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91-409: The villages of Bohušov, Hradiště, Hradišťská Lhotka, Hradišťský Újezd, Komorno, Stará Huť, Štítov and Vlčice are administrative parts of Blovice. Blovice is located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of Plzeň . It lies in the Švihov Highlands . The highest point is a hill with an altitude of 559 m (1,834 ft). The Úslava River flows through the town. There are several fishponds in

182-538: A ban on professional employment, the refusal of higher education for the dissidents' children, police harassment and prison. During the 1980s, Czechoslovakia became one of the most tightly controlled Communist regimes in the Warsaw Pact in resistance to the mitigation of controls notified by Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev . In 1989, the Velvet Revolution restored democracy. This occurred around

273-627: A chance for many of their compatriots to participate in communal life before independence. Palacký supported Austro-Slavism and worked for a reorganized federal Austrian Empire , which would protect the Slavic speaking peoples of Central Europe against Russian and German threats. An advocate of democratic reform and Czech autonomy within Austria-Hungary, Masaryk was elected twice to the Reichsrat (Austrian Parliament), from 1891 to 1893 for

364-476: A currency reform in 1953, which caused a wave of discontent, including the Plzeň uprising . On 1 June 1953, over 20,000 people, mainly workers at the Škoda Works, began protesting against the government. Protesters forced their way into the town hall and threw communist symbols, furniture and other objects out of the windows. The protest caused a retaliation from the government. As part of its retaliation, they destroyed

455-478: A depth of 12 m (39 ft). Built in 1532, the former water tower was integrated into the city's fortification system at Prague Gate. Another storey was added in 1822 in French Imperial style. The Gothic portal dating from the 1500s and coming from another house, which had been demolished, was added in 1912. Above the portal there is a commemorative plaque dedicated to Dr Josef Škoda (a professor at

546-467: A major factor in the 1980s. Slightly after the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, there was a lack of essential infrastructure in many areas – paved roads , railways , bridges , etc. Massive improvement in the following years enabled Czechoslovakia to develop its industry. Prague 's civil airport in Ruzyně became one of the most modern terminals in the world when it was finished in 1937. Tomáš Baťa ,

637-511: A political monopoly was held by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). The leader of the KSČ was de facto the most powerful person in the country during this period. Gustáv Husák was elected first secretary of the KSČ in 1969 (changed to general secretary in 1971) and president of Czechoslovakia in 1975. Other parties and organizations existed but functioned in subordinate roles to

728-913: A reconstruction of episcopacy). The current bishop is Filip Štojdl. The Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church is headquartered in Plzeň. St. Paul's Lutheran Church is a church of the Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church in Plzeň. The other churches also present in Plzeň are the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Czech Republic, the United Methodist Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church,

819-648: A threat to German rule. Just like Jews, Poles, Serbs, and several other nations, Czechs were considered to be untermenschen by the Nazi state. In 1940, in a secret Nazi plan for the Germanization of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia it was declared that those considered to be of racially Mongoloid origin and the Czech intelligentsia were not to be Germanized. The deportation of Jews to concentration camps

910-520: A total of 818,700 inhabitants. The diocesan see is in St. Bartholomew's Cathedral on Republiky Square in Plzeň. The diocese is divided into 10 vicariates with a total of 72 parishes. The seat of the West Bohemian seniorate (literary presbytery; Central European protestant equivalent of a diocese) of Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren is currently set in Plzeň. The current senior is Miroslav Hamari,

1001-777: A unified Czechoslovakia was restored after World War II (after the country had been divided during the war), the conflict between the Czechs and the Slovaks surfaced again. The governments of Czechoslovakia and other Central European nations deported ethnic Germans, reducing the presence of minorities in the nation. Most of the Jews had been killed during the war by the Nazis. Ethnicities of Czechoslovakia in 1921 Ethnicities of Czechoslovakia in 1930 *Jews identified themselves as Germans or Hungarians (and Jews only by religion not ethnicity),

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1092-739: Is ProMinent Systems, manufacturer of dosing systems and plastic tanks with more than 300 employers. Blovice is located on the railway line Plzeň– Horažďovice . The Church of Saint John the Evangelist was built in the Baroque style in 1760–1767. Next to the church is the Chapel of the Holy Cross with the tomb of the Kolowrat-Krakowsky and Pálffy families, which was rebuilt in 1833 from the original older building. The main landmark of

1183-465: Is a centre of business in the western part of the Czech Republic. Since the late 1990s the city has experienced high growth in foreign investment. In 2007, Israeli mall developer Plaza Centers opened the Pilsen Plaza , a 20,000 m (220,000 sq ft) shopping mall and entertainment centre featuring a multiplex cinema from Cinema City Czech Republic . Plzeň produces about two-thirds of

1274-569: Is a city in the Czech Republic . It is the fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 186,000 inhabitants. It is located about 78 kilometres (48 miles) west of Prague , at the confluence of four rivers: Mže , Úhlava , Úslava and Radbuza , together forming the Berounka River. Founded as a royal city in the late 13th century, Plzeň became an important town for trade on routes linking Bohemia with Bavaria . By

1365-443: Is a cultural heritage zone known for its Baroque architecture , and was European Capital of Culture in 2015. Plzeň is home to football club FC Viktoria Plzeň , one of the most successful clubs in the Czech league, and ice hockey club HC Škoda Plzeň . Plzeň is divided into ten boroughs, which are further divided into 25 administrative parts (in brackets): Plzeň is located about 78 km (48 mi) west of Prague . The city

1456-612: Is a remnant of the Jewish community that existed in Blovice. It was allegedly founded in 1683. The cemetery has an area of 1,433 m (15,420 sq ft). Approximately 350 Baroque and Neoclassical tombstones have been preserved. Blovice is twinned with: Plze%C5%88 Plzeň ( Czech pronunciation: [ˈpl̩zɛɲ] ), also known in English and German as Pilsen ( German: [ˈpɪlzn̩] ),

1547-639: Is from 1307. In the 14th century, the city had about 3,000 inhabitants on an area of 20 ha (49 acres), making it the third largest city in Bohemia after Prague and Kutná Hora . During the Hussite Wars , it was the centre of Catholic resistance to the Hussites : Prokop the Great unsuccessfully besieged it three times, and it joined the league of Catholic nobles against King George of Poděbrady . In

1638-579: Is situated at the confluences of four rivers: Mže , Úhlava , Úslava and Radbuza . From the confluence of the Mže and Radbuza, the river is known as the Berounka . Plzeň lies mostly in the Plasy Uplands , with small parts of the municipal territory extending into the Švihov Highlands to the east and south. The highest point is the hill Chlum at 416 m (1,365 ft) above sea level. The lowest point

1729-537: Is the river bed of the Berounka at 293 m (961 ft). The largest body of water is the České údolí Reservoir, built on the Radbuza. A system of fishponds is located on the northern edge of the city. Plzeň has a cool and temperate Oceanic climate (Cfb). The average annual precipitation is 525 mm (21 in). The annual average temperature is 8.4 °C (47.1 °F). The extreme temperature throughout

1820-645: The Wehrmacht , and Czech contributions, particularly in the field of tanks, were noted. The Nazis operated a Gestapo prison in the city, and a forced labour camp in the Karlov district. Between 17 and 26 January 1942, the majority of the city's Jewish population, over 2,000 people, were deported by the Nazis to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Terezín . On 6 May 1945, in the final days before

1911-610: The Czech Handball Extraliga . The motorcycle speedway team PK Plzeň race at the Plzeň speedway track . The track has hosted significant speedway events including qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Team Cup . The most prominent sights of Plzeň are the Gothic St. Bartholomew's Cathedral , founded in the late 13th century, whose tower, at 102 m (335 ft), is the highest in

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2002-728: The Danube River basin. The weather is mild winters and mild summers. Influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, the Baltic Sea from the north, and Mediterranean Sea from the south. There is no continental weather. The area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until it collapsed at the end of World War I . The new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk , who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He

2093-540: The Kolowrat-Krakowsky family, who purchased the estate in the late 17th century and held it until 1872. In the 18th century, Blovice was promoted to a town. In 1865–1868, the railway Plzeň– České Budějovice was built via the town and the character of the town began to change. From 1872 to 1918, the town was property of the Hungarian Pálffy ab Erdöd family. The largest employer based in the town

2184-600: The NSDAP in the December 1938 elections. Almost every decree explicitly stated that the sanctions did not apply to antifascists. Some 250,000 Germans, many married to Czechs, some antifascists, and also those required for the post-war reconstruction of the country, remained in Czechoslovakia. The Beneš Decrees still cause controversy among nationalist groups in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Hungary. Following

2275-693: The Nazis after 1933 in the hope that Adolf Hitler might be able to unite them with their German-speaking neighbours. Following the Munich Agreement in 1938, Plzeň became a frontier town as the creation of the Sudetenland moved Nazi Germany 's borders closer to the city's outer limits. During the German occupation from 1939 to 1945, the Škoda Works in Pilsen was forced to provide armaments for

2366-652: The Sudetenland . On 29 September 1938, Britain and France ceded control in the Appeasement at the Munich Conference ; France ignored the military alliance it had with Czechoslovakia. During October 1938, Nazi Germany occupied the Sudetenland border region, effectively crippling Czechoslovak defences. The First Vienna Award assigned a strip of southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia to Hungary. Poland occupied Zaolzie, an area whose population

2457-616: The Vienna University ), who was born next door on 10 December 1805. A popular tourist attraction is the Plzeňský Prazdroj brewery tour where visitors can discover the history of beer. Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( / ˌ tʃ ɛ k oʊ s l oʊ ˈ v æ k i . ə , ˈ tʃ ɛ k ə -, - s l ə -, - ˈ v ɑː -/ CHEK -oh-sloh- VAK -ee-ə, CHEK -ə-, -⁠slə-, -⁠ VAH - ; Czech and Slovak : Československo , Česko-Slovensko )

2548-597: The Warsaw Pact of 1955. A period of political liberalization in 1968, the Prague Spring , ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by other Warsaw Pact countries, invaded Czechoslovakia . In 1989, as Marxist–Leninist governments and communism were ending all over Central and Eastern Europe , Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their communist government during the Velvet Revolution , which began on 17 November 1989 and ended 11 days later on 28 November when all of

2639-790: The Young Czech Party , and from 1907 to 1914 for the Czech Realist Party , which he had founded in 1889 with Karel Kramář and Josef Kaizl . During World War I a number of Czechs and Slovaks, the Czechoslovak Legions , fought with the Allies in France and Italy, while large numbers deserted to Russia in exchange for its support for the independence of Czechoslovakia from the Austrian Empire. With

2730-680: The autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Annexed by Hungary (1939–1945). ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without a formal name change) under the Ninth-of-May Constitution following the 1948 coup . ČSSR; from 1969, after the Prague Spring , consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic (ČSR) and Slovak Socialist Republic (SSR). Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR . Oblast of Ukraine . After World War II,

2821-547: The end of World War II in Europe , Plzeň was liberated from Nazi Germany by the 16th Armored Division of General George Patton 's 3rd Army . Also participating in the liberation of the city were elements of the 97th and 2nd Infantry Divisions supported by the Polish Holy Cross Mountains Brigade . Other Third Army units liberated major portions of Western Bohemia. The rest of Czechoslovakia

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2912-625: The 1470s and 1480s, the city had the first printing press in Bohemia. The first book printed here and therefore the oldest book in Bohemia is Statuta written by Arnošt of Pardubice , which was printed in 1476. Emperor Rudolf II made Plzeň his seat from 1599 to 1600. During the Thirty Years' War the town was taken by Mansfeld in 1618 after the Siege of Plzeň and it was not recaptured by Imperial troops until 1621. Wallenstein made it his winter quarters in 1633. Accused of treason and losing

3003-493: The 14th century it had grown to be the third largest city in Bohemia. The city was besieged three times during the 15th-century Hussite Wars , when it became a centre of resistance against the Hussites. During the Thirty Years' War in the early 17th century the city was temporarily occupied after the Siege of Plzeň . In the 19th century, the city rapidly industrialised and became home to the Škoda Works , which became one of

3094-911: The 1946 parliamentary election, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was the winner in the Czech lands , and the Democratic Party won in Slovakia. In February 1948 the Communists seized power . Although they would maintain the fiction of political pluralism through the existence of the National Front , except for a short period in the late 1960s (the Prague Spring ) the country had no liberal democracy . Since citizens lacked significant electoral methods of registering protest against government policies, periodically there were street protests that became violent. For example, there were riots in

3185-763: The Church of Brethren, the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, the Greek Catholic Church, and others. The University of West Bohemia in Plzeň is well known for its Faculty of Law, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Applied Science in particular. Martin Luther Elementary School (Základní škola Martina Luthera) is a private Christian school of the Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church in Plzeň. Plzeň

3276-760: The Czech Republic, the Renaissance Town Hall, and the Moorish Revival Great Synagogue , the second largest synagogue in Europe, after the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest . There is also a 20 km (12 mi) historic tunnel and cellar network, among the longest in Central Europe. Part of this network is open to the public for tours of about 750 m (2,500 ft) in length and down to

3367-553: The Czech intelligentsia; the intellectual elites and middle class made up a considerable number of the 200,000 people who passed through concentration camps and the 250,000 who died during German occupation. Under Generalplan Ost , it was assumed that around 50% of Czechs would be fit for Germanization . The Czech intellectual elites were to be removed not only from Czech territories but from Europe completely. The authors of Generalplan Ost believed it would be best if they emigrated overseas, as even in Siberia they were considered

3458-504: The Czechs of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, German occupation was a period of brutal oppression. Czech losses resulting from political persecution and deaths in concentration camps totaled between 36,000 and 55,000. The Jewish populations of Bohemia and Moravia (118,000 according to the 1930 census) were virtually annihilated. Many Jews emigrated after 1939; more than 70,000 were killed; 8,000 survived at Terezín. Several thousand Jews managed to live in freedom or in hiding throughout

3549-449: The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Plzeň, known as The Western congregation located in the Western part of the city in the borough of Jižní předměstí and The Congregation of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Chrást located in Chrást in the very east of Plzeň-City District. The seat of Plzeň diocese of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church is located in Plzeň (although the bishop has resided in Mirovice for several years due to

3640-431: The German war effort was accelerated. Under the authority of Karl Hermann Frank , German minister of state for Bohemia and Moravia, some 350,000 Czech laborers were dispatched to the Reich. Within the protectorate, all non-war-related industry was prohibited. Most of the Czech population obeyed quiescently up until the final months preceding the end of the war, while thousands were involved in the resistance movement . For

3731-464: The Gulf War with a small force of 200 troops under the command of the U.S.-led coalition. In 1992, because of growing nationalist tensions in the government, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved by parliament. On 31 December 1992, it formally separated into two independent countries, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic . ČSR; boundaries and government established by the 1920 constitution . Annexed by Nazi Germany . ČSR; included

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3822-423: The Hussite Wars. From the end of the 17th century, the architecture of Plzeň has been influenced by the Baroque style. The city centre has been under cultural heritage preservation since 1989. In the second half of the 19th century Plzeň, already an important trade centre for Bohemia , near the Bavarian/German border, began to industrialise rapidly. In 1869 Emil Škoda founded the Škoda Works , which became

3913-643: The KSČ. All political parties, as well as numerous mass organizations, were grouped under umbrella of the National Front . Human rights activists and religious activists were severely repressed. Czechoslovakia had the following constitutions during its history (1918–1992): In the 1930s, the nation formed a military alliance with France, which collapsed in the Munich Agreement of 1938. After World War II , an active participant in Council for Mutual Economic Assistance ( Comecon ), Warsaw Pact , United Nations and its specialized agencies; signatory of conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe . Before World War II,

4004-475: The Plzeň Region GDP, even though it contains only 29.8% of its population. Based on these figures, the city of Plzeň has a total GDP of approximately $ 7.2 billion, and a per capita GDP of $ 44,000. While part of this is explained by commuters to the city, it is one of the most prosperous cities in the Czech Republic. The Škoda company, established in Plzeň in 1859, has been an important element of Austro-Hungarian, Czechoslovak and Czech engineering, and one of

4095-477: The Slovaks, who were hostile to the more numerous Czechs, weakened the country in the late 1930s. Slovakia became autonomous in the fall of 1938, and by mid-1939, Slovakia had become independent, with the First Slovak Republic set up as a satellite state of Nazi Germany and the far-right Slovak People's Party in power . After 1933, Czechoslovakia remained the only democracy in central and eastern Europe. In September 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded control of

4186-502: The Soviet Union, gradually put the brakes on their earlier liberal policies. Meanwhile, one plank of the reform program had been carried out: in 1968–69, Czechoslovakia was turned into a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic . The theory was that under the federation, social and economic inequities between the Czech and Slovak halves of the state would be largely eliminated. A number of ministries, such as education, now became two formally equal bodies in

4277-404: The art of triple decoction mashing . The combination of pale colour from the new malts, Plzeň's remarkably soft water, Saaz noble hops from nearby Žatec ( Saaz in German) and Bavarian-style lagering produced a clear, golden beer which was regarded as a sensation. Improving transport meant that this new beer was soon available throughout Central Europe and Pilsner Brauart -style brewing

4368-443: The beer right, and it is one of the oldest breweries to survive to modern times. Many breweries were located in the interconnected deep cellars of the city. The officials of Plzeň founded a city-owned brewery in 1839, Bürger Brauerei (Citizens' Brewery, now Plzeňský Prazdroj ), and recruited Bavarian brewer Josef Groll (1813–1887) who produced the first batch of modern Pilsner beer on 5 October 1842. This included mastering

4459-655: The biggest European arms factories. During the Communist era (1948–1989) the company's production had been directed to the needs of the Eastern Bloc . Disarray in the era after the Velvet Revolution , and unsuccessful efforts to gain new Western markets, resulted in sales problems and debts. After a huge restructuring process, the company was divided into several subsidiaries, which were later sold. The most important successors companies are Škoda Transportation and Doosan Škoda Power . Many foreign companies now have manufacturing bases in Plzeň, including Daikin , Hisense and Panasonic . The software provider company ZF Openmatics

4550-430: The city and its surroundings, linked to the city by commuting and migration. It has about 328,000 inhabitants. Plzeň is well known for the Pilsner Urquell (since 1842) and Gambrinus (since 1869) breweries , currently owned by Asahi Group Holdings. Plzeň is an important city in the history of beer, including the development of Pilsner . In 1375, Bohemian King Charles IV endowed the Dobrow Monastery near Plzeň with

4641-418: The city is the D5 highway connecting Prague and Nuremberg . A public domestic and private international airport is located 11 km south-west from Plzeň, at the nearby village of Líně . Since 31 May 1993 Plzeň has been the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plzeň . The first bishop (current bishop emeritus) was František Radkovský. The current bishop is Tomáš Holub. The diocese covers an area with

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4732-502: The city of Plzeň. For residents of the city, a Plzeň Card can be purchased and through a system of "topping up" be used on any public transport with no limitations, as long as it is paid up and valid. Tickets can be purchased in vehicles with a contactless smart card. Plzeň is an important centre of Czech railway transport, with the crossing of five main railway lines: Plzeň main railway station ( Plzeň hlavní nádraží ) serves all five of these lines. The most important transport link in

4823-436: The economy was about the fourth in all industrial countries in Europe. The state was based on strong economy, manufacturing cars ( Škoda , Tatra ), trams, aircraft ( Aero , Avia ), ships, ship engines ( Škoda ), cannons, shoes ( Baťa ), turbines, guns ( Zbrojovka Brno ). It was the industrial workshop for the Austro-Hungarian empire. The Slovak lands relied more heavily on agriculture than the Czech lands. After World War II,

4914-424: The economy was centrally planned, with command links controlled by the communist party, similarly to the Soviet Union . The large metallurgical industry was dependent on imports of iron and non-ferrous ores. After World War II, the country was short of energy, relying on imported crude oil and natural gas from the Soviet Union, domestic brown coal , and nuclear and hydroelectric energy . Energy constraints were

5005-435: The expulsion of the ethnic German population from Czechoslovakia, parts of the former Sudetenland , especially around Krnov and the surrounding villages of the Jesenik mountain region in northeastern Czechoslovakia, were settled in 1949 by Communist refugees from Northern Greece who had left their homeland as a result of the Greek Civil War . These Greeks made up a large proportion of the town and region's population until

5096-417: The late 1980s/early 1990s. Although defined as "Greeks", the Greek Communist community of Krnov and the Jeseniky region actually consisted of an ethnically diverse population, including Greek Macedonians , Macedonians , Vlachs , Pontic Greeks and Turkish speaking Urums or Caucasus Greeks . Carpathian Ruthenia (Podkarpatská Rus) was occupied by (and in June 1945 formally ceded to) the Soviet Union. In

5187-413: The most important and influential engineering company in the country and a crucial supplier of arms to the Austro-Hungarian Army . By 1917 the Škoda Works employed over 30,000 workers. After 1898 the second largest employer was the National Railways train workshop, with about 2,000 employees: this was the largest rail repair shop in all Austria-Hungary . Between 1861 and 1877, the Plzeň railway junction

5278-405: The most important engineering companies in Austria-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia . The city is known worldwide as the home of Pilsner beer, created by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll in the city in 1842; today, the Pilsner Urquell Brewery is the largest brewery in the Czech Republic. Plzeň serves as the main business centre of West Bohemia and the capital of the Plzeň Region . The city

5369-492: The most industrialized regions of the former Austria-Hungary. The new country was a multi-ethnic state, with Czechs and Slovaks as constituent peoples . The population consisted of Czechs (51%), Slovaks (16%), Germans (22%), Hungarians (5%) and Rusyns (4%). Many of the Germans, Hungarians, Ruthenians and Poles and some Slovaks, felt oppressed because the political elite did not generally allow political autonomy for minority ethnic groups. This policy led to unrest among

5460-428: The non-Czech population, particularly in German-speaking Sudetenland , which initially had proclaimed itself part of the Republic of German-Austria in accordance with the self-determination principle. The state proclaimed the official ideology that there were no separate Czech and Slovak nations, but only one nation of Czechoslovaks (see Czechoslovakism ), to the disagreement of Slovaks and other ethnic groups. Once

5551-428: The occupation. Despite the estimated 136,000 deaths at the hands of the Nazi regime, the population in the Reichsprotektorate saw a net increase during the war years of approximately 250,000 in line with an increased birth rate. On 6 May 1945, the third US Army of General Patton entered Plzeň from the south west. On 9 May 1945, Soviet Red Army troops entered Prague . After World War II, pre-war Czechoslovakia

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5642-400: The occupations. In 1948, this provision was cancelled for the Hungarians, but only partially for the Germans. The government then confiscated the property of the Germans and expelled about 90% of the ethnic German population , over 2 million people. Those who remained were collectively accused of supporting the Nazis after the Munich Agreement , as 97.32% of Sudeten Germans had voted for

5733-408: The outbreak of World War I, Masaryk began working for Czech independence in a union with Slovakia. With Edvard Beneš and Milan Rastislav Štefánik , Masaryk visited several Western countries and won support from influential publicists. The Czechoslovak National Council was the main organization that advanced the claims for a Czechoslovak state. The Bohemian Kingdom ceased to exist in 1918 when it

5824-405: The preacher of Koranda parish congregation of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Plzeň, commonly known as Koranda congregation located in the city centre of Plzeň. The senioral churchwarden is Josef Beneš, the parish churchwarden of the same congregation. There are two other parish congregations of Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in the Plzeň-City District – The Western congregation of

5915-474: The preservation of the Soviet, socialist system and vowed to intervene in any state that sought to replace Marxism-Leninism with capitalism . In the week after the invasion, there was a spontaneous campaign of civil resistance against the occupation. This resistance involved a wide range of acts of non-cooperation and defiance: this was followed by a period in which the Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership, having been forced in Moscow to make concessions to

6006-434: The prime architect of the Czechoslovak-Romanian-Yugoslav alliance (the " Little Entente ", 1921–38) directed against Hungarian attempts to reclaim lost areas. Beneš worked closely with France. Far more dangerous was the German element, which after 1933 became allied with the Nazis in Germany. Czech-Slovak relations came to be a central issue in Czechoslovak politics during the 1930s. The increasing feeling of inferiority among

6097-501: The reformer Alexander Dubček was appointed to the key post of First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, there was a brief period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring . In response, after failing to persuade the Czechoslovak leaders to change course, five other members of the Warsaw Pact invaded . Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia on the night of 20–21 August 1968. Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev viewed this intervention as vital for

