Editing Plzeň (section)

==History==

===Middle Ages===
The first written mention of Plzeň Castle is from 976. The city of New Plzeň was founded nearby in 1295 by King [[Wenceslaus II of Bohemia|Wenceslaus II]]. The old settlement then became known as [[Starý Plzenec]] and New Plzeň became known as Plzeň. It quickly became an important city on trade routes leading from [[Bohemia]] to [[Nuremberg]] and [[Regensburg]]. The first written mention about beer brewing is from 1307. In the 14th century, the city had about 3,000 inhabitants on an area of {{cvt|20|ha}}, making it the third largest city in Bohemia after Prague and [[Kutná Hora]].<ref name=history>{{cite web |title=Po stopách historie města|url=https://plzen.eu/o-meste/historie/po-stopach-historie/|publisher=City of Plzeň|language=cs|access-date=2024-09-25}}</ref>

During the [[Hussite Wars]], it was the centre of Catholic resistance to the [[Hussites]]: [[Prokop the Great]] unsuccessfully [[Siege of Pilsen (1433-1434)|besieged]] it three times, and it joined the league of Catholic nobles against King [[George of Poděbrady]]. In the 1470s and 1480s, the city had the first [[printing press]] in Bohemia. The first book printed here and therefore the oldest book in Bohemia is ''Statuta'' written by [[Arnošt of Pardubice]], which was printed in 1476.<ref name=history/>

===17th century===
[[File:Plzen 1602 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Engraving of Plzeň from 1602]]
Emperor [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf II]] made Plzeň his seat from 1599 to 1600. During the [[Thirty Years' War]] the town was taken by [[Peter Ernst, Count of Mansfeld|Mansfeld]] in 1618 after the [[Siege of Plzeň]] and it was not recaptured by Imperial troops until 1621. [[Albrecht von Wallenstein|Wallenstein]] made it his winter quarters in 1633. Accused of treason and losing the support of his army, he fled the town on 23 February 1634 to [[Cheb|Eger/Cheb]] where he was assassinated two days later. The town was increasingly threatened by the [[Swedish Empire|Swedes]] in the last years of the war. The city commander [[Jan van der Croon]] strengthened the fortifications of Plzeň from 1645 to 1649. Swedish troops passed the town in 1645 and 1648 without attacking it. The town and region have been staunchly Catholic despite the Hussite Wars.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mikovec|first=Ferdinand Břetislav|author-link=Ferdinand Břetislav Mikovec|date=1860|title=Malerisch-historische Skizzen aus Böhmen|language=de|volume=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_s92r60yIAC&pg=PA352|publisher=Hölzel|place=Vienna/Olomouc|pages=352–355}}</ref>

From the end of the 17th century, the architecture of Plzeň has been influenced by the [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] style.

===19th century===
In the second half of the 19th century Plzeň, already an important trade centre for [[Bohemia]], near the Bavarian/German border, began to industrialise rapidly. In 1869 [[Emil Škoda]] founded the [[Škoda Works]], which became the most important and influential engineering company in the country and a crucial supplier of arms to the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]]. By 1917 the [[Škoda Works]] employed over 30,000 workers.

[[File:Wilson Bridge in Europe (4515218794).jpg|thumb|Plzeň in the interbellum]]
After 1898 the second largest employer was the National Railways train workshop, with about 2,000 employees: this was the largest rail repair shop in all [[Austria-Hungary]]. Between 1861 and 1877, the Plzeň railway junction was completed and in 1899 the first tram line started in the city. This burst of industry had two important effects: the growth of the local [[Czechs|Czech]] population and of the urban poor. After 1868 the first Czech mayor of the city was elected.

