successor states". [[Routledge]]. 28 January 2008.</ref> In 1929 compared to 1913, the gross domestic product increased by 52% and industrial production by 41%. In 1938 Czechoslovakia held 10th place in the world industrial production.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blisty.cz/art/59458.html |title=Ekonomika ČSSR v letech padesátých a šedesátých |publisher=Blisty.cz |date=21 August 1968 |access-date=14 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707063441/http://www.blisty.cz/art/59458.html |archive-date=7 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a liberal democracy throughout the entire 
interwar period.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dijk|first1=Ruud van|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgX0bQ3Enj4C|title=Encyclopedia of the Cold War|last2=Gray|first2=William Glenn|last3=Savranskaya|first3=Svetlana|last4=Suri|first4=Jeremi|last5=Zhai|first5=Qiang|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1135923112|page=76|access-date=13 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122052153/https://books.google.cz/books?id=QgX0bQ3Enj4C|archive-date=22 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Although the First Czechoslovak Republic was a [[unitary state]], it provided certain rights to its minorities, the largest being [[Germans in Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)|Germans]] (23.6% in 1921), Hungarians (5.6%) and Ukrainians (3.5%).<ref>{{cite book |last=Rothenbacher |first=Franz |date=2002 |title=The European Population 1850–1945|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, London. |page=145 |isbn=978-1-349-65611-0}}</ref>

[[File:Praga 11.jpg|thumb|left|Prague during the 1968 [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]]]]

Western Czechoslovakia was [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|occupied by Nazi Germany]], which placed most of the region into the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]. The Protectorate was proclaimed part of the Third Reich, and the president and prime minister were subordinated to Nazi Germany's ''[[Protector (title)|Reichsprotektor]]''. [[Theresienstadt concentration camp|One Nazi concentration camp]] was located within the Czech territory at [[Terezín]], north of Prague. The vast majority of the Protectorate's Jews were murdered in [[Nazi concentration camps|Nazi-run concentration camps]]. The Nazi {{Lang|de|[[Generalplan Ost]]}} called for the extermination, expulsion, [[Germanization]] or enslavement of most or all Czechs for the purpose of providing more [[Lebensraum|living space]] for the German people.<ref>[[Chad Bryant]] (2009) ''[https://www.amazon.com/Prague-Black-Nazi-Czech-Nationalism/dp/0674034597/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2EJVFZM8S7A68&keywords=prague+in+black+nazi+rule+and+czech+nationalism&qid=1640960562&sprefix=prague+in+black+%2Caps%2C745&sr=8-1 Prague in Black: Nazi Rule and Czech Nationalism]'' (Harvard University Press, 2009), pp 104–178. [[Timothy Snyder|Snyder, Timothy]] (2010). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ks0WBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin]''. Basic Books. p. 160. {{ISBN|0465002390}}</ref> There was [[Resistance in German-occupied Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak resistance to Nazi occupation]] as well as reprisals against the Czechoslovaks for their anti-Nazi resistance. The German occupation ended on 9 May 1945, with the arrival of the Soviet and American armies and the [[Prague uprising]].<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=JyN0hlKcfTcC&pg=PA409 A Companion to Russian History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906054042/https://books.google.com/books?id=JyN0hlKcfTcC&pg=PA409 |date=6 September 2015 }}''". Abbott Gleason (2009). Wiley-Blackwell. p.409. {{ISBN|1-4051-3560-3}}</ref> Most of Czechoslovakia's German-speakers were forcibly expelled from the country, first as a result of local acts of violence and then under the aegis of an "organized transfer" confirmed by the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great Britain at the [[Potsdam Conference]].<ref>[[Chad Bryant]] (2009) ''[https://www.amazon.com/Prague-Black-Nazi-Czech-Nationalism/dp/0674034597/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2EJVFZM8S7A68&keywords=prague+in+black+nazi+rule+and+czech+nationalism&qid=1640960562&sprefix=prague+in+black+%2Caps%2C745&sr=8-1 Prague in Black: Nazi Rule and Czech Nationalism]'' (Harvard University Press, 2009), 208–252.</ref>

In the [[Czechoslovakian parliamentary election, 1946|1946 elections]], the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia|Communist Party]] gained 38%<ref>F. Čapka: [http://www.libri.cz/databaze/dejiny/text/t98.html Dějiny zemí Koruny české v datech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620225613/http://www.libri.cz/databaze/dejiny/text/t98.html |date=20 June 2008}}. XII. Od lidově demokratického po socialistické Československo – pokračování. Libri.cz {{in lang|cs}}</ref> of the votes and became the largest party in the Czechoslovak parliament, formed a coalition with other parties, and consolidated power. A [[1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état|coup d'état]] came in 1948 and a single-party government was formed. For the [[History of Czechoslovakia (1948–1989)|next 41 years]], the Czechoslovak Communist state conformed to [[Eastern Bloc]] economic and political features.<ref>{{cite news|title=Czech schools revisit communism|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4388764.stm|url-status=live|access-date=13 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804202643/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4388764.stm|archive-date=4 August 2014}}</ref> The [[Prague Spring]] political liberalization was stopped by the 1968 [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]]. Analysts believe that the invasion caused the communist movement to fracture, ultimately leading to the Revolutions of 1989.