6188-417: The same time as the fall of communism in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany and Poland. The word "socialist" was removed from the country's full name on 29 March 1990 and replaced by "federal". Pope John Paul II made a papal visit to Czechoslovakia on 21 April 1990, hailing it as a symbolic step of reviving Christianity in the newly-formed post-communist state. Czechoslovakia participated in

6279-432: The state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and Carpathian Ruthenia became part of Hungary , while the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed in the remainder of the Czech Lands . In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II , former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies . After World War II, Czechoslovakia

6370-411: The statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk , the first president of Czechoslovakia. The statue has since been re-erected. In 1954, a West German homing pigeon was lost near the Czechoslovak border. It returned two days later, bearing a strong anticommunist message, signed "Unbowed Pilsen." The bird, named Leaping Lena , was taken to the United States, where it was celebrated as a Cold War hero. Plzeň

6461-504: The sum is, therefore, more than 100%. During the period between the two world wars Czechoslovakia was a democratic state. The population was generally literate, and contained fewer alienated groups. The influence of these conditions was augmented by the political values of Czechoslovakia's leaders and the policies they adopted. Under Tomas Masaryk , Czech and Slovak politicians promoted progressive social and economic conditions that served to defuse discontent. Foreign minister Beneš became

6552-479: The support of his army, he fled the town on 23 February 1634 to Eger/Cheb where he was assassinated two days later. The town was increasingly threatened by the Swedes in the last years of the war. The city commander Jan van der Croon strengthened the fortifications of Plzeň from 1645 to 1649. Swedish troops passed the town in 1645 and 1648 without attacking it. The town and region have been staunchly Catholic despite

6643-478: The territory; the largest of them is Huťský with an area of 8.8 ha (22 acres). The first written mention of Blovice is from 1284, when it was a market village owned by the Pomuk monastery . At the end of the 14th century, Blovice was first referred to as a market town . During the 15th and 16th centuries, Blovice prospered and acquired various rights. Owners of Blovice often changed. The most notable owners were

6734-475: The top Communist leaders and Communist party itself resigned. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia . The country was of generally irregular terrain. The western area was part of the north-central European uplands. The eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of

6825-481: The town of Plzeň in 1953 , reflecting economic discontent. Police and army units put down the rebellion, and hundreds were injured but no one was killed. While its economy remained more advanced than those of its neighbors in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia grew increasingly economically weak relative to Western Europe. The currency reform of 1953 caused dissatisfaction among Czechoslovak laborers. To equalize

6916-493: The town square is the town hall from 1825. In 1893, it was reconstructed in the pseudo-Gothic style. In front of the town hall is a sandstone statue of St. John of Nepomuk from 1702. Hradiště Castle was built on the site of a former fortress in the 16th century, then baroque rebuilt in 1704 and 1726, and finally rebuilt in the pseudo-Gothic style in 1872–1874. Today it houses the Museum of Southern Plzeň Region. The Jewish cemetery

7007-528: The two formally equal republics. However, the centralized political control by the Czechoslovak Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalization. The 1970s saw the rise of the dissident movement in Czechoslovakia, represented among others by Václav Havel . The movement sought greater political participation and expression in the face of official disapproval, manifested in limitations on work activities, which went as far as

7098-410: The wage rate, Czechoslovaks had to turn in their old money for new at a decreased value. The banks also confiscated savings and bank deposits to control the amount of money in circulation. In the 1950s, Czechoslovakia experienced high economic growth (averaging 7% per year), which allowed for a substantial increase in wages and living standards, thus promoting the stability of the regime. In 1968, when

7189-497: The year ranged from −28.0 °C (−18.4 °F) on 12 February 1985 to 40.1 °C (104.2 °F) on 27 July 1983. The first written mention of Plzeň Castle is from 976. The city of New Plzeň was founded nearby in 1295 by King Wenceslaus II . The old settlement then became known as Starý Plzenec and New Plzeň became known as Plzeň. It quickly became an important city on trade routes leading from Bohemia to Nuremberg and Regensburg . The first written mention about beer brewing

7280-771: Was a European Capital of Culture in 2015, along with Mons in Belgium. The ice hockey club HC Škoda Plzeň plays in the Czech Extraliga . The team plays its home games at Home Monitoring Aréna . The football club FC Viktoria Plzeň plays in the Czech First League and belongs among the most successful clubs in the Czech Republic. Viktoria Plzeň has played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League . The team plays its home games at Doosan Arena . Handball club Talent Plzeň plays in

7371-520: Was a landlocked country in Central Europe , created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary . In 1938, after the Munich Agreement , the Sudetenland became part of Nazi Germany , while the country lost further territories to Hungary and Poland (the territories of southern Slovakia with a predominantly Hungarian population to Hungary and Zaolzie with a predominantly Polish population to Poland). Between 1939 and 1945,

7462-497: Was completed and in 1899 the first tram line started in the city. This burst of industry had two important effects: the growth of the local Czech population and of the urban poor. After 1868 the first Czech mayor of the city was elected. Following Czechoslovak independence from Austria-Hungary in 1918 the ethnic German minority in the countryside bordering the city of Plzeň hoped to be united with Austria and were unhappy at being included in Czechoslovakia. Many allied themselves to

7553-524: Was founded and is headquartered in this city. There has been much discussion of redeveloping those large areas of the Škoda plant which the company no longer uses. Stock , located in the Božkov district, is the biggest distillery in the Czech Republic. The Plzeň agglomeration was defined as a tool for drawing money from the European Structural and Investment Funds . It is an area that includes

7644-647: Was incorporated into Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was founded in October 1918, as one of the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I and as part of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye . It consisted of the present day territories of Bohemia , Moravia , parts of Silesia making up present day Czech Republic , Slovakia , and a region of present-day Ukraine called Carpathian Ruthenia . Its territory included some of

7735-550: Was liberated from German control by the Soviet Red Army . Elements of the 3rd Army, as well as units from the 1st Army, remained in Plzeň until late November 1945. After the end of the war, the city's ethnic German minority population was expelled and their property was confiscated in accordance to the provisions of the Potsdam Agreement . After the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état , the government launched

7826-667: Was majority Polish, in October 1938. On 14 March 1939, the remainder ("rump") of Czechoslovakia was dismembered by the proclamation of the Slovak State , the next day the rest of Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied and annexed by Hungary, while the following day the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed. The eventual goal of the German state under Nazi leadership was to eradicate Czech nationality through assimilation, deportation, and extermination of

7917-475: Was organized under the direction of Reinhard Heydrich , and the fortress town of Terezín was made into a ghetto way station for Jewish families. On 4 June 1942 Heydrich died after being wounded by an assassin in Operation Anthropoid . Heydrich's successor, Colonel General Kurt Daluege , ordered mass arrests and executions and the destruction of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky . In 1943

8008-530: Was reestablished under its pre-1938 borders, with the exception of Carpathian Ruthenia, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR (a republic of the Soviet Union ). The Communist Party seized power in a coup in 1948 . From 1948 to 1989, Czechoslovakia was part of the Eastern Bloc with a planned economy . Its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in

8099-528: Was reestablished, with the exception of Sub carpathian Ruthenia , which was annexed by the Soviet Union and incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic . The Beneš decrees were promulgated concerning ethnic Germans (see Potsdam Agreement ) and ethnic Hungarians. Under the decrees, citizenship was abrogated for people of German and Hungarian ethnic origin who had accepted German or Hungarian citizenship during

8190-554: Was succeeded by his close ally Edvard Beneš (1884–1948). The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, when philologists and educators, influenced by Romanticism , promoted the Czech language and pride in the Czech people . Nationalism became a mass movement in the second half of the 19th century. Taking advantage of the limited opportunities for participation in political life under Austrian rule, Czech leaders such as historian František Palacký (1798–1876) founded various patriotic, self-help organizations which provided

8281-663: Was widely imitated. In 1859, "Pilsner Bier" was registered as a brand name at the Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Plzeň. In 1898, the Pilsner Urquell trade mark was created to put emphasis on this being the brewery where the style originated. The Plzeň metropolitan area is largely served by a network of trams, trolleybuses and buses operated by the PMDP. Like other continental European cities, tickets bought from vending machines or small shops are valid for any transport run by

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