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57-620: The House of Waldstein or House of Valdštejn is a Bohemian noble family that originated from the Kingdom of Bohemia as a branch of the Markwartinger family (House of Markvartic) and gained prominence during the reign of the Přemyslid dynasty . The house was founded by Jaroslav of Hruštice (1234–1269) and named after Valdštejn Castle near Turnov in northern Bohemia. The family's most prominent members include Albrecht von Wallenstein ,

114-506: A few aristocratic landowners—mostly Germans (or Germanized Czechs – e.g. Kinsky , Czernin or Kaunitz ) and Hungarians —and the Roman Catholic Church. Half of all holdings were under 20,000 m . The Land Control Act of April 1919 called for the expropriation of all estates exceeding 1.5 square kilometres of arable land or 2.5 square kilometres of land in general (5 square kilometres to be the absolute maximum). Land reform

171-606: A population of over 13.5 million. It had inherited 70 to 80% of all the industry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , including the porcelain and glass industries and the sugar refineries; more than 40% of all its distilleries and breweries; the Škoda Works of Plzeň , which produced armaments, locomotives , automobiles, and machinery ; and the chemical industry of northern Bohemia . Seventeen percent of all Hungarian industry that had developed in Slovakia during

228-700: A result, the Czechs had to be posted to the more backward Slovakia to take up the administrative and professional posts. The position of the Jewish community, especially in Slovakia, was ambiguous and, increasingly, a significant part looked towards Zionism . Furthermore, most of Czechoslovakia's industry was as well located in Bohemia and Moravia and there mainly in the German speaking Borderlands, while most of Slovakia's economy came from agriculture. In Carpatho-Ukraine,

285-627: Is still regarded as the symbol of Czechoslovak democracy for the Czechs and Slovaks today. The Constitution of 1920 approved the provisional constitution of 1918 in its basic features. The Czechoslovak state was conceived as a parliamentary democracy , guided primarily by the National Assembly , consisting of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies , whose members were to be elected on the basis of universal suffrage . The National Assembly

342-644: The Bohemian Revolt by throwing imperial officials out of the windows of Prague Castle . Czech Protestants were defeated in the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, and the following year 27 leaders of this rebellion were executed. Thus, the Catholic aristocracy definitively won over the Protestant aristocracy in Bohemia, but at the same time the absolutist monarchy won over the estate monarchy . During

399-675: The Eggenberg , Bucquoy , Colloredo-Mannsfeld , Gallas, Piccolomini , Schwarzenberg and others arrived. From the 17th century, only the Catholic Czech nobility significantly participated in the functioning of the Habsburg Monarchy . Newly arrived families gradually identified with the Czech lands and often also with the Czech language. At the end of the 18th century, a period called Josephinism began. His representative,

456-593: The Hussite Wars and long after them. After the end of the Hussite Wars and the rule of the Luxembourgers in the 1530s, the country was controlled by various noble associations. In 1452, they agreed on a land administrator, who became the noble George of Poděbrady . Five years later he was elected King of Bohemia, but disputes between the Catholic and Protestant nobility continued until the outbreak of

513-737: The Little Entente (an alliance with Yugoslavia and Romania ) in 1921 to counter Hungarian revanchism and Habsburg restoration. He concluded a separate alliance with France . Beneš's Western policy received a serious blow as early as 1925. The Locarno Pact , which paved the way for Germany 's admission to the League of Nations , guaranteed Germany 's western border but provided no such promise for its eastern frontier, which meant that it would remain subject to negotiation. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, fear of German aggression became widespread in eastern Central Europe. Beneš ignored

570-521: The Sudeten German vote. As a consequence, diplomatic relations between the Germans and the Czechs deteriorated further. ČSR; boundaries and government established by the 1920 constitution . Annexed by Nazi Germany . ČSR; included the autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Annexed by Hungary (1939–1945). ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without

627-677: The Sudeten German Party led by Konrad Henlein and the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party led by Andrej Hlinka . The German minority living in the Sudetenland demanded autonomy from the Czechoslovak government, claiming they were suppressed and repressed. In the 1935 Parliamentary elections, the newly founded Sudeten German Party, led by Konrad Henlein and mostly financed by Nazi German money, received over two-thirds of

