The modern Czech and Slovak republics formed only recently; before their amicable “Velvet Divorce” in 1993, these neighboring states existed as a single country, Czechoslovakia.
But don’t let that seventy-five-year union fool you into grouping Czechs and Slovaks into one, all-encompassing nationality. Though both groups have Slavic origins and similar languages, historical circumstances led them to develop distinct cultural identities.
The republics’ location in the geographical center of Europe—bordered by present-day Germany to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, and Austria and Hungary to the south—put them at the crossroads of expanding empires. For centuries, each country separately endured the turmoil of invasions, religious conflicts, and foreign rulers’ attempts to erase their cultures. Today’s Slovak Republic corresponds to the centuries-old region of Slovakia, while the Czech Republic has its roots in the ancient kingdoms of Bohemia and Moravia. Those three areas were united as Great Moravia in the ninth century, but evolved into separate regions after that empire collapsed.
The complete saga of the Czechs and Slovaks is quite complicated and detailed, but every family historian should know the key events in the region’s history. In this chapter we will cover enough of that history for you to properly trace your Czech or Slovak ancestry.
Czech refers to the Czech-speaking inhabitants of the Czech Republic (Česká republika). The Czech Republic (see the Czech Republic Fast Facts sidebar) has its roots in the ancient kingdoms of Bohemia (the Western part) and Moravia (the Eastern part), collectively known as the “Czech lands.” Northern Moravia also includes Silesia (Slezsko), a historical region that lies mostly in southwestern Poland. In the 1800s, the ethnic composition of the Czech lands was predominantly Czech or German. The Silesians (Slezané) mostly maintain their ethnic identity but are often considered a subset within the Czech culture. For centuries, the country was known as Bohemia.
OFFICIAL NAME: Ceska Republika (Czech Republic)
CAPITAL CITY: Praha (Prague)
AREA: 49,005 square miles
BORDERING COUNTRIES: Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovakia
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Czech
POPULATION: 10 million
MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS: Czech, Moravian, Slovak
MAJOR RELIGIONS: Catholicism
The historical provinces of Bohemia and Moravia became the present-day Czech Republic. The Czech lands were under Austrian control until the formation of Czechoslovakia.
Because of its position at the crossroads of central Europe, the present-day Czech Republic has been influenced by a number of different ethnic groups throughout its history. It’s believed that a group of Celtic people first inhabited the area from circa 500 B.C. until the first century A.D. Their leader was named Boiohemus, and ancient historians called his land Boiohaemum—in English, Bohemia. Germanic and then Slavic tribes moved in over the next few centuries, intermingling.
Bohemia eventually became a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Later, Charles IV (Wenceslas), a member of the Luxembourg dynasty, came to power. He founded the first university in Eastern Europe, the University of Prague (Charles University). Charles’ popularity earned him the moniker “father of the country.” While King of Bohemia, he was also simultaneously made Holy Roman Emperor.
Following the Protestant Reformation, many kings and nobles in the Czech lands practiced Protestantism, but a Catholic family from Austria, the Habsburgs, began ruling in 1526. In 1618, Protestant Czech nobles rebelled against the Habsburgs and triggered the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), a Europe-wide religious war between Catholics and Protestants. The Habsburgs forcibly put down the Protestants and brought them under Habsburg control, killing or exiling many, seizing their land, and destroying their records. Eventually, this counter-reformation, or re-Catholicization, saw the Czech lands turn back almost completely to Catholicism. (Catholicism would remain the dominant religion until World War II.)
Later, Empress Maria Theresa (1717–1780) launched a reform of the entire empire with a view to centralize the state as well as modernize the kingdom and bring it forward to western European monarchies. These reforms followed many of the Enlightenment ideas that were disseminated in Europe from France, including the Education Ratio, a scheme for organizing education that took place in 1777.
After Maria Theresa’s death, the throne passed on to her son Joseph II, who followed his mother’s guidance in the spirit of the Enlightenment. His most important reforms were the Patent of Toleration in 1781, which alleged civil equality for all members of the Christian faith, and the abolition of serfdom in 1785. Other reforms contributed to modern state administration, tax and transportation systems, and schools.
From 1804 to 1867, the lands of the Habsburg monarchy were formally unified as the Austrian Empire. A long period of unrest led Austria and Hungary to form a dual monarchy in 1867. Administratively, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia were provinces of Austria, while Slovakia remained under Hungarian control. This arrangement remained in place until the end of World War I, when Austria-Hungary was dissolved.
The word Slovak derives from an old term for Slav: Slovan. Today’s Slovak Republic (see the Slovakia Fast Facts sidebar) corresponds to the centuries-old region of Slovakia (or Slovensko, as it’s referred to locally). Slovaks share a common culture despite regional (eastern, central, and western) and local differences in dialect, customs, and religion.
The Slovak territories were historically cut off from economic development by the Carpathian mountain range and by the political border between Austria and Hungary. This made it tough for the Slovak people because they were tied to the Czech lands by language and culture but were bound politically to the Hungarian government. Policies aimed at imposing or maintaining the dominance of Hungarian language and culture—commonly referred to as Magyarization—were established.
Beginning with the rise of the Samo Empire through Great Moravia, the Turkish invasion, Magyarization, and communism—and even until its separation from the Czech Republic in 1993—Slovakia historically struggled to be recognized as a nation-state.
The earliest evidence of people living in Slovakia comes from a Neanderthal skull molding found in the village of Gánovce that dates back around two hundred thousand years. Other archaeological discoveries indicate that Celtic tribes came to Slovakia at the beginning of the Iron Age, and the Romans invaded the region in 6 A.D. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the region that is now Slovakia was raided by various tribes, including the Huns, the Lombards, the Avars, and the Germanic Goths.
While it is anyone’s guess when the Slavs (the true ancestors of the Slovaks) first came to Slovakia, it was clear they had become the dominant race by the seventh century. The Samo Empire (623–665) was the first organized community of Slavs in the region that is now Slovakia, but Magyar (Hungarian) tribes eventually made their way into Slovakia. In the year 1000, Slovakia became a part of the Hungarian state. Invasions by the Tartars in 1241 and the Turks in 1530 followed.
After a Turkish victory at the 1526 Battle of Mohács, the Kingdom of Hungary was soundly defeated and subsequently divided into three separate parts: the territory that is present-day Hungary (under Turkish rule), Transylvania (a Turkish protectorate controlled by the Ottoman Empire in modern Romania), and Slovakia. Slovakia itself managed to withstand the Turkish invasion, but found itself the center of the new Hungarian state, and all of the important Hungarian administrative, political, and religious institutions moved to Slovakia.
| 833 | Great Moravia is established. |
| 907 | Hungarians invade Great Moravia. |
| 1000 | Slovakia becomes part of Hungary. |
| 1200 | Mongols and Tartars conquer much of Eastern Europe. |
| 1350 | Prague is the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. |
| 1515 | The Reformation begins, setting the stage for tension between Protestants and Catholics over the next several centuries. |
| 1526 | Hungary is defeated at the Battle of Mohács; lands are divided between Turks and the Hapsburg Empire. |
| 1563 | The Council of Trent orders Roman Catholic churches to keep vital records. |
| 1584 | The Habsburg Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar. |
| 1671 | Hungary becomes a province of Austria. |
| 1740 | Maria Theresa becomes the empress of Austria-Hungary. |
| 1754 | The first census of Hapsburg territories takes place. |
| 1780 | The Slovak National Revival begins. |
| 1781 | The Holy Roman Emperor issues the Patent of Toleration, giving religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians. |
| 1785 | Serfdom is abolished in Slovakia. |
| 1843 | The Central Slovak dialect becomes the Slovak language standard. |
| 1848 | Serfdom is abolished in Austria-Hungary following a Hungarian rebellion. |
| 1848 | Slovaks launch a revolt against the Hapsburgs. |
| 1861 | Slovaks assert autonomy with the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. |
| 1867 | The dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary forms. |
| 1873 | A cholera epidemic and crop failures spur Slovak emigration. |
| 1918 | Czechoslovakia, a new state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia, gains independence from the dissolved Austria-Hungary. |
| 1933 | Germany gains control of Czechoslovakia. |
| 1939 | The Slovak Republic becomes independent of the Czech lands. |
| 1944 | Germans quash the Slovak National Uprising. |
| 1969 | The Soviet Union converts Czechoslovakia into a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic, outlining modern borders of the two countries. |
| 1989 | Communist power, which had ruled in Czechoslovakia since the end of World War II, ends. |
| 1993 | In the Velvet Divorce, Czechoslovakia splits into two independent countries: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (Slovakia). |
| 1999 | The Czech Republic joins NATO. |
| 2004 | The Czech Republic and Slovakia join the European Union; Slovakia joins NATO. |
OFFICIAL NAME: Slovenska Republika (Slovak Republic)
SHORT NAME: Slovensko (Slovakia)
CAPITAL CITY: Bratislava
AREA: 18,921 square miles
BORDERING COUNTRIES: Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Slovak
POPULATION: 5 million
MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS: Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, Romany, Ruthenian, Ukrainian
MAJOR RELIGIONS: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Greek Catholicism, Orthodoxy
The modern Slovak Republic corresponds to the historical province of Slovakia, which was under Hungarian control from the 1500s until after World War I.
In the sixteenth century, Hungary, including Slovakia, became an associated state of the Habsburg Empire. Between 1867 and 1918, the Austrian (Habsburg) Empire was restructured into a double state called Austria-Hungary. In this state, Hungary, including Slovakia, had its own government, parliament, army, and citizenship. Inhabitants of Austria-Hungary were considered either Austrian or Hungarian citizens. Most Slovak citizens, having lived in the Hungarian portion of the empire, would have considered themselves Hungarian citizens. But others—even some in the same family—may have indicated Austrian citizenship instead.
For most genealogists, this time period holds the greatest significance for the research process. Because of the changing geographical and political borders, researching Slovak ancestors can often be challenging. You must be aware of both the Slovak and Hungarian name changes for towns, villages, and counties, and also take place-name changes into account when searching for documents such as church and civil vital records, census returns, and other important genealogical sources. Those searches will be addressed in later chapters.
For more detailed information on the history of Slovakia, consult the “Short Chronological History of Slovakia,” prepared by Slovak historian Anton Hrnko <www.panorama.sk/go/clanky/39.asp?lang=en>.
The treaties ending World War I dissolved the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and part of the empire was carved out to create the independent state of Czechoslovakia in 1928. The new country consisted of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Ruthenia, and parts of the Polish province of Silesia. The new name was adopted to reflect the union of the Czech and Slovak territories. But the independence did not last long, and Slovakia’s partnership with the Czechs was not an equal one.
In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed much of Bohemia and Moravia. Hitler seized the Sudetenland in Bohemia, insisting that the area rightly belonged to Germany due to its high concentration of ethnic Germans. Later, he took control of the entire country. The official government went into exile in England. Slovakia, although now officially “independent” of Czechoslovakia, became a German puppet state.
World War II was especially devastating for Czech Jews. Most were killed, and their records were destroyed in an attempt to wipe out any trace of them.
As the war came to a close, Soviet forces came into Czechoslovakia, bringing with them Soviet influence that would persist long after Hitler’s defeat. In 1945, Allied powers restored Czechoslovakia (minus the eastern region called Subcarpathian Rus’), but the region fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. Alexander Dubček led a brief period of reform in 1968 that was commonly known as the Prague Spring. But the Soviets crushed Dubček’s efforts and continued to influence the Czech government until the late 1980s, when the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbachev, with his ideas of glasnost (“openness”) and perestroika (“restructuring”), relaxed the Soviet hold on satellite countries to allow for more freedom of expression.
The term Rusyn refers to people from Carpathian Rus’ (also called Ruthenia), an area on the southern and northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains where the borders of Ukraine, Slovakia, and Poland meet.
Rusyns have never had their own state—since the sixth century, they’ve lived as minorities within various nations. Their homeland now sits mostly in Slovakia.
Rusyns have borne numerous self-imposed and assigned monikers, including Carpatho-Russian, Carpatho-Ukrainian, Rusnak, Ruthene, Ruthenian, and Uhro-Rusyn. The most appropriate designation is Carpatho-Rusyn, or simply Rusyn. They’re not “just some kind of Slovak.”
At least one hundred thousand people of Rusyn descent live in Slovakia today, but fewer than fifty thousand still identify as Rusyn in some way. Due to their lack of any firm geographic identity, Rusyns have been described as “the people from no man’s land.” To read more, go to <www.carpathorusynsociety.org>.
In June 1990, the well-known dissident and poet Václav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia, but difficulties between the Czechs and Slovaks led Havel to resign in 1992. On January 1, 1993, the country divided to form two new nations, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (Slovakia). The Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004, but hasn’t adopted the euro as its currency. The Slovak Republic joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted the euro as its currency in 2009.
Genealogically speaking, you should keep in mind these key dates and events as you search for your Czech and Slovak ancestors: