Anna M. Cienciala (hanka@ku.edu)
History 557 Lecture Notes
Spring 2002 (Revised Jan. 2004)
Creative Commons License
hist557 by anna m.cienciala is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at web.ku.edu.
return to HIST 557 page

Lecture 8a. The Czech and Slovak Renascence, 1790-1848. (Revised Jan. 2004).
 



 
 
 

I. The Czechs.

Their cultural and state development had been arrested after the Battle of the White Mountain (Bela Hora), Nov. 8, 1620. Many Czech nobles were killed in battle, some were executed, others went into exile. This deprived the Czech people of an educated upper class. Czech nobles were replaced by German-Austrian nobles, and the Czech language was spoken mostly by peasants.

However, educated Czechs were influenced by Enlightenment ideas, coming to Bohemia through Germany, especially by Johann Gottfried Herder‘s advocacy of the rights of Slavs versus Germans. At the same time, the opposition of the German-Austrian Bohemian nobles to the centralizing measures of Joseph II, 1780-90, aroused their interest in Bohemian history. The Bohemian nobles sought historical documentation of the old rights of nobles in Bohemia, especially with regard to having their own Bohemian Diet (Legislature), abolished by Joseph II. This noble interest was used by Czech scholars to research  their people's history, while the Enlightenment spurred development of the Czech language, and literature.

Key figures, works, and institutions of the Czech Renascence to 1848.

(A) Language and Literature.

Jozef Dobrovsky (1753-1829, pron. Dohbrofsky), was a Jesuit who wrote works in German and Latin: History of the Bohemian Language and Literature (1792, in German); a Czech grammar (1809, in German) and the first scientific grammar of Old Church Slavonic (1822, in Latin). Dobrovsky is regarded as the founder of Slavic philology.

Jozef Jungmann (1773-1847, pron. Yoongman), published a History of Czech literature (1825); he also translated Milton’s Paradise Lost, works by Goethe, Schiller, Voltaire and Chateaubriand into Czech, and compiled a Czech-German dictionary (published 1833-39).

Jan Kollar (1793-1852, pron. Kohlarzh) was a pastor for Slovak Protestants in Pest, 1819-49. He was a poet and writer. His most famous work is the epic poem Slavy Dcera (Daughter of Slavdom), in which he eulogized the Slavs and condemned the Germans to the fires of hell.

Pavel Jozef Safarik (1795-1861, pron. Shafareek) was, along with Jungmann, a pioneer of Slavic philology. He was director of a Serb Orthodox School in Novi Sad, Voevodina, 1819-33, and later a professor of Slavic Philology at the Charles University in Prague. He published a History of Slavic literature in all languages (1826), and several other works.

The Journal of the Bohemian Museum, with articles on Czech antiquities, began publication on 1827, first in German, then in Czech, and continued until 1940. The Matice Ceska, a Czech cultural association founded in 1831 and attached to the Bohemian Museum, published Czech literary and academic works.

(B) History.
The most famous historian of the period of the Czech renascence and later was Frantisek (Francis) Palacky (1798-1878, pron. Franteeshek Pahlatskee), who is known as the "Father of the Czech Nation." He gave the Czechs back their history, and was also the leading Czech politician in the period 1848-70.

Palacky was born in a Moravian village. His father was a peasant farmer, school master, scribe and tailor, who fathered 12 children. The family preserved the faith of the 15th century Czech Protestants known as "The Bohemian Brethren," who had strong egalitarian leanings.

The young Palacky studied in Pressburg (German name: Hung: Pozsony; Czech, Slovak: Bratislava) to be a Protestant Minister. While there, he developed friendships with Kollar and Safarik. In the fall of 1813, as he was making a trip on foot (for lack of money), he was caught in a storm and sought refuge with family friends in Trencin (pron.Trencheen), who spoke Czech. He found he could not read Czech, and decided to learn it. He returned to Pressburg and found he did not want to continue his religious studies. He turned to poetry, but decided to become a historian of Bohemia.

In the years 1820-48, Palacky emerged as a scholar and Czech patriot. He moved to Prague in 1823 and was hired as a personal archivist by Count Franz Sternberg. Palacky persuaded the latter and another noble, Kaspar, to help subsidize the publications of the newly established Bohemian Museum, and so the Journal of the Bohemian Museum began to appear in 1827.

In 1827, Palacky was offered the post of Historiographer of the Bohemian Estates  (classes), and began to write his great work on the History of Bohemia. He found documents in various castle archives and used them. The first volume came out in German, but he obtained the assent of his noble patrons to publish it in Czech in 1848, titled: A History of the Czech Nation. The work, when completed, covered Czech history from the beginning to 1526, Battle of Mohacs. (The young Ladislas Jagiellon, King of Bohemia and Hungary, was killed by the Turks. Then, according to the Jagiellon-Habsburg marriage contract of 1518, the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary passed, for lack of a male Jagiellon heir, to the Habsburgs, but they could not impose their direct rule until after the Battle of the White Mountain, 1620).

The Impact of Palacky’s History of the Czech Nation on Czech national consciousness.

The impact was enormous. In reading this work, Czechs discovered that they had a glorious history. Palacky glorified the Hussites, whom he touted as brave and tolerant. [But see below]. He also claimed that the Czech-German conflict was a key characteristic of Bohemian history. [This was true in some ways from the Hussite Wars onward].
    We should note that in attributing the virtues of unselfish heroism and religious toleration to the Hussites, Palacky was mythologising Czech history. The Hussites were generally intolerant not only of Catholicism but also of other Protestant sects than their own. Furthermore, the holding of property in common by a Hussited sect, the Taborites, was not much different from some Protestant German sects. Finally, in the Battle of the White Mountain, 1620, the defeated Czech army was made up mostly of mercenaries, not brave Hussites.

In fact, Palacky’s preface to the Czech edition of vol. I. of his history, 1848, clearly stated his aim:
"From my early youth I had no higher wish for my earthly life than to serve my beloved nation by giving a faithful account of its past, in which it would recognize itself as in a mirror and regain consciousness of what it needs."


The founder of Czech positivist historiography, Jaroslav Goll (1846-1929) was right in commenting that Palacky’s History of the Czech Nation was as much a mirror of the author and his time as of the Czech past. It was really an educational tool to instruct the Czech people in their history. (Quote and summary of Goll's work in: Derek Sayer, The Coasts of Bohemia. A Czech History, (Princeton, N.J., 1998, p.128).

(C) Journalism.

Karel Havlicek (pron. Haavlitsek, real name, Karel Borovsky, 1821-1856), stressed democratic ideas in his articles; in view of Austrian censorship, he did this by commenting on developments in W. Europe. His prose influenced modern Czech, and he was also a poet. He was imprisoned by the Austrian authorities and exiled in 1851. [See his poetic political satire of Austrian repression at the end of Lec. Notes 8b].

To understand the economic-social background of the Czech National Renascence, we need to look at:

(D)The Social. Economic and National Structure of the Czech Lands.

(i) in 1848, the Czechs were mainly peasants while the landowners were German-speaking Austrians. In the towns, the middle class was also German-speaking, but the working class (unskilled laborers, servants) was Czech. Indeed, around this time, a German writer wrote that it was as rare to hear Czech in Prague as to see a golden-horned stag on the Charles IV Bridge. A Guidebook of Prague published in the 1840s was written in German. However, the number of people reading and writing in Czech was gradually increasing all over Bohemia.

(ii) The "Industrial Takeoff" in this land began around 1840, that is, steam power was now used in industrial production of textiles, and some heavy industry appeared. This developed quickly due plentiful coal and iron ore, also colored metals. (Traditional glass making was still done by artisans). The abolition of Serfdom in the Empire in spring1848, resulted in a mass move of Czechs from country to town, and led to Czech majorities in the towns, except for the mostly German-speaking Sudetenland. Note that even before 1848, the overall majority in Bohemia and Moravia was Czech, but most of them lived in the countryside.

II. The Slovak Renascence to 1848.

The Slovaks had lived under Magyar rule since the year 1,000 c.e. Most were Catholics, but there was a Protestant minority. The landowners were Magyar, the peasants were Slovak, with some Rusyns (Ukrainians) in the eastern part of the region. The towns had a mostly Jewish middle class.

Key Personalities.

Antonin Bernolak (1762-1813, pron. Antoneen Behrnolaak). He was a Catholic priest who  worked to develop the West Slovak dialiect into a literary language; however

Ludovit Stur (1815-1856, pron. Loodoveet Shtoor), a Protestant developed the Central Slovak dialect into a modern language that was accepted by most Slovaks. He was a philologist and poet and fought against the Magyarisation of Slovaks. (Alexander Dubcek, the leader of the Prague Spring, 1968, was born in 1921, in the same village as Stur, Uhrovec, [pron.Ookhrovets], and even in the same house. He always believed this was an imporant influence on his life).

Michal Miroslav Hodza (1811-1870, pron. Meekhal Meeroslav Hodzha) was a protestant clergyman who cooperated with L. Stur. He worked on Slovak ethnography.

Martin Hattala (1821-1903, pron. Hahtalah) was a philologist; he published comparative studies of Baltic and Slavic languages and published a Slovak grammar in 1852.

Conclusion.

Up to 1848, the Czech national movement was led by intellectuals and was mostly linguistic, literary and historical; it aimed to shield the Czech national identity from further Germanization. The Slovak movement was mostly linguistic, led by clergymen, and aimed to shield the Slovak identity from further Magyarization,.

III. The "Revolution" of 1848-1849 in Bohemia.

Note: There was no violent revolution, but a significant revolution of ideas. There was some violence later, when mass demonstrations in Prague were put down by Austrian military force.

The key events in Prague in March 1848, were two political programs:

1. "The March Program" (March 9), also known as "The First Petition of Prague,"  was worked out by Czech and Bohemian German liberals and submitted to the Austrian government. The program  consisted of 4 main points:

(a)The historic lands of Bohemia were to have one assembly of freely elected deputies, representing landed and town property (electors had to have a property qualification).

(b)  Czech and German languages were to have equal status in the administration.

(c) There was to be progressive tax reform;

(d) Education was to be expanded to include more of the population than before.
 

2. "The Second Petition of Prague," (March 29), was more radical. It asked for the union of Bohemia and Moravia in one autonomous province within the Austrian Empire. This was protested by those Bohemian Germans who wanted Bohemia to become part of the Germanic Confederation that was being debated in the Frankfurt Parliament.

Palacky, who had worked on both petitions, refused an invitation to join the Frankfurt Parliament. In his reply, he explained his refusal and explicitly rejected the German claim to Bohemia. He gave three reasons:

(a) He was a Czech, and Bohemia had been united to German lands in the past only by dynastic ties, so it should not be part of a German state;

(b) the German deputies at Frankfurt wanted to undermine the Austrian Empire, but that Empire was the bulwark against Russian expansion;

(c) the only stable future he saw for the German (speaking) lands was a Republic, but republics within the Austrian Empire would only invite Russian expansion. *

*[For the text of Palacky’s letter, see Charles Jelavich, ed., The Habsburg Monarchy. Toward a Multinational Empire or National States? New York, 1959, pp. 18-22].

3. Palacky wanted the Austrian Empire to continue to exist but in a greatly changed form, that is, by recognizing the equal rights of all its nationalities and all its religions. In his letter, he did not say how this was to be accomplished. What he had in mind was a federal structure, which he proceeded to outline in the coming months.

He and a group of like minded leaders composed a Manifesto in May 1848. The Manifesto stated that its authors (really Palacky) had proposed to the Austrian Emperor that the Empire "be converted into a federation of nations all enjoying equal rights;" therefore, he proposed the summoning of a general European Congress of Nations. [see Jelavich, The Habsburg Monarchy, pp. 22-23].

The Manifesto was read to the Slavonic Congress that assembled and deliberated in Prague in June 2-12 1848. It met to work out a Slavic federal program for the Austrian Empire. However, disputes broke out between Czechs and Slovaks, Czechs and Poles over Teschen [German name; Polish: Cieszyn, Czech: Tesin] Silesia; Poles and Ukrainians clashed over E.Galicia; Serbs and Croats disagreed over the extent of their respective territories. (All these disputes would reappear in the 20th century). At the same time, the Russian anarchist Mikhail A. Bakunin (1814-1876) wanted the dissolution of the Austrian Empire, not its federalization, so he was out of step with the rest of the Congress.

As the Congress was discussing the future of the Empire, the artisans and other workers of Prague took to the streets and riots broke out. A stray bullet killed the wife of the Austrian military commander in the city, general (soon to be field marshal) Prince Alfred zu Windischgraetz (1787-1862) and he ordered the troops to fire. This put an end to the riots and to the Slavonic Congress as well.

(4) The Diet of Kremsier (Czech: Kromeriz) and its Federal Program, Nov. 1848-March 1849.

