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In the 11th century, Kosmas, a famous historian, wrote about the legends that surrounded the foundation of Prague. In his chronicles, Princess Libuše who ruled the Czechs somewhere in the 5th century, sent out a legation to find the place she saw in her dreams: “I see a great castle whose glory shall touch the Heavens …”

In the seventh century, a group of magnates formed what was later called by the Byzantines, the Great Moravia, a rich and prosperous country stretching through the whole area of today’s Czech Republic.

Although Czech princes were under the political power of their Moravian neighbours, they accepted Christianity and earned autonomy after the fall of Great Moravia. Premysl’s were the first Czech royal house, among them was the legendary prince Wenceslas.

Charles IV is by far the most praised of all Czech kings. His intelligence, education, political abilities and persistence also made him the most powerful man of 14th century Europe.

A negative aspect of the prosperous 14th century was the growing power of Church. An institution protected by Charles IV and other deeply religious kings started to affect lives of ordinary people.

The situation in Czech Kingdom was very unstable after the Hussite Revolution. A very young king, Ladislav, was left to rule the country. Due to his age and frequent illnesses, George of Podebrady took over the country.

Prague of the 16th century had become the centre of Europe again. Rudolph II, a Habsburg who had no political ambitions or abilities, but had a great passion for art, history, occultism and alchemy, decided to make it the head of the Habsburg state.

The break of the 16th and 17th century was a period of religious conflicts not only in the Habsburg monarchy, but all around Europe. The Czechs felt inhibited by the Austrian absolutism, especially their religious dictate.

English, French and American Revolution were dominating the 18th century and so were dreams of democracy and republic. Mary Theresaof Austria, mother of Mary Antoinette who lost her head to the revolution, was one of the truly enlightened but still absolutist rulers.

After the Habsburg reforms in 18th century, many people moved to towns, because bond-service was no longer expected from them. The newcomers spoke Czech and this clashed with the ideas of completely Germanized townsmen. The situation led to a movement called National Revival that was supposed to retrieve the truly Czech culture.

Relations between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Prussia resulted in the First World War. A large amount of Czech soldiers deserted from the Austrian army and usually joined the Russians or the Serbians.

The neighboring Slovaks decided to form a state with the Czechs. They no longer wanted to be part of the Hungarian empire. Hungarian politics were viewed upon as aggressive by the outer world and could harm Slovaks’ reputation in the future.

After Masaryk’s resignation, Edward Beneš took over the country. He was a very strict man who wanted to restore political order. Unfortunately, year 1938 brought the Munich Dictate, which eventually left Czechoslovakia in the hands of Nazi Germany.

The war was nearing its end and Hitler was already dead. American army from the west and Red Army from the east were both approaching the Czech borders. The Soviets were quicker.

The sixties brought a more relaxed atmosphere. After Nikita Chruschov’s speech in 1956, when the new Soviet president demolished Stalin’s cult, many things changed. Czech political leaders were now well-educated and wanted to gain people’s trust. Freedom of speech was no longer such a big issue and Czech art flourished, especially cinematography.

In the year 1989, something unexpected happened. It was 17th November and people were marching through the streets of Prague, remembering a student demonstration against Nazis that took place in November 1939. A quiet event soon turned into an open anti-communist demonstration.

The new era of freedom saw the rise of Czech culture and relatively free market. The first parliamentary elections in the new state were won by Havel’s Civic Forum. This didn’t last long as people were tired of promises and wanted more radical leadership. The decisions of Slovaks and Czechs were very different.

One of the biggest steps of Klaus’s Cabinet was the so-called Coupon Privatization. It had to erase communist-performed collectivization of personal property. People were now given coupons. These were in fact shares in various Czech companies. Unfortunately, very few of the Czech citizens knew how to use this to their benefit.