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684-562: The Sudetenland . Their incorporation into Nazi Germany would leave the rest of Czechoslovakia powerless to resist subsequent occupation. To a large extent, Czechoslovak democracy was held together by the country's first president, Tomáš Masaryk . As the principal founding father of the republic, Masaryk was regarded similar to the way George Washington is regarded in the United States . Such universal respect enabled Masaryk to overcome seemingly irresolvable political problems. Masaryk

741-609: The Thirty Years' War after the Battle of White Mountain, a large part of the Protestant nobility had their property confiscated. Many new noble families came to the Czech lands at this time, originally usually from Germany , Italy , Spain , Austria or Scotland . Of the old Czech noble families, for example, the Kinsky , Sternberg, Kolowrat , Czernin , Lobkowitz , Pernštejn or Lichtenstein families remained in Bohemia, while

798-481: The Thirty Years' War in 1618. The status of the nobility further increased in 1500, when the Vladislav land constitution was issued. In 1526, Ferdinand I of Habsburg was elected King of Bohemia. He, along with his successors, tried to reduce the influence of the nobility. This process was interrupted during the reign of Rudolf II in the years 1576-1611. In 1618, the Protestant part of the Czech estates started

855-550: The Velvet Revolution in 1989, the property confiscated by the communists was returned to the nobility. The beginnings of the Czech nobility can be seen in the time of the first Přemyslid princes and kings, i.e. in the 9th century. As a legally defined state of nobility in the Czech lands , it arose in the course of the 13th century, when members of noble families began to own newly built stone castles . The influence of

912-467: The " Pětka " ( pron. pyetka ) (The Five). The Pětka was headed by Antonín Švehla , who held the office of prime minister for most of the 1920s and designed a pattern of coalition politics that survived until 1938. The coalition's policy was expressed in the slogan "We have agreed that we will agree." German parties also participated in the government in the beginning of 1926. Hungarian parties, influenced by irredentist propaganda from Hungary, never joined

969-544: The 17th century onward – produced many statesmen and civil servants. Albrecht von Wallenstein himself came from a modest cadet branch which since 1548 held the small estate of Heřmanice . After the 1620 Battle of White Mountain , he purchased several confiscated lordships of his Protestant relatives. In 1628, he was one of the first among the Bohemian nobility to be promoted to Graf (count) status, then to Reichsgraf (imperial count) two years later. After uniting with

1026-559: The Czech nobility were imprisoned. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, properties seized by the communist regime were returned to their original owners. Members of the Czech nobility who emigrated abroad returned to their estates. Some subsequently returned to public life (for example, Karel Schwarzenberg as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Member of Parliament and Senator, Michal Lobkowitz as Minister of Defense and Member of Parliament, Tomáš Czernin as Senator). Other Czech nobles devote themselves, for example, to business, culture, science,

1083-413: The Czechoslovak government but were not openly hostile: Edvard Beneš , Czechoslovak foreign minister from 1918 to 1935, created the system of alliances that determined the republic's international stance until 1938. A democratic statesman of Western orientation, Beneš relied heavily on the League of Nations as guarantor of the post war status quo and the security of newly formed states. He negotiated

1140-473: The Emperor and King Joseph II (1780-1790), initiated extensive reforms that significantly changed the position of the nobility and reduced the number of aristocratic privileges. Part of the modernization of the country was also the prioritization of German at the expense of Czech (the purpose was more efficient state administration). During the 19th century, the Czech nobility was significantly involved in

1197-690: The Fürstenbergs, for example, left the country. The turning point occurred in 1938. In response to the direct threat to the democratic state by Nazi Germany , the most important noble families issued a Declaration of the members of the old Czech families on the inviolability of the territory of the Czech state. During the audience with President Edvard Beneš , members of the Schwarzenberg , Lobkowitz , Kinsky , Kolowrat , Czernin , Sternberg, Colloredo-Mannsfeld , Parish, Dobrzenský, Strachwitz, and Belcredi publicly joined him. A similar statement

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1254-531: The Imperial general during the Thirty Years' War , and Ferdinand Ernst von Waldstein , a statesman and early patron of Ludwig van Beethoven . The Waldstein noble family originated from the medieval Markvartici clan, which gained influence at the Přemyslid court in Prague under King Ottokar II of Bohemia . From about 1260, Burgrave Jaroslav of Hruštice (1234–1269) had Waldštejn Castle erected. His son Zdeněk

1311-734: The Party of the Conservative Estate, cooperating with the Old Czech Party , another aristocratic political force was the Party of the Constitutionalist Estate. In the second half of the 19th century, the ranks of the Czech nobility were expanded by successful businessmen, politicians and artists, for example the Bartoň family, the founder of the Škoda Works Emil Škoda , the industrialist František Rienghoffer,

1368-481: The church, or knightly orders. The oldest founding families (numbering around twenty) of the Czech and Moravian nobility include: First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( Czech : První československá republika ; Slovak : Prvá československá republika ), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( Czech : První republika ; Slovak : Prvá republika ),

1425-498: The establishment of Czechoslovakia towards the world, because otherwise the statistical majority of the Czechs as compared to Germans would have been rather weak, and there were more Germans in the state than Slovaks . National minorities were assured special protection; in districts where they constituted 20% of the population, members of minority groups were granted full freedom to use their language in everyday life, in schools, and in matters dealing with authorities. The operation of

1482-543: The estate of Niederfladnitz, all located directly at the Czech border and still today owned by the family. [REDACTED] Media related to House of Waldstein at Wikimedia Commons Bohemian nobility Noble titles were abolished by law (No. 61/1918 Sb. z. a n.) in December 1918, shortly after the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak Republic . During the period of Nazism and communism , representatives of Czech noble families were often persecuted. After

1539-568: The extinct line of another Bohemian noble family, the Lords of Vartenberk ( German : Wartenberg ), the present family title since 1758 is "Count of Waldstein, Lord of Wartenberg". After World War II , the Waldsteins, then almost completely Germanized , were expelled from Czechoslovakia and their possessions were seized. They then moved to Salzburg and Vienna in Austria , where parts of

1596-500: The family live to this day, but others returned to Bohemia. Valdštejn Castle was the historical main seat of the family until 1821. In 1582, they purchased the lands of the secularized monastery of Třebíč . Mnichovo Hradiště Castle was acquired by Wallenstein in 1623. He was buried there and it remained in his family until expropriation in 1945; so did Wallenstein's Prague city palace, Wallenstein Palace . In 1622, he had also purchased

1653-466: The formerly Austrian ( Bohemia , Moravia , a small part of Silesia ) and Hungarian territories (mostly Upper Hungary and Carpathian Ruthenia ). After 1933, Czechoslovakia remained the only de facto functioning democracy in Central Europe , organized as a parliamentary republic . Under pressure from its Sudeten German minority , supported by neighbouring Nazi Germany , Czechoslovakia

1710-510: The late 19th century also fell to the republic. Czechoslovakia was one of the world's 10 most industrialized states. The Czech lands were far more industrialized than Slovakia. In Bohemia , Moravia , and Silesia , 39% of the population was employed in industry and 31% in agriculture and forestry . Most light and heavy industry was located in the Sudetenland and was owned by Germans and controlled by German-owned banks. Czechs controlled only 20 to 30% of all industry. In Slovakia, 17.1% of

1767-571: The leader of the Old Czech Party František Ladislav Rieger , the composer Antonín Dvořák and the writer Jaroslav Vrchlický . The representatives of this so-called new nobility, however, usually remained outside the Czech aristocracy. After the First World War , the monarchy disappeared in the Czech lands and a republic was established. Most of the Czech nobility held monarchist positions, but remained loyal to

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1824-799: The lordship of Bělá pod Bezdězem , which was owned by the family until 1945. Duchcov Chateau passed into the family by inheritance from the House of Lobkowicz in 1642, together with Horní Litvinov, Dolní Litvinov and Dolní Jiřetín, and the Duchcov branch kept it until 1921. In 1945, all properties in Czechoslovakia were confiscated. In the same year, however, a branch of the Waldstein-Wartenberg family inherited Karlslust Castle near Hardegg in Austria, together with Burgruine Kaja and

1881-578: The nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development." The full boundaries of the country and the organization of its government was finally established in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920 . Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk had been recognized by World War I Allies as the leader of the Provisional Czechoslovak Government, and in 1920 he

1938-603: The new Czechoslovak government was distinguished by stability. Largely responsible for this were the well-organized political parties that emerged as the real centers of power. Excluding the period from March 1926 to November 1929, when the coalition did not hold, a coalition of five Czechoslovak parties constituted the backbone of the government: Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People, Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, Czechoslovak National Social Party, Czechoslovak People's Party, and Czechoslovak National Democratic Party. The leaders of these parties became known as

1995-662: The newly established Czechoslovak Republic . Some nobles even entered the service of the Czechoslovak Republic and worked in diplomacy (for example, representatives of the Lobkowitz , Schwarzenberg and others). The Czechoslovak Republic confiscated the property of the Habsburgs and Hohenbergs, and the Clam-Martinic family also lost their property. During the following years, the property was sold off and

2052-486: The nobility rose rapidly, which became the cause of a strained relationship between the king and the nobility during the last Přemyslid kings and especially during the reign of John of Bohemia and his grandson, Wenceslaus IV at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. After the burning of Jan Hus in 1415, Czech society and therefore the Czech nobility was divided into two groups - Catholic and Hussite (later Protestant). Both groups were at war with each other both during

2109-466: The nobles actively participated in the domestic resistance, for example the Bořek-Dohalský brothers were murdered in a concentration camp, Karel VI Schwarzenberg or Václav Norbert Kinský participated in the anti-Nazi uprising in 1945. In 1945, the properties of most Czech noble families were returned. However, there was a deportation of the majority of the population of German nationality, in which both

2166-471: The nobles who collaborated with the Nazis and the nobles who did not collaborate with the Nazis, but only claimed German nationality before the war, lost their property. For example, Trauttmansdorff, Windischgrätz , Clam-Gallas, Thurn-Taxis , Desfours , or one branch of the Kinsky , Czernin and Rohan families had to leave the Czech lands. Due to the growing influence of the communists in Czechoslovakia in

2223-611: The old Austrian empire or expropriations of big estates did not support the coherence within the state. Nevertheless still in 1929, for example, in the Carlsbad district, a mainly Bavarian speaking area, 46% still voted for Socialists and Communists. This is especially interesting, because the German Speaking community of the Bohemian Countries is often and from many side blamed for being nationalist and fascist. But

2280-423: The point of living in the or one of the most industrialized areas of Europe also brings a big support for Communist and Socialist Parties, which from another point of view may also be explained by heavy and long lasting traditions of mining industries in the area. Still, nationalism arose amongst the non-Czech nationalities, and several parties and movements were formed with the aim of broader political autonomy, as

2337-479: The population was employed in industry, and 60.4% worked in agriculture and forestry. Only 5% of all industry in Slovakia was in Slovak hands. Carpathian Ruthenia was essentially without industry. In the agricultural sector, a program of reform introduced soon after the establishment of the republic was intended to rectify the unequal distribution of land. One-third of all agricultural land and forests belonged to

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2394-710: The possibility of a stronger Central European alliance system, remaining faithful to his Western policy. He did, however, seek the participation of the Soviet Union in an alliance to include France. (Beneš's earlier attitude towards the Soviet regime had been one of caution.) In 1935, the Soviet Union signed treaties with France and Czechoslovakia. In essence, the treaties provided that the Soviet Union would come to Czechoslovakia's aid only if French assistance came first. In 1935, when Beneš succeeded Masaryk as president,

2451-769: The prime minister Milan Hodža took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . Hodža's efforts to strengthen alliances in Central Europe came too late. In February 1936, the foreign ministry came under the direction of Kamil Krofta , an adherent of Beneš's line. The Czechoslovak Republic sold armament to Bolivia during the Chaco War (1932–35) and sent, close to the end of the war, an unofficial training mission, to support Bolivia in its Chaco war with Paraguay and advance Czechoslovak interest in Bolivia. The new nation had

2508-521: The process of national revival , the promotion of the Czech language and the emergence of modern Czech culture and society. Prominent representatives of the patriotic nobility were especially the Sternberg, Chotek , Schwarzenberg , Czernin , Kolowrat , Kinsky and Lobkowitz . In the second half of the 19th century, representatives of these and other families became involved in emerging parliamentary activity. The patriotically oriented nobles founded

2565-713: The rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. The independence of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed on 28 October 1918 by the Czechoslovak National Council in Prague . Several ethnic groups and territories with different historical, political, and economic traditions were obliged to be blended into a new state structure. The origin of the First Republic lies in Point 9 of Woodrow Wilson 's Fourteen Points : "The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among

2622-562: The situation was even worse, with basically no industry at all. Therefore the Borderlands were also more heavily hit by the world economic crisis. This fact, and the fact that the central government did little to help out and even supported more the Czech companies led to the fact, that unemployment among the German community was the double, than it was among the Czech. Further steps like the loss of jobs for German speaking state employees, who did not speak Czech, which were employed earlier in

2679-462: The strong presidencies of Masaryk and his successor, Beneš. The constitution of 1920 provided for the central government to have a high degree of control over local government. From 1928 to 1940, Czechoslovakia was divided into the four "lands" ( Czech : "země" , Slovak : "krajiny" ): Bohemia , Moravia - Silesia , Slovakia , and Carpathian Ruthenia . Although in 1927 assemblies were provided for Bohemia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia, their jurisdiction

2736-612: The years 1945 - 1948, the return of some property was also withheld (the Colloredo-Mannsfeld case), or the unjust confiscation of the primogeniture property of the Schwarzenberg family based on the Lex Schwarzenberg Act of 1947 ). The Liechtenstein family is still suing the Czech Republic for seized property, as well as several other families labeled as Germans after the war. In 1948, there

2793-595: Was a communist coup in Czechoslovakia . Subsequently, the property of all noble families was confiscated. A large part of the Czech nobility therefore emigrated (for example, the Schwarzenberg , Colloredo-Mannsfelds , Kolowrat , Hildprand, some Lobkowitz or Sternberg). The nobles who stayed at home (such as the Kinsky , Wratislav , Czernin , some Sternberg and Lobkowitz ) were variously persecuted, for example they were prevented from studying, usually they were also evicted to unsuitable dwellings. Some members of

2850-609: Was elected the country's first president. He was re-elected in 1925 and 1929, serving as President until 14 December 1935 when he resigned due to poor health. He was succeeded by Edvard Beneš . Following the Anschluss of Austria by Germany in March 1938, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler 's next target for annexation was Czechoslovakia . His pretext was the privations suffered by ethnic German populations living in Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as

2907-756: Was forced to cede its Sudetenland region to Germany on 1 October 1938 as part of the Munich Agreement . It also ceded southern parts of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia to Hungary and the Trans-Olza region in Silesia to Poland . This, in effect, ended the First Czechoslovak Republic. It was replaced by the Second Czechoslovak Republic , which lasted less than half a year before Germany occupied

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2964-462: Was issued a year later, already in the occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . In September 1939, the National Declaration of the Czech Nobility was drawn up, in which 85 of the most important Czech noblemen from 33 noble families declared their Czech nationality. The Nazis subsequently confiscated the property of these nobles, and some then lived through the war in house internment or in concentration camps. Some nobles managed to emigrate. Part of

3021-418: Was limited to adjusting laws and regulations of the central government to local needs. The central government appointed one third of the members of these assemblies. The constitution identified the "Czechoslovak nation" as the creator and principal constituent of the Czechoslovak state and established Czech and Slovak as official languages . The concept of the Czechoslovak nation was necessary in order to justify

3078-407: Was responsible for legislative initiative and was given supervisory control over the executive and judiciary as well. Every seven years it elected the president and confirmed the cabinet appointed by him. Executive power was to be shared by the president and the cabinet; the latter, responsible to the National Assembly, was to prevail. The reality differed somewhat from this ideal, however, during

3135-424: Was the first Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks . The country was commonly called Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak : Československo ), a compound of Czech and Slovak ; which gradually became the most widely used name for its successor states. It was composed of former territories of Austria-Hungary , inheriting different systems of administration from

3192-479: Was the first documented "Lord of Waldštejn"; allegedly he accompanied King Ottokar II on his Prussian crusade . Upon his death, his possessions were divided among his numerous descendants. The Waldsteins again appeared in public life from the 15th century onwards. Formerly a poor and less significant family, they gradually acquired large properties in the territory of the Crown of Bohemia (especially in Bohemia and Moravia ), received prominent positions and – since

3249-534: Was to proceed on a gradual basis; owners would continue in possession in the interim, and compensation was offered. 1921 ethnonational census National disputes arose due to the fact that the more numerous Czechs dominated the central government and other national institutions, all of which had their seats in the Bohemian capital Prague. The Slovak middle class had been extremely small in 1919 because Hungarians, Germans and Jews had previously filled most administrative, professional and commercial positions in, and as

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