History

7th Century: Samo’s Empire, the first known Slavic state
9th Century: Duchy of Bohemia emerges
1198: Kingdom of Bohemia (King Ottokar)
14th Century: Golden Age under the reign of Charles IV
1415: Religious and social reformer Jan Hus burned at the stake in Constance as a heretic
1526: The Habsburgs take control of Bohemia, which remains part of the Austrian Empire until the end of World War I
1918: Establishment of Czechoslovakia (including the Czech lands, Slovakia, and part of present-day western Ukraine)
1938: Munich agreement, by which Czechoslovakia must surrender its border regions (the so-called Sudeten region) to Nazi Germany
1939: Nazi invasion and establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; Slovakia becomes an independent state
1945: After then end of World War Two, Slovakia is again part of Czechoslovakia
1946-1948: The Czechoslovak Communist Party seizes control, establishing a one-party system
1968: Prague Spring, a period of political liberalization, ended by the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion
1989: Massive protests against the leading Communist Party; a peaceful transition to the democratic regime often labelled as “The Velvet Revolution”
1990: First free elections since 1946
1991: Soviet army forces leaves the country
1993: Peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia; the Czech Republic and Slovakia become independent states
1999: The Czech Republic joins the NATO
2004: The Czech Republic joins the European Union