This program for the Austrian Empire was worked out mostly by Palacky and his son-in-law Frantisek Ladislav Rieger (1818-1903), with the aid of some Bohemian German liberals who did not support the inclusion of Bohemia in a German state. The proposal envisaged the division of the Empire into 8 national units:

1. German Austria, including the Sudetenland (a recognition of the fact that it was predominantly German-speaking);

2. Czech lands: Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian Silesia, including Teschen Silesia - which was then predominantly Polish-speaking and was claimed by the Poles;

3. Polish lands: Galicia, Bukovina, and Subcarpathian Ruthenia (Note: W. Galicia was predominantly Polish, but E.Galicia and the other two lands were predominantly Ukrainian speaking).

4. Illyria - which was inhabited by Slovenes;

5. South Slav Lands: Croatia, Dalmatia, Voevodina.

6. Italian lands: S.Tyrol, Lombardy, Venetia.

7. Magyar lands: Ethnic Hungary plus the Hungarian part of Transylvania;

8. Romanian lands: S. Hungary and most of Transylvania.

Of course, there would be national minorities in all these lands. Therefore, the authors of the project proposed to establish "national curias" (electoral groups) in each land, to elect their representatives to the Chamber of Deputies of the Central Diet. In the Chamber of Lands, each Land’s number of deputies would be proportional to its size.

However, this project never got off the ground because Franz Joseph became Emperor December 1848 (at age 18). He "decreed" a constitution for Austria and dissolved the Kremsier parliament on March 7, 1849. Nevertheless, the events of 1848-49 in Bohemia were a turning point in Czech history.

The Importance of the year 1848-49 for the Czechs.

(a) The development of proposals to resolve national problems in a federal Austrian Empire.

(b) Autonomy, that is self-government for the Czech lands (Bohemia-Moravia), remained the Czech goal until 1914.

(c) The beginning of a political split between Czech and German reformers.

(d) The abolition of Serfdom in the Empire led to a mass move of Czechs from the countryside to the towns.

The Slovaks in 1849.

Ludovit Stur’s project for Slovak autonomy failed, so Slovak leaders asked the Emperor for Austrian rather than Magyar rule. This was granted and lasted until 1860, when they were returned to Hungarian rule. Therefore, in 1849-1860, the Slovaks could develop their schools and culture.

****************************

Lecture 8 B. The Czechs and Slovaks 1849-1914.

1. 1849-1867.

Bohemia and Moravia were under the absolutist rule of Vienna. However. the period saw a strong development of the Czech language and literature, and the Czech language was used by the masses of Czech peasants who now flowed into towns. Indeed, by 1868, most towns except for those in the Sudetenland had Czech majorities instead of German. This was even more visible by 1890, when the Czech population of Prague increased from 30,000 in 1856 to 150,00 in 1890, while the Germans decreased from 73,000 in 1856 to 30,000 in 1890. The period 1848-67 also saw the development of Czech education, banks, and cooperatives.

2. 1867-1879.

The Czechs were bitterly disappointed when they did not get the same status as the one Hungary acquired in the Compromise of 1867. Palacky said the Czechs existed before Austria - and would exist after she disappeared. Along with his son-in-law, Rieger, he visited the Slavic Exhibition in Moscow, as a demonstration of Czech resentment against Austria.

Palacky also helped draft the Czech Declaration of Rights, 1868, which demanded:

(A) recognition of the organic unity of the lands of the Bohemian Crown.

(B) the coronation of the Austrian Emperor as King of Bohemia in Prague (just as the Emperor had been crowned King of Hungary in Budapest);

(C) A Diet (legislature) for Bohemia.

These proposals were rejected by Francis Joseph. Therefore, in 1869 Rieger visited Paris and handed a Memorandum to Emperor Napoleon III. It pointed out the importance of the Czechs as allies of France. They could help France defend Austria against Prussia, and pointed out that in case of a Franco-Prussian War, Prague was nearer to Berlin than Paris. Napoleon, who was trying to secure Austrian help in case of such of war, sent the Memorandum to Francis Joseph. (Note Franco-Czechoslovk military cooperation after Czechoslovakia became an independent state in late 1918.)

The abortive Austrian compromise with the Czechs:

After the Prussian victory over France in 1870 and the establishment of the German Empire in Jan. 1871, Francis Joseph tried to play the Czechs off against the Austrian Liberals who opposed his military budget and other measures. Therefore, between Feb. and Sept. 1871, the Hohenwart -Schaffle ministry in Vienna worked out a project to please the Czechs. Thus, in Sept. 1871, Francis Joseph granted the Czechs a charter titled: The Fundamental Articles. These were:

(A) Autonomy of Bohemia-Moravia on the Hungarian model

(B) Equal language rights for Czechs and Germans (bilingual civil service)

(C) Czech preponderance in the Bohemian Diet.

However, strong opposition by German-Austrian Liberals, Magyars, as well as German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck - who feared Austria would be weakened as a military ally of Germany - led Francis Joseph to renege on the charter. In reply, the Czechs boycotted the Vienna Parliament for several years.

 3. Developments in 1879-1907.

(A) Education.

In 1882, the Charles IV University in Prague was divided into Czech and German sectors.

This increased the importance of Thomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937) on the Czech political scene. Masaryk came to the University in 1877 as a Professor of Philosophy, but he was much more than that. He taught not just philosophy but also political thought to several generations of Czech as well as some Slovak students; he took part in various controversies; organized a political party; became a deputy to Vienna; and acquired great prestige. He spoke out against anti-Semitism in the trial of a man for alleged Jewish ritual murder, and helped prove that Austrian charges against Croat politicians in the Agram Trial of 1909 [see Lec. Notes 10] were based on forged documents. He also dared risk his popularity by claiming that a document of early Czech literature alleged to have been written in the 9th century, was really a 19th century forgery - and he was right.

(B) Politics. The major Czech-German political struggle in the period 1879-1907 was over the Language of Administration. The Czechs wanted real linguistic equality, which the Germans opposed because they would be at a disadvantage. This was so because educated Czechs spoke German, but educated Germans did not speak Czech.

Nevertheless, in 1880, the Austrian government issued the Language Ordinance which decreed that German and Czech were to be the languages of "Outer Administration," that is, in dealing with the public. This led to violent German protests.

Austro-German racism was clearly expressed in the Pan-German Program drawn up at Linz, 1882, and advocated by the Pan-German Party led by Georg von Schonerer (1842-1921), a violent anti-Catholic and anti-Semite. He preached the need to germanize Bohemia-Moravia.

In 1890, the Old Czech Party, (Conservative) reached an agreement with German conservatives in Bohemia, but this was rejected by the Young Czech Party and the Pan-Germans.

In 1897, under Austrian Prime Minister, the Polish Count Kazimierz Badeni (1846-1909), the government issued the "Badeni Decrees." Now German and Czech were to be equal not only in the Outer but also in the Inner Language of Administration, that is, official correspondence, and all officials in Bohemia-Moravia were to be bilingual by 1901. This caused an uproar in the Vienna parliament as well as street riots. Badeni resigned and the decrees were rescinded. (This was attributed to action orchestrated by Georg von Schonerer.) Therefore, according to the Language Decrees of 1898, German and Czech-speaking officials were required only in mixed Czech-German districts.

In reply, German racists produced the German Peoples’ Party Whitsun Program of 1899, which advocated:

(a) a German-Austro-Hungarian alliance [which already existed];

(b) German to be the state language in the Austrian part of the Empire;

(c ) administrative districts were to be based on ethnicity.

Note on Sudeten-German racism against Czechs: A notice on the door of a restaurant in the town of Eger (pron. Ehger, Czech: Cheb, pron: Kheb) read: "Czechs and Dogs not allowed." (This was similar to notices on some British clubs  in  India: "Indians and Dogs not allowed"). In fact, racism was prevalent in many ethnically mixed regions of Austria-Hungary and Germany, especially border areas, where the politically dominant ethnic group feared the loss of its dominant position to a more numerous ethnic group.

The one bright spot was the Moravian Compromise of 1906 . This was an agreement on equal Czech and German representation in the Moravian Diet, to which the Czechs agreed even though they formed 70% of the population. Also, each national group was to have its own schools in districts where it formed at least 20% of the population. (This was to be the model for the Czechoslovak Language Law of 1919-20).

In 1907, Francis Joseph granted universal male suffrage (right to vote) in the Austrian part of the Empire. The Emperor and his advisers decided on this step assuming it would weaken the obstreperous Austrian Liberals, who did not have much support among the broad masses of the people. The non-German nationalities, hoped to obtain a majority of seats in the Vienna parliament. However, the electoral system was fixed so that the German-speaking Austrians, who numbered 9,000,000, secured 241 seats, while the various Slavic nationalities numbering 12,800,00 got only 250 seats.

4.Developments in 1907-1914.

This period saw the emergence of new Czech political parties, the strongest of which was the Agrarian Party, representing well- to- do farmers. However, the small Realist Party, led by T.G. Masaryk made up in prestige what it lacked in size. (It did not have more than 2 deputies in Vienna).

The party’s program was laid out by Masaryk’s closest collaborator, Edvard Benes ( 1884-1948, pron. Benesh). His doctoral dissertation published in France in 1908, was titled: The Austrian Problem and the Czech Question. Benes proposed :

(i) the federalization of the Austrian Empire;

(ii) a Czech-German compromise in Bohemia for voting in national curias.

These ideas stemmed from the Federal Program worked out in the Kremsier/Kromeriz/ Parliament in 1848-49.However, the Realists believed that Czech historical rights could only realized with sufficient material strength and in the right political situation.

Czech Culture: flourished in whole period. 1849-1914. There was a great development of  art, literature andtheater. In music, there were two famous composers: Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884, pron. Smyetanaa) and Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904, pron. Dvohzhaak), the latter is best known in the U.S. for his "New World Symphony, "(1893). There was also a national sports movement, the "Sokols" (Hawks), as well as national folk dance and song groups. Education was on a very high level, with 98% of Czechs literate by 1914.

Economic Development was impressive. By 1914, Czech industry produced everything from buttons to racing cars, as well as industrial machinery. Czech farms were prosperous owing to their large size, modern machinery and methods, plus excellent marketing conditions due to good road and rail communications.
 

THE SLOVAKS, 1849-1914.

1. 1849-1860.

Slovaks were under direct Austrian rule. Czechs were employed in many civil service posts, but Slovaks were able to have their own schools and improve literacy. However, in 1860 Francis Joseph put them back under Hungarian rule as one of his moves to conciliate the Magyars..

2. 1860-1867.

The Slovaks made an attempt to obtain self-government. The Petition of St.Martin to the Hungarian Diet of June 6, 1861, claimed the Slovaks were as much a nation as the Magyars and others. It asked for the formation of a North Hungarian Slovak District with Slovak as the official language and Magyar as the second language. The Hungarian Diet refused to even receive the petition, let alone discuss it.

3. 1867-1914.

This was a period of Magyar assimilationist policy toward all non-Magyar nationalities. The "Law of Equal Rights of Nationalities" (Law 44 of 1868), remained a dead letter and its authors, Fr. Deak and Baron Josef Eotvos (1813-1871), soon passed from the scene. In 1878-1918 there were no secondary schools with the Slovak language of education. At the same time, restricted suffrage, open elections, and Magyar "electoral geometry" made it impossible for the Slovaks and other nationalities to have their interests represented in the Hungarian parliament. A Catholic priest, Father Andrei Hlinka, (1864-1918) built The Slovak People’s Party. (He was to oppose Czech rule over Slovakia in the interwar period).

In conclusion, the Czechs were less dissatisfied with Austrian rule than were the Slovaks with Magyar rule, but the political leaders of each people found mass support to do away with foreign rule in late 1918.

***********************

A poem by KAREL HAVLICEK satirizing Austrian Repression.

*************************************

In Xanedu, please read: The Habsburg Monarchy, A, 5,6;  Jan Kern, "Changes in Identity: Germans in Bohemia and Moravia in the nineteenth and twentieth century," in M.Teich, Bohemia in History.

                                                       BRIEF  BIBLIOGRAPHY.
 

The most recent history of the Czechs is a book stressing cultural history, written by Canadian Sociologist, Derek Sayer, The Coasts of Bohemia. A Czech History, Princeton, N.J., 1998. It is especially good on the arts.

For  more detailed history, see: Peter Brock and H. Gordon Skilling, The Czech Renascence of the Nineteenth Century, Toronto, 1970.

On the Slovaks, see: Peter Brock, The Slovak National Awakening.: An Essay in the Intellectual History of East Central Europe, Toronto, 1976.

For more on Czech and Slovak history up to 1914, see: Bibliography Pt.I. under "Information about the course."

For chapters on many aspects of Czech history: Mikulas Teich, Bohemia in History,Cambridge, 1998.