===World War II===
Following [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] independence from [[Austria-Hungary]] in 1918 the ethnic German minority in the countryside bordering the city of Plzeň hoped to be united with Austria and were unhappy at being included in Czechoslovakia. Many allied themselves to the [[Nazis]] after 1933 in the hope that [[Adolf Hitler]] might be able to unite them with their German-speaking neighbours.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Following the [[Munich Agreement]] in 1938, Plzeň became a frontier town as the creation of the [[Sudetenland]] moved [[Nazi Germany]]'s borders closer to the city's outer limits. During the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|German occupation]] from 1939 to 1945, the [[Škoda Works]] in Pilsen was forced to provide armaments for the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'', and Czech contributions, particularly in the field of tanks, were noted. The Nazis operated a [[Gestapo]] prison in the city,<ref>{{cite web |title=Gestapogefängnis Pilsen|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100000353|website=bundesarchiv.de|language=de|access-date=2021-11-07}}</ref> and a [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] camp in the Karlov district.<ref>{{cite web |title=Arbeitserziehungslager Pilsen-Karlow|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100000331|website=bundesarchiv.de|language=de|access-date=2021-11-07}}</ref>

Between 17 and 26 January 1942, the majority of the city's Jewish population, over 2,000 people, were deported by the Nazis to the [[Theresienstadt concentration camp]] in [[Terezín]].

[[File:Plzeň, pomník osvobození U Práce.JPG|thumb|Memorial to the [[16th Armored Division (United States)|16th Armored Division]] of the [[United States Army]] at the top of Americká, the main commercial boulevard]]
In April 1945, as World War II neared its end, Plzeň endured its most devastating air raids. On 17 April, British [[Royal Air Force]] bombers targeted the city's marshalling yard, aiming to disrupt German military logistics. The attack resulted in significant civilian casualties and widespread destruction of residential areas. Just days later, on 25 April, the U.S. [[Eighth Air Force]] launched a major bombing mission against the [[Škoda Works]] armament factory in Plzeň. This operation marked the last heavy bomber mission by the Eighth Air Force against an industrial target in Europe. The raids caused extensive damage to the city's infrastructure and left a lasting impact on its inhabitants. These attacks were part of the Allies' final efforts to cripple Nazi Germany's war capabilities.<ref>{{cite web |title=April 1945: The deadliest air attacks on Plzeň came at the end of WWII|url=https://english.radio.cz/april-1945-deadliest-air-attacks-plzen-came-end-wwii-8849305|publisher=[[Czech Radio]]|date=2025-04-25|access-date=2025-04-28}}</ref>

On 6 May 1945, in the final days before the [[end of World War II in Europe]], Plzeň was liberated from Nazi Germany by the [[16th Armored Division (United States)|16th Armored Division]] of General [[George Patton]]'s [[United States Army Central|Third Army]]. Also participating in the liberation of the city were elements of the 97th and 2nd Infantry Divisions supported by the Polish [[Holy Cross Mountains Brigade]]. Other Third Army units liberated major portions of Western Bohemia. The rest of [[Czechoslovakia]] was liberated from German control by the Soviet [[Red Army]]. Elements of the 3rd Army, as well as units from the 1st Army, remained in Plzeň until late November 1945.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plzeň osvobodil Patton, komunisté o něm ale po únoru 1948 mlčeli|url=https://www.echo24.cz/a/SQpGJ/plzen-osvobodil-patton-komuniste-o-nem-ale-po-unoru-1948-mlceli|work=Echo24.cz|language=cs|date=2020-05-06|access-date=2025-05-12}}</ref>

After the end of the war, the city's ethnic German minority population was [[expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia|expelled]] and their property was confiscated in accordance to the provisions of the [[Potsdam Agreement]].

===Communist era===
After the [[1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état]], the government launched a currency reform in 1953, which caused a wave of discontent, including the [[uprising in Plzeň (1953)|Plzeň uprising]]. On 1 June 1953, over 20,000 people, mainly workers at the Škoda Works, began protesting against the government. Protesters forced their way into the town hall and threw communist symbols, furniture and other objects out of the windows. The protest caused a retaliation from the government. As part of its retaliation, they destroyed the statue of [[Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk]], the first president of Czechoslovakia. The statue has since been re-erected.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}