=== Czech Republic ===
{{Main|Velvet Revolution|Dissolution of Czechoslovakia}}{{More sources|section|date=April 2025}}[[File:Václav Havel cut out.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Václav Havel]], one of the most important figures in Czech history during the 20th century—leader of the [[Velvet Revolution]], the last president of [[Czechoslovakia]] and the first president of the Czech Republic]]

In November 1989, Czechoslovakia again became a liberal democracy through the [[Velvet Revolution]]. However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened ([[Hyphen War]]) and on 31 December 1992, the [[Dissolution of Czechoslovakia|country peacefully split]] into the independent [[country|countries]] of the Czech Republic and [[Slovakia]]. Both countries went through economic reforms and [[privatization]]s, with the intention of creating a [[market economy]], as they have been trying to do since 1990, when Czechs and Slovaks still shared the common state. This process was largely successful; in 2006 the Czech Republic was recognized by the World Bank as a "developed country",<ref name="worldbank06">{{cite web|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/article/76314|title=World Bank Marks Czech Republic's Graduation to 'Developed' Status|last=Velinger|first=Jan|date=28 February 2006|publisher=Radio Prague|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112081601/http://www.radio.cz/en/article/76314|archive-date=12 January 2008|url-status=live|access-date=22 January 2007}}</ref> and in 2009 the [[Human Development Index]] ranked it as a nation of "Very High Human Development".<ref name="hdi09">{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf |title=Human Development Report 2009 |work=UNDP.org |date=January 2009 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122115116/http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

From 1991, the Czech Republic, originally as part of Czechoslovakia and since 1993 in its own right, has been a member of the [[Visegrád Group]] and from 1995, the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]]. The Czech Republic joined [[NATO]] on 12 March 1999 and the [[European Union]] on 1 May 2004. On 21 December 2007 the Czech Republic joined the [[Schengen Area]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://factsmaps.com/eu-nato-schengen-eurozone-member-states-in-europe/|title=EU, NATO, Schengen and Eurozone member states in Europe|date=13 October 2018}}</ref>

Until 2017, either the centre-left [[Czech Social Democratic Party]] or the centre-right [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]] led the governments of the Czech Republic. In October 2017, the populist movement [[ANO 2011]], led by the country's second-richest man, [[Andrej Babiš]], won the [[2017 Czech legislative election|elections]] with three times more votes than its closest rival, the Civic Democrats.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41708844|title = Czech election: Billionaire Babis wins by large margin|work = BBC News|date = 21 October 2017}}</ref> In December 2017, Czech president [[Miloš Zeman]] appointed Andrej Babiš as the new prime minister.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/czech-billionaire-andrej-babis-named-new-prime-minister/a-41680019|title = Czech billionaire Andrej Babis named new prime minister|date= 6 December 2017|website = [[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref>

In the [[2021 Czech legislative election|2021 elections]], [[ANO 2011]] was narrowly defeated and [[Petr Fiala]] became the new prime minister.<ref>{{cite news |title=Czech Republic: Petr Fiala named new prime minister |date=28 November 2021 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/czech-republic-petr-fiala-named-new-prime-minister/a-59960529 |work=DW.COM}}</ref> He formed a government coalition of the alliance [[Spolu (Czech Republic)|SPOLU]] ([[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]], [[KDU-ČSL]] and [[TOP 09]]) and the alliance of [[Pirates and Mayors]]. In January 2023, retired general [[Petr Pavel]] won the [[2023 Czech presidential election|presidential election]], becoming new Czech president to succeed Miloš Zeman.<ref>{{cite news |title=Retired general Petr Pavel wins election to become Czech president |url=https://www.euronews.com/2023/01/28/retired-general-petr-pavel-wins-election-to-become-czech-president |work=euronews |date=28 January 2023}}</ref> Following the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the country took in half a million [[2022–2023 Ukrainian refugee crisis|Ukrainian refugees]], the largest number per capita in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Regional Refugee Response Plan for the Ukraine Situation – Inter-Agency Operational Update: Czech Republic, July – October 2022 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/czechia/regional-refugee-response-plan-ukraine-situation-inter-agency-operational-update-czech-republic-july-october-2022 |website=reliefweb |date=17 November 2022 |publisher=UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Field |first1=Matt |title=Ukraine is fighting on behalf of all democracies |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukraine-is-fighting-on-behalf-of-all-democracies|website=GOV.UK |publisher=British Embassy Prague |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref>