9,600 BC - 1200s AD
The first settlements in the Czech lands date back as far as the Paleolithic Era. Many Germanic tribes settled in the Czech area along with Slavs from the Black Sea. One of these settled groups, the Boii, gave their name to the region, which became known as Bohemia, the land of the Boii. The Boii established a city where Prague is today.
Many kingdoms existed during this era, including the Great Moravia and the Kingdom of Bohemia. By 1198, Bohemia became very prominent in the region.
1300s-1500s
In the early 1300s, a series of dynastic wars saw the House of Luxembourg take over the Bohemian territory. The mid-14th century marked the Golden Era of Czech history. In 1354, King Charles IV ruled the Czech lands and had Italy and the Holy Roman Empire under his rule. Many new constructions took place during this time period, including Charles University, which was founded in Prague in 1348. The Cathedral of St. Vitus, Charles Square, Charles Bridge, and the Prague Castle were all built during the reign of King Charles IV.
The dawn of the 15th century saw the beginning of the Bohemian Reformation by Jan Hus. Although Hus was named a heretic and burnt in 1415, his followers seceded from the Catholic Church and defeated five crusades organized against them by the Holy Roman Emperor.
1600s-1800s
The following period, from the 1600s to the 1800s, has been called the "Dark Age" in Czech history., starting with the Thirty Years War in 1618. The Thirty Years War began in Prague over religion (protestant vs. Holy Roman Empire) and became a war about control of the lands across Europe. The Czech population declined by a third due to war, disease, and famine. However, the flowering of Baroque culture shows the ambiguity of this historical period.
War continued to ravage the lands during these years. The Great Ottoman Empire invaded Moravia in 1663. In 1740, most of Silesia was seized by King Frederick II of Prussia in the Silesian Wars. In 1757, the Prussians invaded Bohemia and occupied the city. More than a quarter of Prague was destroyed. Frederick was defeated soon and had to leave Prague and retreat from Bohemia.
The end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 lowered the political status of Bohemia and Bohemian lands became part of the Austrian Empire, a part of Austria-Hungary.
1900s-2000s
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Czech national movement began its rise, with the purpose being to revive Czech national identity. The Czechoslovak Republic was founded on October 28th, 1918 by Tomas Masaryk as the Austria-Hungary kingdom collapsed following World War I.
During World War II, Hitler ordered attacks against the Czechs as a response to the Czech anti-Nazi resistance. The German occupation ended on 9 May 1945, with the arrival of the Soviet and American armies.
On 1 January 1993, the country peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic successfully became a market economy. In 2006 the Czech Republic was recognized by the World Bank as a "developed country" and in 2009 the Human Development Index ranked it as a nation of "Very High Human Development”. The Czech Republic joined NATO on 12 March 1999 and the EU on 1 May 2004.